[Report] Canucks fire Jim Benning, name Stan Smyl as interim GM

[Provost]

15 minutes ago, DeNiro said:

You never know how quickly these things will come together.

 

It’s possible they thought that Rutherford might turn down the job or take longer to decide. Or maybe they offered him POHO and he would only accept if he was interm GM as well.

 

Either way if they wanna move fairly quickly hiring a GM this makes sense. No point having Smyl in that role longer than they have to. Rutherford can handle the standard GM duties until a permanent one can be found.

Well the word is they had been talking to Rutherford for quite a while, even before the firings.

If they were planning on putting a guy in right away... like in the next couple months, they sure didn't seem to communicate that with Smyl.  Go listen to that press conference and see if there was any sign he thought he was only doing the job for days... exactly the opposite.

[DeNiro]

16 minutes ago, Provost said:

Well the word is they had been talking to Rutherford for quite a while, even before the firings.

If they were planning on putting a guy in right away... like in the next couple months, they sure didn't seem to communicate that with Smyl.  Go listen to that press conference and see if there was any sign he thought he was only doing the job for days... exactly the opposite.

Talking doesn’t mean a whole lot until pen is put to paper.

 

We shouldn’t assume ill intent. It’s hard to say how this all came together or what impression Smyl was under. 
 

I doubt he would have been performing many of the traditional GM duties anyways since he has zero experience in that role. I saw him more as just a temporary figurehead that fans could stand behind until things settled down.

 

Edited December 10, 2021 by DeNiro

[UFCanuck]

Stan Smyl For GM of the Year.

100% Winning %
Also induct him into the Hall.

[Me_]

So that was short lived…

[48MPHSlapShot]

We've had 3 different GMs over the past 5 days 

[MaxVerstappen33]

On 12/9/2021 at 10:48 AM, Warhippy said:

Umm...Bergevin?  No thanks....

Bergevin is a shark. He picked the pockets of other GMs

Edited December 11, 2021 by MaxVerstappen33

[Gurn]

6 minutes ago, MaxVerstappen33 said:

Bergevin is a shark. Most of his trades worked 

http://www.nhltradetracker.com/user/trade_list_by_GM/Marc_Bergevin/17

[Goal:thecup]

On 12/7/2021 at 10:23 PM, Ghostsof1915 said:

Deb for President. 

Heck!  Lost half a week; thought you said 'Dab'.

[MaxVerstappen33]

From another post 

 

GM's job is to bring in talent, Coach's job is to turn talent into results, Player's job is to work hard. So only 3 options.

A. Lack of talent - GM's fault
B. Tension/bad morale in room, disorganized structure, lack of chemistry - Coach's fault
C. Poor work ethic - Player's fault
D. Failure to avoid A, B, C - President's fault

If it turns out B was the root cause of poor results, which seems likely, then, while still a management error to not fire the coach sooner, in terms of the GM's core responsibility to bring in talent, he didn't deserve to get fired. The talent level on that roster is fairly high and it could break out if/when their young guns take another step. If the Canucks are back in the playoffs quickly with the same roster, watch Benning get interest from teams who start to view his firing as a knee jerk response to fan pressure and see upside in his ability to find talent. If the Canucks continue to crash and burn or struggle in limbo then yes he'll probably never work again

[BureBurrito]

On 12/9/2021 at 2:20 PM, Provost said:

The one thing that doesn’t make sense is why trot Smyl to take the heat in the media presser out and announce him as the interim GM for two days?

 

Hearing Smyl in that presser say what an honour and privilege it is to take on that role clearly showed he was under the impression he would be doing the job for a while at least.  He even talked about pushing Aquilini on decisions that would have to be made.
 

He also made it clear he wasn’t taking the job to just watch, and that he had been told he could assess and make moves.

 

If Rutherford is actually the President AND interim GM that is a massive slap in the face for Smyl and was really bungled badly.  At least leave him as interim GM until they hire a new guy in a few months, rather than stripping it away right after you gave it to him.

 

I hope some clarity comes out of it as that is a bad start to a new regime. 

What makes true sense when dealing with ownership.

