Management Thread | Is a Reckoning coming?

[arttk]

as weird as the sekeres story is, it is absolutely bizarre that this thread has turned into a mike gillis love affair. of all the options out there, why would the canucks turn back the clock to a guy who could not sustain the success he achieved, could not draft, and who nobody else in the league will hire seven years later.

waiting to see what actually comes out of this. as shocked as i would be if francesco stepped back, that seems like a thing that might happen. if gillis gets rehired i will have to look into the theories that reality is a simulation.

With Gillis, the debates we had was around his vision. Like his moves or not, there was logic around it. People like to shit on him for the Luongo thing just choose to ignore the fact it was all caused by a coach he did not hire and in the end he got us Bo and Marky.

With Benning, there is no vision to debate on. It’s just a series of moves that doesn’t follow a plan and also happens to be really bad like 95% of the time. Well actually he does have one plan and that’s age gap crap and he keeps on double downing on that stupid ass strategy.

 

[Mr. Canucklehead]

There is way too much discussion of and attacks on posters occurring here. Discuss the topic, not other people - no matter how disagreeable you find their perspective.

That goes for insinuating they are shills or paid employees of CSE, as well. Discuss the topics, but stop personally attacking each other.

 

[4Twenty]

as weird as the sekeres story is, it is absolutely bizarre that this thread has turned into a mike gillis love affair. of all the options out there, why would the canucks turn back the clock to a guy who could not sustain the success he achieved, could not draft, and who nobody else in the league will hire seven years later.

waiting to see what actually comes out of this. as shocked as i would be if francesco stepped back, that seems like a thing that might happen. if gillis gets rehired i will have to look into the theories that reality is a simulation.

Mature adult opinions can recognize that the poor drafting needs more context than “Gillis bad drafting”.

Considering Gillis was one win from winning it all here the excitement seems normal.

His managerial principles and desire to be the best is something people are excited about.

Personally I’d like a clean slate so this board and fanbase could have new normal conversations.

 

[Izzy Goodenough]

as weird as the sekeres story is, ...
waiting to see what actually comes out of this. as shocked as i would be if francesco stepped back, that seems like a thing that might happen. if gillis gets rehired i will have to look into the theories that reality is a simulation.

Look it from Gillis' point of view. For most of his successful business career he has been his own boss. If he were to be a partial owner of the Canucks he de-risks being replaced or undermined while bring his "New Model" to running the Franchise.

He is smart enough to realize that he will likely never get this chance any other way and this is possibly why he and Courtnall were attempting to buy the Arizona Coyote Franchise.

In summary your Honour, it makes sense that Gillis and Courtnall are making a pitch to buy some or all of the Franchise.

However, this is speculation based on what the "Boat Captain" said but his ship may be off course yet again.

 

[moog35]

I think it was the JT Miller and Bo Horvat statements in the last few weeks that really got the attention of Luigi/Roberto/Paolo etc. I think until then they were content to let Francesco run the team as his toy.

What was Horvat’s statement?

 

[Mr. Canucklehead]

I personally have a hard time seeing Gillis coming back here. I think there’s a lot of water under that bridge.

 

[Burke's Evil Spirit]

What was Horvat’s statement?

He got asked if he felt supported by management coming out of covid and he said something like "we're thankful to to the fans, medical team, etc". Very cold shoulder statement.

 

[moog35]

He got asked if he felt supported by management coming out of covid and he said something like "we're thankful to to the fans, medical team, etc". Very cold shoulder statement.

I missed that. Very interesting. Thanks

 

[4Twenty]

He got asked if he felt supported by management coming out of covid and he said something like "we're thankful to to the fans, medical team, etc". Very cold shoulder statement.

This on top of his early season comment about being “confused” at the Canucks offseason business.

 

[WetcoastOrca]

With Gillis, the debates we had was around his vision. Like his moves or not, there was logic around it. People like to shit on him for the Luongo thing just choose to ignore the fact it was all caused by a coach he did not hire and in the end he got us Bo and Marky.

With Benning, there is no vision to debate on. It’s just a series of moves that doesn’t follow a plan and also happens to be really bad like 95% of the time. Well actually he does have one plan and that’s age gap crap and he keeps on double downing on that stupid ass strategy.

