Curmudgeon

It would be a dream come true if the Canucks were to win the lottery and take Bedard, but there are some pretty good consolation prizes after that in Adma Fantilli, Leo Carlsson, Zach Benson and Wiil Smith to name a few. Matvei Michkov is also pretty good, but is tied up until 2026. So, I guess I am saying that as long as Vancouver continues to slide, they will still get a really good player.

With respect, where have you been since 2011? This team just continues to throw good money after bad, to place their bets on the wrong players, and to fail at finding a coach who can build a winner. At the moment, they are at or near the bottom of the endless circle and it will be three years before they are contenders. I think that Tocchet will be given a lot of latitude in his approach and he is bound to create conflict, which is not necessarily a bad thing. If rumours of a country club atmosphere are even partially true, then Tocchet's mission is to turn it more towards a work camp. I am speculating, of course, but change is hard for some people. The ones who can rise to the challenge of being better players and teammates will ultimately be the ones to lead. Sadly, there will be popular players moved out in the next year or two. But, if the team is only marginally better after two seasons, then I can't see them keeping Tocchet. Something about an endless series of circles.

My sense is that Tocchet is a placeholder hired to try to make a winner out of a team that clearly doesn't have the players to contend with the really good teams. This reminds me of the Desjardins hire; everybody knew the team sucked but Willie was brought in to manage the decline. Tocchet has a free ride for the rest of this season because he can always blame Boudreau and Cull, so we'll have to wait until next season to see how HIS team is structured and how it plays. However, if next year's team is out of the race by mid-December, what then?

He also coached Like Schenn for a season in Arizona.

It is never a good thing when somebody loses their job. I don't care how incompetent you think Cull was, he gave it his best every day and tried to help turn the ship around. He failed and was let go, but please, NEVER applaud when a decent person loses their livelihood.

I think they are both about to barf. I know I am.

That little flurry at the end of the period shows that Kuzmenko, Pettersson and Mikheyev should be a thing.

McDonough the only goal in the second of a back-to-back with Merrimack. Up to 17 goals and 15 assists in 23 games.

I have mentioned this before, but the last time we were in a situation like this was when everybody in the hockey world knew Bob McCammon was going to be fired after a game and that Pat Quinn would take over. The Canucks went out and put 62 shots on Mike Richter and the Rangers only to finish the game in a 3-3 tie. I am hopeful that tonight the boys put it all out there to win one last one for Bruce.

But who would ever want to watch it?

McDonough put up a goal and an assist against Merrimack on January 20. Up to 16G and 15A in 22 games. I have seen only highlights of McDonough and he's big but isn't a dazzling skater. I really wonder if his skillset translates to a professional level. No way he's ready for the NHL yet, and I'm thinking that he starts in Abbotsford to learn the pro game, which is big considering the college season is only 30-35 games long. also, the AHL game is pretty high tempo and certainly more intense than collegiate play.

Prediction: If and when Horvat lands with some other NHL team, I guarantee that virtually all of CDC will howl that whatever the return is, it isn't enough, and that the players coming back are: a) garbage; b) overpaid; c) overrated; d) useless; e) a cancer in the room; f) a bustaroo banzai; g) a Benning pick; h) ruined by Travis Green; i) all of the above.

I thought I brought it up once. And why is it dishonest? How am I lying?

No, before the trades when she was in on scouting the drafted guys. As I mentioned, six of the Seattle seven d-men were original draft picks. Somebody had to be part of the scouting crew that identified those guys. And they didn't actually get rid of her, she was hired away based on the work she had already done in helping build the Kraken. The bigger issue is why do you want to diminish Cammi Granato's ability? Threatened by competent females in a field you don't think they should be in?

I was able to watch some of this game live. Do not believe attendance figures that are published. At least 25-30% of the seats were empty, and those were only the ones I could see. What an absolute Gong Show. Gary Bettman's vanity project is the longest running bad idea in sports.

You mean the Seattle that is 2 points back of Vegas for the Pacific Division lead, and with two games in hand? That Seattle?

Your passion and frustration are clearly evident, and with good reasons that you have described well. What was packaged to we fans was a superstar front office, with not only a GM but three assistants, none of who are allowed to speak on the record. Allvin seems to be a marionette and never says anything that hasn't been thoroughly vetted by the club PR people. Rutherford appears to use the "management by walking around" model and there are way too many cooks in the kitchen. I have been around enough bureaucracy in my life and career that my spidey senses were alarmed when this whole thing started. While it sounds great to have several points of view and skill sets, what often happens is paralysis by analysis and nothing gets done. After all is said and done, there is always far more said than done. Now, Allvin has made some decent moves but, as so many have remarked, changing the bottom six forwards and bottom pairing defence doesn't move the needle. I don't know if the Aquilinis have similar problems in their other businesses, but if they ran their other empire like they run the Canucks they'd be broke. Their search for effective management and coaching has been one disaster after another. (IMHO Gillis was the only smart hire they ever made, and I am aware that thousands of you hate the guy with a passion) Our old friend Alf mentions every other day or so that the owner is pulling the strings. Well, if he is, he's not doing a very good job at all. I mean, who hires a coach before hiring a President AND a GM? But try to imagine being Francesco, a guy who wants nothing more than to win a Stanley Cup but has no clue how to hire the right people to do the job. I know I am on a bit of a rant here, but those who know what I write will also know that I have been generally supportive of management because it is such a difficult job, and having been in a position of authority for longer than I care to remember, I know that no matter how diligent you are, and how committed you are, and how effective you are, there will always be those that hate you for no other reason than being in a position of authority consists of having a big fat target on your chest every fricking day. So I have always been sympathetic to management and coaching, but I'm done with loyal support. I think that Rutherford's depth of experience and track record should translate into a winning team. It has not, so he has to go. I don't know too many septugenarians who have been able to follow a bad year with a good one, so I don't believe Rutherford can turn the ship around before it sinks out of sight. Sorry, Jim, but your time is past and please leave before you compound the problems by hiring Rick Tocchet.

