Crabcakes Posted March 30, 2023 Share Posted March 30, 2023 Vancouver Canucks president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford penned a letter that went out to the club’s season ticket holders today. In the letter, which in years’ past has been written by owner Francesco Aquilini, this is what Rutherford had to say to Canucks fans: On behalf of Canucks Sports & Entertainment’s ownership, our hockey operations team and our players, I want to thank our Season Ticket Members and all of our fans for your continued support. We know how much this team means to you. The passion from the Canucks fan base is simply incredible and something we will never take for granted. This season has been difficult for all of us, but especially for you, our fans. We had expectations going into this season that were not met. All of us share in your frustration. This team needs to get better, and we will get better. I came to Vancouver 15 months ago with a plan to build this team into a legitimate contender, one that can ultimately compete for the Stanley Cup Even though this season did not go as we hoped, our vision for this team has not changed. We are currently the 5th youngest team in the league, and we believe in our core of elite players. Elias Pettersson, Quinn Hughes, J.T. Miller and Thatcher Demko are exceptional players who continue to elevate their game. We are equally excited about the emerging new players on our roster which includes Andrei Kuzmenko, Ilya Mikheyev, Ethan Bear and the recently acquired Filip Hronek. This is a terrific base to build upon. There is still much work to do to upgrade areas of our team. This includes being active in the college and European free agent markets along with managing our cap space by using all options available to us. A big part of the development of this group will be the work of new Head Coach Rick Tocchet and his staff. We are already seeing improvements under Rick’s leadership. He is implementing the style of hockey we want to see this group play and holding the players accountable. We have a unified vision that runs from Abbotsford in the AHL to the Canucks in the NHL. Coach Jeremy Colliton is doing exceptional work in Abbotsford and is in regular communication with Rick on the development of our players. Our hockey development staff has also been highly strengthened by the addition of Henrik and Daniel Sedin. We are lucky to have two Hall of Famers working with our players in both Abbotsford and Vancouver. Overall, I am proud of the hockey operations team we have put in place here. We have added bright and diverse minds to our management group over the past year in Patrik Allvin, Cammi Granato, Emilie Castonguay, Derek Clancey along with Ryan Johnson and Stan Smyl. We have exceptional people working in our pro and amateur scouting departments. I’m confident in this group as we embark on upgrading our roster and selecting a top pick in this year’s NHL Draft. We are excited for what we are building and always appreciate your support. Your passion and commitment are what drives this franchise. Together we can show the rest of the league why Vancouver is the best place to play, and more importantly, the best place to win. -Jim Rutherford "our vision for this team has not changed". Vision is a higher and more esoteric level that something a mucky as strategy. Vision is an ideal and the strategy is how to achieve the vision so he's not getting pinned down on the Miller "about face" for example. Core: Pettersson, Hughes, Miller, Demko. Miller now? Emerging new players: Kuzmenko, Mikheyev, Bear, Hronek. I guess this is the list of non-core players who they are not likely to trade this summer. Development: Tocchet implementing style of hockey and accountability. Unified vision from Abby to Van. Rutherford is proud of operations staff. Named: Allvin, Granato, Castonguay, Clancy, Johnston, Smyl I guess that JR is now writing letters so that he can control better what he says. Thoughts? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Crossbar Posted March 30, 2023 Share Posted March 30, 2023 (edited) JR says ... F*** the fanbase, we're building a winner whether you like it or not! EDIT: That's exactly what we've needed. Evidence? No cup. Edited March 30, 2023 by Dr. Crossbar 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danjr Posted March 30, 2023 Share Posted March 30, 2023 All I read is BLAH BLAH BLAH. Same drivel different year. 3 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Rocket-68 Posted March 30, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted March 30, 2023 3 minutes ago, danjr said: All I read is BLAH BLAH BLAH. Same drivel different year. Feel free to reach out to Aquaman with your resume inquiring about replacing JR. 2 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuck-lifer Posted March 30, 2023 Share Posted March 30, 2023 Glad he's "zipping" it on the pressers and letting PA and team do their job. Hopefully the current successes translates to the 2nd half of 2023 and beyond Confirms Bear will probably get signed this summer. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Kevin Biestra Posted March 30, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted March 30, 2023 Sounds like Boeser ought to put his house up for sale. 3 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curmudgeon Posted March 30, 2023 Share Posted March 30, 2023 20 minutes ago, danjr said: All I read is BLAH BLAH BLAH. Same drivel different year. Fair enough, but what exactly do you expect? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlwaysACanuckFan Posted March 30, 2023 Share Posted March 30, 2023 5 minutes ago, Kevin Biestra said: Sounds like Boeser ought to put his house up for sale. How Boeser really feels right now 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Heffy Posted March 30, 2023 Share Posted March 30, 2023 Missing the word "resignation". 1 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sophomore Jinx Posted March 30, 2023 Share Posted March 30, 2023 How Garland feels right now.... 