Confirmed with Link: Canucks hire Jim Rutherford as POHO, Interim GM - search for permanent GM will continue

[PuckMunchkin]

Well yeah. If he doesn't hire any analytics guys, then yes we can be concerned about it.

I just can't understand why people are getting worried because they fired the guy who dicked EP40/Hughes around all summer with negotiations and the guy who was apparently ok with cap situation being a complete mess.

I think this fan base has been conditioned, by the last 8 years, to go "WTF are they doing?!" every time any decision is made public.

 

[oceanchild]

I know what you're getting at, but that's a poor reason to "support the firings."

Imac is right though. The optics are bad without replacements lined up.

Rutherford hasn't landed in Vancouver. There's no GM, both AGMs are gone including the one guy with a law degree. Our analytics department head and chief capologist is also gone. Who can Rutherford go to now? Smyl, Johnson, and the Sedins?

Gear is a corporate counsel so before he became AGM, if he left the organization nobody would really bat an eye. But Wall has been here for 20+ years. He gets fired midseason in the middle of a regime change? Usually these guys get to leave the organization at the end of the year to pursue new opportunities.[/QUOTE

we have really sucked at cap management, and I think you could safely say that we haven’t don’t every well on free agents… seems like these guys may have been a contributing part of that. We know Benning wanted yes men, I say burn it down to the ground, sweep away the ashes, and start anew.

 

[RobertKron]

i don’t understand why Drance is piss here

Smyl has been in the org with multiple tittles before, does he think fans really care that he doesn’t have a specific job tittle?

I mean they basically trotted him out to be humiliated. Made him the "interim GM" and had him talk like it was a real thing and talked up how loyal and longstanding he has been and then like three days later it's "oh, yeah this is the real interim GM, who we've already been consulting with on decisions. Obviously we weren't going to let that other donkey touch anything. Who let him have the mic back there, anyway?"

The media have ongoing longterm relationships with these people. If I don't like the way they've treated Smyl here, then people who have actually known the guy for years are probably livid.

 

[rypper]

I don't believe for a second that Burke did, or will do anything that benefits the Canucks.

 

[tradervik]

You have to wonder if the “interim committee” and the press conference with Smyl was a piece of theatre aimed at convincing Rutherford that the Canucks were prepared to move on from him. That would explain why FAQ looked so uncomfortable when Smyl was talking.

 

[Petey But Really Jim]

Black Price has as many insider as the posters on this board none. Dudes a joke.

Blake’s urban cousin?

 

[PuckMunchkin]

I mean they basically trotted him out to be humiliated. Made him the "interim GM" and had him talk like it was a real thing and talked up how loyal and longstanding he has been and then like three days later it's "oh, yeah this is the real interim GM, who we've already been consulting with on decisions. Obviously we weren't going to let that other donkey touch anything. Who let him have the mic back there, anyway?"

The media have ongoing longterm relationships with these people. If I don't like the way they've treated Smyl here, then people who have actually known the guy for years are probably livid.

Smyl came out looking like one of the people who pushed Jim & Jim out.

I dont understand how you can feel he somehow got treated poorly here unless you think he actually aspires to be a GM of the canucks.

 

[mouz135]

That Roberto and especially Luigi are involved is significant. That could well mean the toy has been put onto a high shelf out of the reach of Francesco.

Yep, I had mentioned this a few pages back. Seems the Aquilini’s are no longer messing around and want to try and find the best possible candidate to salvage the brand. Doesn’t seem like Frank can be trusted if this is true

 

[PuckMunchkin]

You have to wonder if the “interim committee” and the press conference with Smyl was a piece of theatre aimed at convincing Rutherford that the Canucks were prepared to move on from him. That would explain why FAQ looked so uncomfortable when Smyl was talking.

No he didnt.

 

[Bougieman]

Exactly. Smyl has not been treated poorly at all. These guys are highly experienced in these things, and professionals. They're the kind of guys who put the team first in every situation. They don't get huffy and butthurt over nothing.

 

[JAK]

The world will explode.

Local sports team owner suffers a heart attack because the one man he refused to hire back was hired by man who he gave full autonomy to.

More news at 11.

 

[2011 still hurts]

At the core, it sounds like the "interim management group" got a little ahead of themselves. Who knows if Aquilini informed them he hadn't crossed everything with Rutherford, or even if they even knew about Rutherford, but that press conference and release sounds absolutely stupid now. So does the interim reporting by Drance et al. pumping up Gear/Wall and somewhat insinuating they'd probably have roles in the new regime.