I am so sorry that Tanner Pearson finds himself in such dire straits. I have not yet heard the exact nature of the injury, but looking at the structure of the wrist, it could be anything. I broke the styloid process of the left radius on October 9th but it did not require surgery. This is adjacent to the scaphoid, which I suspect was also at least cracked. Anyway that was 96 days ago, and I am not superbly conditioned athlete, but I'm still having problems with numbness and restricted range of motion. It's coming , but it is slow. My suspicion is that Paerson's injury may be to the scaphoid, which takes forever to heal. Dylan Holloway had surgery after breaking his scaphoid in March, 2021. Six months later he required a second surgery and was out another three months. He lost at least half a season. Patrick Kane, on the other hand, had off-season scaphoid surgery in 2011 and was okay by the next season. When you think that if you put a hockey puck on your wrist, within the diameter of the puck there are fifteen different bones that meet at the wrist. The possibility for challenging injury and slow recovery is enormous. I am hopeful that Pearson receives proper corrective treatment and that he can regain full use of his hand and wrist first, then worry about hockey second.

Come on, Alfie. If Francesco stays away, then he's a jerk for not caring enough to face the paying customers, but if he does show up, then he's a jerk for being a meddling owner. On Melmac, it seems that both things can be true, no?

I'd like to see Jeff Paterson compile a list of all milestone goals ever scored against Vancouver. That ought to keep him busy for abut a week.

Don't know what you think you read but the original poster characterized this team as a Benning production. I then pointed out that Kuzmenko, Mikheyev, Studnicka, Joshua, Lazar, Bear, Dermott and Delia were not Benning acquisitions, and the team still sucks. So I don't see how you concluded that I was defending Benning. Responsibility for the sorry state of this team is shared by many, not JUST Benning and Green. That's all. No more, no less.

Allvin has added, by trade, Dermott (26), Studnicka (23), Stillman (24), Pederson (25) and Bear (25). Where are these 28 year olds of which you speak?

Random thoughts on Win 7 Van 4 1. This team needs to rid itself of both Myers and OEL. They are both warriors who give it everything they have. Unfortunately, everything they have is nothing like what it was four or five years ago. I don't know how Allvin and Company will manage to get rid of both of them, but this team is going nowhere with those two guys as your top two. 2. Horvat is a great shooter and goal scorer. He is not a good forechecker or backchecker and he doesn't make it hard for the other team to dominate. I'd trade him tomorrow if somebody made a legitimate offer. 3. I wonder if the constant line juggling is helpful. I'd like to see some lines stick together for a few games to see if they can develop chemistry. I'd love to see what Mikheyev-Pettersson-Kuzmenko, and Miller-Horvat-Boeser could do if they were set lines for more than half a period. 4. I understand that people are down on the defence, but the forwards aren't exactly making life easier for the defencemen. Most of them seem transfixed by watching the puck instead of the open man. 5. I like the line of Studnicka-Joshua-Lazar. They don't score much but they never take a shift off. 6. Goaltending is not the problem. Team defence is. 7. Bruce looks like the captain if the Titanic. He knows the ship is going down and there doesn't seem to be much he can do about it. 8. Will somebody, anybody, take JT off our hands? Will cost far too much for far too little.

Except for Kuzmenko, Mikheyev, Studnicka, Joshua, Lazar, Bear, Dermott and Delia, none of whom were Benning acquistions. But sure, blame Benning, I guess.

Random Thoughts on Abb 2 Hen 1 1. Jeremy Colliton is doing a really good job with this team. They play with, dare I say it, structure. They are fast and are positionally sound almost all of the time. Could Colliton be Bruce's eventual replacement? 2. Klimovich is a different player than the one we saw last year. He now plays a 200 foot game and seems more comfortable handling the puck. He has a great shot. 3. If Karlsson continues to develop at the same pace he has already, he might be the next third line centre in Vancouver. But Aman, who is also fluid and skilled, might have something to say about that. 4. Rathbone skates beautifully, sees the ice well and is a good puckhandler. His point totals are down only because he's playing behind Wolanin, who is is second overall in league scoring, although he is first among players currently active in the league. Wolanin gets prime ice time and anchors the first power play. 5. Nice to see Hoglander get his third goal, and he could have had three or four with a little puck luck. The line of Hoglander, Aman and Karlsson was very good. 6. Woo has really found his game. Still has a way to go, but he's far better than he was last season. Really good crowd tonight. Good, fast, skilled game. Lotsa fun.