2017/2018 Management Discussion | NEW MOD WARNING IN OP AS OF 5/20/18

[Hit the post]

Im sure he is still is.i am really curious as to what the Canucks are waiting for with Benning.

Evander Kane UFA.....how about throwing another Eriksson type of deal at him? We got the cap space!

 

[Mr. Canucklehead]

Yeah, that Vatanen/Sbisa nugget made me throw up in my mouth a little bit. Our front office really does need a thorough house cleaning. I'm not exactly in love with some of the candidates to replace our "brain" trust - Holland's recent history is unimpressive, I think Lombardi is a garbage human being, Gilman likely won't be back, and the rest have very little managerial experience where I feel like adding an experienced exec is a must - but it really does feel like almost anyone would be a pretty significant upgrade over Benning and Linden at this time.

 

[Foundational Player]

How can anyone defend this management group, mistake after mistake and yet there are so many that support incompetence and misdirection. Where is this team headed? There seems to be no long term plan other than remaining 'competitive' and being in the playoff hunt down the stretch from year to year.

Apathy is beginning to take a hold of quite a bit of this fanbase which is concerning but the ownership group seems content to move forward with the status quo.

I honestly wonder if the media outside of this market is even paying attention to what's actually occurring in this market? I heard Pierre LeBrun on 1040 last week state that he would resign Benning and company. He mentioned the team's great prospect pool. Are you ****ing kidding me? Sure the 2017 draft looks great on paper but most drafts do within the 1st year, remember 2014? Who looks to have an actual impact from that draft....Demko looks great and thats about it. Virtanen and Tryamkin so much early promise but reality has set in. I know there are quite a few people out there who can see this tire fire for what it is and who are in favor of replacing the GM and assistant GM (lets be realisic Linden isn't going anywhere for the time being) but so many eat the cake and endorse an extension.

Its honestly hard to cheer for my favorite team (been watching this team since 1991) with such terrible personnel at the top calling the shots. Whats next......sadly I think the possibility of Vanek, Gudbranson or both being resigned is higher than Benning and Weisbroad being fired. Sickening I know but would not be surprised in the least.

The woes of a Canucks fan, c'est la vie!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[CanaFan]

How can anyone defend this management group, mistake after mistake and yet there are so many that support incompetence and misdirection. Where is this team headed? There seems to be no long term plan other than remaining 'competitive' and being in the playoff hunt down the stretch from year to year.

Apathy is beginning to take a hold of quite a bit of this fanbase which is concerning but the ownership group seems content to move forward with the status quo.

I honestly wonder if the media outside of this market is even paying attention to what's actually occurring in this market? I heard Pierre LeBrun on 1040 last week state that he would resign Benning and company. He mentioned the team's great prospect pool. Are you ****ing kidding me? Sure the 2017 draft looks great on paper but most drafts do within the 1st year, remember 2014? Who looks to have an actual impact from that draft....Demko looks great and thats about it. Virtanen and Tryamkin so much early promise but reality has set in. I know there are quite a few people out there who can see this tire fire for what it is and who are in favor of replacing the GM and assistant GM (lets be realisic Linden isn't going anywhere for the time being) but so many eat the cake and endorse an extension.

Its honestly hard to cheer for my favorite team (been watching this team since 1991) with such terrible personnel at the top calling the shots. Whats next......sadly I think the possibility of Vanek, Gudbranson or both being resigned is higher than Benning and Weisbroad being fired. Sickening I know but would not be surprised in the least.

The woes of a Canucks fan, c'est la vie!!!!!!!!!!!!

That’s the thing, namely the recency of the 2017 draft in driving these “optimistic” projections of our prospect pool. Firstly it contained an extra 2nd (Gadjovich) that had everything to do with an archaic NHL rule and nothing to do with the abilities or intentions of this management group. It is also driven by a 5th overall pick that, for once, we didn’t blow and a 32nd overall pick that, for once, we didn’t trade away. This is what a *normal* draft for a 29th place team should look like. It isn’t exceptional, it’s what we should have been doing in 2016 and 2014 as well. The optimism surround 2017 is a combination of a) these picks not having moved on to a higher level where some of the shine starts to come off, and b) our previous drafts being so poor that people’s expectations have dropped to ridiculously low levels.

 

[Samzilla]

holy shit, botch is on fire this provies!

u can tell how exasperated he is with some of our play lately, too. what more needs to be said than, "hit him!", "push back!", or "move!" with a gif of each example.

also his response to the dude saying virtanen was closing the gap on nylander, lol. "I like JV18 as much as anyone but he has 24 points. In his career."

