(Speculation) Change coming today?

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

So let me see if I have this one straight:

This tweet started everything:

Hearing whispers that perhaps change is coming sooner rather than later with the Canucks, perhaps as soon as today or tomorrow...

"Whispers" of possible change in Vancouver? Groundbreaking stuff.

And that's quite a bit of hedging on the timeline:

"perhaps change is coming sooner rather than later"

"perhaps as soon as today or tomorrow"

I've been hearing these kinds of "whispers" for months. The whole city is talking about whether we should "fire Gillis" or "fire Torts" or "fire everyone." Doesn't seem like much of a story.

Then we get some complete speculation with Linden's name thrown into the mix.

If there was anything imminent involving Linden, the BT interview this morning would have been cancelled (or at the very least, there would have been a "no comment" rather than a denial from Trevor). Why would Linden even bother showing up for BT if he was on the verge of becoming the Canucks' president?

This whole thing just seems like some guesswork getting thrown up on Twitter with the hopes of landing "first" on a story when something actually happens.

Rumours that include serious hedging language and lack any identifiable sources are usually just guesswork or stirring the pot.

And for all the credibility we give to Bob McKenzie, he's been duped numerous times by rumours that didn't pan out. The difference with McKenzie (from most other "insiders") is that he usually admits when he's wrong or when he's been jobbed by a bad rumour.

And it looks like Bobby Mac is starting to put some distance between himself and the earlier tweets:

Bob McKenzie ‏@TSNBobMcKenzie 54m

But as I said earlier, highly volatile situation, many moving parts, so we'll see where this goes. No confirmations on anything yet.

Retweeted by Bob McKenzie

Farhan Lalji ‏@FarhanLaljiTSN 36m

Linden says on Global he has not been approached by ownership about #canucks prez job & than an announcement is not imminent

There's no question that there's considerable volatility inside the Vancouver Canucks organization currently and that significant changes could come at any moment.

But that certainly shouldn't be "news" to anyone.

[aGENT]

Honestly, this exact thing. I don't think Linden, a guy who has been away from the game for so long, would either a) want to walk into a high pressure job, such as GMing a team without any prior experience or would want to do it in Vancouver.

He's beloved here now. Why would he EVER want to screw with that? Eventually the Canucks would have a bad season under him or he'd make a trade that didn't work out and this bi-polar and A.D.D. Vancouver fan base would want his head too.

I can already see the threads calling for his number to be un-retired for "ruining this team"

[Baggins]

turn on tsn. im sure they're bashing everything to do with Vancouver as per usual...

How is that different from the fans here?

[Warhippy]

Oh yes, because Gillis totally came in and PURGED the core of this team, right?

do you recall the moves gillis made when he first showed up?

Maybe check to see some of his signings trades and draft picks.

He's finally got the team going down a good road in terms of signings and drafting/development....

Until a new GM wants a different approach and we are starting all over

[Tearloch7]

So let me see if I have this one straight:

This tweet started everything:

"Whispers" of possible change in Vancouver? Groundbreaking stuff.

And that's quite a bit of hedging on the timeline:

"perhaps change is coming sooner rather than later"

"perhaps as soon as today or tomorrow"

I've been hearing these kinds of "whispers" for months. The whole city is talking about whether we should "fire Gillis" or "fire Torts" or "fire everyone." Doesn't seem like much of a story.

Then we get some complete speculation with Linden's name thrown into the mix.

If there was anything imminent involving Linden, the BT interview this morning would have been cancelled (or at the very least, there would have been a "no comment" rather than a denial from Trevor). Why would Linden even bother showing up for BT if he was on the verge of becoming the Canucks' president?

This whole thing just seems like some guesswork getting thrown up on Twitter with the hopes of landing "first" on a story when something actually happens.

Rumours that include serious hedging language and lack any identifiable sources are usually just guesswork or stirring the pot.