I disagree. I have no idea what Gillis’ vision was post 2012 when it was obvious this team was going nowhere. I will however give credit to his vision in the first few years when he added some key players to make a good core even better.
For me there’s no real comparison between Gillis and Benning despite Gillis’ obvious shortcomings. Gillis was head and shoulders above Benning. He took the team to one game of the Stanley Cup and they had a decent chance of winning if healthy. That said, I don’t want Gillis back after the poor job he did post Cup run. Hopefully there are much better options out there. Saying Gillis is much better than Benning is not exactly a ringing endorsement.

 

[rypper]

There is zero chance Luongo comes back to be GM.

 

[Mr. Canucklehead]

He got asked if he felt supported by management coming out of covid and he said something like "we're thankful to to the fans, medical team, etc". Very cold shoulder statement.

Friedman insinuated in his radio hit earlier this week that there might be some long term bad feelings over this. He didn’t list the COVID incident or management’s response to it specifically, but he’s spoken publicly about it enough times that I think the inference was clear (IMO).

 

[4Twenty]

I disagree. I have no idea what Gillis’ vision was post 2012 when it was obvious this team was going nowhere. I will however give credit to his vision in the first few years when he added some key players to make a good core even better.
For me there’s no real comparison between Gillis and Benning despite Gillis’ obvious shortcomings. Gillis was head and shoulders above Benning. That said, I don’t want Gillis back after the poor job he did post Cup run. Hopefully there are much better options out there. Saying Gillis is much better than Benning is not exactly a ringing endorsement.

Getting the captain and a Vezina level goalie for a debacle seems pretty good. The two biggest rebuild moves the team has made since.

 

[krutovsdonut]

Look it from Gillis' point of view. For most of his successful business career he has been his own boss. If he were to be a partial owner of the Canucks he de-risks being replaced or undermined while bring his "New Model" to running the Franchise.

He is smart enough to realize that he will likely never get this chance any other way and this is possibly why he and Courtnall were attempting to buy the Arizona Coyote Franchise.

In summary your Honour, it makes sense that Gillis and Courtnall are making a pitch to buy some or all of the Franchise.

However, this is speculation based on what the "Boat Captain" said and his ship may be leaky.

the aqualinis are not going to sell low unless they are cash strapped. i have not heard a peep that their shit is insecure and they just did a deal on abbotsford showing the canucks is still in their plans and they are liquid. they should be able to easily weather this situation unless something is going on in their world that is not out there on the proverbial street. historically they have always had shocking amounts of capital to do deals, so i see no reason that would change.

 

[Bettman Returnz]

I too agree with some of you that we need to put the Gillis, Luongo debate behind us. Let’s move forward with a fresh new face, please. Macfarland? Who else can we brainstorm here?

 

[Melvin]

I personally have a hard time seeing Gillis coming back here. I think there’s a lot of water under that bridge.

IDK, it's kinda the dream scenario, isn't it? Your former boss coming to you 7 years later with his tail between his legs, telling you that you were right all along, and begging for you to come back?

The main question IMO is whether or not he wants to deal with Vancouver media again, but I could see him taking a quiet PHO role and delegating a lot to a GM. Maybe I'm fantasizing, but I could see it happening.

I don't see Gillis coming back as a GM, but in a strictly President role where he can hire his own GM? I could see that being appealing to him.

 

[arttk]

I disagree. I have no idea what Gillis’ vision was post 2012 when it was obvious this team was going nowhere. I will however give credit to his vision in the first few years when he added some key players to make a good core even better.
For me there’s no real comparison between Gillis and Benning despite Gillis’ obvious shortcomings. Gillis was head and shoulders above Benning. That said, I don’t want Gillis back after the poor job he did post Cup run. Hopefully there are much better options out there. Saying Gillis is much better than Benning is not exactly a ringing endorsement.

I mean post 2011, the team was destroyed by injuries. One eye manny, concussed Daniel that was never the same, Raymond was not the same with the broken back, Booth wasn’t the same after the knee injury and etc…

No idea what Gillis would be like now to be honest. I think the biggest qualities he has is that he can admit to being wrong and try something else to improve. Honestly if he can come in and fill the management with really good people, that’s a win already. Hire someone to help us get out of this cap hell.

Benning said he wanted to build a tough, fast and skilled team. It’s amazing that we achieved none of the above after 7 years.