 

[Jyrki21]

I honestly wonder if the media outside of this market is even paying attention to what's actually occurring in this market?

No, they don't really. I know it's a bit different among fans, but if it's at all a proxy, while there are a few people here who'd be super-plugged into the NHL on a whole, I guess, but the typical local fan generally wouldn't be able to name anyone on the Canucks outside the Sedins. And to be fair, I barely know who plays for the Senators and I live here. This is what happens when you have 30+ teams and a time difference.

also his response to the dude saying virtanen was closing the gap on nylander, lol. "I like JV18 as much as anyone but he has 24 points. In his career."

That dude is Lee Powell, who used to be one of the foremost hockey radio people in Vancouver. And now he's taken to hating me (sort of) and @Hollywood Burrows (definitely) on Twitter.

 

[PG Canuck]

It’s amazing how tidbits of information like this keep coming out and people still think Benning is a good GM.

- Canucks are using a drafting system, no Benning’s “expertise”
- Benning proffered Sbisa over Vatanen
- Endless other things that have come out that I can’t even remember because there’s been so many it seems

 

[Hollywood Burrows]

No, they don't really. I know it's a bit different among fans, but if it's at all a proxy, while there are a few people here who'd be super-plugged into the NHL on a whole, I guess, but the typical local fan generally wouldn't be able to name anyone on the Canucks outside the Sedins. And to be fair, I barely know who plays for the Senators and I live here. This is what happens when you have 30+ teams and a time difference.


That dude is Lee Powell, who used to be one of the foremost hockey radio people in Vancouver. And now he's taken to hating me (sort of) and @Hollywood Burrows (definitely) on Twitter.

My lawyer has advised me not to talk about Lee, but I saw that screenshot in the provies and I had to go incognito to check his feed. His tweets are absolute fire

 

[y2kcanucks]

Yeah, that Vatanen/Sbisa nugget made me throw up in my mouth a little bit. Our front office really does need a thorough house cleaning. I'm not exactly in love with some of the candidates to replace our "brain" trust - Holland's recent history is unimpressive, I think Lombardi is a garbage human being, Gilman likely won't be back, and the rest have very little managerial experience where I feel like adding an experienced exec is a must - but it really does feel like almost anyone would be a pretty significant upgrade over Benning and Linden at this time.

Why do you say Lombardi is a garbage human being?

 

[Mr. Canucklehead]

Why do you say Lombardi is a garbage human being?

The way he handled the Voynov situation vs the way he handled the Richards situation.

Voynov was still a productive hockey player on a reasonable contract. So when all the guff went down (Voynov thrashing his wife and being suspended by the NHL), the Kings went quiet other than to try sneaking Voynov into their practice facility, to which the league responded with a $100,000 fine. Voynov ended up pleading no contest to the charges and leaving the the country.

Richards was no longer a productive player and was on a bad contract. So he gets charged with possession of narcotics at the Canadian border. 11 days later, Lombardi terminates his contract citing a material breach. He sobs to the media about "what has happened to Mike Richards" and how "he got played", but there was never a word about Richards the human being. It was sobbing that he was no longer productive on the ice.

Richards' charges were ultimately stayed.

Long and short - he stuck by his guilty as guilty is defensemen who beat the snot out of his wife because he was good at hockey. He kicked a hard working player who contributed to two Cup wins who was never found guilty of an offense to the curb at the soonest opportunity because he had a bad contract.

Maybe some call it good business, but I think he's a garbage human being. And the fact that it started coming out just what a shit show that Kings team was with respect to drug use after those incidents was just icing on the cake.

 

[y2kcanucks]

That dude is Lee Powell, who used to be one of the foremost hockey radio people in Vancouver. And now he's taken to hating me (sort of) and @Hollywood Burrows (definitely) on Twitter.

Wait what? That Lee Powell guy is a somebody? He has me blocked because of the marathon debates we've had. He's a pure Benning Bro.

 

[racerjoe]

Arsmaster, I remember that guy.

The more that comes out, the more it just boggles my mind... even the scouts we currently have, only one is a benning guy if I remember correctly. Again besides draft picks that are afford to us from being bad, what has benning brought in that is a positive asset?

 

[y2kcanucks]

The way he handled the Voynov situation vs the way he handled the Richards situation.

Voynov was still a productive hockey player on a reasonable contract. So when all the guff went down (Voynov thrashing his wife and being suspended by the NHL), the Kings went quiet other than to try sneaking Voynov into their practice facility, to which the league responded with a $100,000 fine. Voynov ended up pleading no contest to the charges and leaving the the country.

