Popular Post Silver Ghost Posted July 21, 2019 Popular Post Share Posted July 21, 2019 Just found this to be a really interesting article. I actually think Gillis could be a real asset to an NHLteam if he is in that type of role rather than as a GM. Thoughts? https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/mike-gillis-ready-return-nhl-not-general-manager/ TORONTO – Mike Gillis wants back in the National Hockey League, just not as a GM. After being fired from the Vancouver Canucks in 2014, Gillis embarked on a five-year, globetrotting sabbatical, a personal mission intended to expand and deepen his thinking of the game. The former player, coach, agent, executive and lifelong student of the game invested time studying how various sports teams and leagues outside of the NHL built, operated and created winning cultures. Now Gillis is keen to lend his knowledge, vision and anti-groupthink point of view to a NHL franchise — yet the 2011 GM of the Year and builder of two Presidents’ Trophy winners maintains he’s not after one of the coveted 32 GM roles. "I don’t think my role any longer is to be the GM of an NHL team," Gillis said Friday at the TeamSnap Hockey Coaches Conference in Toronto. "That one person, over time, gets worn out and starts to make poor decisions. "I think the jobs are now far more difficult than they were five years ago, 10 years ago in particular, and 20 years ago it’s not even close." The Coaches Site @TheCoachesSite “Experience, mentorship, opportunity. That's where leadership comes from. Leadership comes from the way you run your life. And it comes from understanding that everything is part of a process.” - Mike Gillis Gillis denied a late-April report that he and Canucks owner Francesco Aquilini, the man who fired him, explored the possibility of a reunion in the wake of president Trevor Linden’s departure. "Not from my perspective. I think there’s some people in Vancouver, fans maybe, promoting that, but from my perspective, I’ve never thought about that," Gillis said. A general manager, Gillis believes, must devote his full-time efforts to keeping ownership happy, communicating with his head coach, overseeing player personnel, and making staffing decisions. Gillis is inspired by the bigger picture: challenging the dimensions of the NHL rink and the time of day teams practice, suggesting a complete overhaul of traditional scouting processes, and imagining a future where a team dresses five forwards and a goalie (seriously). "As a general manager of a team, you’re really myopic. You’re really focused on your team performance, on your individual player performance, on your coaching performance. I like that part of the job, but right now I’m more interested in how you build an organization, how you see results, how you measure results," said Gillis, who spoke to Sportsnet after delivering a wide-ranging hour-plus-long talk at Ryerson University for a lecture hall filled with coaches of all levels. "I’m really interested in analytics, sports science, human performance, and how to blend those things into a high-culture organization." So… special advisor? President of hockey ops? "Whatever title is not what turns my crank," Gillis said. "I think when you have a truly high-functioning, well-organized company or sports organization that titles become less relevant. It’s more productivity and how you work together." Gillis, who appreciates the Premier League organizational chart, believes an NHL front office could maximize its effectiveness by hiring four assistant GMs, plus a behind-the-scenes cast of problem-solvers devoted to maximizing its individual players through the study of hard evidence and suggesting their ideal linemates and situational usage to the GM and coach. "You have to really believe in your conviction. We believed in that conviction when I was in Vancouver. We designed a team around that conviction — a puck-moving, dynamic, quick-transition team," Gillis said. "If you don’t win the ultimate prize, suddenly that doesn’t work. Now, teams are all moving in that direction, and it’s a more entertaining game. I like watching it. And if I don’t like watching, it’s going to be hard to go to work every day." 1 2 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Heffy Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 As long he has no role in any hockey-related decision, it might be ok. 1 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Warhippy Posted July 21, 2019 Popular Post Share Posted July 21, 2019 I sincerely think a lot of off the ice decisions made by Gillis helped this team reach its peak. Gillis while a rookie GM did a lot of interesting new things in regards to NHL management and team sustainability, player health. There is a good fit for him in an NHL office so long as he doesn't have to be to involved in the on ice aspect. 1 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6string Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 The AHL is a strong possibility otherwise Gillis sailed away long ago... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silver Ghost Posted July 21, 2019 Author Share Posted July 21, 2019 2 minutes ago, Warhippy said: I sincerely think a lot of off the ice decisions made by Gillis helped this team reach its peak. Gillis while a rookie GM did a lot of interesting new things in regards to NHL management and team sustainability, player health. There is a good fit for him in an NHL office so long as he doesn't have to be to involved in the on ice aspect. I agree. A lot of his organizational stuff was seen as nutty, then interesting, then revolutionary to the point of other teams taking pieces of it as their own. I think it was easy to overlook those things based on some of the train wreck moves he made in the hockey areas at times. I always thought he was a better as an executive than he was as a GM. I think a lot of what he says in this article is interesting. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silver Ghost Posted July 21, 2019 Author Share Posted July 21, 2019 As usual though, just mentioning Gillis will incite irrational hate comments. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toews Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 3 minutes ago, Silver Ghost said: As usual though, just mentioning Gillis will incite irrational hate comments. Its funny because he was so untouchable at points in his tenure. You wouldn't even be able to criticize him on CDC without getting mobbed lol. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silver Ghost Posted July 21, 2019 Author Share Posted July 21, 2019 2 minutes ago, Toews said: Its funny because he was so untouchable at points in his tenure. You wouldn't even be able to criticize him on CDC without getting mobbed lol. Thats true. A few trainwreck moments though can change everything haha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostsof1915 Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 Wonder how he'd do as a GM in junior hockey? