Baggins

We have some pretty good forward prospects.

DOOM! DOOM! How many years of Petey and Hughes do you want to waste hoping a 5th rounder pans out?

That's the thing, I approach trades with an open mind. Perhaps you should try an optimistic approach rather than ruling it a failure from the get go. Perhaps it will work out well for us. It doesn't need to be a homerun, it just needs to fill a purpose and we could really use some help on the right side. It's a very low cost risk that could work out well. Yet you jump straight to doom and gloom over a 5th round pick that may, or may never, step on NHL ice for the next 5 years.

For every team that tanked and became a contender there is a team that tanked only to retank again, and again. As I said, there is no guaranteed formula. It's building a team around your good talent that is the key. Plus you absolutely need to score draft hits out side top 10 picks to keep cheap young players coming in.. The biggest problem Benning faced coming in was nothing on the farm and only one player under 27 on the roster worth keeping. Had he tanked when he took over how many years of the high end talent drafted would be wasted rebuilding and entire team and stocked the farm team for depth? We took too long building around the WCE, and then too long again building around the Sedins. At least the Sedins got to contender status even if the window was small. The reason Chicago had such a big window to contend is there was a lot already in place before drafting Toews and Kane. If you want a long window your best talent needs to come towards the end rather than the beginning of rebuilding. Maintaining the window depends on good drafting and smart trades. High end talent is important but if you fail to build around them you're spinning your wheels.

The problem is no rebuild method guarantees success. Many teams have tanked only to retank, and then retank again. Tanking doesn't guarantee anything. What actually gets you to contender status is building around your stars along with good coaching and systems that optimize your players strengths.

5-2 Nucks Kraken Miller Schwartz Still hoping to flip the outcome

First I'll start with very few NHL logos have any hockey reference in them. It simply doesn't matter in the logo. I've always though team name and where the team plays were far more important. I'm actually quite fine with anybody disliking the Orca C. That's a matter of taste in what one likes. But just say "I don't like it". It's the utter nonsense and clutching at straws that drives me nuts. Like "an orca isn't a Canuck" as if a stick in rink is a Canuck. I don't like the SiR, and never have. It's bland and boring. It always looked stupid to me. The running JC looks like a minor league logo. It did even when I was a kid in the 60's. Great for our minor league team. The skate was better than the SiR or hideous V uni's but I was alway meh at best about them. I like the Orca because the Haida look and because I know the historical connection the Orca has to Vancouver. I grew up with that connection and remember when Molly Doll was towed into Burrard Inlet. That's why I like it, and have always said it's very Vancouver and Pacific Northwest. It's a great logo for WHERE the team plays.

I'd take a healthy Poolman over him. If Stecher had some size to go with his heart he'd be worth hanging on to. But we needed an upgarde for sure.

I still don't understand Stecher being included as a complaint. I fully expected him not to be re-signed at the end of that season. The kid is certainly likeable and has heart but he's certainly not a guy a good team would keep as a regular. In free agency he signed with a bottom feeder in Detroit. Was traded as a pending ufa at the deadline for a 7th round pick. The best job he could find this year was laughing stock Arizona. He was and is a fringe d-man you don't worry about losing to free agency. It's silly to even mention Stecher as a complaint about Benning.

He did say from the very beginning the goal was "compete for a playoff spot while transitioning to a younger team". Basically rebuild without tanking. He said it over and over. To me that made sense because virtually the entire team needed to be replaced with nothing worthwhile on the farm team. It didn't matter how he did the rebuild it was going to be quick. You are right the rebuild is over. It's in build phase, surrounding the high end talent with support.

Do you think they're afraid of a running lumberjack? Other teams are only ever afraid of who you put on the ice. Stupid comment.

I think he's just trying to do too much and getting too cute. Petey and Hughes can sometimes do the same, But Miller really seems to be getting burned on it this season. I felt Petey was doing the same thing at the start of last season. Trying too hard to live up to his big raise and just messing up instead because he was trying to do too much.

5-2 Nucks Canes Miller Necas It's time to flip the prediction hoping to flip the outcome

5-2 Vancover Miller

Giving it the rinse and repeat guess.... Canucks 5-2 GWG - Miller

Vancouver 5-2 Miller gwg

Well somebody needs to keep a seat warm in the press box. Better Klim is playing in the A.

It's called return on investment. Whether you build it or buy it it has cost you money and you want a return on that investment. Then in addition there are upkeep and upgrade costs. You haven't actually made a profit until you make your investment back. Then you're into profit. The whole idea of business is to maximize profit.

Maybe, like many others, he just didn't get the Orca connection to Vancouver. But it's still an odd statement considering he played for the Whalers.

Yet Howe played for a team with a whale tail on the jersey. Weird....

So far the lineups have been such a mixed bag of guys we knew wouldn't be on the team it doesn't matter much. Assuming injured players don't return prior to start of season we're down to a final cut of two more players after Tuesdays cuts. The remaining preseason games, with mainly the regulars, is where we'll really see what the players can do. Which is also true of the competition. Kuzmenko, Joshua, and Lazar have looked fine. I also liked Karlsson's play. I think Rathbone still has some defensive difficulties. But we'll get a much better look over the next games seeing them play with better the quality regulars. That can make any or all of them that much better.