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

[pitseleh]

I can't help but notice the similarities between Trump/Fox News and Canucks management/most of the local media.

Benning has certainly made it easier for those with economic anxiety to buy tickets.

 

[Jyrki21]

And in Jim Benning's case, it's a combination of nepotism (his dad was a legendary scout) and the Peter Principle working it's magic.

Enh? Enh?

 

[Dissonance Jr]

Signing an over=30 forward like Eriksson to a six year contract on a rebuilding team is so dumb, it strikes me that it had to have come from someone higher up in the organization, like maybe the owner. The theory at the time was that the Canucks would 'reap the benefits' from Eriksson in the early years of the contract, and have to live with some drop-off by age 35 or so.....can you imagine what 'the drop-off' is going to look like now?

Worth remembering, though, that this wasn't management's theory. At the time, Jim Benning was telling everyone that Eriksson's play wouldn't fall off and that he would be "a good player through the term of his contract." This is what he said at the press conference:

Reporter: This is a six-year deal for a guy who's going to be 31, how confident are you that his style of game is sustainable and that 4-5 years from now he'll still be a contributor?

Benning: First of all, I knew him from before... he's 6'3", he always keeps himself in great shape, he looks after himself. Maybe with other players, that would be more of a worry, but having known him in the past, I don't see that as something we have to worry about going forward. ...

Reporter: Again, with his style of play, how confident are you that in years 2, 3, 4, he's going to be effective for you?

Benning: We feel like he's going to be a good player through the term of contract. He's a smart player, so he sees the ice, he reads the play, so sometimes with players if their skating falls off a bit and they're not smart, they can't figure it out. But we feel he's a real smart player, his hockey sense is excellent, he's versatile, he can play left-wing, he can play right-wing, he can kill penalties... there were just so many things to like about Loui.​

-----

It's certainly possible that ownership forced him to sign Eriksson, and Benning was just trying to put a brave face on a move he secretly knew made no sense. But the simplest and most plausible explanation is that Benning genuinely believed all of the stuff he said above.

 

[RandV]

Enh? Enh?

Oh hey I didn't even notice that part!

Speaking of the comic though, it became my conspiratorial belief that when Benning took the job he held a certain level of contempt for the existing Canucks core originating from the 2011 Boston series.

 

[vancityluongo]

Speaking of the comic though, it became my conspiratorial belief that when Benning took the job he held a certain level of contempt for the existing Canucks core originating from the 2011 Boston series.

Oh, absolutely. It's not even that much of a conspiracy.

Not just for the players themselves that were on that 2011 team (Garrison, Hamhuis, Hansen, etc.), but also former management and any player associated with them (Lack, Shinkaruk, Subban, probably Hutton soon, etc.)

The only ones who have seemed to get by are the Sedins and Edler. "Coincidentally", the only three of anyone in this post who played with Linden.

 

[hookshott]

Francesco Aquilini got his BA at SFU and then an MBA at UCLA. You can say what you want about him, but he is definitely an educated man.

Thanks for that info...wasn't sure as I often can tell by the way a person talks as to their level of education....but I missed on Francesco. Still wonder why 2 people who probably have high school diplomas are given the reins to run an NHL franchise.

 

[vancityluongo]

Thanks for that info...wasn't sure as I often can tell by the way a person talks as to their level of education....but I missed on Francesco. Still wonder why 2 people who probably have high school diplomas are given the reins to run an NHL franchise.

I went to high school with kids who played junior hockey. To even credit some of them with an actual high school diploma is a stretch. There's a difference between a full course load and hockey class, phys ed, outdoor ed and the minimum mandatory math/english/social studies requirements. That's honestly not a shot either; playing hockey full time at 16, usually in a new town, and living with billet parents/being away from your own family/friends isn't easy. To not prioritize school is completely fair; especially for kids like Linden and Benning who were top-5 draft picks/slam dunks to have some level of an NHL career.

This will never happen, but I'd love to hear someone like Tony Gallagher ask Benning about questions related to the CBA.

 

[Huggy43]

Francesco Aquilini got his BA at SFU and then an MBA at UCLA. You can say what you want about him, but he is definitely an educated man.

SFU, UCLA & he still doesn't know the difference between "your" & "you're"

 

[Wilch]

Francesco Aquilini got his BA at SFU and then an MBA at UCLA. You can say what you want about him, but he is definitely an educated man.

George Bush got his undergraduate degree from Yale and MBA from Harvard. Donald Trump got his degree from Wharton. Both are legacy students, both are dimwitted idiots.

Considering how wealthy Frank's dad is, those are two incredibly unimpressive schools.

Even then, he didn't seem to get much out of his education at UCLA, which is a solid institution, with all the dumb business decisions he's made.

 

[y2kcanucks]

Francesco Aquilini got his BA at SFU and then an MBA at UCLA. You can say what you want about him, but he is definitely an educated man.

Aquilini may have those degrees, but he is not that bright of a person.

 

[Shattered Dreams]

Signing an over=30 forward like Eriksson to a six year contract on a rebuilding team is so dumb, it strikes me that it had to have come from someone higher up in the organization, like maybe the owner. The theory at the time was that the Canucks would 'reap the benefits' from Eriksson in the early years of the contract, and have to live with some drop-off by age 35 or so.....can you imagine what 'the drop-off' is going to look like now?

