CanucksFan8353

I'd be happy just to get them signed at all at this point. I'm now in the gamble on them living up to their fullest potential and pay them whatever they want camp.

I need to head to bed but I just wanted to apologize for my frustration. I take all of it back. I think losing the cup in 2011 the way we did left such a huge mark on me that it's not easy not to be pessimistic. Not that they care, but I want to apologize for jumping all over EP and QH. I know that HF Boards is a cespool of negativism against us but the negativity is so strong there that it's hard not to be drawn into it. So, sincere true apologies to EP and QH for my being a jerk towards them. They've done more for this franchise than any 2 players since the Sedins and more than I could possibly ask for so soon. So, I will from now on, believe in them, maintain an optimistic outlook and trust in them that they will not let us down. Please know that it's hard to place this trust given the tragedies that have befallen our team since it's inception really but I will do so in the hopes that true belief and true fandom will help the Canucks reach the next level. No more negativity from me. Ever. I do admit that I will be so much happier when this contract nightmare is over though and we can focus on Canucks winning games and actual hockey. It's like my nephew always tells me, "you have to believe in me." So, that's what I'm going to do and I just hope that we don't all get hurt again.

OK, I'll be slightly more charitable to your guy. Maybe he doesn't want to be the sole reason the Canucks win games. Maybe he wants to see the team put some W's together in the regular season and then he'll sign. That's still him being a dick but at least that's a scenario where he hasn't entirely given up on us. It's a dangerous game though because what does it do to the team chemistry? "Hey guys, I finally showed up. I didn't think you were that good. Thought I better get in on the action so I don't miss out." I wouldn't want to play with a guy like that but maybe the team can put that betrayal behind them as part of the larger goal of winning the cup. It'd be tough to have a really close tight-knit team after shenanigans' like that though. Regardless, this whole affair has revealed a ton about EP's character. I also don't really buy his schtick about wanting to "win" because this is not the behaviour of someone that wants to win. He should be jumping to sign because JB has built a real contender this year. P.S.: Dahlin, Kospiren (SP?) and Brady Tkachuk have revealed a lot about their true character this off season as well.

Alf, man, believe me the last thing I want to be doing is having to be on here bashing my favourite's team franchise player (on a Friday night no less when I should be having fun) when EVERYTHING ELSE was pointing towards us making a deep run, perhaps even winning the cup this year, after Benning's tremendous off-season acquisitions, trades and releases. We would have been set, man, set. Instead, EP is being a selfish clown and this is the scenario we have instead. With all our new pieces, we can't afford to play EP and QH's game. We need a rockin' start at training camp and we don't need any more team drama, god knows, after the Luongo/Schneider affair, the Virtanen mess, etc. If I was JB, Hughes and Petterson would both be on one-way tickets out of town the day before training camp STAT, if not signed, for Eichel and Dahlin so that JB's other moves aren't all going to waste because EP/QH are sitting out until December or January (at least!). I'd also, if I were JB, I'd be calling up JP Barry and be like "hey, do your clients want to play in the world-class city of BUFFALO? No? Well, you have until the day training camp starts to sign or they're outta here buddy!"

Shoot me some links of videos or articles with quotes where he is effusive about any of the following (Vancouver as a city, his teammates, the team, brining a Cup to Vancouver, the fans, etc). All we have is him saying he wants to play where he can "win", which is basically telling us, as fans, to F off.

Not sarcasm at all. I'm an excellent judge of character. I didn't think much of it prior to this temper tantrum by EP but it's all making sense to me now. Go back and watch EP's old interviews on Youtube or with local sports media. There's one in particular with EP and Brock Boesser. You can tell BB is really a team player but EP is clearly only out for numeral uno. He's hated being on this team since Day #1. Just go back and listen to his interviews. Note the tone of his voice. He hates Vancouver for some reason and wants out ASAP. He is downright miserable about being a Canuck. Before you bash this post, go back and watch some of his Canucks promo stuff. Does any of it send a message to you of a guy who wants to be here even one iota? Quinn, I can understand. He just wants to go play with his bros in New Jersey. He's not self-entitled or "crap doesn't stink" kind of guy like EP is. Also of note, Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid complain not one iota about having to play in cities not anywhere near world-class like Pittsburgh and Edmonton. Meantime, we're stuck with this selfish clown. The fact that neither one is even close to signing with us lends great credence to my thoughts, unfortunately. Either way, I wish it weren't so, as we could have won a cup with these 2, but they don't want to be here like, at all. So, alas, we are screwed (like usual for Canucks fans).

It's clear that Quinn Hughes and Elias Pettersson have both played their last games in a Canucks uniform. Neither one want to be here (Elias is still in Sweden FFS per a post here or on HF) and we can't afford them anyways.

I haven't seen the video but I read online from one of you guys either on here or HF that Hughes looked crestfallen to not be with his brothers. I so wish this wasn't the case. It's frustrating loving a team this much and it constantly getting screwed over by refs (Boston 2011) or snakes in other forms, like Barry. OTOH, NJD will find it tough to sign though given they have such limited cap space. Canadiens also have zero cap space.