Richards was no longer a productive player and was on a bad contract. So he gets charged with possession of narcotics at the Canadian border. 11 days later, Lombardi terminates his contract citing a material breach. He sobs to the media about "what has happened to Mike Richards" and how "he got played", but there was never a word about Richards the human being. It was sobbing that he was no longer productive on the ice.

Richards' charges were ultimately stayed.

Long and short - he stuck by his guilty as guilty is defensemen who beat the snot out of his wife because he was good at hockey. He kicked a hard working player who contributed to two Cup wins who was never found guilty of an offense to the curb at the soonest opportunity because he had a bad contract.

Maybe some call it good business, but I think he's a garbage human being. And the fact that it started coming out just what a **** show that Kings team was with respect to drug use after those incidents was just icing on the cake.

That's fair. I completely forgot about the Voynov situation.

While he may not be the greatest person, it's tough to argue with his track record though.

 

[Nuckles]

Yeah, that Vatanen/Sbisa nugget made me throw up in my mouth a little bit. Our front office really does need a thorough house cleaning. I'm not exactly in love with some of the candidates to replace our "brain" trust - Holland's recent history is unimpressive, I think Lombardi is a garbage human being, Gilman likely won't be back, and the rest have very little managerial experience where I feel like adding an experienced exec is a must - but it really does feel like almost anyone would be a pretty significant upgrade over Benning and Linden at this time.

Well, it depends on who it is. If it's someone like BriseBois or Zito, they've shown they can handle doing multiple things in the AGM role, including running the AHL team. Regardless, I do agree that if you bring in someone like that then you should also look at hiring someone with GM experience in an advisor role or as President/AGM. Don Maloney is still kicking around as a Flames scout, though maybe he's happy in a lesser role out of the spotlight.

 

[Melvin]

Jesus, I remember Lee Powell. He was on CKNW back in the day.

No doubt, all of those guys (Larscheid, etc.) had monster crushes on St. Trevor and there is no real point in engaging with them.

 

[y2kcanucks]

Arsmaster, I remember that guy.

The more that comes out, the more it just boggles my mind... even the scouts we currently have, only one is a benning guy if I remember correctly. Again besides draft picks that are afford to us from being bad, what has benning brought in that is a positive asset?

Two scouts on the entire team are Benning guys. David Volek who was hired before the 16-17 season, and Brandon Benning (his son) who was hired when Jim got here, after working as a security guard in his last job.

 

[Jyrki21]

Wait what? That Lee Powell guy is a somebody? He has me blocked because of the marathon debates we've had. He's a pure Benning Bro.

Through the mid-‘90s at least, if you listened to a Canucks game on CKNW (and most weren’t on TV, so you didn’t have a choice), Lee was the guy taking calls from the pre-Tanbir generation – including your Pauser namesake – after the game. And he was more than competent back then.

 

[y2kcanucks]

Through the mid-‘90s at least, if you listened to a Canucks game on CKNW (and most weren’t on TV, so you didn’t have a choice), Lee was the guy taking calls from the pre-Tanbir generation – including your Pauser namesake – after the game. And he was more than competent back then.

I thought his name sounded familiar, but never put it together. Wow. I can't say I remember what his positions were on anything, but I do recognize the name.

 

[vanuck]

Yeah, that Vatanen/Sbisa nugget made me throw up in my mouth a little bit. Our front office really does need a thorough house cleaning. I'm not exactly in love with some of the candidates to replace our "brain" trust - Holland's recent history is unimpressive, I think Lombardi is a garbage human being, Gilman likely won't be back, and the rest have very little managerial experience where I feel like adding an experienced exec is a must - but it really does feel like almost anyone would be a pretty significant upgrade over Benning and Linden at this time.

I've said this time and time again, but a literal potato for a GM would have hurt this club less over the past few years with Benning in charge.

There are no excuses for why Benning should be kept on in any role whatsoever, as his incompetence has been proven repeatedly beyond any shadow of a doubt, his good work ethic be damned and all. That Sbisa-over-Vatanen thing is just the latest example in a long long list of ****-ups, although one of the most egregious. Effing lmao.

 

[Addison Rae]

I've said this time and time again, but a literal potato for a GM would have hurt this club less over the past few years with Benning in charge.

There are no excuses for why Benning should be kept on in any role whatsoever, as his incompetence has been proven repeatedly beyond any shadow of a doubt, his good work ethic be damned and all. That Sbisa-over-Vatanen thing is just the latest example in a long long list of ****-ups, although one of the most egregious. Effing lmao.

Man it's been a while since I've seen you post on here, good stuff as usual!

