[Report] Canucks name Jim Rutherford as president & interim GM

[MeanSeanBean]

1 hour ago, Mike Vanderhoek said:

People can say how poor a GM Jim Benning was at his first go around and how poor a head coach Travis Green was and highlighted more so near the end of his tenure.

 

BUT, everyone was tickled with Green's coaching in " the bubble " ( funny how success and solid goaltending make for a good coach ).

 

It would be insulting to also suggest the team suddenly flipped a switch the moment Benning and Green were gone, as in the team was making strides and started to earn wins under Green. Benning built the current roster, as in the players assembled that have gone undefeated in 8 or 9-1-1 in their last 11.

 

Yes it is exciting and instilling confidence in the fan base to see Boudreau ( huge fan of his ) and Rutherford hired on, even mre exciting a time to see if Jen Botterill and others get hired on to build a solid Management department. Let's just not pretend that Benning and Green had zero to do with the team that is infront of you today. Hate on them all you want, but Benning's team just went 9-1-1 right.

Of course people were happy with Greens coaching in the bubble. The team was playing a high tempo style, and winning hockey games. That doesn't change the fact that his did not do a very good job at all this year and got fired because of it. He'll likely land on his feet and get another job, personally I think he's still a good coach. But the bottom line is his coaching staff and him were terrible this year. He couldn't get the team to produce points, moral was at an all time low, he was on his way to a historically bad pk record and he was refusing to make changes. Not sure why you added in the goaltending part, because we were also getting very good goaltending this year and still having an atrocious season.

 

Just because someone did a good job in the past doesn't mean your not allowed to criticize them when they are doing a bad job. Green was bad enough to get fired this year, it's fair to be criticized for that.

[Mike Vanderhoek]

21 minutes ago, Shayster007 said:

Of course people were happy with Greens coaching in the bubble. The team was playing a high tempo style, and winning hockey games. That doesn't change the fact that his did not do a very good job at all this year and got fired because of it. He'll likely land on his feet and get another job, personally I think he's still a good coach. But the bottom line is his coaching staff and him were terrible this year. He couldn't get the team to produce points, moral was at an all time low, he was on his way to a historically bad pk record and he was refusing to make changes. Not sure why you added in the goaltending part, because we were also getting very good goaltending this year and still having an atrocious season.

 

Just because someone did a good job in the past doesn't mean your not allowed to criticize them when they are doing a bad job. Green was bad enough to get fired this year, it's fair to be criticized for that.

110% agree people can criticize and hate on the coach for his performance this year, the post I was replying to seemed to just simply dismiss Benning as in the guy who built the team that we see currently and threw in how he never liked Green either so glad he was gone too, to which I would be 99% accurate to assume said poster during the bubble was high fiving and praising the players, manager, coaches, stick boy you name it hahaha.

 

I think Green is an NHL calibre coach and will be back sooner than later, I have heard some on these forums say they know NHL people and Green is not from all they've heard ( in their privy conversations ) an NHL calibre or decent coach. I can tell you that is garbage and he will be back. 

 

My point was its kind of lame to see people disregard who built the team and the whole " not my friend so must be my enemy " mind set is all.

 

But no doubt a change was needed for this team and could not be more excited and pleased with whom has been hired along the way.

[MeanSeanBean]

23 minutes ago, Mike Vanderhoek said:

110% agree people can criticize and hate on the coach for his performance this year, the post I was replying to seemed to just simply dismiss Benning as in the guy who built the team that we see currently and threw in how he never liked Green either so glad he was gone too, to which I would be 99% accurate to assume said poster during the bubble was high fiving and praising the players, manager, coaches, stick boy you name it hahaha.

 

I think Green is an NHL calibre coach and will be back sooner than later, I have heard some on these forums say they know NHL people and Green is not from all they've heard ( in their privy conversations ) an NHL calibre or decent coach. I can tell you that is garbage and he will be back. 

 

My point was its kind of lame to see people disregard who built the team and the whole " not my friend so must be my enemy " mind set is all.

 

But no doubt a change was needed for this team and could not be more excited and pleased with whom has been hired along the way.

Yeah I haven't heard anyone acting like a NHL insider around these parts, but if they are they are full of it. My reply was strictly in regards to Green, and not talking about Benning at all. I'll just stand behind my original reply about Green.

Edited December 31, 2021 by Shayster007

[Mike Vanderhoek]

2 minutes ago, Shayster007 said:

Yeah I haven't heard anyone acting like a NHL insider around these parts, but if they are they are full of it. My reply was strictly in regards to Green, and not talking about Benning at all. I'll just stand behind my original reply about Green.

