Entries with the tag: alain+vigneault

A $21 Million Shopping Trip Should Be More Fun Than This

by Alanah McGinley on 06/28/08 at 01:42 PM
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It’s difficult to gauge the exact dollar amount available in the Vancouver Canucks’ bank come July 1st.  I’ve read estimates from less-than-$20-M to $21.6 M.  My own addition comes out to $21.1 M, only very slightly off the calculations by nhlnumbers.com.

Whatever the exact amount (and incidentally, I’m less-inclined than before to make fun of hiring a “capologist”) it’s a healthy amount of free agent spending money.

But for those Canucks fans out there still dreaming of Marian Hossa, I daresay it’s not going to be nearly enough.

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Vancouver Quotes, Innuendo and Lies

by Alanah McGinley on 06/18/08 at 11:03 AM
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1. Markus Naslund: Money Doesn’t Matter (mostly)

On his decision to play at least one more season in the NHL:

“It was not a hard decision to make with a little distance to everything. I feel very motivated to continue playing in NHL.”

and more…

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Cliff Ronning & the Canucks

by Alanah McGinley on 05/24/08 at 05:31 PM
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A casual remark from Cliff Ronning buried at the end of this article in a local Burnaby paper yesterday, caught my attention:

“Sooner or later I’m going to slow down a bit. My ultimate goal would be somehow to work with the Canucks in some capacity. I would stop doing everything to do that because that’s pretty well where my heart is.”

That says a lot, given that this organization didn’t exactly endear itself to Ronning back in 1996, when “the Canucks offered him a 30 per cent pay cut and everyone else a 30 per cent raise.” (Which instantly brings to mind a Mike Keenan joke, but he wasn’t even in Vancouver yet so I’ll have to bank that one. Which is annoying. Mike Keenan jokes are a crowd-pleaser.) But perhaps the money issue is understandable given that the 1996 roster must have commanded some big bucks going into the 1997 season.

Anyway, back to Ronning…

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Putting Vigneault’s Record on the Hot Seat

by Alanah McGinley on 05/24/08 at 03:45 PM
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The Yankee Canuck takes a hard look at Alain Vigneault’s coaching record and comes up with this:

In six seasons, Vigneault has guided his teams to the bottom third in offense five times; four of those teams didn’t made the post season. Of the two teams that did, neither has gone past the second round. One could argue that, in both Vancouver and Montreal, he had few offensive talents at his disposal, but is not the job of a coach to make the best with the players he has (I believe that’s what got Francis the nod as a Jack Adams winner in Phoenix)?

Additionally, in two seasons with Vancouver we have watched him misuse certain players (Naslund, Linden), verbally call out other players (Cooke, Bulis, Bieksa, Mitchell, Luongo) and has a reoccurring problem of creating effective lines. It’s still an easy argument to make that the only reason Vancouver has had any level of success under Vigneault is because he has Luongo playing in his prime (and Vigneault managed to compromise that edge when he overworked Lui badly over the final two months of last season). As Jim Jamieson said in the Province yesterday, “When a team loses seven of its last eight games — including several no-shows — with a playoff spot in the balance, questions have to be asked.”

A very good analysis, and one that generates a number of questions. You can read the complete post here.

P.S. The Jack Adams Award winner is selected annually by the NHL Broadcasters Association (NHLBA) but there’s very little information about them on the web and no membership list that either myself of the Yankee Canuck have been able to find.  If anyone can provide more information about that organization, it would be much appreciated.  Cheers. (12:56pm PT Update: That was quick—someone has already passed on the information I needed. Thanks!)

Vigneault Signs an Extension

by Alanah McGinley on 05/22/08 at 12:20 PM
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From the Vancouver Canucks:

Vancouver Canucks General Manager Mike Gillis today announced that Head Coach Alain Vigneault has agreed to terms on an extension that keeps him under contract through the 2009-10 season.

“This is a significant announcement for our hockey club,” said Gillis. “My first priority when taking over the job was to meet with Alain and ensure we shared the same philosophy about building an elite level team for now and for the future. Alain has done a very good job in his two years in Vancouver and I am confident that will continue.”

Not too surprising given the fact Viggy had the authority to sack two of his own assistants last night.  I’m really going to have to spend some time making fun of this situation later. 