 

[Izzy Goodenough]

the aqualinis are not going to sell low unless they are cash strapped. i have not heard a peep that their shit is insecure and they just did a deal on abbotsford showing the canucks is still in their plans and they are liquid. they should be able to easily weather this situation unless something is going on in their world that is not out there on the proverbial street. historically they have always had shocking amounts of capital to do deals, so i see no reason that would change.

In most respects, owning a sports franchise is a narcissistic exercise, concealed within a business opportunity, concealed within a service to the community.

There are a number of reasons owners sell their Franchises, the greatest of which is the opportunity cost to do something else with their money that is more lucrative.

 

[VanJack]

It's interesting.....almost all the media types, even the traditional sycophants, are waiting for the 'other shoe to drop'. They seem to have resigned themselves to the owner bringing the hammer down in some way after the schedule comes to a merciful close.

Seems apparent that 'doing nothing' won't be an option going forward. At the very least, the coaching situation has to be addressed, and the search for a new President seriously stepped up.

 

[WetcoastOrca]

This is great news if a full house cleaning is coming! The tone really seems to have shifted in the past couple of weeks with Patrick Johnston and Sekeres both mentioning that Benning is likely gone.
I think with another solid draft and some smart buyouts and cheaper free agent signings this team could be turned around pretty quickly with proper management.
I’d rather steer clear of former Canuck alumni if possible and do a full search for the best candidate, preferably looking for someone who has successfully managed a rebuild in the past or poaching someone who is working under one of the successful current GMs.

 

[mathonwy]

I made up Gillis Groupies to follow the Nonis Nancies or wtfever I was replying to.

Benning Bros are a curiosity. Calling them cult-like is way too over the top for me. We're on the internet so we can't even properly judge their intention. Many of them, hell most of them seem to be trolls, There might be a couple who are just young and are having their first experience supporting something that turns out to be a sham. That is a hard lesson. Some people die before they can admit they were wrong about something they championed for years. If anything I have compassion for them and if they can get through it, I'm f***ing ecstatic! Being wrong is not a big deal, even if you've been wrong for a long ass time, but it sure doesn't feel that way at the time.

We should have a party every time someone admits they were wrong on this site.

It's a gaslight led by the likes of Andrew Walker.

This is what shitty people do in shitty organizations to cover up their personal malfeasance and the organizations malfeasance.

They create confusion and mixed messages while they rape and pillage from within.

All of these Canucks assets flying out the window.

All of this cap space and term and ice time given to age gappers.

Farm team I tell ya. They farming the f*** outta of the Canucks.

 

[Izzy Goodenough]

Regardless of all the lipstick the media has applied to the Pig, the Canucks' dismal record oinks for itself.

 

[Bettman Returnz]

Sadly this whole cleaning house or new GM thing has made peaked my curiosity. I was going into this off season with dread but if this actually comes true I will be happy.

 

[krutovsdonut]

I disagree. I have no idea what Gillis’ vision was post 2012 when it was obvious this team was going nowhere. I will however give credit to his vision in the first few years when he added some key players to make a good core even better.

i agree with this except change 2011 for 2012.

people who praise gillis need to remember he is the gm equivalent of francesco. he inherited enormous hockey wealth that he did not earn and he rapidly squandered it. this is a guy who was gifted two art ross winners entering their prime, one of whom was a 1c hart, plus a selke level 40 goal scoring 2c, a hall of fame goalie, and a solid supporting cast.

he got that core to the semifinals twice, and to the scf once. big deal. the team then went into decline and he was eventually deservedly fired, and for all the ego-protecting spin this guy has relentlessly spun since then about wanting to go to switzerland and study glaciers, nobody has hired him again in real hockey.

 

[timw33]

IDK, it's kinda the dream scenario, isn't it? Your former boss coming to you 7 years later with his tail between his legs, telling you that you were right all along, and begging for you to come back?

The main question IMO is whether or not he wants to deal with Vancouver media again, but I could see him taking a quiet PHO role and delegating a lot to a GM. Maybe I'm fantasizing, but I could see it happening.

I don't see Gillis coming back as a GM, but in a strictly President role where he can hire his own GM? I could see that being appealing to him.

There's also a huge redemption/"get the job done" storyline.