And for all the credibility we give to Bob McKenzie, he's been duped numerous times by rumours that didn't pan out. The difference with McKenzie (from most other "insiders") is that he usually admits when he's wrong or when he's been jobbed by a bad rumour.

And it looks like Bobby Mac is starting to put some distance between himself and the earlier tweets:

Bob McKenzie ‏@TSNBobMcKenzie 54m

But as I said earlier, highly volatile situation, many moving parts, so we'll see where this goes. No confirmations on anything yet.

Retweeted by Bob McKenzie

Farhan Lalji ‏@FarhanLaljiTSN 36m

Linden says on Global he has not been approached by ownership about #canucks prez job & than an announcement is not imminent

There's no question that there's considerable volatility inside the Vancouver Canucks organization currently and that significant changes could come at any moment.

But that certainly shouldn't be "news" to anyone.

Thank you for summarizing this situation so well .. the "Media' feeds on self-created crisis in order to sell their 'product' .. I will be interested to see how TSN handles this once their 'live' programming restarts .. I just hope they start to 'feed on themselves'.

[coyotecanuck]

If Linden is hired, but it hasn't been officially announced by the organization, of course he wouldn't talk about it because he can't. He's not allowed to. It happens all the time.

If that was the case I would expect Linden to be unavailable for comment, as opposed to outright lying about it.

TSN is an abomination.

@coyotecanuck hearing Nonis to be fired today, hearing talk that Doug GIlmour to be GM. #amidoingitright?

[SergioMomesso]

Why the hell would Linden want to damage his reputation in Vancouver by taking a job that could drive his family out of a city he loves? He has business interests here that could suffer if he gets the backlash that Gillis is receiving after 3 horrendous seasons.

[Nail]

My prediction:

Linden as president

Naslund as GM

[Lonny_Bohonos_14]

If Linden is hired, but it hasn't been officially announced by the organization, of course he wouldn't talk about it because he can't. He's not allowed to. It happens all the time.

Obviously he wouldn't comment on it if he was being hired, but as elvis posted, Linden has been busy lately. Not sure when talks would have come up. They would have to be extremely preliminary.

And again, Linden has never shown any interest in returning to hockey. The moment he wants a job with the Canucks, he will get one, and I doubt it's something such as GM. He would come in as an adviser, or assistant to gain experience first.

[deized_kanuck604]

The countdown begins. I am tingling..

[snucks]

My prediction:

Linden as president

Naslund as GM

What about Pavel, the best player to ever wear a Canucks jersey ?

[Raspberries]

If that was the case I would expect Linden to be unavailable for comment, as opposed to outright lying about it.

TSN is an abomination.

@coyotecanuck hearing Nonis to be fired today, hearing talk that Doug GIlmour to be GM. #amidoingitright?

and he probably would not choose to be on the Global Morning news the morning after the Canucks are officially eliminated and the pitchforks are out to talk about his fitness clubs. That alone tells me this is likely a load of BS.

[We Are All Cynics]

Ridiculous to have Linden as GM. Why, so we can all start chanting fire Linden in a season's time?

Darkness is coming...

[CroSen]

I would rather get an experienced NHL GM this time around. No offence to Linden, however I would want Linden to get some experience first. An assistant GM role with the Canucks would be fine with me though!

[Nail]

What about Pavel, the best player to ever wear a Canucks jersey ?

Coach

[Lonny_Bohonos_14]

Steve Darling:

Trevor was actually here to talk about the new gym he’s got going…

Samantha Falk:

A lot of things to talk about today!

Steve Darling:

And we’ll get to that…but first, news this morning, starting back east, that you were about to be named president of the Vancouver Canucks. Have you ever talked to the Vancouver Canucks about that job?

Trevor Linden:

I haven’t and I think it’s interesting…when teams struggle, there’s lots of speculation. I’ve been rumoured to do lots of things — Mark’s been rumoured to be the mayor of Surrey — I’ve been rumoured to go into politics.

Darling:

Mayor of Vancouver!