The Fall Guy

by Alanah McGinley on 05/20/08 at 02:16 PM
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From Dan Murphy at Sportsnet.ca:

When Dave Nonis was fired and replaced by Gillis, I was among the many who thought Vigneault was on very shaky ground. I mean, how many times do you see a coach survive a GM change? It’s common practise for the new GM to bring in “his guy.”

Now I know what you’re thinking. Gillis is simply keeping Vigneault on so he has a fall guy if things don’t start out well this season. Perhaps. [...]

[But if ] I was a betting man (and I’m going to Vegas this weekend so you better believe I am) I would lay odds that we’ll hear news about a Vigneault extension before we hear about a Vigneault dismissal. But that’s just me.

Hmm. Perhaps. But if I was a betting woman (and I don’t go anywhere near Vegas as a rule because I am, and I’m really, really bad at it) I would lay odds that we’ll be hearing more about that “fall guy” plan, not a dismissal or an extension.

Seems like just the right approach for a clever new GM looking to build some personal job security in this business.

Renewing the Vows in Vegas

by Alanah McGinley on 05/16/08 at 11:42 AM
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Will Vigneault be fired in Vegas? The poll (below) indicates that most fans think so. But while I’m not a fan of the coach, I tend to agree (at least in part) with Iain MacIntyre via the National Post, who feels Viggy will get more time.

So, ask yourself: Would the GM include his coach in critical strategy sessions to finalize the Canucks’ entry-draft list, identify free-agent targets and generally plan for next season, then punt him? You know, so Vigneault could take his Jack Adams Trophy and the Canucks’ top-secret plans to another team?

Gillis is unconventional, but not mad.

Chances are the delay in clarifying Vigneault’s status is not due to the possible termination of his contract, but the possible extension of it. Vigneault has a year remaining and obviously would prefer not to be a lame duck, since the most recent one of those - Quenneville - will be pulling shotgun pellets from his rump for weeks.

Firing the Jack Adams-carrying coach is simply much riskier for Gillis than keeping him on another season.

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Busy Days—From Vancouver to Vegas

by Alanah McGinley on 05/15/08 at 11:28 AM
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From Scott Burnside at ESPN,

Busy times in Vancouver as new owner Francesco Aquilini cries to the local papers every time he reads something that rankles him and with new GM Mike Gillis throwing everyone connected to the Dave Nonis regime under the bus. Now, Gillis is starting to rebuild the Canucks in his own image, announcing that he’s hired longtime NHLer Scott Mellanby to be a conduit between the team’s hockey operations and himself. [...]

The Canucks are holding their annual meetings in Las Vegas this week and Gillis is expected to make a final decision on whether to bring back coach Alain Vigneault. Sources have told ESPN.com that Vigneault rubbed some veteran players the wrong way and there is a strong suspicion Gillis will bring in his own coach.

That about sums it up, although I’m not sure how Burnside came up with the idea that Gillis is “throwing everyone connected to the Dave Nonis regime under the bus.” Perhaps he will, but not yet.

As for “sources” suggesting Vigneault rubbed some veteran players the wrong way… well, I don’t think you’d need sources any more complex than a television set and some common sense to have figured that one out.

Update 8:35am PT: A bit more on Mellanby, plus comments from Markus Naslund and Brendan Morrison…

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Gambling with the Canucks

by Alanah McGinley on 05/14/08 at 10:28 AM
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From Ben Kuzma at Canwest (via the Guardian):

The coaching fate of the Vancouver Canucks’ Alain Vigneault will be determined by the end of this week in the most ironic of locations — the gambling heartland of Las Vegas.

With Canucks management and scouts assembling in the Nevada city for their annual meetings, new general manager Mike Gillis said Tuesday that Vigneault has been summoned from his home in Gatineau, Que., to face further scrutiny over the next two days.[...]

In his season-ending address, Vigneault defended his defensive style as one that is common throughout the NHL. Still, the Canucks finished 24th in offence with 213 goals — down nine from the previous season — and their power play was ranked 18th at 17.1-per-cent efficiency. It was 17.2 per cent in 2006-07.

Lay your bets, hockey fans: Will Vigneault keep his job, or does he get offed in Vegas?

I’m Starting to Like Mike Gillis…

by Alanah McGinley on 05/09/08 at 01:29 PM
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In today’s Vancouver Province, news which warms my cold, blackened, disappointed Canucks-fan heart:

For a week now, Canucks head coach Alain Vigneault has spent his days at GM Place on the hot seat. 

