bad alice french

You've got to bring it in the NHL. If you get three 40-50 second shifts on the second/third line per period, make them count. I just don't understand why people feel they know the quality and potential of Anton Rodin more than the freaking coaching staff. Is he in the gym putting in his time? Is he first one on and last one off the ice at practise? Is he re-habbing as constructively as he should be? Is he focused and prepared at pre game skate? The list of things that it takes to earn a coaches favour is endless. Call it brown nosing or whatever. The guy isn't playing how the coach wants him to play. Scoring goals in the SEL doesn't mean you're destined to be a pure goal scorer in the NHL. If he wants to play here, he's going to have to adjust. I don't think he's been all that bad at all and it's quite obvious that the knee is nowhere near where he needs it to be. Bad break but this guy is not our saviour and the Canucks aren't a development team. Tryamkin. I'm rooting for you big guy. Now start bringing the hurt.

Great to see him sticking it to his old team tonight as well. Go Nucks!

I always liked that we traded a prospect for a young yet established NHLer. My take on Shink was always that he couldn't carry the play off the wall from his own end as well as be counted on in tough matchup as well as on the PK. Granny has checked off all these boxes and then some. Just a great trade by Benning no matter how Shink develops. If he turns into an elite sniper, I'll have some regrets and maybe hindsight the $&!# out of it, otherwise we added a real solid piece in that trade. Big Benning fan.

He's done well.

BENNING!

Holy crap if our back end stays healthy and plays to their strengths, this team could really surprise a lot of people next season. Did you guys catch the Gudbranson vid on cdc home page? That kid is chiselled and looks really quick for his size. Straying a bit here but one signing sure changes things when viewed in context.

For a player not known for physical style play, he sure gets a lot of goals down low and by the crease. I don't get the impression he is as perimeter a player as Vrbata.

I finally take a minute to look over a few pages on this post as I've been glancing over it for close to a year with no interest. To all you Burr bashers… where the #$ck is your loyalty? This is still a very useful and fiercely loyal player you're talking about. Everyone wants younger and newer but for christ's sake will you please stop for a second and, once again, take a look at Edmonton. Every, and i mean every, team needs a leadership nucleus and that group needs to be composed of respected, hard working, experienced players that lead by example on and off the ice. Players that have been there in the face of serious pressure and adversity. These are glue type players that keep things together when times get tough. I miss Juice and he'll end up being right up there with the likes of Jovo, Ohlund, Salo and even the twins as one of my faves of all time. We miss him most nights. Guys like Burrows and even Hansen are in that category. He brings a lot to the team and until we have another player that has buried the Hawks during the most pivotal game in modern franchise history, I'm sticking with my boy.

i love how he powers to the hole with the puck. he never throws it away and always tries to do something.very impressed so far. i don't know if he's better at his job than other veterans but he's built tough and perfectly suited for west coast bruisers. points will come, you can tell. SMART player. he deserves a regular season audition at the very least. send the boys to utica and bring them back up 10 games in. one shift away from an injury and the bottom nine starts thinning and falling apart. we could use him if we can find a way. freaking pumped!

who doesn't?

you could easily argue our offence started its descent when he left. did salo go the same year?

oh......right. never mind then. ha

anyone who is fine with the lack/markstrom tandem has written off next season. give your head a shake. lack has looked very average and i don't even know if markstrom will ever be more than a back up. lack needs more work and markstrom is too unproven to be turned to if eddie starts losing games. too much pressure and not enough experience. can't believe all the hockey smart cdc ers that i've respected for so long would even consider this adequate unless we want to tank.

just did a little digging to see the difference between first overalls and 6th overalls since 2008. first overalls rarely if ever disappoint. a little more complicated this draft as their is no consensus number 1 but if reinhart is that guy and we can get him then you have to make that deal.

not a good fit at all. miller has been in decline for a few years now. that's kesler money and if we spend that on another contract, it had better be well spent.

we've been waiting for booth to arrive since the day he arrived. ongoing history of injuries, lack of chemistry, external distractions blah blah blah. he gets a few points down the stretch when it doesn't matter and now it's time to give him another season to play to his potential? forget about it. cap space and roster spots people. wake up! the change we've been waiting for is upon us!

ehlers' highlight reel is off the charts guys. patrick kane comparisons are bang on. crazy stickhandler and serious shot from the off wing. in traffic, through traffic, inside and out. took me a while to check this kid out but come on! he looks like a top 3 pick to me. he's better than drouin.

The guy bench presses 400 lbs. He's 23 and is an offensive minded playmaker. Qualify him for sure and try get him to Utica for some playing time. We need to stock our farm team and develop our assets. When are Canuck fans gonna wake up and understand the importance of a farm team that wins? Giving up on him now would be a very short sighted (no pun intended) and knee jerk move.

torts stomped all over his players during his final season in NY (publicly and otherwise). his best players went on to have career worst seasons in brad richards, nash, lundquist and hagelin. these players all shined under AV are are huge in the playoffs this year. then he comes to van and the twins, edler and burrows all have career worst years. this guy crushes players' confidence. so glad he's gone.

i thought his season ending presser was a bit of a rollercoaster ride. i really appreciated how he voiced all die hard fans concerns regarding the need for roster upgrades. i can't remember ever hearing a coach openly admit that his roster depth needs lots of work. in the end it's on the players. you can twist that around as much as you want but torts did not have the horses to get it done and injuries only magnified our lack of depth down the stretch. you can't win in the bigs without 4 lines and our team functions on half a top line, a second line that really is a third line and 6 or so other forwards that are total tweeners. in the end i feel it is simply too knee jerk and bush league a move to can a coach after one year especially considering our roster and the insane amount of injuries. bring him back for another try. he'll learn from this season and be better next year.

SOLD! his 2013-14 highlight reel is off the charts. wondering how tough the competition is in his division. made most of those defenders look like punching bags. i can totally see sportslover's point. deceiving speed as well. pumped if he's available. gonna miss gillis' ability to find hidden gems on D. not a big fan of using high draft picks for the back end. love the draft. can't wait.

oops. missed the Botterill resume post at the top of the page. impressive. totally agree. i wonder how Gillis' resume would look compared to Botterill's and Benning's. i really feel that having come up through the ranks of a club is an important asset to have. kind of makes me a little worried for Trev. sure hope this works.

i'd love some background info on other potential candidates. the OP's version of benning's resume has me quite fired up. he's exactly what this team needs in such a bad way. i remember looking back at the gillis hiring wondering if his prior job might keep him out of "the club". if the big boys aren't in your contacts folder it must make making deals and other transactions much harder. the gm position should be a roster coaching based position pure and simple. let someone else deal with merchandise and tv and all the other crap and bring this team a pure hockey man to run the show.

that's hilarious! i've got the "couple beers after work" buzz going right now. so glad trev wasn't given the gm gig. fetch me a beer! hahahahahaha!

yay! i'm finally here!