Mike Gillis Should Stay

[combover]

To all those saying bring in a competent GM there are none that will work for a owner that makes coaching and personnel decions like the current cr.p ownership group CLEARLY does. The next GM will be someone who is comfortable with the role as PUPPET (nonis type).

You want some to blame, blame almost everyone of this current teams problems on the real problem owners. Who ( like rats fleeing a sinking ship) once sales decline because of the garbage style of play will want out and sell .......hopefully sooner than later.

[Red Light Racicot]

_{Mike Gillis is hands down the greatest GM in the history of all professional sports. In fact, I would even go as far to say that Gillis is the greatest manager of people and assets there has ever been. This man is a bloody saint.....love him. If they cure cancer, it will be because of him.}

If he was around during the 60s Lennon would have said "Gillis is bigger then Jesus" and there wouldnt have been any controversy at all because everyone would have agreed.

[Tearloch7]

If he was around during the 60s Lennon would have said "Gillis is bigger then Jesus" and there wouldnt have been any controversy at all because everyone would have agreed.

Apparently Judas had the last laugh tho .. /g

[Honky Cat]

To all those saying bring in a competent GM there are none that will work for a owner that makes coaching and personnel decions like the current cr.p ownership group CLEARLY does. The next GM will be someone who is comfortable with the role as PUPPET (nonis type).

You want some to blame, blame almost everyone of this current teams problems on the real problem owners. Who ( like rats fleeing a sinking ship) once sales decline because of the garbage style of play will want out and sell .......hopefully sooner than later.

This is the scary reality..If there is ownership interference..the debates that we have on these boards amount to nought...Especially when nobody really knows who is making the decisions for this team.

[SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME]

This is the scary reality..If there is ownership interference..the debates that we have on these boards amount to nought...Especially when nobody really knows who is making the decisions for this team.

I think the events of the past couple seasons have shown the degree to which the current ownership involves itself in hockey operations.

Which makes Gillis' interview yesterday all the more intriguing.

I'm very curious to see if we'll be seeing a new MO from MG, based on his recent statements. I was very happy to hear him admit that the organization has been "chasing a moving target" and that he plans to correct this by getting the team back to the formula that made it successful.

It remains to be seen, but if Gillis stays President and GM, and he makes good on what he said yesterday, it will likely mean that our rookie GM has finally come into his own and has made a long-overdue stand with the ownership.

It's easy to forget that Gillis is a relative neophyte in his position. Most GMs have a decade or more experience in some aspect of hockey ops. While Gillis' background as a former pro and a player agent provides him with a pretty good foundation, he still stepped into a job with a steep learning curve and he's obviously been figuring things out along the way.

I don't blame him for bending to the will of the owners.

But after the recent interview, I feel like Gillis has finally reached the point where he truly believes that he knows "better" than the Aquilinis and has the confidence to tell them as much

He seems ready to put his job on the line in the belief that he can right this ship so long as the owners give him enough control to steer this team in the direction they need to be successful.

Some people will take Gillis' bluster and hubristic speaking style as him being someone who's always believed he's known "better" than everyone around him. Personally, I've seen a guy covering for some insecurity and at times trying to hide how much he's been overwhelmed by the stress and challenges of running this team (especially wearing both the President and GM hats, and especially in this market and with this ownership).

I've also seen a guy whose first choice has always been to delegate responsibilities whenever possible and who has sometimes given too much respect to colleagues with more experience and history with the club. He's also let his sense of loyalty get the best of him at times.

Over the past year or so, I've seen a shift in this as Gillis has seemed far more willing to admit to and own management mistakes while also being willing to hold others to a higher degree of accountability. He's also just seemed to show a greater degree of openness and honesty (although still a lawyer at heart).

He seems like he's reached a place where he's finally finished his "on the job" training and has become truly confident in his ability to make the right call, even on the tough ones.

When Gillis first came in, he was full of "bold moves" and new thinking. Many of his innovations worked, some did not. The Canucks came a win away from the Stanley Cup. From that point on, I've seen a guy who's been unsure how to take the next step. Too much dithering and half measures with roster moves. Too much "chasing the moving target" (ie: we need to be more like Detroit, Chicago, Boston, LA, Chicago again, and who knows now... St. Louis/Anaheim?).

I see ownership having a big role in this. Gillis has had to explain why the Canucks weren't as good as each year's Cup winner (or other media darling team) and then he's tried to change the Canucks to be more like these other models. In the process, the team has only moved farther away each year (since 2011) from what made it the most successful.

I love that Gillis appears to have finally realized that the Canucks need to try to be more like themselves when they've been at their best. He had a winning formula and he moved away from it. He didn't have enough belief to stick things out.

It seems like Gillis finally believes in himself and in his vision for this team.

If that's the case, and it took going through this year's struggles for him to get there, then 2013-14 was far from a lost season. Some people might feel it's "too little too late" but if MG was being sincere in his statements yesterday, I'd like to see what this "new" Mike Gillis can accomplish with the Canucks over the next few years.

Hopefully, the Aquilinis will give him the control he needs to do his job properly.

[Tearloch7]

^ ^ ^ very well said .. this should mark a real change for us going forward, as for bad or worse, the cards seem to finally be 'on the table' ..

[oldnews]

I see ownership having a big role in this. Gillis has had to explain why the Canucks weren't as good as each year's Cup winner (or other media darling team) and then he's tried to change the Canucks to be more like these other models. In the process, the team has only moved farther away each year (since 2011) from what made it the most successful.

I think you made a lot of good and interesting points there, but the one thing I really see little evidence of is Gillis changing the team in a personnel sense and moving away from what made them successful in terms of the types of players he has assembled. For the most part there have been fewer changes than people wanted, and the most significant ones were to move the two goaltenders. It's not like Gillis rearranged the core a couple times to try to shift back and forth from defensive counterpunchers like Boston and L.A. to a skate and skill team like the Hawks or Wings. There just haven't been that many moves, and the additions seem to suit a balance - of size, speed and skill (Kassian, Jensen, Matthias) as opposed to one or the other - skill vs grit. Richardson and Santorelli are also not easy to pigeon hole. I think what Gillis was getting at moreso in those comments was the coaching style shift that came this year, somewhat of a mismatch, and one that didn't really heed a lot of principles that Gillis had in place. The complications come in as you note when it's not really clear who is defining the goalposts.

[oldnews]

This is the scary reality..If there is ownership interference..the debates that we have on these boards amount to nought...Especially when nobody really knows who is making the decisions for this team.

[TheSecretIsMe]

I think MG was originally on track with this team but he fell off pretty drastically after the cup finals. Over the last two seasons I feel as if he has lost his own identity not just the teams, he's a lot more indecisive now.

Things I would like to see from MG:

1. Kesler gets traded to either the Hawks, Pens, Philly, or Detroit and the return should work in our favour long-term (Player,1st rounder, top-prospect) and the opposite party short-term (as all four are potential cup contenders and want to win now).

2. We either draft this year in the top 6 or he trades down.

3. Finds the right coach for this team.