Canucks & Beyond
Next entry: This Game is Rigged
Previous entry: Habs en Français
Canucks Blowing in the Wind
by Alanah McGinley on 04/18/08 at 12:30 PM ET
Comments (4)
“Know how many National Hockey League teams have fired two general managers in the last four years? One. [The Vancouver Canucks]. Know how many Northwest Division teams have won more games or division titles than the Canucks in that time? None.”
-- Iain MacIntyre, Vancouver Sun
With the small sampling of votes collected on my poll the other day, Jim Nill is the clear favorite on the list. But if you read the comments at that link, a number of Wings fans provide some thoughtful and detailed reasons why prying Nill out of Detroit is likely to be impossible.
Geez. With this whole mess of a team, I’m seriously concerned I’ll never be able to make fun of the Edmonton Oilers again.
Anyway, a few very good articles related to the Canucks today:
- GMs shouldn’t act like fans: emotionally. Nonis understood that, Aquilini does not. (Eric Duhatschek, Globe & Mail)
- Uncertainty top-to-bottom in the hockey operations department, from Steve Tambellini to Stan Smyl to Ron Delorme. (Iain MacIntyre, Vancouver Sun)
- Mike Gillis should be a serious consideration for GM. (Tony Gallagher, The Province)
- “I don’t like forwards skating backwards through the neutral zone,” says GM prospect Brian Lawton. (I’m sold—hire him!) (Jason Botchford, The Province)
- Ownership turned the spotlight on themselves. (Matthew Sekeres, Globe & Mail)
Randomly, speculation in Ottawa about trading Jason Spezza for Roberto Luongo (gimme a break), and a letter writer to the Vancouver Sun stands up for the beleaguered Francesco Aquilini (rich guys need love, too).
____________________
*hat-tip to Mark Spector at the National Post, where I spotted the MacIntyre quote at the top of this post
Filed in: business of hockey, vancouver canucks | Canucks and Beyond | Permalink
Tags: francesco+aquilini, general+managers, vancouver+canucks,
Comments
Spezza for Luongo? That’s cute. And also assumes our soon-to-be-named GM is a complete moron. Which, of course, is entirely possible.
Nice to know that we have stolen the title away from the Islanders for the “most insane bunch of mouth-breathing crazies to run a hockey team in the league.” It’s good to be the King.
Posted by Mike from NYC on 04/18/08 at 12:54 PM ET
Baroque --Your optimism is much appreciated.
I think I’m just in an especially cynical, bitter state of mind about the team right now. It’s all looking like a train-wreck. So many good years in a row - generally speaking - I was starting to get used to having the Canucks not be a total laughingstock. And I’m not saying they are now… but they sure seem to be flirting with that idea again lately.
Mike -- “And also assumes our soon-to-be-named GM is a complete moron. Which, of course, is entirely possible.”
It doesn’t seem entirely out of the realm of possibility, that’s for sure. 
Posted by Alanah McGinley from British Columbia on 04/18/08 at 04:13 PM ET
Somebody has the crack pipe out...Spezza is the great disappearing act of the modern era.
Typed on the run from Narita Airport.
Posted by GZ Expat on 04/19/08 at 12:24 AM ET
Add a Comment
Please limit embedded image or media size to 575 pixels wide.
Add your own avatar by joining Kukla's Korner, or logging in and uploading one in your member control panel.
Captchas bug you? Join KK or log in and you won't have to bother.
Most Recent Blog Posts
Wellwood Returning to Vancouver
In Defense of Dany Heatley (sort of)
Sedin’s Agent Not Optimistic About a Vancouver Deal, but is Anyone?
Mike Keenan Joins the Canucks?
GM Place Keeps its Name; Disaster Averted
What’s Trevor Linden Been Up To?
About Canucks & Beyond
Alanah McGinley has been blogging hockey since 2003, sharing opinions, rants and not-so-deep thoughts with anyone who will listen. In addition to writing Canucks & Beyond and helping manage Kukla’s Korner, Alanah is one of the founders and co-hosts of The Crazy Canucks Podcast, as featured at Canucks.com.
She has contributed pieces to FoxSports.com and the New York Times Slapshot blog, as well as other stray destinations in cyberspace.
Email:
Alanah’s Twitter: Not really hockey-ish. [LINK]
Other Canucks Blogs
It’s not that bad.
Ottawa has legal problems to deal with, Atlanta is a giant cluster of stuff, and Toronto is eternally Toronto (until proven otherwise).
Besides, no management in any sport is as bad as the poop standard (like gold standard, but in reverse) set by the Woeful Detroit Lions.
When “Fire Millen!” chants are not only heard at football games, but also at baseball games and college hockey games, as well as a Fire Millen sign at a college basketball game in Kansas, you have achieved a level of infamy that is unparalleled in sports.
Vancouver is in a bit of a mess, but not even within spitting distance of the worst. They still have a solid fan base and a great goaltender, and the defense has to be healthier next year (knocking a hole through wood). Pick up some offense - and they don’t need Hossa-level talent, either, just a few reliable scorers - and they will have the cap space to do that - and they will be much better off.
Of course, I could also be completely wrong and the entire team could descend to one of the less well-known circles of hockey hell, but since I’m constructing my own reality here I like my optimistic scenario better.
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 04/18/08 at 12:26 PM ET