Jump to content
The Official Site of the Vancouver Canucks
Canucks Community

kilgore

Members
  • Posts

    11,045
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    2

Everything posted by kilgore

  1. Chatfield, a right shot D for $750,000. Great depth D Why wouldn't Benning re-up that contract?
  2. Hey, I get it, believe me. My anti-Benning ruminations were not taken very well in here a couple of seasons ago, when I and few others, first raised them. Sorry about the eye roll. I actually love hearing opinions that are against the grain. There is usually a seed of truth in those ones at the very least. Keep posting! Like I can find some very understandable reasons Trevor isn't here, on the front lines, as I put down in my post above. But then again I understand the frustration....why hasn't he fought harder to get back to having some kind of voice? Why the utter silence? Makes one tempted to think things like...maybe he is not tough enough to enter the circus again, or worse, doesn't care enough. Maybe its him that's holding the grudge. etc etc..... But those are just speculations as much as the opposite. That he'd love to get back in, but the Aquilinis don't want him or willing to lose face by re-hiring him. Who knows? Bottom line is its not his decision when it comes down to it. And frankly, to maybe support your leeriness to some degree, I don't really want Linden as POHO. It was a ceremonial appointment in the first place. He was never qualified. His appointment was another indication that this ownership was never interested (until now hopefully) of actually running this team in a professional and realistic manner. Linden was on the right track about rebuilding more deeply, but didn't have the chutzpah which comes from experience in managing an NHL franchise, to be heard. But I'd like to see him back in the fold in some role eventually. So much bad blood stirred up here through the decades. Be nice to repair one or two of them.
  3. Oh well. We'll try to carry on. First off, what Linden did or didn't do in game seven in '94, (which for me he was an important and irreplaceable piece) has nothing do with his work around the team after he retired. ie....you don't judge how well Boudreau does as a coach based on his success during his up and down NHL career. Focus. My take is that ultimately Linden can do what Linden wants to do. As someone said upthread, He'd probably be much better suited now as POHO than when he was appointed which with hindsight, was most likely more a PR move to get fans back paying money for seats. A position he soon learned had no teeth. In real life, behind the scenes, it was still a huddle with Benning, Weisbrod and Aquilini with each one scrambling over the other one on just how much shorter of a time frame the Canucks could be contending for the Cup. Linden dared to speak up to them, add some realism, and they didn't appreciate him bursting the bubble they had created and lived in. As long as Aquilinis are the owners, and if they haven't ever reached back out to him, then he has....sad though it is....no reason, or avenue even, to seek to re-enter the organization. We have to accept that. No matter how hard that is to do. What I am reading between the lines is that yes.....it sucks that Linden is not a part of the team anymore. What does the OP suggest he do to "still be a part of the big moments with this organization"? The only thing possible is to speak out from a position outside of the organization in a critical way to the local news or sports media. To start a war of words, a huge scandal in the local media, who would be absolutely thrilled with that, but it wouldn't do much for the team itself. In fact the distraction would be the last thing this team needs now. My ideal world would be that Trevor and Francesco do mend that bridge some day, and he regains a place within the organization again. Never say never. Did I fantasize about Linden kicking the door down a few seasons ago already, and busting in, with "enough is enough!"? Make a splash in the local media, and embarrass the $%&@ out the Aquilini's and JB? Dam rights. But now we are well past that, especially now that we are past the JB era. Too late for that. We have a deep strong leadership in our management now, and I think, if Trevor really does care about how this franchise does going forward, which I have no doubt he does, he will quietly be pleased with the latest moves, whether he gets to swoop in and be a direct part of it or not.
  4. Love this team and how they are finally gelling under Bruce. The one thing that still irks me is their response to backing up their teammates. Notably when Garland was brought down on the boards on a borderline viscous hit. He even laid there on the ice for a few seconds. Yet the rest of the team just blithely played on like nothing happened. This is one of your leading scorers, who ALWAYS stands up for other teammates and not afraid to scrum it up despite his size. And what was the result of just skating away?...The Jets had us hemmed in our zone for a full minute with a couple of good scoring chances, so all that would also have been prevented if we'd circled back and scrummed it up. They could have easily scored while Garland struggled to get to the bench. In fact, I have a theory that there could have been a roughing or boarding penalty sitting in the back pocket of a ref who was expecting us to respond, and that's why he didn't call anything. He was waiting for and expecting the inevitable response he sees from other teams, and was set to even up the calls. Us for the retaliation. Only, surprisingly, we just skated on. Can you imagine the Bruins not doing something if we laid out Bergeron like that for instance? Sad to watch how Garland is learning quick that he's on his own. Just like Hogs learned, Petey learned, and now Podz is learning too who has been the victim of a lot of borderline and late hits. Even back to other acquisitions. Beagle and Rousell even tempered down their games after a couple seasons here. Miller doesn't even seem as responsive. I don't know if its the mild mannered, Sedin inspired, captain we have and the older leadership group he influences, like Myers and Pearson who go along with it, or if its something much deeper. Either way, It was uncomfortable for me to watch that.....again. And I fear that even Garland, will soon learn and adjust to this tampered down way that has become a part of "Canucks Hockey" and eventually fall in line and not feel compelled at all himself to push back and stand up for his teammates if no one else is.
  5. No, we also needed to change the guy that thought that coach was the best he could hire, then re-hire.
  6. The pass...hold....hold....hold...pass.....hold....hold....hold...pass PP just isn't working
  7. Myers: Well I can't just hang onto the puck forever waiting for an open teammate, So I guess I'll just pass it to one of their players.
  8. Something really wrong with the leadership group on this team, to just let that hit slide.
  9. You're ability to forecast disasters is uncanny. Do you do readings?
  10. I think it became quite clear over the years that Benning was a control freak. And his mild mannered, ah shucks personality masked that. Not only the AHL coaches. When anyone threatened his dictatorial methodology, they were soon gone. A capologist like Gilman to give him grief about over paying on his hunches? Gone A president like Linden to counter his "this team can be turned around quickly" fantasies? Gone An amateur scouting director that was outshining him after Benning's only #1 picks he unilaterally insisted on were failing, Virtanen and Joulevi. He relented to Linden's suggestion to appoint Brackett and we finally had a talented director who promoted Boeser, Petey, and Hughes, among others. Kudos to Jim for agreeing with that amateur scouting dept., but to then fire Judd during such a successful drafting run, was not only puzzling, but a step back and further burdened his job duties on top of such an already sparse front office. A two person operation with his long time hockey buddy Weisbrod, someone who screwed teams everywhere he went. The smartest men in the room. Thats just on the management side. He also held grudges for players like Tryamkin who admittedly acted young and foolish when he first came over. Its like JB took it personal, and so a capable big bodied D which we sorely lacked, was put on hold, and then lowballed so low, that he could make more in Russia than the NHL. All the way to the other end of the scale to not communicating and respecting long time veterans on the team. Even soft spoken Tanev spoke about how he never heard from Jim.....until he was desperate. Too little too late. More of the arrogance mixed with ignorance on how to run a hockey franchise. Myopic describes him well. So happy he's gone. And stoked about not only Boudreau, but Scotty Walker too! We can only go up from here!
×
×
  • Create New...