No. Barry was all but begging for an offer sheet today, mentioning August as the time he expects one. I'm shocked, but, reading the tea leaves from Barry this morning, it's pretty clear that Petterson and Hughes have both played their last games in Vancouver. We simply can't afford to pay them due to the cap hit they want. Remember also, that EP40 has deleted all references to the Canucks from all social media taglines. A clear message if there ever was one. I like the idea of trading for Eichel. Not sure exactly how that would work but it's clear we need plan B. Also, remember the heartbreak from Hughes on draft night, it's clear he wants to be in NJ with his brothers. Pettersona and the 3 Hughes brothers would instantly make the Devils Stanley Cup favourites. I suspect that is what Barry is angling for. Getting Quinn and Elias both an offer sheet from NJD.

I think I saw something months ago on twitter that FA said Benning and Green are safe no matter what happened this season. I can try to dig out what I saw if any of you think I am recollecting that wrong. So, with Benning and Green presumed safe and the major cap issues caused by the financial hit of the COVID-19 pandemic, is there even anything that possibly could be done? Something needs to be done as the core is entering it's window now and if we don't ice a playoff team until 2022-2023 like Benning is talking about, our core will be on the other side of it's peak. 29 is almost ancient by NHL standards (That's how old Bo will be in 2024). That's the age when Sid won his FINAL cup to put it in perspective. If we want to save the window for this team, wholesale changes need to be made. Bad contracts need to be dumped. Hughes/Petterson need to be signed to financially advantageous for both sides deals. Improvements to the team beyond that also need to be made. If you listen to the Sportsnet 650 podcasts, there's also the fact that Vancouver has developed a reputation of a place where management treats its players poorly, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic but precipitated by gems like Benning saying "I ran out of time" to sign Toffoli and letting Tanev, Markstrom and Stecher walk (3 of the pillars of this team's success last year and in the bubble) to the most precious gem of all "we do things day by day around here." Benning has shown himself wholly incapable of making this team a success during his entire tenure here IMO. Since FA has said management and coaching is safe, though, I'm not sure what we're going to do to improve? Also, why is FA content with the status quo of no playoffs and finishing near last in the league year after year after year? Also, it's likely that Petterson and Hughes will want to play on contending teams. I trust that FA will realize that he will lose them after their likely bridge deals are up because they are not going to want to stay in a dumpster fire situation like this. This offseason is our chance to right the ship. Benning and Green need to be chased out of Vancouver with pitchforks to be honest. That's the first, essential albeit far from only key, to trying to win a cup with this current core. Getting a GM and coach who our players know view them like family and who are truly committed to having a excellent work environment for the players and their families will go a long way. It'll also help us sign UFA's that can help put this core, which is beyond stellar, over the hump. Item #2 on the list should be to hire a GM that will not trade away picks just to try to get into 1 playoff one-and-done round year after year. If FA dithers much longer, we will probably have Boesser, Horvat, Petterson and Hughes all requesting trades out of Vancouver before too long. Again, to reiterate, unfortunately, FA seems committed to keeping Benning indefinitely no matter the results on the ice, which I don't understand.

I have a question: Are the posters at HF Canucks truly fans of our team? Or are they just fans of other teams, trolling and sock-puppeting? The tone of their posts is not one of disappointment with a team not tearing the league up but rather abject hatred of all things Canucks, which does not seem very fan-like to me. Take a recent post on there about Holtby "it'll take more than 1 or 2 games to make me think he's not garbage." That's not constructive criticism, imo, but rather that's pure hatred. I also assume that teenage boys are probably the vast majority of posters on there and it's cool to rag on the Canucks so that's why they do it so vociferously. On here, I mostly see constructive criticism when needed but mostly a whole lot of love for the team that I assume all of us joined this message board to cheer on.

Typical Canucks luck. Team firing on all cylinders and something happens to blow it to smithereens. This isn't meant to be political so I hope that it isn't taken as such. Want this thread to be hockey-related. Reading Twitter tonight, it looks like the NBA 2020 playoffs will come to an end tomorrow. The players have had it and the season at best per twitter "hangs in the balance" barring drastic movement by ownership. Also, folks all across the spectrum are demanding the NHL cancel the playoffs immediately from Kelly Hrudey, Peter Mansbridge, Elliott Friedman, Christine Simpson and Craig SImpson. Peter Mansbridge went on a tirade that the NHL should be ashamed of itself just now. Politics is my other main passion and the pressure will soon be too intense for the NHL to keep playing. I can see which way the winds are blowing. The NHL is getting blasted. The powers-that-be want sports stopped and they want them stopped NOW. I suspect that like the COVID-19 shutdown in March which was sparked by the NBA, that when the NBA cancels the 2020 playoffs tomorrow, MLB, MLS and the NHL will have no choice but to cancel their playoffs and seasons respectively. Sucks that there is no way that the Republican-controlled NFL will shut itself down (a league that actually could get Americans to pay attention by shutting down) but we lose our sports, especially due to an event that DID NOT EVEN HAPPEN IN CANADA! P.S.: I guess Bo Horvat gave up 6 weeks of seeing his first born's life for nothing and so that everyone can go all SJW.

