The rising NHL powerhouse that Jim Benning constructed

[aGENT]

https://www.nucksmisconduct.com/2019/12/2/20989214/jim-benning-vancouver-canucks-nhl-powerhouse

 

Quote

The Canucks dynasty is on its way.

 

Nov 16, 2019; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Vancouver Canucks forward Brock Boeser (6) reacts after scoring the game tying goal on Colorado Avalanche goalie Antoine Bibeau (35) during the third period in a game at Rogers Arena. Colorado won 5 - 4 in overtime.  Bob Frid-USA TODAY Sports

Canucks’ fans have a tendency to look backward more so than project forward. The team loses a game and you need to fire everyone. They win a game and you need to plan the parade route. There is very little patience for the long game. The serious fan base divides itself into extremes as well that some on Canucks’ Twitter have coined the #BenningBros and the #BitterBros.

 

The first group branded as pollyannaish followers of their saviour and gentleman genius Jim. Then, there is that second group which is said to be comprised of people blinded by their hatred of the dim witted Benning, the man they say can do nothing right when it comes to building a hockey team.

 

Obviously, the work of the respected hockey executive falls somewhere in between those two extreme views. What does the future of the franchise really look like after nearly six seasons of mainly his imprint on the team and where is it headed? Is it aimed for the first Canucks’ dynasty in team history or is it doomed to another decade of disappointment?

 

Benning’s roots readied him for success

Jim Benning’s hockey roots started with his childhood at the feet of his legendary hockey scout father Elmer Benning. The elder Benning passed away late last year after nearly half a century as a scout for the Montreal Canadiens. Amongst his drafting coups was convincing the hockey hierarchy in Habs-land back in 2005 to spend a 1st round 5th overall pick on a goalie of all things. That goalie was and is Carey Price who is currently in his 13th consecutive season guarding Montreal’s nets and has Hart, Vezina, Jennings and Lindsay NHL trophies on his crowded den shelf at home.

 

It is easy to imagine a young Benning tagging along with his father, soaking in knowledge like a sponge as he watched oodles of games with his dad. It wouldn’t be too long after his childhood ended that he too would blossom into a top hockey prospect taken in the first round, sixth overall in the 1981 NHL Entry Draft by Toronto, one pick before his dad’s Habs’ seventh overall pick.

 

Defenceman Benning amassed an incredible 139 points in 72 games in his final WHL season for the Portland Winter Hawks. Unfortunately, he landed on a Maple Leafs’ team owned by an elderly, cheap owner in Harold Ballard who insisted his general manager and coach play Benning right away alongside two other teen-age rear-guards (Bob McGill and Fred Boimistruck) on the same blue-line in order to save money. The team was a defensive disaster but he still managed to score seven goals and 24 assists for 31 points to go along with his -27 in his rookie season.

 

Eventually, he was traded to the Vancouver Canucks and cites Canucks’ legend Pat Quinn as one of his mentors for how he believes organizations should treat players and staff. He had a respectable NHL career playing nine seasons and scoring 243 points in 610 regular season games. Playing on bad Toronto and Vancouver teams for the most part during his career he only got to play in seven playoff games, scoring one goal while adding another assist.

 

You wonder if he’d been picked instead by his dad’s Montreal club one pick later and hadn’t been rushed into NHL action before he was fully ready might his career would have turned out even better. His own past experience as a player probably explains his patience with his own draft picks and his reluctance to push them into action before they are ready.

 

Once his hockey career ended, Benning eventually decided to follow in his pop’s foot-steps and take up scouting. He was successful and paid his dues and eventually in 2014 was chosen by then Canucks’ new team President Trevor Linden to succeed Mike Gillis. One could debate endlessly every single trade and pick that he has done or made since then and whether or not he was constrained by ownership and/or newbie hockey executive Linden in the beginning. The #BenningBros and #BitterBros of Canucks’ Twitter will probably do so until the end of time itself but it is time to look at the present and the immediate future and determine where Benning has taken the Canucks and where they are likely to end up.

