Notable Canuck Trades That Almost Happened (Discussion)

[lmm]

Just now, Kevin Biestra said:

 

We actually did trade Tanti to Pittsburgh.  Tanti and Pederson for McBain and Quinn.  Four good players, all of whom had very little left in the tank.

 

But Quinn did get us Ronning and Courtnall, etc...

and Quinn was 1/3 Captain that year

[luckylager]

Just now, lmm said:

but what would his carre been like if we had traded for Steve Nash?

Whoa bud, you're missing the conversation-

 

20 minutes ago, lmm said:

Shariff Abdur Rahim for Steve Nash in about 2000 

 

 

 

19 minutes ago, luckylager said:

He said Canucks, not Grizzlies 

 

Fun fact, I made Big Country Reaves cry. 

 

18 minutes ago, lmm said:

how?

 

 

3 minutes ago, luckylager said:

My voice is loud. We could see him crying at the free throw line.

He actually looked up at us, with tears in his eyes, right before he missed his 475th consecutive free throw

K?

[luckylager]

15 minutes ago, Darkstar said:

Cody Hodgson for John Carlson.

Gtfo

[Kevin Biestra]

19 minutes ago, ba;;isticsports said:

Now that it is passed, kinda glad he didn't, I would hate to have had the greatest player who did so much for the game, promotions, never missed tournaments, he just loved to play hockey, and I would have been upset if he was on our team and people cutting him down,while playing for us...

 

Do you think the fans would have been cutting down Gretzky the whole time?  I kind of doubt it.  The Canucks fan mentality in that regard is a combination of 50 years of frustration, and things like the goalie graveyard for years, and honestly the Messier episode just permanently soured the fan base on the team to some degree.  The Canucks of the 70s and 80s were a hard working, take your lunchbucket to the job, blue collar team.  They were very easy to relate to and cheer for.

 

The Messier era was the exact opposite.  Led by an entitled brat who could barely summon up the motivation to skate at 70% after loose pucks.

 

I don't know if any other fan base in the league had to watch their team hollowed out from the inside in this fashion.  I'm trying to think of an example, and I can't.

Edited April 4, 2020 by Kevin Biestra

[Kevin Biestra]

4 minutes ago, lmm said:

and Quinn was 1/3 Captain that year

Yeah, by 1990, Dan Quinn was the only one of the four that still had one good NHL season left in him.

 

All four were impressive in their heyday, Tanti and Pederson most of all, but it was a trade of four guys right at the end of their productive days.

[lmm]

8 minutes ago, Kevin Biestra said:

 

We actually did trade Tanti to Pittsburgh.  Tanti and Pederson for McBain and Quinn.  Four good players, all of whom had very little left in the tank.

 

But Quinn did get us Ronning and Courtnall, etc...

hey you forgot Rod Buskus and Dave Capuanno.

Of the 6 Quinn had the most left but we got Dave Capuanno just as his career was peaking

After Quinn left Vancouver he turned into his own version of Suitcase Quinn

[lmm]

14 minutes ago, Kevin Biestra said:

 

Do you think the fans would have been cutting down Gretzky the whole time?  I kind of doubt it.  The Canucks fan mentality in that regard is a combination of 50 years of frustration, and things like the goalie graveyard for years, and honestly the Messier episode just permanently soured the fan base on the team to some degree.  The Canucks of the 70s and 80s were a hard working, take your lunchbucket to work, blue collar team.  They were very easy to relate to and cheer for.

 

The Messier era was the exact opposite.  Led by an entitled brat who could barely summon up the motivation to skate at 70% after loose pucks.

 

I don't know if any other fan base in the league had to watch their team hollowed out from the inside in this fashion.  I'm trying to think of an example, and I can't.

we also had Mogilney  and a not happy to be here Bure, Brasheer, Ciccone and Sean Burke

 

there was lots of trouble on that team

Edited April 4, 2020 by lmm

[Kevin Biestra]

9 minutes ago, lmm said:

we also had Mogilney  and a not happy to be here Bure, Brasheer, Ciccone and Sean Burke

 

there was lots of trouble on that team

 

As was suggested elsewhere, I think by @IBatch, it was like Messier's example and "leadership" broke Alexander Mogilny.

 

As for Bure...honestly, who would have wanted to stay on that team and in that locker room.  I didn't even want to watch that team play.  That leadership group drove every Canuck with any heart right out the door.  Linden was ready to go by the time he was traded, and I don't blame him.  The same thing happened to Babych, McLean, Gino, etc.

 

It's like...we get to game 7 of the Stanley Cup final and you bring in this guy from the other team and his best-buddy-coach to tear the letters off our shirts and denigrate us at practice and in the media?  How much is anyone supposed to take?

 

So out with the actual old leaders that set good examples.  Double down some more on Messier and watch him teach Mogilny how to coast around the ice, because skating really is a lot of work and who has time for that.