For a couple hours, sometimes more, each day, he’s been brought in to informally defend, dissect and rehash a season most are trying to forget. He’s not done yet.

“It’s still ongoing, it’s going to take even more time,” Canucks GM Mike Gillis said.

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Canucks Golf Season Updates

by Alanah McGinley on 05/07/08 at 07:28 PM
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Just a few stories mildly related to Canuckish-type things:

• Dave Nonis is being summoned for an interview in hell
• Alex Edler made a not-so-endearing contribution to one very embarrassing Swedish team loss at the World Championships - a 10 minute game misconduct penalty
• A company called Coleman Analytics has five NHL teams (and they’re looking to add Vancouver to their list of clients) that are paying them up to $100K a year for “basic” analytics services. Honestly, I bet plenty of obsessive & mathematically-inclined hockey fans would gladly kick those numbers out for free, or maybe a bit of swag. (I know, I know. I’m over-simplifying… but at least let The Forechecker bid for the job.)

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On those ‘Demitra to Vancouver’ Rumors

by Alanah McGinley on 05/05/08 at 12:23 PM
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Some thoughts from Minnesota, à la Michael Russo at the Star Tribune:

Oh, and lastly, this is unconfirmed by me but being told to me by a Vancouver reporter, but apparently Pavol Demitra was in Vancouver over the weekend being given a tour of the area by Canucks captain Markus Naslund.

As I’ve intimated here, the chances of the Wild even attempting to bring Demitra back is slim to none, and there’s a question whether he’d even want to return.

Demitra signing with Vancouver makes sense. His agent — or now, I guess, former agent — is Mike Gillis, the now-GM of the Canucks. Naslund is also now a former client of Gillis. 

Both are unrestricted free agents, and you can bet Gillis may very well take care of his former clients. In fact, maybe Pavel Bure comes out of retirement and returns to Vancouver.

[updated below - Demitra did indeed spend time in Vancouver in recent days.]

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Happy Thoughts from Spector

by Alanah McGinley on 04/28/08 at 01:55 PM
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From Lyle Richardson at The Hockey News, a rundown of the rumors and conundrums surrounding the Canucks this offseason, including:

Behind the bench, coach Alain Vigneault and his staff remain in limbo as Gillis evaluates their future with the club. Vigneault won the Jack Adams Trophy in 2007 as the NHL’s coach of the year, but Gillis could be mulling a change in the Canucks’ style of play from their defensive system to a more offensive style, which could result in replacing Vigneault.

From your mouth to God’s ears, Lyle…

Read the rest of his article for a roundup of other Canucks topics.

Naslund Recovering from Elbow Surgery

by Alanah McGinley on 04/25/08 at 02:59 PM
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From The Province:

Markus Naslund is recovering after elbow surgery to remove loose bone chips Thursday. It’s unclear how long the problem had been bothering the pending unrestricted free agent.

One report has suggested Naslund won’t return to Vancouver if coach Alain Vigneault comes back.

The first bit of a news is a surprise; I hope the surgery went well.  But the “report” of Naslund refusing to re-sign if Vigneault stays with the Canucks is probably just a matter of stating-the-obvious.  Those two go together like oil-and-water, and if I had to pick one man to be associated with this team I’d pick a price-reduced Naslund in a heart beat. Scoring woes or not.

But I expect my opinion isn’t the popular one—here’s a poll to find out.

Vigneault Underestimated Luongo’s Mental State

by Alanah McGinley on 04/08/08 at 02:49 PM
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From Ben Kuzma at The Province:

“If I could do it over again, yeah, I would probably do things differently,” Vigneault said Monday. “That being said, we’re in a playoff push where every game is huge and I don’t know how I can’t play our best player.”

Vigneault had often repeated that his workhorse could handle the workload of appearing in 73 games. In the end, Luongo looked agitated with it all.

“Obviously, I underestimated not the physical demands of the schedule and the amount of games we play, but I underestimated his mental situation about everything that was happening in his life,” added Vigneault.

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Blame the Players

by Alanah McGinley on 04/04/08 at 04:20 PM
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For what it’s worth, Darren Dreger at TSN has a theory:

On a decent night, the Vancouver Canucks generate 15 scoring chances.  On home-ice Thursday night the Canucks charted 24 scoring opportunities, were awarded almost 17 minutes in power play time and became a non-playoff team, partly, by not being able to score more than one goal against the Edmonton Oilers in the biggest game of the year.

