Opinions on Mike Gillis

[PistolPete13]

I've been a Canuck fan from day mf one, but they have become totally unwatchable. Chicago has stuck to the program and they are doing pretty good. As a hockey fan I watch them and enjoy watching hockey. When I watch my Canucks play, I just want to cry. Will they ever score another goal????

[sting]

Since the Hodgson deal Gillis has been incompetent and deserves the angst he is getting. His failure to acquire scoring with chips such as Schneider, Hodgson and Luongo ultimately sealed the fate of this core. The ownership and management group has done the players and this fan base a disservice. They have embarrassed players ( Luongo, Malhotra ) and had players buy in and take less money with the promises of deepening the team and adding......this has been a fail and for guys like Kesler it makes sense why they want out.

I will add that the players deserve a tremendous amount of blame.

[sroutley]

All I can say is time for a change should be a new General Manager. Sorry but far to many mistakes and not enough done to address the hockey issue. I do not blame Tortorella most of all this is on Mike Gillis. He created this and we lost two number 1 goalies to end up with two unproven ones and another 3rd line center. I cannot see what he is after but if it is the number 1 pick in 2015 then I will undertand otherwise Gillis needs to go.

[-DLC-]

Since the Hodgson deal Gillis has been incompetent and deserves the angst he is getting. His failure to acquire scoring with chips such as Schneider, Hodgson and Luongo ultimately sealed the fate of this core. The ownership and management group has done the players and this fan base a disservice. They have embarrassed players ( Luongo, Malhotra ) and had players buy in and take less money with the promises of deepening the team and adding......this has been a fail and for guys like Kesler it makes sense why they want out.

I will add that the players namely the Sedins, Burrows, Booth and the lack of push from the youngsters do deserve a tremendous amount of blame.

Here's the part you're missing...you acquire "players" not "scoring". Players score and sometimes they don't...at the moment, ours aren't. But they're expected to and this isn't something management has done/hasn't done...top scorers have not been producing on this team. Now, you may say that it's the management's responsibility to address that, and they try. But there is no store down on the corner that sells guaranteed goals and, with that, we have to count on the players in place to score. Or make sure we get good value if releasing those who were/are expected to score (for they may just find their game again after they're gone). I fully expect some of these guys TO bust out again, Burr being one of them.

Even if you trade for other "players", there's no guarantee they'll produce. People want to plug in [scorer] and all problems are solved but we don't get a money back guarantee if we pick up players who don't contribute as much as Kes or others who were in the mix. Those are big skates to fill.

Manny wasn't "embarrassed" here, he was actually saluted, honoured and, to some degree, protected.

[Trebreh]

I knew he wouldn't do crap today, finally trading Luongo was like a huge gorilla off his back, he's going to take it easy in the summer re-signing and handing out NTCs again.

Look at Yzerman, backed into a corner with St.Louis demanding a trade to NY and STILL manage to get a great return for a 38 yr old...

Buffalo was able to get Chris Stewart for a pending UFA Ryan Miller..

While Gillis is busy making up excuses the rest of the GMs are making deals that improve their team now and for the future.

[Ronalds.Kenins41]

This ownership is worst in history of this organization and surpasses (Mccaw era) which is saying alot.

Gillis should have been fired long ago, much less should never have been hired in first place. He's totally ruined this team with most of the moves (trades, signings) he's made. Not many want to deal with him, and those who do fleece him (Schneider, Hodgson).

Ownership nixing Kesler deal (if true) will turn into Luongo 2.0.

I don't blame Torts as he can only work with what he has.

This organization is laughing stock. Bunch of clowns.

You realize part of the reason kesler wants to leave is........... my god.

You clearly missed the 06/07 season when AV had nothing we still made the playoffs, made lu look like all star and won the jack adams. Torts inherited a better team and can't even come close to what AV did.

[Moustachio]

They're asking Gillman if ownership was involved in the Kes stuff: "they always are (involved), they're here with us, it's always been a collaboration".