[lmm]

THE BLASTERS LIVE 1982 So Long Baby, Goodbye - Bing video

[JDLax16]

On 12/5/2021 at 10:57 PM, StanleyCupOneDay said:

If you only cheer for the team when they win I don’t think you can call yourself a true fan, that’s what a bandwagon fan is called: jumping on as the going gets good. I’m always cheering for a victory through the bad and the good for my team.

 

Also for all those enjoying being “vindicated” after complaining for 8 years non stop on every single move or non-move Benning did or didn’t do you guys sure seem to use a lot of hyperbole: “Reign of terror”, “left us with nothing”, “worst prospect cupboard then Gillis”, “worst GM in Canucks history”, “darkest days ever now ending” and so many countless other examples in this thread make it hard for anyone to believe that any of you can be objective about anything.

 

Benning made good moves and he made bad moves, just like any other GM and if you can’t acknowledge that then you aren’t able to see reality through your own bias.

Canucks win six straight after your unhinged diatribe. 

[StanleyCupOneDay]

6 hours ago, JDLax16 said:

Canucks win six straight after your unhinged diatribe. 

Looks like I ruffled some feathers amongst the “we hate Benning and everything he’s done is terrible” crowd. If you think my post saying he made bad moves and good moves while criticizing the hyperbolic fatalism by the Benning bashers who refuse to give him credit for anything was unhinged then do yourself a major favour and stay off the internet. You won’t be able to handle reading the truly unhinged posts.

Edited December 29, 2021 by StanleyCupOneDay

[JDLax16]

15 hours ago, StanleyCupOneDay said:

Looks like I ruffled some feathers amongst the “we hate Benning and everything he’s done is terrible” crowd. If you think my post saying he made bad moves and good moves while criticizing the hyperbolic fatalism by the Benning bashers who refuse to give him credit for anything was unhinged then do yourself a major favour and stay off the internet. You won’t be able to handle reading the truly unhinged posts.

Thanks mom I’m good

[flickyoursedin]

Watch the Canucks win the cup with no roster moves made and sign Jim Benning back in the summer.

[iinatcc]

35 minutes ago, flickyoursedin said:

Watch the Canucks win the cup with no roster moves made and sign Jim Benning back in the summer.

maybe head of scouting but no to GM 

[vannuck59]

2 hours ago, flickyoursedin said:

Watch the Canucks win the cup with no roster moves made and sign Jim Benning back in the summer.

LOL  lets give all the credit to Benning . In the playoffs the nucks would get killed. Love the team but we are still not good enough . Demko would have to stand on his head and Pettersson would have to play a lot tougher and at a 3 point a game pace. Our D would have to get a lot better.

[-DLC-]

Happy birthday, Steamer.   (I've kept this magazine for all these years....a good read on him, several pages long)

 

Also mentioned in the article, someone I've been privileged enough to know on a friendly basis in the recent past, Punch McLean (I love these old stories):

 

"By the time he was five or six years old he had decided that he wanted to play in the NHL. His reputation as a goal scorer opened the doors for him when he was 14, and he quit school and left home to play for the junior league New Westminster Bruins.

 

Bruins coach Ernie "Punch" McLean worked with Smyl in the important formative years and reshaped Smyl's style of hockey to be more physical and aggressive. When the Bruins competed for the Memorial Cup four times, winning it twice, Smyl was team captain. His leadership abilities, talent and drive made him an above-average player, and Punch McLean believed he was NHL material.

 

McLean acted as a scout for the Detroit Red Wings and told them several times to draft Smyl.  But it was the Canucks who finally picked him up as third-round choice in 1978."

[DefCon1]

On 12/30/2021 at 2:09 AM, flickyoursedin said:

Watch the Canucks win the cup with no roster moves made and sign Jim Benning back in the summer.

That is not happening.

[DefCon1]

On 12/30/2021 at 4:52 AM, vannuck59 said:

LOL  lets give all the credit to Benning . In the playoffs the nucks would get killed. Love the team but we are still not good enough . Demko would have to stand on his head and Pettersson would have to play a lot tougher and at a 3 point a game pace. Our D would have to get a lot better.

Our D is pretty slow and we deploy pylons like ChaseOn, Hunt and Poolman. There is no way a cup contending team has those guys on their team. I thought everyone saw what we lacked when we went on that Florida road trip, we werent even close.