Hockey God

I love EP, and I love me some Tryamkin, so would love both to be core members of the Canucks for years to come, but it probably won't happen with Try, and we don't know the future with EP. But ok, just for the sake of discussion, I'll date myself by putting on my Ron Caron hat and "professoring up" a trade that would be talked about for years to come: Rights to Tryamkin/Virtanen/EP/1st this year/2nd next year for Eichel/Reinhart/Dahlin. Would Buffalo do this ... I think they might. EP is similar to Eichel in value going forward and better value as well in the short term, and add n a 2nd for the sake of appearances, and then the rest can be argued to even out depending on how high that 1st is. Would Vancouver do this ... 1 valuable roster asset, 1 semi-useful one, one asset that may never play for the team and one that is a crap-shoot versus 3 known and valued roster assets. I think it could work, but buyouts would need to happen. Flame away!

I have never thought throwing good money after bad was a great business decision, so I can't blame ownership for not wanting to lose even more money on bad deals. I don't know why people here in Vancouver don't appreciate the ownership of the Canucks the way they should. They pay big money to (hopefully) ice a good team, and don't (from what I can see) interfere in the on-ice product to any great degree. If anything, I wish they would interfere more, instead of leaving the product in the hands of Dim Jim and his merry band of coaching idiots (with the exception of Ian Clark, or course).

There is no blame here on Tryamkin at all. He did nothing wrong at all in his past time with the Canucks, and again, he is not to blame here either. The man had a choice: certainty (hometown team, good money), or the unknown (Benning, Canucks budget). Based on track records ... can you blame him for taking the certainty? He has a family to look after, and that is what he is doing. I wish him all the best.

Nikita be like ...

We should all know by now the following: 1. Benning doesn't trade vets out of "loyalty"; 2. Because of the above, we are stuck with albatross contracts until they either retire or come to end of contract; 3. Because of both of the above, the team will always have needs, but will never be able to get what it needs the most; 4. Because of the above three points, the coaching staff and Benning are safe, as the "process" can never be completed due to circumstances beyond their control, aka other teams not being willing to pay anything for our junk; 5. Finally, because of the above 4 points, being a Canucks fan is one of the most excruciating things you can be. I know, because I've been one since the mid 1970s.

Sorry, but there is a tier for god-level players, and McDavid isn't there ... yet. By god-level, we can disagree about order, but we're talking about Orr, Gretzky, Lemieux, and Howe (and asmall group of others) for different reasons on and off the ice. Rules changed and game play changed due to the effects these players had on the game. McDavid hasn't had that effect now, and he wouldn't have had it in the past. Maybe arguable after a career's worth of play, but not now, and personally, I doubt if it will ever be arguable.

Gassy Jack from Gastown?

Everyone has mentioned some great players, and personally would put Orr at #1 just for how he changed the game, but one that needs more love is Viacheslav Fetisov (I think I spelled his name right?). I remember Gretzky once saying that he was the best D he'd ever played against, and he was the immovable object not only in international play, but also mentored someone like Lidstrom in his early years. If he had had a chance in the NHL when he was younger, I think he would have impacted the game as much as Orr, not point wise, but definitely in how you use all of the ice to dominate the opposition. The Green Unit couldn't have worked as well without him; he was the coach on the ice, and the heart of that unit. I still remember the 87 Canada Cup, and while everyone remembers the final Gretzky to Lemieux goal, go back and watch how Fetisov dominated Gretzky's unit for most of that series. The grinders kept the Canadians in that last game, and that was largely because Fetisov had been tasked to shut down both Gretzky and Lemieux, and it's no accident that thee scored when he wasn't on the ice.

I don't know ... I would have thought Benning could have managed that price ...

I'd love to be in the room to hear the argument against Jake getting what he wants. Talk about tough love ...

If Toff is hitting free agency and the end result is we're getting OEL and keeping Jake instead ... I think this is a misstep.

If Arizona wants to move OEL here, and considering the effect he should have on the team going forward, JB can knock this out of the park in a deal like this: OEL for 1st rounder, Lind, Sutter and LE. Then, don't resign Tanev, let Marky go, and sign AP and King Henrik. With the other problematic contracts coming off the books within 2 years, this is the deal that the Canucks need going forward for it to make sense. If they can't do this, then it's not worth doing budget wise. If they want to do it, swing for the fences ... OEL - AP Hughes - Myers Edler - Rafferty OJ Benn Fanta

The players deserve a lot of credit for the growth they showed throughout the playoffs, and look set for a rise to contender status as early as next year ... but only if they get rid of Green as coach and the band of idiots who helped him behind the bench. I've seen comments on here saying that he deserves consideration as coach of the year, but I don't see it. The team played and showed well because their talent burned through the mediocrity of coaching at times. Benning and Aquaman need to see this for what it is ... a great showing by a young, learning team with Godko in net, but while the scheduling in the playoffs didn't help the Canucks, Green failed when this team needed some mentorship in Game 7. They played like young guys overwhelmed by the pressure in Game 7, and Green needed to instill some calm and focus on getting the job done. Godko almost stole it for them, but 5 shots throughout 2 periods of play in game 7 is, to me, a lack of bench coaching. The camera showed the bench at times, but there was no fire there, and that's what the young guys needed. That, and Green to say to Brown that the crap PP strategy was not working, and to go to plan B ... which was impossible, because there was no plan B due to inadequate coaching. Drop passes are good and all, but do it 100 times in a row, and that's not a strategy, that's just bad puck management.