I agree completely.

 

Happy New Year to you and yours!

[MeanSeanBean]

2 minutes ago, Mike Vanderhoek said:

I agree completely.

 

Happy New Year to you and yours!

You too Mike, hope you're staying safe and warm!

Edited December 31, 2021 by Shayster007

[TGT68]

I think we need two things.  

 

Someone that can crash and bang, do puck recovery and add strength on the puck. I know this was Virtanens spot.  Maybe Pods can fill into this roll.  Maybe Bailey.  Maybe we need to acquire someone.  

 

One more guy that can play center or wing.  A scoring playmaker type.  Does McCann fill the bill here?  Rutherford would know him, he fits the window and fits the bill could be reasonable to acquire and reasonable to sign.  

 

I know some will say RHD.  But Woo is coming.  Hughes can play right side and I would like to see him tried with OEL.  And we have been playing 4 RHD at times this year.  Think whatever happens at RHD is done internally first.  

[BlakeQuinnAndEggs]

On 12/24/2021 at 12:08 AM, DeNiro said:

Carolina has 10 prospects playing in the world juniors despite being a top team and picking later. Canucks have 1…Let that sink in.

 

We need to be poaching Carolina for managers.

I wonder if any of Carolinas success is somewhat distantly attributed to Rutherford. Like did any of their current front office staff or scouts work under him and learn from him when he was there. Prob a long shot as it's been a long while now.

Edited January 2, 2022 by BlakeQuinnAndEggs

[Provost]

Canucks making it tough on Rutherford to put any of his stamp on things.

 

The team still needs some significant improvement, but at the same time it isn’t like he can do much when they haven’t lost a game since he came onboard.

 

We have that tough stretch through the end of this month, so we will be hard pressed to go .500  after the Ottawa game.  That is decent timing for him to make some sort of move if we lose 2 or 3 games in a row.

 

 

 

If we hadn’t dig such a big hole, this stretch would have put us solidly into the playoff picture.  8-0-1 and we are still in 7th in our division and all the teams between us and the playoffs have games in hand on us.

 

 

 

 

[Junkyard Dog]

20 minutes ago, Provost said:

Canucks making it tough on Rutherford to put any of his stamp on things.

 

The team still needs some significant improvement, but at the same time it isn’t like he can do much when they haven’t lost a game since he came onboard.

 

We have that tough stretch through the end of this month, so we will be hard pressed to go .500  after the Ottawa game.  That is decent timing for him to make some sort of move if we lose 2 or 3 games in a row.

 

 

 

If we hadn’t dig such a big hole, this stretch would have put us solidly into the playoff picture.  8-0-1 and we are still in 7th in our division and all the teams between us and the playoffs have games in hand on us.

 

 

 

 

We don't need to make significant moves this year if we want but this off-season is the latest we can delay a bunch of these tough decisions. But we would also lessen return on a guy like Miller(unless we allow a team to negotiate a deal).

 

He has talked about the bottom 6 needing to step up in order for playoffs this year which makes sense because we won't be adding anybody this year. Probably giving the players a chance to prove themselves first which makes sense to a point.

 

It sounds like he has short-term goals and long-term ones.

 

He has implied that moves will have to be made in order to address his concerns he has with this team but the question is when do they happen. Tough calls to make.

[McBackup]

I listened to Rutherford on Halford and Brough and he made the comment that he's looking at hiring an entry level person for the position of GM. That's fine, but I really hope its a candidate who has been an AGM or at least has some significant experience in an NHL front office already. I understand Rutherford will be there for oversight, but he's 72 and I've had my fill of execs "learning on the job" for some time. 

[DefCon1]

8 hours ago, McBackup said:

I listened to Rutherford on Halford and Brough and he made the comment that he's looking at hiring an entry level person for the position of GM. That's fine, but I really hope its a candidate who has been an AGM or at least has some significant experience in an NHL front office already. I understand Rutherford will be there for oversight, but he's 72 and I've had my fill of execs "learning on the job" for some time. 

The thing is when we hired Gillis or Benning, no one was watching over them. Benning even had less support than Gillis who had Gilman, and he hired a clown in Weisbrod too. Now JR is the president and has a long resume as a GM, he will ve watching the new GM who would also have 3 AGMs. That GM who is hired will have a much easier job and less pressure than guys like Benning or Gillis because he will have 4 or 5 knowledgeable guys to consult with. We will have a much stronger front office now with JR as the president.