Owners didn't quash a deal - there was no deal there to be made.

I'm not really leaning one way or another, but you can't expect MG or Gilman to come and and blame a flubbed deal on ownership. He gave a politcally correct non-answer, just like MG did, and neither really shed any light at all on what happened.

I'm inclined to think they wanted to move Kes and shake things up, but the deals on offer weren't enough to satisfy everyone. Hopefully they get a second shot when the season is done.

Was a bit annoyed that SNET was making out like Kesler looked unhappy in the vision of him at training. He looked relieved to me... and anyone who knows the nucks should know that he never looks happy - the fact that he wasn't dancing around and beaming from ear to ear shouldn't mean jack-all.

[BCRenegade]

You can't simple make "BOLD" moves by switching third/forth liners. Our core has played like sh!t, Kes wants out, there is no enthusiasm, no heart and soul in any of our guys right now. I find myself reading while a game is on. Watch the first ten minutes, see the boys really don't care, and read. This has Calgary written all over it. Edler-"I don't want a trade" well sorry but your bad plays and sloppy defensive zone play says other wise. Where is JS? Has he even been playing? The only noticeable player for me in the last 10 games has been Eddie Lack, Sestito also. That's sad, TOM SESTITO!!

This is a business, we saw regression after the cup run, soooooooo we fired AV. Time for a change, Torts will put this team back to where it was. Nope. Now MG realizes this won't happen it's time for a re-tool, but you have to move the players, not just Kes. If aqua man won't let you do your job, find another one. Life sucks get a helmut.

The team can not wait for our players to tell management when they can be traded. "I will not ask a player with an NTC if they want to waive". Well MG that was ultimately your decision in the first place by signing them. Either fix the situation or move on so Someone else can. There is no time in business, it's about making decisions NOW and bettering the business. The longer we drag this out, less profit, less spending on owner ships part for getting better players, = no playoffs = owners big payday down the tubes. These guys sure do know how to make this an unnecessary "PROCESS"

/rant

[hsedin33]

And how much a year would we owe in Cap Hit if we bought Lou out? .. the Luongo contract was signed by two parties and they both share equal blame in my eyes, especially after the League pulled the rug out from under those Contracts like Lui's that THEY approved ..

Luongo isn't to blame, he signed the contract because he thought he would be the #1 starter here and the go-to guy for this franchise, any other player in this league would have done the same. At no point did Luongo do wrong to this franchise, he signed a contract that MG offered, management made the decision to play Cory instead, Cory was made #1 and Lu conceited, they traded Cory and made Lu #1 again, they then traded Lu. Where did Lu go wrong exactly? Luongo likely would never have asked to be traded had management not created this controversy. Luongo did what was asked of him at all times. They told him to play, he played, they told him to sit, he sat, Lu is no back up goalie though, especially at 5.3m, so what else could he do but ask for a trade?

Of all our options, I think had management just kept its promise about making Lu #1 after trading Cory, I think Lu would have been fine just staying here, but the whole starting Lack at the big Heritage classic game was really uncalled for, he could have played even if he was going to be traded. Lu bled green and blue, and all he wanted to do was play, and he was damn good at it, but we can't handle someone like that in this town, nope.

[mrreindeer]

Isn't it funny how no trade offers are ever good enough for the canucks, yet every other team that has a high end piece to move gets the job done for the most part.

Now, we really don't know who to blame to be fair. Gillis might be telling the truth, but I doubt it. There is so much noise about a kesler bidding war you would think there must be some truth to it and a deal should've been fairly easy to make. Then there's the media talk that Aquaman wouldn't sign off on the trade because he still believes they can make the playoffs.That sounds more likely imo.

2 things, if that was true then why let the trade rumour pick up speed, why not nip it in the bud right away? And second if aquillini is the one calling the shots then why let Gillis take all the grief. Step up like a man and say you don't want to trade Kesler at this time.

We never hear from this guy so the fan base only knows what Gillis tells us and he doesn't say much of anything substantial.

