Puck'nAnimal

Scratch Trotz off the list. I guess we're looking seriously at Stevens and Desjardins.

better'n mine which was: ...in Japanese. takobozu.

You know what. I think I'll play patient and see what Benning does with this team. That's what will be best long-term for the blood-pressure. This team is going to take a lot of fixin' and it's going to take a while until we see results. In the meantime whaddaya say you n' I pull up a coupla chairs and watch the bandwagoners froth themselves into a frenzy and dive off the bandwagon. Eh?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Vancouver_Canucks_draft_picks - Take a look through the years. See how many stuck with the club, see how many got traded. See how many "bright spots" we've had. I'm 100% behind the club. But after 44 years, I'd like to see a few RESULTS! It's an absolute embarrassment to see a team younger than the Canucks win the Stanley Cup. Sure it can be attributed to luck but a lot of it can be attributed to bad decisions by the Canucks management. Hopefully with Jim Benning coming in and Trevor at the helm, we may turn the corner finally. Here's to hoping.

You're 33 years old. Well...That pretty much means you have no recollection of the '82 run where the Canucks ran up against a hot Islanders team that blew them out in four straight. That was the very definition of a Cinderella team that came out of the blue and headed to the finals. I guess I won't tell you about the disappointment felt when they didn't win a single game in those finals as you probably wouldn't understand. It also means that you haven't seen the growing pains of this hockey club back in the 70s. I saw the 80s, I saw the 90s and frankly, I'll take the team in '94 that put out 100% of their blood, toil, sweat and tears over the team in 2011 and left it ALL on the ice in Game 7 in New York. So don't give me the "holier than thou - I've seen so much" speech. The Canuck fans who have watched this club from day 1 are still laughing their heads off. Just thought I'd remind you.

Had wayyyy too much time to waste this weekend. Wondering if the Vancouver Media speculation will go three for three and nail a hat-trick. Waiting and hoping if the Linden-Benning-Trotz will strike Cup for us. The Capitals as far as I'm concerned (Trotz stated himself that he's wary of joining a team that hasn't got a GM in place) may or may not get Trotz. Depends on how fast the Canucks are willing to move. Unless we're talking about a 5 year rebuild, Desjardins is "learning on the job" here as a NHL head coach. If Trotz isn't available, I'd prefer Stevens as a head coach. At least he has experience at the NHL level.

Doesn't mean though that they aren't going to try, but their own reputation is going to take a serious hit if they do.

The ones who stay the course (the fans that is) through these rough times are the fans who earn the respect of diehard fans. That's when we see who the band-wagoners really are. As someone who got royally pissed off when Jack Gordon traded Neely for what essentially turned out to be a lacklustre Barry Pederson; I could have jumped ship then, but didn't and stayed the course through. Seen three cup runs all unsuccessful, but I'm still a Canucks fan through and through and will be till my last breath. We've seen a lot of ups and downs since the Canucks came into this league in 1970. But the Jim Benning hiring to me seems to be the first step towards turning the corner. And I welcome it with open arms. I don't know about you guys, but I can't wait till the draft.

I think the guys who play minor hockey right now are concentrating on developing their skills, getting as much ice-time as they can (if their parents can afford it or if they've been selected to a major junior team their team has specified ice-times) and not wasting their time commenting on a message board.

So when we getting Bruins' John Whitesides as our strength and conditioning coach? ~evil laughter~

Did I even say "trade" in my comments? Read what I said over again. What I feel he's going to do is he's going to make changes to our depth with the addition of key pieces through the draft. I doubt that he's going to swing a deal unless the opportunity is there to pick up a solid piece of the puzzle. We need to rebuild the prospects pool with some key drafting. And no good team has a shallow prospect pool. Certainly with changes to the core and the addition of playing the younger players so that they get NHL experience, they will create a "culture" in the Canucks that has sorely been lacking. It's not going to be an easy road and nobody should expect that it's going to be. For several years now, the Canucks have let their younger players sit in the AHL, it's time to let them come up and show their mettle and be evaluated on whether they have what it takes to stay in the Canucks organization.

