News Article: Canucks Re-Sign President Jim Rutherford to 3-Year Contract Extension

[Zombotron]

it's being panned by gigabrains who think this team is imminently about to return to Jim Benning era-levels of on-ice and off-ice competence

 

[Burke's Evil Spirit]

My concern is that Aqua, after this next 3 years under Rutherford, deems he has "learned" from Rutherford and re-assumes his *unofficial* team president role like with Benning. In fact, the thought of that terrifies me to no end. But it would be entertaining.

The difference now is that Allvin isn't a snivelling weakling like Benning, and wouldn't put up with a situation like that just for the sake of keeping his job.

Not to say the situation with ownership can't go south again, but the unique confluence of events of the era preceding Rutherford is unlikely to be repeated.

 

[iceburg]

Having seen how Aqua has allowed Rutherford and crew to do their job, it's becoming more and more obvious that the meddling in hockey decisions in the past was likely more due to him determining that previous management was struggling in a big way. It's a natural reaction to jump in and try to help fix the problems when you see managers struggling.

Not making excuses. The right decision would have been to change management when it was clear that they needed more seasoned leadership (that should have started to become obvious in the summer of 2016), or not hire two inexperience people to lead the hockey ops in the first place.

I'm willing to give Aqua some kudos for hiring one of the most successful and experienced NHL executives. It was probably a big weight off of his shoulders. And kudos to Rutherford for his leadership and people skills. The dude knows how to manage upward.

 

[Pastor Of Muppetz]

Having seen how Aqua has allowed Rutherford and crew to do their job, it's becoming more and more obvious that the meddling in hockey decisions in the past was likely more due to him determining that previous management was struggling in a big way. It's a natural reaction to jump in and try to help fix the problems when you see managers struggling.

Not making excuses. The right decision would have been to change management when it was clear that they needed more seasoned leadership (that should have started to become obvious in the summer of 2016), or not hire two inexperience people to lead the hockey ops in the first place.

I'm willing to give Aqua some kudos for hiring one of the most successful and experienced NHL executives. It was probably a big weight off of his shoulders. And kudos to Rutherford for his leadership and people skills. The dude knows how to manage upward.

My take is that FA wasnt meddling in the previous management (whereas he was overriding decisions with Gillis,Nonis), he was very much hands on (three peas in a pod)...You cant meddle when your an integral part of the decision making..Anyway, he eventually got burnt from it, and his reputation took a considerable hit.

He made the smart decision to hire JR, and stick to just being the owner (notice how the damage control tweets have completely disappeared).

Worked out well, on and off the ice.

 

[VanJack]

Having seen how Aqua has allowed Rutherford and crew to do their job, it's becoming more and more obvious that the meddling in hockey decisions in the past was likely more due to him determining that previous management was struggling in a big way. It's a natural reaction to jump in and try to help fix the problems when you see managers struggling.

Not making excuses. The right decision would have been to change management when it was clear that they needed more seasoned leadership (that should have started to become obvious in the summer of 2016), or not hire two inexperience people to lead the hockey ops in the first place.

I'm willing to give Aqua some kudos for hiring one of the most successful and experienced NHL executives. It was probably a big weight off of his shoulders. And kudos to Rutherford for his leadership and people skills. The dude knows how to manage upward.

Sorry to burst your bubble......but Aquaman didn't hire Rutherford because of any moment of blinding illumination. Rather, the franchise had hit rock bottom. The team was losing badly, and Rogers Arena was like a funeral parlor. Ticket sales and merchandise sales were lagging. And their best players like Miller, Pettersson and Hughes were looking for greener pastures.

People seem to forget that fans were throwing Canuck jerseys on the ice out of disgust with the on-ice product.

Even at that, after torching Benning, Green and the assistant coaches, Aquilini still went out and signed a coach before filling the GM post. And it took the new regime another season to unload Boudreau, because the owner was too cheap to pay two fired coaches.

The bottom line is that under Linden and then Benning, it was basically almost a lost decade for the Canucks and their fans. So if Aquilini was finally forced to do something he should have done years ago, then he doesn't get a lot of props for me.

The best present for Canucks fans is that he's out of the hockey ops department permanently.

 

[F A N]

The difference now is that Allvin isn't a snivelling weakling like Benning, and wouldn't put up with a situation like that just for the sake of keeping his job.

You say this but there’s no evidence of that. If anything Allvin appears to be a good company man.

The days of ownership owning, GMs GMing and coaches coaching and staying in their own lane (if it ever existed) are gone. I bet that if two similar GM candidates interviewed with 32 teams and one guy said he worked closely with ownership and the other said he quit because of ownership interference, the guy who worked with ownership is going to get a whole lot more offers.

“Autonomy” just means you may be allowed to make the final decision. It doesn’t mean your boss doesn’t have a say or you get to ignore what your boss wants time and time again. Like Rutherford said, part of his job is managing up. Rutherford himself has a history of openly questioning his head coach.

 

[iceburg]

Sorry to burst your bubble......but Aquaman didn't hire Rutherford because of any moment of blinding illumination. Rather, the franchise had hit rock bottom. The team was losing badly, and Rogers Arena was like a funeral parlor. Ticket sales and merchandise sales were lagging. And their best players like Miller, Pettersson and Hughes were looking for greener pastures.

People seem to forget that fans were throwing Canuck jerseys on the ice out of disgust with the on-ice product.

Even at that, after torching Benning, Green and the assistant coaches, Aquilini still went out and signed a coach before filling the GM post. And it took the new regime another season to unload Boudreau, because the owner was too cheap to pay two fired coaches.

The bottom line is that under Linden and then Benning, it was basically almost a lost decade for the Canucks and their fans. So if Aquilini was finally forced to do something he should have done years ago, then he doesn't get a lot of props for me.

The best present for Canucks fans is that he's out of the hockey ops department permanently.

A wise man once told me to allow myself to be angry for a moment, grieve for a short time, then move forward. It’s hard to see the good in the present if a brain is filled with bad stuff from the past.
I acknowledged he made mistakes, big ones. Now I can see the good moves in the present.

 

[nowhereman]

Certainly better than the alternative.

Agreed. But it's like choosing whether to get stabbed in the eye or kicked in the sack with a steel toe boot.

 

[VanJack]

A wise man once told me to allow myself to be angry for a moment, grieve for a short time, then move forward. It’s hard to see the good in the present if a brain is filled with bad stuff from the past.
I acknowledged he made mistakes, big ones. Now I can see the good moves in the present.

All I can say is that people who don't learn from history, are usually doomed to repeat it.

 

[iceburg]

All I can say is that people who don't learn from history, are usually doomed to repeat it.

Completely agree. I’m just saying don’t dwell on it.