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeremyCuddles Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 He did some good things while here. His ability to recycle and keep integrating new talent was suspect. But that 2010/11 team was nutty. If Erhoff didn’t go cup chasing in Buffalo who knows how many playoff runs we could have had. I wonder whatever became of his medical research stuff. Didn’t he implement some stuff in that regard? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Master 112 Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 He's a smart guy. I think the sport benefits when people like him are involved in the evolution of its tactics. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Coconuts Posted July 21, 2019 Popular Post Share Posted July 21, 2019 I hope he lands an NHL job somewhere and succeeds. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winter Soldier Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 I don't have it out for the guy but I think he's lionized more than he deserves to be for his time here. The 'cap genius' of his management chained us down for years for no tangible benefit, because he apparently wanted to blow the team up after 2012. Leading us to fans telling us that his cap management was great because other teams did it (leaving out the fact that LA and Chicago signed massive contracts while/after winning the cup) or that we need to blow it up after winning back to back President's Trophies which no other team has done. Imagine if Tampa won the President's Trophy again and then blew it all up after faltering in the playoffs. That doesn't happen. San Jose didn't blow it up and made the finals, Washington didn't blow it up and eventually won the cup. There is no reason to buy into the idea that it was time to quit on the best core we ever had. I don't think the guy has a bad mind for the sport and he has an interesting perspective on things but I feel he would do better in the CHL or AHL moreso than the NHL. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-AJ- Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 He could probably find work in some capacity. He did some good (albeit short-term focused) work with the Canucks as GM, so that's something to his resume. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spliced Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 Chief Amateur Scout for the Toronto Maple Leafs. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-Money Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 2 hours ago, Winter Soldier said: I don't have it out for the guy but I think he's lionized more than he deserves to be for his time here. The 'cap genius' of his management chained us down for years for no tangible benefit, because he apparently wanted to blow the team up after 2012. Leading us to fans telling us that his cap management was great because other teams did it (leaving out the fact that LA and Chicago signed massive contracts while/after winning the cup) or that we need to blow it up after winning back to back President's Trophies which no other team has done. Imagine if Tampa won the President's Trophy again and then blew it all up after faltering in the playoffs. That doesn't happen. San Jose didn't blow it up and made the finals, Washington didn't blow it up and eventually won the cup. There is no reason to buy into the idea that it was time to quit on the best core we ever had. I don't think the guy has a bad mind for the sport and he has an interesting perspective on things but I feel he would do better in the CHL or AHL moreso than the NHL. Ummm... Really? 1 playoff win in 2 years, followed by a spectacular implosion under Torts. It was pretty clear they were done. Any hope of sustaining a successful team for longer was undone by bad luck and bad scouting. The organization's crown jewel prospect died, and the next top-10 pick had an undetected chronic disease that manifested itself in injury trouble before he played a game. Two of their promising 2nd round selections were also undone by injuries, one from getting hit by a car as a pedestrian. On top of all of that, the scouting turned out to be substandard. So no one was coming to keep the ball rolling. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeltaSwede Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 I think the Canucks could use some inspiration when it comes to the organization off the ice. That's what Gillis brought when he was GM here. I'm looking at a player development department that probably has failed their mission to develop players within the organization and with the Utica Comets. Other teams are ahead of the Canucks when it comes to this and it could sure use an update and a few new hirings. Expand the amount of coaches and roles. We are lucky that we could afford things like that and gain an advantage over other teams in the NHL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silver Ghost Posted July 21, 2019 Author Share Posted July 21, 2019 28 minutes ago, D-Money said: Ummm... Really? 1 playoff win in 2 years, followed by a spectacular implosion under Torts. It was pretty clear they were done. Any hope of sustaining a successful team for longer was undone by bad luck and bad scouting. The organization's crown jewel prospect died, and the next top-10 pick had an undetected chronic disease that manifested itself in injury trouble before he played a game. Two of their promising 2nd round selections were also undone by injuries, one from getting hit by a car as a pedestrian. On top of all of that, the scouting turned out to be substandard. So no one was coming to keep the ball rolling. I agree that one of the biggest mistakes made was NOT starting to move sone of the core vets for younger players. The Canucks have had some bad luck with prospects along with terrible drafting for many years and sketchy development of prospects two. That was like 3 strikes you are out and Gillis should have been able to accumulate some assets for vets. Ironically, had the Canucks done that, they easily could have had a very quick turnaround to keep the window open a bit longer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pears Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 5 hours ago, Toews said: Its funny because he was so untouchable at points in his tenure. You wouldn't even be able to criticize him on CDC without getting mobbed lol. He’s still untouchable even to this day on twitter. Trust me, I’ve been in some Gillis debates and it gets pretty nasty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ceres Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 4 hours ago, Silver Ghost said: I agree that one of the biggest mistakes made was NOT starting to move sone of the core vets for younger players. The Canucks have had some bad luck with prospects along with terrible drafting for many years and sketchy development of prospects two. That was like 3 strikes you are out and Gillis should have been able to accumulate some assets for vets. Ironically, had the Canucks done that, they easily could have had a very quick turnaround to keep the window open a bit longer. Isn't he on the record saying that ownership was the main reason they didn't rebuild earlier? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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