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Retooling on the Fly: 20th Anniversary


Kevin Biestra

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8 hours ago, Kevin Biestra said:

As we know, the Canucks are in the midst of a supposed "retool on the fly," though there has been little in the way of roster changes thus far during the season:

20 years ago, they underwent a roster overhaul over the course of one season...Big moves, bold moves.  Here is how it went down:

July 1995:

Canucks get ALEXANDER MOGILNY and a 5th round pick for Mike Peca, Mike Wilson and a 1st rounder.  Mike Peca turned out to be a damn solid player, but getting Mogilny was like trading for...Malkin or something like that in today's game.

Canucks get MIKE RIDLEY for SERGIO MOMESSO.  Traded a part of the Canucks' heart and soul (like Bieksa) for a more skilled guy with constant injury problems in his time here.  Momesso had a ton of heart, but Ridley was a real skill player.

Nov. 1995:

Canucks get ESA TIKKANEN for a 2nd round pick.  Now Tikkanen is a player with a playoff pedigree.  Remember how many 2nd rounders we tossed away under Nonis and Gillis for "an additional piece" for the playoffs?  Tikkanen was a proven winner.

Dec. 1995:

Canucks get Jim Dowd, Frank Kucera and a 2nd rounder for JEFF BROWN and a 3rd rounder.  Well, sometimes you just gotta trade a guy, know what I mean Vern...

March 1996:

The playoffs are approaching.  We get MIKE SILLINGER for Roman Oksiuta.  Boss move.

We get JOE KOCUR for Kay Whitmore.  Kocur could be seen as similar to Prust, but with low salary and we gave up our 3rd string goalie, not a guy who still seemed like a strong prospect until he made our judgment look really good by crashing his car and ending up in rehab.

We get MARKUS NASLUND for Alek Stojanov.  And you thought Mike Sillinger was a boss move?  If that was a boss move, this was a Godfather move.

That's how you retool on the fly.

Of course they bungled it all by bringing in Messier and Keenan not too long thereafter.  But tell me these didn't look like mostly genius moves at the time from Mr. Quinn.

 

we have something like nine new players this year. the canucks barely made the playoffs in 96 and were out in six games to the avs. the next few years we didnt quilify for the playoffs and finished dead last one year. that isnt how you retool on the fly. i would way rather have it done this way than the way we did it back then.

 

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8 hours ago, DeNiro said:

That being said, we can thank Keenan for the Linden for Bertuzzi and McCabe trade.

Not only did we get a huge piece for our future top line, Burke was able to flip McCabe in the deal to get both Sedins, and bring Linden back for next to nothing.

That's the one good thing Keenan did here.

Spin Doctor.  There's a reason why Keenan was sent to Siberia.

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Yes, we traded up but my point is that if they would have finished a bit higher without any fiasco back then, we might not had them both Sedin.  What if they kept Linden?  What if they hadn't made Bure mad to the point where he demanded a trade and sat out?   All those little things did affect them.   Keenan and Messier combo made it happen.    What if the Canucks did not have 3rd overall pick and rather pick 5th or below?   It is doubtful that the Canucks would do this because other teams wanted one of Sedin.  The Sedin were ranked to go first and second overall pick at that time, also ranked 2nd or 3rd at that time behind Stefan.   The Canucks paid the premium to get them both and had Atlanta to agree not to draft one of Sedin.    It worked out brilliantly. 

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I like that we are promoting from within; instead of making deals to fill all our holes.  With Pedan, Fedun, and biega etc.  It's nice to see these guys get a chance.  Not only does it save our picks but the players we call up often have a much higher ceiling then that of a traded asset.  (Unless stud d) which often isn't avail.  Like we are showing our farm players they can earn a spot.  Not an invisible ceiling like when AV was around.  He did not like youth lol. Tanev was the one lucky charm who made it in.  

Tanev was so poised for being what was he a 19 yr old in our cup run. pretty epic.

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1 hour ago, Rush17 said:

I like that we are promoting from within; instead of making deals to fill all our holes.  With Pedan, Fedun, and biega etc.  It's nice to see these guys get a chance.  Not only does it save our picks but the players we call up often have a much higher ceiling then that of a traded asset.  (Unless stud d) which often isn't avail.  Like we are showing our farm players they can earn a spot.  Not an invisible ceiling like when AV was around.  He did not like youth lol. Tanev was the one lucky charm who made it in.  

Tanev was so poised for being what was he a 19 yr old in our cup run. pretty epic.

If it's any indication, Buffalo promoted from within as well back in the mid 2000's. That was largely when Benning was their chief scout. Buffalo was able to ice a competitive team with almost entirely their own draft picks despite not using their entire cap space as a result. Benning's actually mentioned his time in Buffalo and how he's learned from his experiences there and in Boston.

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On 11/12/2015 at 8:34 AM, Kevin Biestra said:

As we know, the Canucks are in the midst of a supposed "retool on the fly," though there has been little in the way of roster changes thus far during the season:

20 years ago, they underwent a roster overhaul over the course of one season...Big moves, bold moves.  Here is how it went down:

July 1995:

Canucks get ALEXANDER MOGILNY and a 5th round pick for Mike Peca, Mike Wilson and a 1st rounder.  Mike Peca turned out to be a damn solid player, but getting Mogilny was like trading for...Malkin or something like that in today's game.

Canucks get MIKE RIDLEY for SERGIO MOMESSO.  Traded a part of the Canucks' heart and soul (like Bieksa) for a more skilled guy with constant injury problems in his time here.  Momesso had a ton of heart, but Ridley was a real skill player.

Nov. 1995:

Canucks get ESA TIKKANEN for a 2nd round pick.  Now Tikkanen is a player with a playoff pedigree.  Remember how many 2nd rounders we tossed away under Nonis and Gillis for "an additional piece" for the playoffs?  Tikkanen was a proven winner.

Dec. 1995:

Canucks get Jim Dowd, Frank Kucera and a 2nd rounder for JEFF BROWN and a 3rd rounder.  Well, sometimes you just gotta trade a guy, know what I mean Vern...

March 1996:

The playoffs are approaching.  We get MIKE SILLINGER for Roman Oksiuta.  Boss move.

We get JOE KOCUR for Kay Whitmore.  Kocur could be seen as similar to Prust, but with low salary and we gave up our 3rd string goalie, not a guy who still seemed like a strong prospect until he made our judgment look really good by crashing his car and ending up in rehab.

We get MARKUS NASLUND for Alek Stojanov.  And you thought Mike Sillinger was a boss move?  If that was a boss move, this was a Godfather move.

That's how you retool on the fly.

Of course they bungled it all by bringing in Messier and Keenan not too long thereafter.  But tell me these didn't look like mostly genius moves at the time from Mr. Quinn.

 

How many cups or finals appearances did they win/make after that?

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On 13/12/2015 at 3:28 AM, dura_mater said:

How many cups or finals appearances did they win/make after that?

That was also the era of goaltending problems in Vancouver. After Mclean we really did not get a great goalie until Luongo over a decade later. We had a great team with the Westcoast Express we just had no goaltending.

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6 hours ago, EdgarM said:

That was also the era of goaltending problems in Vancouver. After Mclean we really did not get a great goalie until Luongo over a decade later. We had a great team with the Westcoast Express we just had no goaltending.

Yes, I'm familiar with those days.  What a shame the Westcoast Express never had an elite goalie behind them.

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