[86Viking]

My opinion, Gillis is gone after the season. His answers today are such bullshi*

You dont trade a proven #1, run with 2 rookie goalies with under 70gp combined, and knowing daniel is out long term you stand pat, only get worse and dont get any help in the scoring dept.

I would be shocked if Gillis is our GM at the draft

[Mustapha]

We never hear from this guy so the fan base only knows what Gillis tells us and he doesn't say much of anything substantial.

When Gillis addresses the media, he seems to act as if it's offensive to ask questions about the team. That's a good thing Mike, that means people care. I have a feeling that a lot of people will stop caring once this team misses the playoffs.

[hsedin33]

This team is failing because MG is asking too much from too little.

He gutted this teams talent, never made a real attempt to improve this team or correct his mistakes and expected it to go farther then it did before.

Now too much will be asked of Lack. Lack is going to do well in the future, but he is going to stumble and fall for a long time, especially with what is being asked of him to make the playoffs (and do something in the playoffs). I think I see where Torts 'lost hope' expression comes from now.

[Trebreh]

words cannot express how much I hate Gillis. I feel sorry for the fans that expect this guy to make 'bold' decisions this summer because I have zero faith in him. I just hope the entire management team gets fired in the off season, hell i'd welcome back Burke if it meant Gillis is gone. atleast he walks the talk.

[Tearloch7]

Luongo isn't to blame, he signed the contract because he thought he would be the #1 starter here and the go-to guy for this franchise, any other player in this league would have done the same. At no point did Luongo do wrong to this franchise, he signed a contract that MG offered, management made the decision to play Cory instead, Cory was made #1 and Lu conceited, they traded Cory and made Lu #1 again, they then traded Lu. Where did Lu go wrong exactly? Luongo likely would never have asked to be traded had management not created this controversy. Luongo did what was asked of him at all times. They told him to play, he played, they told him to sit, he sat, Lu is no back up goalie though, especially at 5.3m, so what else could he do but ask for a trade?

Of all our options, I think had management just kept its promise about making Lu #1 after trading Cory, I think Lu would have been fine just staying here, but the whole starting Lack at the big Heritage classic game was really uncalled for, he could have played even if he was going to be traded. Lu bled green and blue, and all he wanted to do was play, and he was damn good at it, but we can't handle someone like that in this town, nope.

The very people who were crying to buy-out Lou are many of the same ones now who are bemoaning the $800,000 Cap Hit .. I said equal blame for the Contract .. even Lou admitted that. I really like Lou and appreciate all he brought to this team, but it was him who wanted out because 'kids' were outplaying him .. so I believe Lou played every much as big a part in this "Circus Act' as anyone else has .. no-one involved is exempt from blame as they were all part of the 'process'.

Greed and fear are a nasty combo

[J529]

You realize part of the reason kesler wants to leave is........... my god.

You clearly missed the 06/07 season when AV had nothing we still made the playoffs, made lu look like all star and won the jack adams. Torts inherited a better team and can't even come close to what AV did.

Torts was exactly the kind of coach that was needed for this team unlike AV who ran country club and let the player's run the locker room. What complete joke that was.

Torts inherited a better team? What are you smoking? They haven't been able to score which started in the finals, has continued since then and weren't scoring when AV was still here. Gillis did nothing to address or improve scoring woes.

[Papayas]

Tell me. If you think he's such good GM, why don't list all the great moves he's done to improve the team in his tenure because the bad moves easily outweigh and outnumber any good moves he's made. He took over team which Burke, Nonis both made good moves and has ruined the team by what he's done.

Luongo choked in playoffs? Right. It's all his fault they couldn't score in Finals along with not having any toughness either, which Gillis didn't address. It was also Gillis who gave him that huge contract, along with that other huge contracts he's given out with NTC's, including the recent extensions to Sedins who are regressing fast.