Hopefully this whole "Ryan Johnson might be a GM candidate" thing is another concept Rutherford quickly smashes to bits. As mentioned, hopefully this is also the last instance of this style of what I'd call "Aquilini communications".

the whole press conference just seems like complete lip service now though even fans like me were willing to say that maybe some things might have been genuine

i guess the search for GM is still on though, even though things are still just as ambiguous as they were when they had the press conference

 

[centipede2233]

When I first heard Rutherford was hired, I immediately thought Brian burke had a hand in this. Brian burke and Rutherford are very close friends. Brian burke nudging the canucks for a Rutherford hire wasn’t necessarily trying to do a solid for the canucks, he was just trying to find his old friend jimmy a job back in the nhl.

 

[John Johnson]

I don't believe for a second that Burke did, or will do anything that benefits the Canucks.

Brian Burke? Like the guy that got us the Sedins?

 

[nameless1]

Brian Burke? Like the guy that got us the Sedins?

If I remember correctly...
He also pushed for the recapture cap penalty.

I can safely say that he pretty much did it to get his buddy a job.
That is it.

 

[bossram]

Whatever you think of the most recent firings, deserved or not, the Canucks front office is extremely bare bones now, and don't really have anyone capable or experienced enough in running day-to-day operations. It's a bad look for the organization. As per usual. Wall has a been a loyal soldier and filled many roles across multiple regimes.

I assume the new GM will bring in "his" guys, but when will that be? Until then, the Canucks are still going to have to make recalls, use IR/LTIR, etc. They'll have to (hopefully) rebuild the analytics department much bigger than it was. They need to hire actual player development staff. They need a lot.

 

[PuckMunchkin]

the whole press conference just seems like complete lip service now though even fans like me were willing to say that maybe some things might have been genuine

Can you elaborate..?

 

[Buresflyingelbow]

Whatever you think of the most recent firings, deserved or not, the Canucks front office is extremely bare bones now, and don't really have anyone capable or experienced enough in running day-to-day operations. It's a bad look for the organization. As per usual. Wall has a been a loyal soldier and filled many roles across multiple regimes.

I assume the new GM will bring in "his" guys, but when will that be? Until then, the Canucks are still going to have to make recalls, use IR/LTIR, etc. They'll have to (hopefully) rebuild the analytics department much bigger than it was. They need to hire actual player development staff. They need a lot.

Get a grip. They are building them from the people you probably wanted fired as we speak. Ray Ferraro should be our Pro Scout going forward with the Col/Car AGM’s moving in due to successful organization’s and natural growth. Sakic coming home would be nuts! Roy moving in!

 

[Nona Di Giuseppe]

Whatever you think of the most recent firings, deserved or not, the Canucks front office is extremely bare bones now, and don't really have anyone capable or experienced enough in running day-to-day operations. It's a bad look for the organization. As per usual. Wall has a been a loyal soldier and filled many roles across multiple regimes.

I assume the new GM will bring in "his" guys, but when will that be? Until then, the Canucks are still going to have to make recalls, use IR/LTIR, etc. They'll have to (hopefully) rebuild the analytics department much bigger than it was. They need to hire actual player development staff. They need a lot.

no one cares about “bad looks” this deep in the org. aside from a very small niche group of fans really. regular fans are hardly aware.

this type of clean house isnt unusual in a business anyway. (if the writing is on the wall for an employee, there’s no point keeping them around and vacant position is better than a person who can’t do much anyway because they have no one giving them directives)

 

[rypper]

I'm loving the Boudreau hire and am ready to keep an open mind about future moves made until something shoots up a red flag. I know I wasn't the only one excited for Jim Benning and the bill of goods sold there and it wasn't until a couple of very questionable moves did I start to sour. Rutherford and the next GM will of course be afforded that same opportunity.

 

[Bourne Endeavor]

This just screams they're setting up for the Sedins to be mentored by Rutherford before taking over. Hard to say whether that's a good thing for either to be put in charge anytime soon.

 

[tradervik]

No he didnt.

Time to change your id to 4rancesco4ever, but I miss the old PuckMunchkin.

 

[TruGr1t]

I like how there are people/media that gave Benning 8 years of "what-about-ism", but are questioning Rutherford after one week. They're re-building hockey ops after a putrid stretch of fiscal mismanagement. I'll wait till we see the finished product before passing judgement.

And I'm sure Stan Smyl is just devastated to go back to his cushy alum job.

 

[Jay Cee]

The medias seem to really hate the firing of Wall and Gear

I can’t help but think that they were both critical source of news leaks…

They weren't Benning guys and would have been in on a lot of sensitive info. Seems plausible.

 

[racerjoe]

Tough to really know what to think of the latest firings. We have no idea what the really were responsible for vs their position, and who really wanted them gone. I can believe it was the family, that didn’t want to fire them until the had a POHO in place, and I can see Rutherford doing it to put his people in place.

it is a time to actually wait and see… wow I am one of those people.