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roberts Posted March 30, 2023 Share Posted March 30, 2023 canucks could still win the cup this year 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elias Pettersson Posted March 30, 2023 Share Posted March 30, 2023 OEL checking out when the first day of the buyout window opens... 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rackdawg Posted March 30, 2023 Share Posted March 30, 2023 Dear fans ..thanks for your hard earned cash...we promise we will be better next yr. Thanks again for your bucks..by the way tickets will be 5 dollars more this coming season. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toni Zamboni Posted March 30, 2023 Share Posted March 30, 2023 Dear fans, It is what it is. JR 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldFaithfulCap Posted March 30, 2023 Share Posted March 30, 2023 Ignore everything a person says and look at what they do. 19 seasons in Carolina, first 5 years no playoffs. Then 6 postseason appearances, 2 stanley cup finals, 1 victory. Then 5 seasons of no playoffs. Pens were a stanley cup winning playoff team but helped their elite core get extra pieces and they won two more stanley cups. Definitely has a pedigree. though he wouldn't last 5 years anywhere without playoffs in the NHL now. Are our core as elite as the pens were? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post IBatch Posted March 30, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted March 30, 2023 1 hour ago, OldFaithfulCap said: Ignore everything a person says and look at what they do. 19 seasons in Carolina, first 5 years no playoffs. Then 6 postseason appearances, 2 stanley cup finals, 1 victory. Then 5 seasons of no playoffs. Pens were a stanley cup winning playoff team but helped their elite core get extra pieces and they won two more stanley cups. Definitely has a pedigree. though he wouldn't last 5 years anywhere without playoffs in the NHL now. Are our core as elite as the pens were? CAR missed 9 in a row in the end ... Raleigh fanbase needed gimmicks to bring fans back. No our core is not as elite, but do think we might end up as good as CAR. All those things he mentioned take time. A lot to unpack from the JB era, that said QHs, EP, Demko and Miller are all core players he brought in. Let's hope JR/Allvin are good finishers. Funny how he only mentions the next group as guys they brought in. Garland, OEL, Brock and Myers don't seem to be long term guys in Vancouver. One more season of unpacking, then we likely see the team he's trying to assemble. The bones are good. Glad he mentioned cap. And curious to what these free agent market adds will be. One already. And confirmed, he's not trading this years draft pick. 2 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canuck You Posted March 30, 2023 Share Posted March 30, 2023 2 hours ago, OldFaithfulCap said: Ignore everything a person says and look at what they do. 19 seasons in Carolina, first 5 years no playoffs. Then 6 postseason appearances, 2 stanley cup finals, 1 victory. Then 5 seasons of no playoffs. Pens were a stanley cup winning playoff team but helped their elite core get extra pieces and they won two more stanley cups. Definitely has a pedigree. though he wouldn't last 5 years anywhere without playoffs in the NHL now. Are our core as elite as the pens were? Drafting high would help..Clearly we accept mediocrity. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldFaithfulCap Posted March 30, 2023 Share Posted March 30, 2023 3 minutes ago, Canuck You said: Drafting high would help..Clearly we accept mediocrity. Personally i don't think Rutherford is the answer. I don't think Tocchet is either but there are positive signs so it's reasonable to have optimism right now. I think the team should have gone in another direction but they aren't so just have to wait and see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spook007 Posted March 30, 2023 Share Posted March 30, 2023 A few interesting notes... The core now confirmed to incl Miller. A second tier of Hronek, Kuz, Mika and........Bear (unless he prices himself out, he'll be here next season as well. Changes are coming... Think we'll see a few high earners vacate the group this summer. Brock, Garland, Myers,and OEL (Beau? don't think so...) being the obvious ones, but there could easily be more. If anyone was in doubt, they are aiming for playoffs next season and onwards. The job at Abby is being recognised and rightfully so. The ease with which players have joined the the big club, without missing a beat speaks volume. They are searching everywhere for free/cheap improvements to the team (same for everyone)... Lets see next season. Action speaks louder than words, whether spoken or written, but so far most of the moves being made have been positive. One thing they did right, was moving Bo. The team hasn't skipped a step, so what was really needed was a fresh set of eyes to break it up... will be interesting to see how they go about getting rid of some of the 5 high earners mentioned earlier, and how they will improve on their positions without breaking cap... 3C, top 4 D's, some mustard in the bottom 6 on top of Joshua... maybe a 2nd line winger? Interesting summer wheeling and dealing coming up... 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alflives Posted March 30, 2023 Share Posted March 30, 2023 5 minutes ago, OldFaithfulCap said: Personally i don't think Rutherford is the answer. I don't think Tocchet is either but there are positive signs so it's reasonable to have optimism right now. I think the team should have gone in another direction but they aren't so just have to wait and see. What direction? Rebuild? It sure seems that’s the direction you want. So that means in your opinion our young core guys, even with a good supporting cast, aren’t good enough to win. That's clearly 100% wrong. Petey, Hughes, Demko, Miller, Hronek. That’s a fabulous core. 1 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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