 

Why Benning’s Canucks are a rising powerhouse

I think the Vancouver franchise is currently in the best shape it has ever been.

They are stocked with a young core four of players led by Captain Bo Horvat (Brock Boeser, Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes) all 24 years old or younger.

 

They are bolstered by savvy established NHL veterans (Jacob Markstrom, Alex Edler, Chris Tanev, Jordie Benn, J.T. Miller, Jay Beagle, Brandon Sutter, Antoine Roussel and more).

 

They have young support players some of whom may yet still join the young core four (Troy Stecher, Jake Virtanen, Adam Gaudette, Thatcher Demko and more) as untouchables.

 

They have young pros playing in the AHL many of whom will press for employment on the big club (Michael DiPietro, Brogan Rafferty, Kole Lind, Guillaume Brisebois, Lukas Jasek and more).

 

Lastly, they have a slew of promising prospects playing in both North America (Jett Woo, Tyler Madden, Jack Rathbone and more) and overseas (Vasily Podkolzin, Nils Hoglander, Toni Utunen, and more).

 

Whatever you think of what Jim Benning has done in the past, there is no denying that a bright future is well underway and the franchise is poised to start a long stretch of playoff appearances starting as early as the spring of 2020.

 

I predict that in a couple of years from now those who prefer to look backward will be amazed at the NHL powerhouse that Benning built because they didn’t see it coming and those looking forward will be wondering if the team can repeat its first Stanley Cup Championship.

 

 

[Bo fan]

I so agree - I think too many people look at the past and then the present and just can't see past this. This team will look so different in the next 5 years - we may challenge for a playoff spot this year and next but I don't see us as serious contenders until 2021-22. And at that stage there will still be kids coming up the pipeline hunting down jobs in the NHL.

I have been a Benning supporter from Day 1 - (a little prejudiced  as I grew up 3 miles from his grandparents, aunts ,uncles and Dad) He inherited a team on its way out - bare cupboards - and yes he made some mistakes whether of his own choosing or not(this we will never know). But I think he tried to put a team together interim until what you see emerging now happened.

Sometimes I think the future is so bright people are blinded by the light

 

[kilgore]

Glass half full.  The trick will be to have most of our top prospects make it to the NHL.  And did we stock up enough in JB first years as GM, when now we are even borrowing future #1's to fill out our roster today.?   It may all work out. I hope it does.  A lot of things would have to work out. But we lucked out with a few picks lately that today would have been picked much higher. A Calder finalist, a Calder winner, and now another Calder contender.  I hold out hope that Tryamkin will come back and be regarded as another steal.

 

But just wondering how exactly do we "repeat (our) first Stanley Cup Championship"? 

[Philthy]

Win or lose this team has been exciting to watch, our games are never dull with success comes growing pains. I really like where this team is headed.

 

Edit: I'm also thankful for our D core.. Last few years was so hard to watch my goodness.. With the naming of Bo as our captain the you can see the difference in culture in the locker room and the boys have a sense of urgency with the new faces. I just want to see a line of Rousell Motte and Ferland in the playoffs.. Already sounds like a headache for other teams.

Edited December 2, 2019 by Boone Jenner

[JM_]

good summary.

 

We all knew this season was going to be a dog fight for a wild card spot, and thats right where this team is, even without a functioning bottom 6 for the last couple of weeks.

[N7Nucks]

“The serious fanbase” then goes on to mention Twitter. Yeah okay. Twitter is a hive of scum, and well just scum. They don’t deserve the Tatooine distinction. I am not saying fans aren’t prone to overreactions, but that’s literally every fanbase. 

[Tortorella's Rant]

But then I see Juolevi and weep. 

#majorleagueflop

[rawkdrummer]

1 minute ago, Tortorella's Rant said:

But then I see Juolevi and weep. 

But I see Hughes and smile!

