[Waivers] William Lagesson, Gemel Smith

[CanuckinEdm]

On 1/18/2022 at 1:46 PM, Ghostsof1915 said:

What's going on with Klefblom btw?

His shoulder won't heal?

Is he done? 

Sounds like he's sidelined until next season after surgery? 

Rumor in Edmonton is he is most likely done, however it isn't 100% so he hasn't announced his retirement 

[Quantum]

Gemel Smith gets to re-unite with his younger brother Givani Smith now that he's headed to Detroit. Cool story there. And a good move by Detroit. I think Gemel's a really good bottom six player... I think Gemel would be an upgrade on someone like Dowling/Di Giueseppe but alas, it's not the right time.

[MeanSeanBean]

14 hours ago, Chip Kelly said:

Damn a brother lost his spot in black history month on the heels of MLK day and Willie  O'Ree having his jersey retired in Boston. Did they really have to do him like that?

 

Would be a great PR move for the Canucks to pick him up while they have some Covid protocols to sort through. 

 

They need more women and people with disabilities to be given a fair chance along with the LQBTQIA and the BIPOC the NHL needs to become as diverse as its fans and needs fresh perspectives if they want to grow the game long term.

 

The Canucks had some colorful minorities pun intended in their modern history including Anson Carter, Kevin Weekes, Donald Brashear, Gino Odjick and Nathan Lafayette to name a few.

 

As of now the only ethnic minority is Travis Hamonic who is a native.  They need more representation in a supposed top multicultural city like Vancouver.

 

 

 

Man, I have a tough time with this post. I completely agree with some parts, and entirely disagree with others. I 100% agree on putting a focus on diversity. It's incredibly important that all people are recognized by who they are and their skills, over the color of their skin. But by saying "they did a brother wrong", that is using his skin color as the primary reason to keep, or claim him.

 

We can't have it both ways. All people are equally, and we need to continue to push that in all aspects of life. But if Smith's team kept him around just because he's Black, that would not only be bad for the entire civil rights movement, but bad for him. I can nearly guarantee you that he would not be happy if he found out the only reason he was on the team was because he was a Black player. Picking a player up isn't about a great PR move. Personally if I was in his shoes I would 100% not want to play for an organization that claimed me because of the color of my skin.

 

A player should be in the NHL because of his skills, not because of the color of his skin. That goes both ways. Smith was claimed, so clearly he does have the skills to be an NHL player. But imo a players racial background should hold no weight in that choice being made. Just my 2 cents.

 

 

 

[King Heffy]

52 minutes ago, Jayinblack said:

I'm looking fwd to Woo being a regular in another season or two

I love his game.  Hopefully we get to see him next season.

[Bruce Boudreau]

On 1/19/2022 at 11:36 AM, 250Integra said:

Don't forget Justin Bailey and Jett Woo...

Not NHL regulars so don't count yet.

On 1/19/2022 at 11:41 AM, Coconuts said:

I don't disagree with the sentiment, hockey could use more diversity. But at the same time if an organization doesn't see him as one of their best roster options it is what it is. Smith is going to be 28 this year and as of today he's got 88 career NHL games to his names, he's by no means a regular. Eight games over the last two seasons. Twenty five over the last three. He hasn't carved out much of an NHL career, he's been more of an AHL'er. Hockey's a business, a billion dollar business, teams are going to ice the roster that gives them the best chance to win more often than not. 

 

Maybe he'll stick in Detroit, his fourth organization in three years. 

 

 

When you are one of the guys on the fringes scrapping just to keep a spot in the league every bit of an opportunity helps like having his bro already in Detroit.Just the optics and timing are not great. Sure if they wanted to get rid of him they could have done it a week or two earlier no without coming around MLK day?

On 1/19/2022 at 2:12 PM, Jayinblack said:

I'm looking fwd to Woo being a regular in another season or two

Let's hope he can have a similar career to Luke Schenn as the tough,strong,hitting,shot blocking,sticking up for teammates 3rd pair right shot.

On 1/19/2022 at 2:58 PM, Shayster007 said:

Man, I have a tough time with this post. I completely agree with some parts, and entirely disagree with others. I 100% agree on putting a focus on diversity. It's incredibly important that all people are recognized by who they are and their skills, over the color of their skin. But by saying "they did a brother wrong", that is using his skin color as the primary reason to keep, or claim him.

 

We can't have it both ways. All people are equally, and we need to continue to push that in all aspects of life. But if Smith's team kept him around just because he's Black, that would not only be bad for the entire civil rights movement, but bad for him. I can nearly guarantee you that he would not be happy if he found out the only reason he was on the team was because he was a Black player. Picking a player up isn't about a great PR move. Personally if I was in his shoes I would 100% not want to play for an organization that claimed me because of the color of my skin.

 

A player should be in the NHL because of his skills, not because of the color of his skin. That goes both ways. Smith was claimed, so clearly he does have the skills to be an NHL player. But imo a players racial background should hold no weight in that choice being made. Just my 2 cents.

 

 

 

It's never that simple though. He wasn't solely claimed for his hockey skills his color plays a part either positively or negatively in him getting opportunities. 

 

I don't have a problem with Tampa putting him on waivers generally speaking, my comments are about the timing of it coming around the MLK day because it is bad optics imo. They could have easily waived him a week or two early or later. Luckily for him Detroit had his brother on the team so they saw that as an opportunity for them.

 

2 brothers on the same NHL team is very rare for minorities.

 

A players background is always going to factor in for opportunity because the NHL is an old boys club. Coaches,Gms, and owners are usually old white guys from a bygone era.

 

Some of the fringe guys like the Megna and Chaputs of the world could have had their roles filled with a couple minorities who bring more value to the organization off the ice than those two ever did on ice and they probably would have been just as solid of players.

 

Those guys like the Steve Pinizzotos and the minor leagers and players of Italian backgrounds get a leg up when the Canucks look for depth pieces in the organization.

 

White fringe players have been getting favorable opportunities for quite a while. I have no doubt we would see more minorities especially with a more concerted effort.