Yep, totally agree with what you are saying, I'm just putting it out there that, if they really want to get things rolling on a temporary basis in a safe way, in an environment which caters to the international tourist and is sports mad, you could do a lot worse. In the current environment, it would just take one person to start a new outbreak, but with closed borders, geographic isolation and mandatory quarantine upon arrival and until fully cleared by medical staff, they could do a lot worse than New Zealand. The NHL has to weigh what they want and need with what they can do safely, and it may be impossible to do what they want and need in North America without any risk, something which the union may be unwilling to compromise on. Just an idea.

You have to really think outside of the box to make things work. Here's an idea ... here in New Zealand, there are basically 0 cases of covid-19, with 0 local transmission. If I were the NZ government, I'd be banging the drums saying to all sports to bring their players/support staff/families etc here, do the mandatory 14 days isolation, and then be free to play according to whatever schedule they determine in multiple venues. For us here, the benefits would be huge; just think about the spend up on accommodation, food, supplies, etc. But, for the NHL, there would alos be huge benefits: all broadcasting would be the same, and in fact would be gaining an in with the crowd here in Australasia which is starved for entertainment; players can do their thing with their loved ones in a safe and healthy environment, with no risk of infection (unless brought in from outside, hence the quarantine period), teams get the revenue from broadcasting and live attendance (supporting the salary cap), and the fan support would be massive given the novelty factor and strong expat community in this region. Do it for the remainder of the year until things settle down in North America, and you may find that all sides benefit in such an arrangement. even better, we're just entering winter, which means that hockey could be played in conditions which make it work better, not in slushy, summer conditions. Couldn't be a long term solution, but it could definitely work short term.

I wouldn't say there's a difference in the number of cases, but in the way the response is being handled. We've already been in lockdown for 2 weeks, but border controls and other restrictions here have actually been in place since mid-January. The government was very proactive given the number of international students who were set to return in late January for studies from their homes in Asia, and that really stunted the spread of the virus here. Basically, virtually all cases here are imports from tourists just prior to that lockdown, and the follow-on infections from their contacts, but we fully expect to be out of lockdown by around mid-April here, and back to full-on normal by the end of April, whereas other areas around the world are looking at months of restrictions. Never been stopped by police before, but in the last 2 weeks, when out shopping for essentials, it happened 3 different times. Arrests have also happened for breaking the restrictions. So, serious response, and I applaud NZ for that. Hopefully, BC will fare as well.

Lazarus, I wish you the best, but from where I am in New Zealand, it looks like BC is doing okay, though it could be a lot more stricter in terms of testing and combating the spread of the virus. I have to say, the lockdown here in New Zealand is quite a bit more strict than just about anywhere else, with the expressed goal of eliminating rather than mitigating or suppressing (as is the case almost everywhere else) the spread of the virus. but even here, testing is not widely available. Instead, everyone except essential services have been at home for almost 2 weeks, with strict cluster of the virus being followed up on and traced exceptionally well by the medical system. As a transplanted Canadian and BC resident, I feel extremely lucky to be living here right now. If it is knocked on its head in another 2 weeks, we'll be lucky, as we can go back to normal and still keep the borders closed to tourism and business and travel for a few more months while everyone else deals with the virus and waits for a vaccine. The benefits of being isolated!

Untenable. Changes must be made to the coaching staff.

Don't underestimate what ownership wants. I say personally fire Green, because he has had enough chances, and hasn't shown an ability to adapt (rather, he has shown a stubbornness on having a certain style of play with certain players), but FA pays the salaries, and I'm sure he wants that guaranteed playoff dough. If the playoffs are slipping away as this losing streak extends a few more games, after so many years out of the playoffs, I think he will go for the chance at a coaching change bump to save the season. I also think that the team would respond well, especially if it goes hand in hand with a returning Trymakin and a set lineup based on effort. Can hardly be worse than what has been happening recently.

Too late ... Jake should be playing top 6 minutes right now. Green has now begun to stunt his growth.

Agree. Been saying it all year as well. Sad to say, but to still make the playoffs, it may be that the best thing now is for the Canucks to lose a big one next game, to force ownership to make the change before it's too late. Players have tuned him out.

Yes!. What he ^ said!

He better be ... fed up with this insistence to play Loui in a role he has proven to be unable to perform in; fed up with his insistence to keep Jake from fulfilling his potential; fed up with his mixing of lines with neither rhyme nor reason. The guy is a slightly better version of Tom Renney circa 1997. He is past his use by date, and needs to go asap. Save the season, fire Green!

Green is playing for his job tonight, and that's what he does with the lines to break a losing streak ....