I liked the presser that Jim Benning gave. He knew exactly what this team needs. Mind you, that he's been working in the Eastern Conference yet he knows exactly what the Western Conference is doing. He looks at the camera and says. "We play in the toughest conference in the NHL. We got to look to the Anaheim, the LA, the San Jose..." and what they're doing to succeed in this conference and figure out how to beat them. And if I recall...those teams are big, physical and they know how the hell to skate. And I think you'll see Vancouver take that step to out-manoeuvre them in a way that will model very much a physical, fast skating, big-bodied team. This guy has a background in scouting; he knows what he's talking about and he's been a key figure in a successful hockey franchise. I'll give him his props. And frankly, this is the most hope I've had in 43 now 44 seasons as a Vancouver Canuck fan. All I can do is give him my best-wishes that he have a long and successful run as Vancouver Canuck GM; that he turns this team around built for long-term success and that somewhere along that line, the Canucks end up hoisting that silver mug.

I don't give a rats patootie who else they bring in... (just so long as it's Trotz) but I really really want this guy for our strength and conditioning coach. Wonder what it would take to get John out of Boston. I think every single one of the Canucks who have NTC clauses in their contract would waive their NTCs and look for a way OUTTA here. http://video.bruins.nhl.com/videocenter/?id=592163 Poor Fin...he'd be blowing steam out his blowhole.

OMG.

And if I remember correctly, Jack Gordon was the guy who traded ...GUESS WHO!? I think it was...this "salt-and pepper" haired guy. Can't really remember his name though... I hear he's some bigwig down in Beantown. Hey...SEA BASS...thanks for Jim Benning. "Maybe you might be welcome back in Maple Ridge" now.

Gravol works, I've heard. I figure that Benning will take a good hard look at the team and we'll see some major changes coming down the turnpike.

...won't believe it till I see it official on the Canucks website (and by that I don't mean the discussion board).

LMAO @ Milan Lucic. "Milan, you're a #@%&ing dumbass...and unsportsmanlike to boot."

Adios Boston. I've never been so happy in my life. Maybe this bodes well for Jim Benning.

Thanks. I'm getting old. My balls are hanging one behind the other for less drag. In any case. I just hope that Trev gets the best guy out there who can do the job and get the team to where we need to get to. Lord Stanley.

C'mon Hedman, tell us how you REALLY feel.

I'm not laughing at you, Phillip, I'd be happy if we managed to make all the trades that could bring those guys to Vancouver. And that would involve wholesale larceny of those teams.

I wants some of what you got. Is it green and smells kinda funny...and illegal?

The simple fact is that if we continue to model ourselves after Detroit, we're going to fail and fail miserably. The Pacific Division is a completely different animal than the division the Red Wings play in. We have bang & crash teams in Anaheim, LA and San Jose who have upped their size and know that if they play a physical game that they can throw the Canucks off. Do some research. Look up the team rosters on NHL.com and see how we compare size wise in this division. See how Chicago fares against other teams in their division. In order to make it to the Stanley Cup playoffs, you need to WIN YOUR DIVISION. And if you don't have the right personnel (big, skilled, puck-moving bodies) to get the job done in YOUR division, then you don't have an ice-cube's chance in hell. Part of why Torts failed so miserably this season is because the team components weren't right to get the job done. I'm not even going to go into injuries. Let me ask. How many of those injuries happened while playing those three top teams in our division? Proves the point. If we have to go Bruins management and get Jim Benning. BY ALL MEANS. DO SO! Let's get that winning culture in the Canucks dressing room and play like they damned well mean it. Canucks fans who have seasons' tickets are getting fed up and they're showing it by not renewing. The simple fact of the matter is that those seaons' ticket-holders are winners in their field and they're tired of seeing status quo, Reward for no effort. Those of us who have stuck around since the days of Kurtenbach, Maki, Kearns and Quinn (as players) are getting tired of that too and we want to see results. I've loved this team since my days in diapers (in the early 70s) in Edmonton (No Coilers back then) and have been a loyal fan; but enough is enough. It's not enough just to contend anymore. I'm hitting 44 this year (same as Trev - I'd see him in the Broadway & Macdonald Street Safeway every so often back in 91 and say 'hi' - just a passing 'hey, how's things going? Trev.'). I want to see the Canucks hoist that silver mug before I kick off and become grass food and the only damned way we're going to do it is to scout our division and correct our weaknesses. In other words turn the damned division into our prey by zeroing our weaknesses. I sincerely hope that Benning can turn our fortunes around (if we can get him) and that Trev and Benning can work together to make this a Stanley Cup winning hockey club. That way then I can live out the rest of my life and die happy!