I have a hard time believing ownership pressured him when Eriksson was the centrepiece of the Tyler Seguin trade that Benning had a heavy hand in influencing. Just felt like grabbing a player he used to have, which was why Lucic was the number one choice during that free agency.

That line of thinking fits with signing Miller in 2014 and Vanek for this season.

 

[Hit the post]

Francesco Aquilini got his BA at SFU and then an MBA at UCLA. You can say what you want about him, but he is definitely an educated man.

MBA's aren't really that special nowadays.

 

[Addison Rae]

Isn't Weisbrod a Harvard graduate? Yeah I'd honestly rather have M2B as our manager than him, he's one of the worst executives in North American professional sports.

 

[Shattered Dreams]

Continuing with the team of the anti-negative Benning supporters is the hypocrisy of acting smarter than everyone else by calling the rest of us dumb for acting smart.

Genius.

I did not realize making logical arguments supported by four years of facts made us the dumb ones.

They must feel so blessed to always have this holier than thou attitude when their savior is a moron who is in over his head. This management group has ensured the Canucks don't win a cup by their 50th anniversary.

 

[CanaFan]

Continuing with the team of the anti-negative Benning supporters is the hypocrisy of acting smarter than everyone else by calling the rest of us dumb for acting smart.

Genius.

I did not realize making logical arguments supported by four years of facts made us the dumb ones.

They must feel so blessed to always have this holier than thou attitude when their savior is a moron who is in over his head. This management group has ensured the Canucks don't win a cup by their 50th anniversary.

To be fair, I know that Benning critics aren’t special. Can’t always say the same about his defenders.

 

[Shattered Dreams]

To be fair, I know that Benning critics aren’t special. Can’t always say the same about his defenders.

Agreed. I know I'm not special. I'm just astonished how Trevor Linden's arrogance is rubbing off on some fans. Sometimes I can't believe the things I see and hear.

 

[Melvin]

Isn't Weisbrod a Harvard graduate? Yeah I'd honestly rather have M2B as our manager than him, he's one of the worst executives in North American professional sports.

I don't know how anyone can possibly deduce this... I would happily take Weisbrod over Benning.

The guy basically never does interviews and somehow he has cultivated this bizarre level of unequivocal hate.

 

[Melvin]

To be fair, I know that Benning critics aren’t special. Can’t always say the same about his defenders.

Special is knowing how bad this team is and still believing that the people in charge of it for four years are doing an excellent job.

 

[Wilch]

Isn't Weisbrod a Harvard graduate? Yeah I'd honestly rather have M2B as our manager than him, he's one of the worst executives in North American professional sports.

Weisbrod got into Harvard through hockey, not academic excellence.

 

[Nuckles]

I don't know how anyone can possibly deduce this... I would happily take Weisbrod over Benning.

The guy basically never does interviews and somehow he has cultivated this bizarre level of unequivocal hate.

Have a read over this article: Why Canucks fans are concerned about John Weisbrod’s influence

There's also this video which is a bit concerning (start at 1:16)


He also hired Benning's son, Brandon, as a Flames scout without any prior hockey experience. I believe he was a security guard before that. Once Weisbrod was fired by the Flames, Brandon Benning was let go as well. And now Brandon Benning is a Canucks scout.

Basically Weisbrod is terrible, and the kind of AGM you'd expect Benning to have.

 

[arttk]

I don't know how anyone can possibly deduce this... I would happily take Weisbrod over Benning.

The guy basically never does interviews and somehow he has cultivated this bizarre level of unequivocal hate.

f*** Weisbrod. He is on the same level of bad as Benning if not worse.

 

[Melvin]

Have a read over this article: Why Canucks fans are concerned about John Weisbrod’s influence

There's also this video which is a bit concerning (start at 1:16)


He also hired Benning's son, Brandon, as a Flames scout without any prior hockey experience. I believe he was a security guard before that. Once Weisbrod was fired by the Flames, Brandon Benning was let go as well. And now Brandon Benning is a Canucks scout.

I've seen both. Its always the same stuff : he made an unpopular trade as the GM of an NBA team, he stuck his neck out for a kid named Mark jankowksi, and he was working for the flames when they nearly made a disastrous decision with Ryan oreilly.

For me, it's not enough to call him a worse executive than Benning. I don't follow the NBA so can't comment on that, don't really care if he was wrong about one prospect and think that Jay Feaster, an actual lawyer, should probably be held more accountable for the ROR debacle.

Weisbrod is almost a blank slate to me. We know almost nothing about him. Yet even ardent Benning supporters act like he's scum. It's weird to me.

He's probably an idiot just by virtue of his association with Benning, don't gt me e wrong, but we don't really know that.

 

[CanaFan]

Special is knowing how bad this team is and still believing that the people in charge of it for four years are doing an excellent job.

Very special.

 

[Wilch]

I don't know how anyone can possibly deduce this... I would happily take Weisbrod over Benning.

The guy basically never does interviews and somehow he has cultivated this bizarre level of unequivocal hate.

Weisbrod is basically Jimbo with an Ivy league degree. Even worse.

 

[Melvin]

Two replies. Two assertions of conjecture. Zero facts.