I did not realize VGK was almost fully healthy. See...that's what I mean...just not fair at all. All the breaks going to a team that hasn't even been in the league 5 years, while us, in the league for 50 years, get none ever. To the other poster who asked how players manage to stay healthy, I've read some articles or heard some commentaries on games that I've watched where they comment on this and say that it seems like the truly exceptional superstar athletes have a sort of 6th sense that allows them to avoid injuries and compete through a playoff run largely healthy.

I guess what it boils down to is that being a fan all my life, I'm just pissed that from incidences like Cloutier going down when he was playing awesome against Calgary in '04 to Bertuzzi/Moore the same year to Hamhuis against Boston, we never get to ice a completely healthy team during our cup runs where, miraculously, all the other teams that win the Cup by and large stay 100% healthy, or at least it sure seems that way from my POV as a long-suffering Canucks fan. I just want a chance for our best to play against their best, and we never seem to get that. If you could cite to me where a cup-winning team lost a top winger and a top 4-D and still won, I'd feel better.

It is a bad trade, yeah, because the truly exceptional players like Crosby, Jake G, Ovechkin, or Oshie don't go down when their teams are ready to make an extended cup run (not talking about Sid's concussion issues but when they were resolved for his cups in 2016/2017 and prior to the concussions in 2009). Also sucks that he managed to stay healthy during LAK's 2 cup runs but couldn't for us. History shows that you have to have players who know how to stay healthy to win the cup. The real reason I'm pissed though is because I truly believe a healthy Toffoli would go a long way towards winning us the series against VGK alone.

Well I'll grant you, you raise some good points there especially with Toffoli providing the depth. Would feel better about no Toffoli if Boesser was producing at the level he's supposed to also. I'm just frustrated that if we were able to, for once, ice a healthy roster with Myers, Toffoli, Ferland and Leivio, I'd bet you we'd be storming to the Cup for sure right now. Instead we're heavy underdogs against the sainted Golden Knights.

I see your confusion. It's a tweet from the GDT. Toffoli not likely to play until at least Game 3 now and since it keeps getting pushed back (I saw the report he'd be back for Game 7 if needed also), what's to say it doesn't continually get pushed back? What I'm saying is we were told we were aiming for Game 7 tonight or even Friday's game was possible. Now he won't be back until Thursday's game at the very earliest???

Just looked it up bud. The standard recovery time per Google for a broken foot is 4 to 6 weeks (or longer). He was injured on August 2. So that means we, at the earliest, would get him back the back-to-back on August 31/Sept 1 at the latest. Also, anything more substantive to add, bud than "hard fail"?

I was initially a huge proponent of the trade but with him likely not being able to play in the playoffs for us this year, looks like GMJB made a big mistake. We could have used the defensive depth that Tyler Madden would offer us down the road with the core being so strong. Madden might have been that last bit to get our core to Cup Contenders down the line. With Toffoli likely done like Ferland and Leivo though, it looks like the gamble GMJB made busted. Goes to prove those of you who say "don't mortgage the future" right. So frustrating! (And no, inserting an injured Toffoli into the series when we're down 3-0 or 3-1 ala us against Calgary in 2015 with the still busted Ryan Miller) doesn't count as good payback for the trade. Also makes me think of where we'd be if we had a healthy Toffoli, Ferland and Leivio in our roster this year, but, alas, Canucks luck. This trade is just really making me see red right now.

This is catastrophic and most likely playoff-chances ending news.

Yeah that's all I'm saying in this thread (with the backup of articles on not 1, but 2 major sites). Not pulling this out of my rear here. Basing it on the 2 articles and running with it. As far as not playing well lately, yeah, well St. Louis, Vegas, and Edmonton had rough stretches too. As far as Vegas, I think Calgary, Edmonton, or Winnipeg will give them all they can handle if we don't play them in Round 1. Also, we definitely do underestimate our team.

Playoffs are pretty much assured at this point, barring catastrophic injuries.

There seems to be a lot of buzz around this wonderful team we have. Check out the below articles: https://www.nhl.com/news/vancouver-set-up-well-for-deep-playoff-run-at-stanley-cup/c-315304424 https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/vancouver-canucks-allin-mentality-nhl-trades-could-lead-to-long-playoff-run-212916176.html David Amber of CBC has also been high on us all year. With the addition of Toffoli, Boesser rumored to have said he won't be out for a horrendous amount of time, and if Markstrom continues to play out of his mind, we could very well make AT LEAST the WCF. This is a lot like 2011 in a lot of ways. Other teams in the league are weak. Wide-open playoff race. 1 more nice acquisition before the TDL and we may be able to make a strong run at the championship (although those 2 articles above already peg us for going deep). I think we are likely to come out of the 1st round. Then our opponent in Round 2 will be Vegas, Calgary, or Edmonton. We have demonstrated the ability to crush all 3 of those teams this year. So by virtue of playing against one of those 3 in the 2nd round, we have a somewhat greater chance of making to the WCF almost by default, just due to the luck of playoff seeding. What do you think?