[RWMc1]

17 minutes ago, kilgore said:

Glass half full.  The trick will be to have most of our top prospects make it to the NHL.  And did we stock up enough in JB first years as GM, when now we are even borrowing future #1's to fill out our roster today.?   It may all work out. I hope it does.  A lot of things would have to work out. But we lucked out with a few picks lately that today would have been picked much higher. A Calder finalist, a Calder winner, and now another Calder contender.  I hold out hope that Tryamkin will come back and be regarded as another steal.

 

But just wondering how exactly do we "repeat (our) first Stanley Cup Championship"? 

The Vancouver Millionaires won the Cup. That's what is being referenced.

 

 

[RWMc1]

8 minutes ago, Tortorella's Rant said:

But then I see Juolevi and weep. 

#majorleagueflop

Are you bitter bro?

[canuktravella]

10 minutes ago, Tortorella's Rant said:

But then I see Juolevi and weep. 

#majorleagueflop

stop slagging oli  hes young and lots of time  hate all the inpatient a holes on here. jake v is leading team in 5 on 5 points at moment  guess hes not a bust eh

[-DLC-]

17 minutes ago, Tortorella's Rant said:

But then I see Juolevi and weep. 

#majorleagueflop

How can you label someone a flop who's never done what you're assessing them on?

 

#majorfanflop

[Tortorella's Rant]

Injury prone 21 year old. It's even more painful considering who came right after them. Either the scouting reports were way off on Juolevi or they took a prospect based on positional need which is hugely stupid. 

[RowdyCanuck]

4 minutes ago, Tortorella's Rant said:

Injury prone 21 year old. It's even more painful considering who came right after them. Either the scouting reports were way off on Juolevi or they took a prospect based on positional need which is hugely stupid. 

Hey can't jump on Jim to much for that one...( don't get me wrong I wanted MT) Stevie Y just pulled the same move this pasted draft atleast juolevi was ranked that high....

you win some you lose some. 

[Roger Neilsons Towel]

56 minutes ago, aGENT said:

I predict that in a couple of years from now those who prefer to look backward will be amazed at the NHL powerhouse that Benning built because they didn’t see it coming and those looking forward will be wondering if the team can repeat its first Stanley Cup Championship.

Please God. In my lifetime. It’s all I ask. 

[RowdyCanuck]

1 minute ago, Roger Neilsons Towel said:

Please God. In my lifetime. It’s all I ask. 

You think your towl can handle another cup final run? 

[Captain Canuck #12]

And Benning's been doing more winning than losing in the last few drafts.  I'd surely rather have him miss out on drafting Tkachuk than to have him miss out on drafting either Pettersson or Hughes.  All the GMs who did that must  really be kicking themselves in their rear ends!

[NewbieCanuckFan]

33 minutes ago, N7Nucks said:

They don’t deserve the Tatooine distinction.

Do the HF boards deserve the Alderaan solution (according to Tarkin)?

[Roger Neilsons Towel]

44 minutes ago, kilgore said:

But just wondering how exactly do we "repeat (our) first Stanley Cup Championship"? 

 

25 minutes ago, RWMc1 said:

The Vancouver Millionaires won the Cup. That's what is being referenced.

I believe the Author is creatively implying that in the future he is describing we have already won our first Stanley Cup Championship (as the Canucks) and the fans are now wondering whether a repeat is possible. 

[Curmudgeon]

10 minutes ago, Tortorella's Rant said:

Injury prone 21 year old. It's even more painful considering who came right after them. Either the scouting reports were way off on Juolevi or they took a prospect based on positional need which is hugely stupid. 

They took Pettersson because they wanted a number one centre. They took Boeser because they needed a scoring winger. They took Hughes because they needed an offensive defenceman to increase scoring from the back end. They took Jake because they wanted a power forward. The took Juolevi because they wanted  premier defenceman who could move the puck. When HAVEN'T they taken somebody based on positional need?