There’s no question injuries factored in to Vancouver’s demise, but key players failed to deliver when this team needed them most.

Down the stretch, Roberto Luongo wasn’t good enough. Down the stretch, the Sedins were not good enough.

The list goes on.

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A Reprieve From the Edge

by Alanah McGinley on 03/08/08 at 04:14 PM
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Having been out of touch with the hockey news since late Thursday night, I hauled a copy of the Vancouver Sun into a breakfast diner off Granville this morning, ready to enjoy the whiplash effect of excessive optimism that the 6-2 win over Nashville last game was surely having on Vancouver fans and writers (lose a game? armageddon. win a game? salvation...).

But the hockey news isn’t always utterly predictable in Vancouver, and they turned the tables on me.

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Ohlund Out, Bourdon in & Stupid Canucks Promos

by Alanah McGinley on 03/05/08 at 07:17 PM
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From the Vancouver Sun:

The NHL’s Vancouver Canucks, down another defenceman with a knee injury to veteran Mattias Ohlund, have called up blueliner Luc Bourdon from the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League.

Ohlund was hurt during Tuesday’s 2-1 loss to the host Colorado Avalanche. He went for an MRI on the knee today, and results may be available tomorrow.

Aside from that fine news, I thought I’d throw in a screenshot of a Canucks contest being run lately.

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Curing the Blues, Praying for Goaltending

by Alanah McGinley on 01/23/08 at 06:30 PM
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The St. Louis Blues are currently suffering a bad streak, which prompted a friend to comment to me this morning:

...the Blues are winless in five… well, that’s why God in her wisdom created the Vancouver Canucks.

Ain’t that the truth. The Canucks are so very generous at making teams on a skid feel better about themselves. Just ask the LA Kings.

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The Old Naslund

by Paul on 11/24/07 at 09:26 AM
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from the Vancouver Sun,

“In a way, I never doubted that I’d lost my scoring touch or something,” Naslund said. “I was just used to playing a certain way and playing with certain players. Maybe I’m more dependent on other players. I can only control my work ethic. I feel I’ve done my best. I haven’t scored lots, but I think the effort has been there all along."…

His offensive renaissance has come since Vigneault consolidated the offence and moved Naslund on to the top unit, at even strength and on the power play, alongside Daniel and Henrik Sedin.

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Swedes, Whiskey and the Blues

by Alanah McGinley on 11/23/07 at 01:34 PM
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Elliott Pap at the Vancouver Sun gets an interview with Mattias Ohlund. And, given the opportunity to explore the complex issues of Ohlund’s 4-game suspension, Pap goes for a truly hard-hitting approach right from the top:

Q.The Canucks are on the road this week but you’ve been at home serving your suspension for whacking Mikko Koivu. Are your kids wondering what Daddy has done?
A. I think Viktor and Hannah are just happy that Daddy is home.

Well, as long as they’re happy, that deals with the big question of the day.  So now for some trivialities—like Markus Naslund’s recent performance.

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Canucks-Related Transactions

by Alanah McGinley on 10/12/07 at 03:26 PM
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[note: transactions updated 4:25pm PT at bottom of post]

For once, the NHL’s disciplinary committee hit fast and (I think) pretty hard:

Philadelphia forward Jesse Boulerice was suspended 25 games by the NHL on Friday for cross-checking Vancouver’s Ryan Kesler across the face, matching the largest suspension in league history.

For a comparison to other major suspensions, check here.

Personally, I have no problem with the length of this, but I fully expect there will be plenty of impassioned opinions—that it’s either: (a) not enough, or (b) too much.

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Canucks Focus On Work Ethic & Preparation

by Paul on 09/12/07 at 07:18 AM
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from the Vancouver Province,

“I don’t know what the expectations are,” said Vigneault. “I know our expectation is we want more and we want more success. We’re going to demand more from each other. We’re raising our own expectations.”

Vigneault then paused, his eyes grew wider and he became visibly animated.

“Our first step is making it to the dance. But making it isn’t as easy as saying we had success last season. It’s a big challenge. The teams that made the final two years ago [Carolina and Edmonton] didn’t make the playoffs last year. You have to respect that process. It’s our job to make sure the players don’t get caught looking ahead.

“We know about the challenge. We’re going to hit it head on with our work ethic and our preparation. We’re confident if we do it the right way we’ll get in the playoffs and then we’ll see what happens. And that has nothing to do with outside expectations.”

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