 

[RandV]

While it totally wouldn't surprise me with Benning I'm kind of skepitcal that Anaheim straight up offered Sbisa or Vatanen alongside the rest of the deal. I could see it coming up as the deal was put together: 'which dman do you want to start with' and Benning picks Sbisa, but I doubt the option of Bonino + ANA 1st + Vatanen was straight up on the table. Where ever that rumour came from I'd like to see the specific details.

 

[racerjoe]

While it totally wouldn't surprise me with Benning I'm kind of skepitcal that Anaheim straight up offered Sbisa or Vatanen alongside the rest of the deal. I could see it coming up as the deal was put together: 'which dman do you want to start with' and Benning picks Sbisa, but I doubt the option of Bonino + ANA 1st + Vatanen was straight up on the table. Where ever that rumour came from I'd like to see the specific details.

First I heard of it was the Provies. No clue if it has legs.

 

[Pavel96]

How can anyone defend this management group, mistake after mistake and yet there are so many that support incompetence and misdirection. Where is this team headed? There seems to be no long term plan other than remaining 'competitive' and being in the playoff hunt down the stretch from year to year.

Apathy is beginning to take a hold of quite a bit of this fanbase which is concerning but the ownership group seems content to move forward with the status quo.

I honestly wonder if the media outside of this market is even paying attention to what's actually occurring in this market? I heard Pierre LeBrun on 1040 last week state that he would resign Benning and company. He mentioned the team's great prospect pool. Are you ****ing kidding me? Sure the 2017 draft looks great on paper but most drafts do within the 1st year, remember 2014? Who looks to have an actual impact from that draft....Demko looks great and thats about it. Virtanen and Tryamkin so much early promise but reality has set in. I know there are quite a few people out there who can see this tire fire for what it is and who are in favor of replacing the GM and assistant GM (lets be realisic Linden isn't going anywhere for the time being) but so many eat the cake and endorse an extension.

Its honestly hard to cheer for my favorite team (been watching this team since 1991) with such terrible personnel at the top calling the shots. Whats next......sadly I think the possibility of Vanek, Gudbranson or both being resigned is higher than Benning and Weisbroad being fired. Sickening I know but would not be surprised in the least.

The woes of a Canucks fan, c'est la vie!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's really simple. Linden is "such a loveable figure and canucks hero- lol" that if you are a true 'diehard' canucks fan you simply cannot dislike him. Benning is a down to earth, old school guy, who just seems like such a good guy apparently. Plus he had success with Boston right and drafted two good players here (potentially) in 4 first round attempts (3 top 6) - so you can't criticize him at all - otherwise you are a mean troll.

If you don't blindly support this horrible team you are not a fan - whatever that means anymore. Just keep giving them money and don't question them because they are professionals and professionals always do the best job possible.

 

[Melvin]

While it totally wouldn't surprise me with Benning I'm kind of skepitcal that Anaheim straight up offered Sbisa or Vatanen alongside the rest of the deal. I could see it coming up as the deal was put together: 'which dman do you want to start with' and Benning picks Sbisa, but I doubt the option of Bonino + ANA 1st + Vatanen was straight up on the table. Where ever that rumour came from I'd like to see the specific details.

Benning doesn't deserve the benefit of the doubt anymore.

 

[ProstheticConscience]

It's really simple. Linden is "such a loveable figure and canucks hero- lol" that if you are a true 'diehard' canucks fan you simply cannot dislike him. Benning is a down to earth, old school guy, who just seems like such a good guy apparently. Plus he had success with Boston right and drafted two good players here (potentially) in 4 first round attempts (3 top 6) - so you can't criticize him at all - otherwise you are a mean troll.

If you don't blindly support this horrible team you are not a fan - whatever that means anymore. Just keep giving them money and don't question them because they are professionals and professionals always do the best job possible.

Personally, I think it's something else.

Just about the only lesson the Aquamen learned from 2011 and Gillis' tenure was the importance of controlling the messaging and media. They saw everyone turn on the Canucks and how the rules were thrown out so many times because people didn't like the team or who was running it, and they don't want those doors slamming shut again. It's going along hand in hand with the slow, painful death of "traditional" media and the rise of the new Golden Age of Propaganda. These days, the papers, radio and tv guys are hard up for work, so they're more vulnerable to their corporate overlords denying them access for saying negative things or pushing negative stories, so there's more ass-kissing and less real analysis. The folks down south have demonstrated that claims no longer have to be even remotely true; as long as you have an army of people shouting and repeating your message, that's enough for most people. Turns out, people believe alternative facts if it supports what they want to think.

Unfortunately, the importance of putting a good team on the ice seems to have been forgotten.