 

Brashear replacing Gino was another example of that mentality.  Gino would have fought a pack of grizzly bears if he thought it would help the team.  My main memories of Brashear are of him declining fights.  I saw him skate away like Glenn Anderson did from Gino.

 

But can you really blame him?  I wouldn't fight anybody for Mark Messier either.  Get my face punched in so he can go Sunday skating on the power play that follows?

 

That team was a disgrace and Messier poisoned it so badly that both the core before him had to leave, and then his own core as well, before anyone could even try to build something up from ground zero.  It was like building on the Chernobyl plot of land.  Messier managed to salt the earth from before, during and after his presence.

 

 

Edited April 4, 2020 by Kevin Biestra

[lmm]

12 minutes ago, Kevin Biestra said:

 

As was suggested elsewhere, I think by @IBatch, it was like Messier's example and "leadership" broke Alexander Mogilny.

 

As for Bure...honestly, who would have wanted to stay on that team and in that locker room.  I didn't even want to watch that team play.  That leadership group drove every Canuck with any heart right out the door.  Linden was ready to go by the time he was traded, and I don't blame him.  The same thing happened to Babych, McLean, Gino, etc.

 

It's like...we get to game 7 of the Stanley Cup final and you bring in this guy from the other team and his best-buddy-coach to tear the letters off our shirts and denigrate us at practice and in the media?  How much is anyone supposed to take?

 

So out with the actual old leaders that set good examples.  Double down some more on Messier and watch him teach Mogilny how to coast around the ice, because skating really is a lot of work and who has time for that.

 

Brashear replacing Gino was another example of that mentality.  Gino would have fought a pack of grizzly bears if he thought it would help the team.  My main memories of Brashear are of him declining fights.  I saw him skate away like Glenn Anderson did from Gino.

 

That team was a disgrace and Messier poisoned it so badly that both the core before him had to leave, and then his own core as well, before anyone could even try to build something up from ground zero.  It was like building on the Chernobyl plot of land.  Messier managed to salt the earth from before, during and after his presence.

yup,

I remember a story about Brasheer getting a speeding ticket and using the "Do you know who i am?" line

 

it was a tough time to be a fan, that is for sure.

 

But it is funny cuz its in this thread, and over in the Judd Brackett thread the sentiment is Brackett is easily replacable.

I know its a stretch, but it shows how easily things go wrong when you lose one or two important pieces and replace them with the wrong pieces.

 

hey I just looked Messier up on HockeyDB, it says he was traded from Edmonton to NYR and from the Rangers to San Jose in 2003. Its like his time here didn't happen.

We should have been so lucky.

Remember that time we ALMOST signed Messier?

whew Lucky that never happened!!!

haha

 

https://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=3688

Edited April 4, 2020 by lmm

[Kevin Biestra]

9 minutes ago, lmm said:

yup,

I remember a story about Brasheer getting a speeding ticket and using the "Do you know who i am?" line

 

it was a tough time to be a fan, that is for sure.

 

But it is funny cuz its in this thread, and over in the Judd Brackett thread the sentiment is Brackett is easily replacable.

I know its a stretch, but it shows how easily things go wrong when you lose one or two important pieces and replace them with the wrong pieces.

 

hey I just looked Messier up on HockeyDB, it says he was traded from Edmonton to NYR and from the Rangers to San Jose in 2003. Its like his time here didn't happen.

We should have been so lucky.

Remember that time we ALMOST signed Messier?

whew Lucky that never happened!!!

haha

 

https://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=3688

 

I remember when we traded for Luongo, I was like, holy crap that's incredible.  We acquired Mogilny, holy crap that's incredible.

 

And I remember the day it was announced that we had signed Messier.  I was just like...that's odd.

 

Man that guy was such an a-hole.  Maki's 11 and Linden's C.  Why disrespect just one Canuck when you can disrespect two?  Even Gretzky didn't take the C when he went to the Kings.  He left it on Dave Taylor's shirt.

Edited April 4, 2020 by Kevin Biestra

[lmm]

4 minutes ago, Kevin Biestra said:

 

I remember when we traded for Luongo, I was like, holy crap that's incredible.  We acquired Mogilny, holy crap that's incredible.

 

And I remember the day it was announced that we had signed Messier.  I was just like...that's odd.

Yes about Luongo, but I was not thrilled with giving up Peca , it was like the Canucks wanted to go full throttle no D just as the dead puck era was about to start.

Messier

Ericksson

Potvin

Boothe

all deals that seemed to take forever to happen, and then when they did is was like, "I had hoped it would never happen"

[Phil_314]

The almost happened that comes to mind is Schneider for Edmonton before we flipped him to Jersey for Horvat's pick..

I wonder what we could've actually gotten for him since it sounded like there were 3 assets coming back.