Linden:

Mayor of Vancouver, exactly. Right now, I’m enjoying running my clubs. Our fitness business has been successful, we’re launching a great new concept right now. Enjoying life.

Darling:

So to be clear, the Aquilinis haven’t approached you in any way to act as president or…

Linden:

No. Look I’ve spoken to, I know them from when I played, I know the brothers and such.

Darling:

So where do these rumours come from?

Linden:

I think perhaps, like Mark’s April Fool’s Day joke, it just gets traction, whatever people say. With the advent of Twitter and Facebook and stuff, people talk, that sort of thing.

It goes rampant.

Darling:

If the Aquilinis were to come to you and offer you something, would you be interested?

Linden:

You know, Steve, I’ve always said that if the right opportunity, the right time came up, people have been asking me that for six years, “hey, you should come back or you should do this”…I’ve really enjoyed my time in the fitness business. Club 16 Trevor Linden Fitness has been very successful and we’re going to grow that brand and we’re launching Orange Theory fitness.

But look, I’ve always said to people, if the opportunity is right and the time was right, I’d have to seriously consider it.

Darling:

Would you feel confident you could step in right now to a role as president? That you’d have the skill set to do that?

Linden:

I’ve never really thought of it, to be honest, there’s many jobs in hockey. I’ve often thought I’d be a good coach though, I love the tactical…

Falk:

Well, that position might be open soon!

Linden:

You know the tactical aspect of the game is something I’ve always loved, some of the coaches I’ve played for, why they chose the strategies they did. There’s lots of different jobs out there. I don’t know.

Falk:

If you made that transition would Vancouver be the place to do it?

Linden:

I think being in Vancouver, I love this city, I came here when I was 18 years old, it’s been home, the people. I love travelling the province, talking to people.

I didn’t want to play anywhere else, I wouldn’t want to be [doing this anywhere else].

So if the opportunity came up…

Linden:

I’m not prepared to leave here. This is home for me, it has been for a long time. Even when I played for Montreal and New York, this was still my home in the summer.

Darling:

You were at the game last night, what do you think as a fan that the team needs to do?

Linden:

It’s hard to say. The core of the team has really been there since the mid-2000s, you know, Henrik and Daniel and Kevin and Ryan and that crew, certainly, so I think the team would have to look at that. It’s been a disappointing season, the players have been disappointed the fans have been disappointed. Everyone’s been disappointed. It’s a not a fun time, playing games that don’t mean anything.

Darling:

Do you want to weigh in on what should be done?

Linden:

Obviously, it’s up to ownership, they have the ability to make the decisions. In a situation like this, people have got some decisions to make.

Darling:

To make this very clear, an announcement is not imminent, either today or tomorrow.

Linden:

Not imminent, no.

http://blogs.theprovince.com/2014/04/08/on-global-tv-trevor-linden-quashes-rumours-hes-about-to-be-named-president-of-vancouver-canucks/

[CroSen]

Hmmm, Linden as coach. I have to admit that I never considered that, however he would probably get alot of respect back from the players.

[thad]

He's beloved here now. Why would he EVER want to screw with that? Eventually the Canucks would have a bad season under him or he'd make a trade that didn't work out and this bi-polar and A.D.D. Vancouver fan base would want his head too.

I can already see the threads calling for his number to be un-retired for "ruining this team"

Thats what I'm thinking. Every gm has trades that dont quite work out, Linden will be no exception. Every gm is bound to have a disappointing season, Linden will be no exception there either.

[Tearloch7]

I have always wanted Trevor as a part of the Canucks .. Public Relations would be a breeze for him .. but as he says .. the situation would have to be right, and we are a long way from any stability in the franchise at this time.

[aGENT]

Hmmm, Linden as coach. I have to admit that I never considered that, however he would probably get alot of respect back from the players.

Still needs to pay his dues...starting out as an assistant...likely in the AHL. You don't just become an NHL coach over night.