[Provost]

8 hours ago, McBackup said:

I listened to Rutherford on Halford and Brough and he made the comment that he's looking at hiring an entry level person for the position of GM. That's fine, but I really hope its a candidate who has been an AGM or at least has some significant experience in an NHL front office already. I understand Rutherford will be there for oversight, but he's 72 and I've had my fill of execs "learning on the job" for some time. 

With a highly experienced President and a highly experienced head coach… plus some highly

expetienced AGMs, I think we can afford to get a guy who is on his first GM job.

 

It isn’t like they will be taking guys off the street.  It will be an experienced hockey person who just hasn’t been a GM before.

[JM_]

2 hours ago, Provost said:

With a highly experienced President and a highly experienced head coach… plus some highly

expetienced AGMs, I think we can afford to get a guy who is on his first GM job.

 

It isn’t like they will be taking guys off the street.  It will be an experienced hockey person who just hasn’t been a GM before.

I heard him say in that interview he likes people that have worked their way up. The GM spot will go to someone with a lot of experience, just not GM as you say. And thats fine, he'll be mentored for 2 1/2 years under Rutherford. 

[Josepho]

I'm not at all worried about having a first-time GM running this team. 

 

Rutherford is a qualified and experience executive overlooking the operations, this is very different from having an extremely inexperienced Linden working with Benning. 

 

Rutherford would not hire nor tolerate 2014-2017 Benning.

[BlastPast]

This guy is going to make one or two small/medium deals and then be given all the credit for any success the team has ; if they don't have success it will still be Benning's fault. Count on it. Some people need a better understanding of what lag is.

[King Heffy]

3 hours ago, Provost said:

With a highly experienced President and a highly experienced head coach… plus some highly

expetienced AGMs, I think we can afford to get a guy who is on his first GM job.

 

It isn’t like they will be taking guys off the street.  It will be an experienced hockey person who just hasn’t been a GM before.

Agreed. As long as he doesn't hire someone totally unqualified like what happened when Gillis was gifted the job, we should be fine.

[N4ZZY]

On 1/1/2022 at 11:17 PM, Provost said:

Canucks making it tough on Rutherford to put any of his stamp on things.

 

The team still needs some significant improvement, but at the same time it isn’t like he can do much when they haven’t lost a game since he came onboard.

 

We have that tough stretch through the end of this month, so we will be hard pressed to go .500  after the Ottawa game.  That is decent timing for him to make some sort of move if we lose 2 or 3 games in a row.

 

 

 

If we hadn’t dig such a big hole, this stretch would have put us solidly into the playoff picture.  8-0-1 and we are still in 7th in our division and all the teams between us and the playoffs have games in hand on us.

 

 

 

 

I think that stretch closer to the end of January is going to determine whether playoffs are a realistic goal this season, or if it’s time to sell in preparation for the trade deadline and then the off-season. 

 

[N4ZZY]

12 hours ago, Provost said:

With a highly experienced President and a highly experienced head coach… plus some highly

expetienced AGMs, I think we can afford to get a guy who is on his first GM job.

 

It isn’t like they will be taking guys off the street.  It will be an experienced hockey person who just hasn’t been a GM before.

So Chris McFarland from Colorado.

[N4ZZY]

13 hours ago, DefCon1 said:

The thing is when we hired Gillis or Benning, no one was watching over them. Benning even had less support than Gillis who had Gilman, and he hired a clown in Weisbrod too. Now JR is the president and has a long resume as a GM, he will ve watching the new GM who would also have 3 AGMs. That GM who is hired will have a much easier job and less pressure than guys like Benning or Gillis because he will have 4 or 5 knowledgeable guys to consult with. We will have a much stronger front office now with JR as the president.

What bothers me is why didn’t Benning build out his front office and surround himself with more support? 

 

It’s not like Francesco would have said no, since it’s obvious that he’s on board because Rutherford is building his front office out with more support. Something just wasn’t right with Benning and his team. 

 

He also just continually bled people out as well. Feels and sound suspect to me.

 

[spook007]

5 hours ago, N4ZZY said:

What bothers me is why didn’t Benning build out his front office and surround himself with more support? 

 

It’s not like Francesco would have said no, since it’s obvious that he’s on board because Rutherford is building his front office out with more support. Something just wasn’t right with Benning and his team. 

 

He also just continually bled people out as well. Feels and sound suspect to me.

 

Or maybe FA did say no, and have now learnt from his mistake? Or JR told him, if he took the job, he wanted to decide on personal and how many?

Point being we just don't know.... 

Edited January 3, 2022 by spook007