Maniwaki Canuck

For sure. I hated the way management handled Bruce's firing but that's not Tocchet's fault. His interview after practice today was actually a bit encouraging: seems like he's got some reasonable ideas about what to do so I'll cut him some slack. Rutherford, not so much ...

To be fair, a lot of management's diagnosis of the team's problems is credible. The problem is that their own actions have made things worse (1) by repeatedly undermining Boudreau in public (no "speculation" involved there) and (2) by failing to address the D this summer. There was a strong results-based case for firing Boudreau but management acts like they're still newly arrived and don't bear any responsibility themselves. There's no sense of "we" from this management group that connects them to the coaching staff, the players and the fans. One year in, it increasingly feels like a hostile takeover of the club for most of us. If they want to know why we rallied around Bruce, that's why. Switching out velcro-lips Allvin for arrogant Rutherford as the franchisee's public face isn't going to fix that. As a fan of the team, I wish Tocchet well but am skeptical. Gonchar and Foote could definitely provide some defensive coaching help where it is desperately needed. It's great if there really will be organizational alignment on emphasizing proper systems play over immediate results. Only time will tell how much damage has been done and how much it will take to get on a positive track again.

Tocchet is already as disaster: "I'm good at relationships" "Bruce's record and all that stuff".

Keeping an open mind about Tocchet isn't going to be easy. He'll have to do something to distinguish himself from the Pittsburgh carpetbaggers who've taken over this team. Failing that, maybe he can leverage his terrible relation with OEL to create such a monumentally toxic environment that we get another management housecleaning and a high lottery pick. Looking back, I wonder if Rutherford's undermining of Boudreau wasn't already going on behind the scenes when Walker and Shaw decided to move on. Put the writing on the wall and then watch it become a self-fulfilling prophesy as key contributor's to Bruce's success jump ship. If Rutherford thinks he can switch off the negativity once he gets his coach, he's got another think coming. The players have been through way too much of it since the bubble and those who can get out will, like Edler (who bled green and blue) did. Horvat will be just the beginning.

I'm a fan since 1970 and totally agree. f**k Rutherford. Go pull the wings off flies somewhere else you arrogant asshole.

Agree with most of your post but Lazar is making 1 million x 3 years, not 3 x 3.

Gutted to hear this news. Nobody will match this guy in the heart and soul department for this team. Ever.

100%. I can't even bother to argue about the stuff that kept us all occupied last year. Most of the players seem checked out too. Worst thing is how hard it is going to be to blow this thing up. Whatever happens at the TDL isn't likely going to be enough.

Yeah, I haven't been following Abbotsford closely, but that's what people are saying. My point is more that Podkolzin and Hoglander are, rightly or wrongly, guys that have to be in form for this team to drive play. It's a problem that the higher salaries can't do that, and it's being exposed pretty regularly this season.

This team can't drive play even against a depleted lineup like Winnipeg has right now. It's not good. Hoglander and Podkolzin have the motors to change that but they're in the minors. Maybe it's for the best but somehow somebody has to get this team playing with some urgency.

Not the first urban legend to emerge from that final. Supposedly Gillis was playing big spender with the press on the flight out to Boston after game two, ordering champagne for all, anticipating a sweep. Or something like that. The intended takeaway is that the Canucks were arrogant, something that stuck on Gillis. Of course I'm not saying this happened, just that there is a stable of stories like this one. We all know how awful HNIC was at the time: there was a narrative out there. What is truly pathetic is that Chara still can't let go of this fabricated bulletin board material after all this time. Those guys know in their soul that they didn't deserve to win. I think we should all chant "Daddy's cup" at them.

A team that can't defend. This is supposed to be coachable.

Not gonna blame Bear for the Dickinson trade, which absolutely did suck. There were other ways to open the cap space.

Middle-pairing D for a 5th round pick? You take that and put it in the bank every day. We've bled value for years: this is a welcome case of accumulating it.

Some big changes are needed, but they have to be more targeted than "blowing it up", which is just an emotional reaction from a traumatized fan base. We aren't good enough, but a few more smart moves like the Bear trade would get us to a much better place. Change the mix: absolutely. Management needs to diagnose our mental fragility, why our forwards can't play in their own zone and why we have so much trouble managing the puck. Any big moves have to follow from that. But a lot of it is bad team play that makes some players look a lot worse than they are. Clearly we need some better D and penalty killers, and need to make room for Hoglander and Podkolzin in the starting lineup. So hard to make moves with most teams up against the cap. Even blowing it up would be difficult

I know their lottery chances are more important than winning right now, but I'll always take a win just the same.

Yeo would be a scorched earth policy: there would be no trouble with no-trade clauses with that guy in charge.

Yeah, same sour vibe about him as Green had before the end, and the same effect on the team: no confidence or cohesion as a group. For sure some, maybe a lot of it is on the players, but essentially this same group did come together under Bruce last year so .... I'm also starting to think Rutherford is a dick also and that it's trickling down from the top. Hey, I'm a crotchety old man too but that act wears thin pretty quickly.

I think Shaw made a bigger difference here than he got credit for. Once Green was fired and he took over the D, that is. You want "structure"? Yeo and Cull clearly aren't the answer.

It was a decent effort. They're just not that good.

Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.... Stillman sucks, seriously. At least Bruce benched him after their third goal, but why was he even in the lineup over Rathbone, Brisebois, Wolanin or Burroughs?

Totally. Not a Gino knock-off in how he plays but if him and Kuzmenko become buds like Gino and Pavel, that's gonna be a good thing. There can never be another Gino and I don't expect that of Ethan, but it would be great if he fits in here and gets some of the love that Gino will always have.

Not much experience with them, but I get along just fine with black bears.

Feeling pretty partial to this guy and hoping everything works out for him with us.

One bear to another (no offense: I like Russians, Ethan and bears)