Told asking price for Schneider to Oilers was the 7, a 2nd and a good young player. High price to trade within division, Oil passed. — Ryan Rishaug (@TSNRyanRishaug) June 30, 2013

Edited April 4, 2020 by Phil_314

[HC20.0]

I remember in 08, the Canucks were hell bent on getting Brad Richards from Tampa.

 

Apparently they were close to a deal, something like: 

Schneider

Bourdon (Rest in Peace)

1st in 08 (Hodgson)

 

for

Richards.

 

I remember I was really upset when we didn’t get Richards. In hindsight, I’m pretty relieved that we lost those sweepstakes.

[Elias Pettersson]

1 hour ago, Kevin Biestra said:

If we had acquired Gretzky in 1988, not sure what we would have had to give up...

 

LA gave up Jimmy Carson, Martin Gelinas, and 1st rounders in 1989, 91 and 93.

 

We didn't really have anyone on the roster at the time with the youth and scoring accomplishments of Carson...  I guess a slightly older Tanti / Skriko might have done the trick.  My guess is they would have wanted Brian Bradley in the package.  He was probably showing the most promise as a young scorer.

 

As to those first round picks, we could still get Linden and we still steal Bure in the late rounds at the draft.

 

Our 1989 / 91 / 93 picks ended up being Jason Herter, Alek Stokjanov and Mike Wilson.  I don't mind losing those guys to get Gretzky at all.

 

Given that it was the Gretzky Kings that gave us trouble in 91 and 93, and Edmonton in 1992...  It's pretty fair to suggest that we could have won multiple Cups in the early 90s with Gretzky on the roster and giving up players that we lost anyway by 1990 and draft picks that never did anything on our team.

 

With Gretzky on our team, we probably wouldn't have been bottomfeeders enough to draft Linden...but we could definitely still have traded for McLean, Ronning, Courtnall, Adams, Lumme, etc.

We were much closer to landing Gretzky in the summer of 1996 for free when he was a UFA than in 1988.  If it wasn't for Stan McCammon we would have had Gretzky that summer to play with Bure and Mogilny.  It would have changed everything as Bure and Linden would never have been traded, Quinn would never have been fired, and Messier and Keenan would never have arrived.

[Where's Wellwood]

The problem with trades that almost happened, is we don't know for sure if the trade is just the asking price from one side, the other side, or fan/media speculation inspired bull$&!#.

[Kevin Biestra]

4 minutes ago, Elias Pettersson said:

We were much closer to landing Gretzky in the summer of 1996 for free when he was a UFA than in 1988.  If it wasn't for Stan McCammon we would have had Gretzky that summer to play with Bure and Mogilny.  It would have changed everything as Bure and Linden would never have been traded, Quinn would never have been fired, and Messier and Keenan would never have arrived.

 

Sigh...  That would have been something.

 

Mogilny, Gretzky and Bure.  And keep / reunite the Lifeline of Linden / Geoff Courtnall / Ronning.

 

Then we'd still have either of Adams or Russ Courtnall plus Gelinas and Tikkanen as a third line.

 

Now you're looking at maybe one of the best top-nines in NHL history.

 

Mike Ridley as a fourth liner.

 

Imagine if Griffiths had spent his money on that instead of basketball.

[khay]

1 hour ago, luckylager said:

He said Canucks, not Grizzlies 

 

Fun fact, I made Big Country Reaves cry. 

What? how?

[luckylager]

1 minute ago, khay said:

What? how?

Beer farts

[Elias Pettersson]

2 minutes ago, Kevin Biestra said:

 

Sigh...  That would have been something.

 

Mogilny, Gretzky and Bure.  And keep / reunite the Lifeline of Linden / Geoff Courtnall / Ronning.

 

Then we'd still have either of Adams or Russ Courtnall plus Gelinas and Tikkanen as a third line.

 

Now you're looking at maybe one of the best top-nines in NHL history.

 

Mike Ridley as a fourth liner.

 

Imagine if Griffiths had spent his money on that instead of basketball.

We had the money to sign Gretzky as evidenced by the signing of Messier the following year in 1997.  John McCaw had already become involved with the franchise when Arthur Griffiths bought the Grizzlies in 1995 and finished building GM Place.  Arthur was in way over his head and needed financial assistance, so he got his "friend" McCaw involved as a part owner of both the Grizzlies and the Canucks. 

 

The issue withy Gretzky was that Stan McCammon was basically John McCaw's guy and was made CEO of the team even though he had zero hockey experience.  From what I remember Gretzky wanted to come to Vancouver over New York and met with Quinn and McCammon and they had a handshake deal.  Gretzky was going to sleep on it and sign the contract in the morning.  McCammon tried to force him to sign the contract that evening and the negotiations went sour after that and Gretzky decided to go to New York instead.  

[Down by the River]

I remember driving to the airport one TDL and 1040 was announcing that Kesler was traded to Pitt... Derrick Pouliot rumored to be the man sent the other way.