It's amazing how Gillis has conned not only ownership but so many people and fans. Alot of stupid and dumb people out there.

to be fair he had done a pretty decent job since he took over. He landed us players like Hammer, Ehrhoff, Samuellson, Tanev, Garrison, Manny, and a lot of decent and cheap pick ups that really push the team to be one of the best in the league. He also developed a nice culture where players would enjoy playing in Vancouver.

Even in drafts he wasn't overly bad. It's hard to draft good players when you are wins the PC and is a regular playoff team. For what he had drafted, the players are pretty decent and we should see some of them making an impact to the team next season.

Hell, even the luongo signing wasn't a bad signing. (which i will explain later)

so to say he had done nothing good during his time as our GM is a bit of an exaggeration...

His downfall tho, is that he started to go against eveything he stands and believe in after the cup lost. Slowly he started to head to the different direction that made his team a successful team.

He went back on his deal with Luongo, who was supposed to be with the canucks for life.

He created the goalie controversy that literally changed the way Luongo treated his game. Luongo changed from a player who bleed blue and green to a bench player in a single season. You DONT treat your franchise players like that and let a rookie with 20 games under his belt take over.

He changed the culture of the team after the cup run. Instead of making it a comfortable place for players, he turned this into "if you have anything to say about our team, you can get out of here."

He became too calculating and took out the emotion part out of this game.

He changed the team from skilled and puck procession into big and grindy.

overall his biggest failure is that he changed his direction after the cup run..... but we shouldn't overlook the goods he had done.

[Me_]

Mike Gillis on a Phoenix golf course?

From where I'm from, if you have an important office day, it requires an office, preferably home. On such an important day, Mike Gillis plays golf.

[hsedin33]

The very people who were crying to buy-out Lou are many of the same ones now who are bemoaning the $800,000 Cap Hit .. I said equal blame for the Contract .. even Lou admitted that. I really like Lou and appreciate all he brought to this team, but it was him who wanted out because 'kids' were outplaying him .. so I believe Lou played every much as big a part in this "Circus Act' as anyone else has .. no-one involved is exempt from blame as they were all part of the 'process'.

Greed and fear are a nasty combo

I think people who hate Lu will find ways to hate him regardless. In terms of being outplayed, I am going to disagree with the Canucks look on it.

AV and Torts, both played who they think will give them the best chance at winning a certain game that night, in other words, their decision really wasn't based on anything solid. At what point does a goalies track record come into consideration? Luongo was given no credit for his larger body of work. The fact is, Luongo won a lot of games, he was the one guy who would always give the team a chance no matter who they played and how bad we played. how many times have we said the only thinkg that kept us in games was our goalie?

The difference between Lack and Luongo:

Luongo was at the point where he could back stop a losing team like ours and still come back to fight the next game even harder. Lack is going to get absolutely shelled (especially if we make the p-offs) and we better hope he is as mentally tough about losing as Luongo, he is really all we can count on now.

[-DLC-]

I'm not really leaning one way or another, but you can't expect MG or Gilman to come and and blame a flubbed deal on ownership. He gave a politcally correct non-answer, just like MG did, and neither really shed any light at all on what happened.

I'm inclined to think they wanted to move Kes and shake things up, but the deals on offer weren't enough to satisfy everyone. Hopefully they get a second shot when the season is done.

Was a bit annoyed that SNET was making out like Kesler looked unhappy in the vision of him at training. He looked relieved to me... and anyone who knows the nucks should know that he never looks happy - the fact that he wasn't dancing around and beaming from ear to ear shouldn't mean jack-all.

Oh I agree 100%...I mean, how can they come out and say "yeah, we wanted to but (those idiots back at the ranch said no)". They wouldn't have jobs for very long. They said a lot without saying much...confirmed that the owners were very hands on. And we can fully expect that meant they were calling the shots, at least to some degree.

And I absolutely HATE that some are now trying to drum up some Kes dirt...I guess our goaltender story is now closed so what on Earth is left to talk about?

It ruffles feathers and creates friction...I won't buy into or support it. I think Kes just wants to play. And, mostly, win. Nothing wrong with that....