Speculation: Vancouver Canucks Ownership Commitment to #WINNING!!!

[BobbyJazzLegs]

The only thing you should be giving props to is Richards' NTC and Feaster's idiocy because what Nonis offered was still way too much. He was offering pretty much every single non NHL asset of value the Canucks had at the time for Richards.

Interesting... I wasn't privy to the whole scenario but I like getting a better understanding of the history.

But we were in win now mode during that time and Sedin, Richards, Kesler would make us one of the top teams. Don't forget Richards was a point per game player and a monster playoff performer back then, he would of made a difference I'm pretty certain.

You have to wonder what could have happened with that lineup.

 

[Betamax*]

Gillis said on TEAM that only the Sedins had full NMC's, everyone else is on NTC's that are more about players not wanting trades to certain markets or other limiting provisions.

He also said some interesting things about players asking for moves in a way that implied that someone with an NTC has asked to be traded. Of course he wouldn't go into details.

That said I don't believe anything he says any more. At the end of last season he said that Lou wouldn't be here and that there would be significant changes and that the team would be younger, bigger and stronger.

So yeah...

Over promise under deliver, this guy has gone back on his words so many times, people are finally catching on. True salesmen at work.

Another one quote back in 2008 related to your comments:

source: http://www.canada.com/story_print.html?id=d9a95166-7559-4d0d-9e64-665950954e8c&sponsor=

Wanted: A bright, decisive, no-excuses hockey man. Extensive managerial experience and understanding of the game a requisite. Visionary leadership also a must. Willingness to work in a hockey-mad city where scrutiny happens almost hourly.

Vancouver Canucks owner Francesco Aquilini, who has probably placed several similar type of ads in his successful property-development businesses, now will make his most important hire since acquiring his NHL toy, er, team.

"Someone who can step into the big shoes and set a strategic plan," Aquilini said Tuesday at a crowded news conference the morning after firing general manager Dave Nonis.

"Someone who has experience, someone who can get the job done -- that's what it comes down to -- and not give excuses."

I think GMMG is a bright hockey mind but having said that, the two main issues I would be critical of GMMG would be when it comes to being decisive e.g. The Cory/Bobby Lu trade debacle was handled and we have had our share of excuses on that issue i.e. why it was so difficult to trade Bobby Lu re: "Changing Landscape" and on other matters. Yeah, there's truth in his comments but when encountering a barrier -- you can either let it stop you or you can find a way around it, right?

 

[Wetcoaster]

I think GMMG is a bright hockey mind but having said that, the two main issues I would be critical of GMMG would be when it comes to being decisive e.g. The Cory/Bobby Lu trade debacle was handled and we have had our share of excuses on that issue i.e. why it was so difficult to trade Bobby Lu re: "Changing Landscape" and on other matters. Yeah, there's truth in his comments but when encountering a barrier -- you can either let it stop you or you can find a way around it, right?

Nope. Sounds good as a motivational speech but it is not always possible.

Thank Burkie for the Luongo Rule.

 

[Betamax*]

Nope. Sounds good as a motivational speech but it is not always possible.

Thank Burkie for the Luongo Rule.

GMMG had time even before the new CBA with the Burkie inspired rule came to existence to move him. You can thank Bobby Lu's desire to go back to FLA and enforcing his NTC ... even more so. GMMG in hindsight should have been more aggressive in convincing Bobby Lu to waive it at the time, especially with the uncertainty of the "Changing Landscape" as they headed towards a new CBA.

 

[Betamax*]

Pavel Bure as a Canucks' Global Brand Ambassador?

You mean like how he said Bure's jersey would never be retired?

Speaking of Bure, does anyone else here think the AIG/Canucks should make him part of their organization as a Global Brand Ambassador?

Similar to what MLSE has done successfully with Rapper Drake?

I can think of any local music stars that would fit the Drake role, here. Although Michael Bublé a huge Canucks fan, but I think he appeals more to the, uh, Soccer Mom types and not today's male athletes. Please correct me if I'm wrong on that speculation.

But with Drake, you have current star athletes like Jermaine Defoe taking notice and signing with Toronto FC.

Bure's probably the only ex-Canucks that has an International name awareness. He was a favourite among pretty much anyone that was alive when he played.

I mean, even Sam Bradford, from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, No. 1 NFL Draft Pick and Heisman Trophy Winner who is only 26 and currently the starting QB for the St. Louis Rams listed him as his childhood hero!

re: http://www.usahockeymagazine.com/article/2009-03/hockey-and-heisman-sam-bradford

Hockey And the Heisman: Sam Bradford
Oklahoma Football Star Sam Bradford Has His Roots In The Ice

By:
Danielle Bernstein


Excerpt:

It was unbelievable. Almost too good to be true. And so shocking, in fact, that it stopped Sam Bradford dead in his tracks.

With a rock solid pocket presence, the accuracy of a sniper, and a Heisman trophy to prove it, it might be surprising to think anything could have this kind of effect on Oklahoma’s star quarterback.

But that’s exactly what happened when Bradford found out he would have the opportunity to meet his childhood hero and former NHL star Pavel Bure before a practice during the Sooners’ BCS National Championship game preparation in Miami.

“It was a complete surprise to me, but a moment I’ll never forget,” Bradford says.

“I mean, I almost lost my breath there for a second. I couldn’t believe it.”

Contrary to what his football stats might suggest, Bradford was a multi-sport athlete as a kid, one of his favorites being hockey. He quickly developed a love for the game and, on multiple occasions, tried to convince his parents it should be his top priority.

“There was a time when he was young where he tried to get his mother and I to move to Vancouver so he could play hockey,” recalls Sam’s dad, Kent Bradford.

“I told him ‘we can’t move to Canada. Our lives are in Oklahoma.’ But he was pretty set on it.”

The Canucks trade for the rights to Burmistrov, don't you think a personal phone call from the Russian Rocket to him would be the ice breaker to get him back into the NHL and in a Canucks uniform?

Or maybe a couple of years ago, they could have recruited Bure to maybe give a call to Justin Schultz etc..

He could make an annual visit here, appear in the stands in the game, wave to the fans, visit a hospital, kiss babies, shake hands, etc.. and maybe play in the occasional alumni game when they have a big event like a Heritage Classic?

BTW, are the Canucks going to have an alumni game attached to that event? And if so, is Bure, Linden, Naslund going to be a part of it?

 

[carolinacanuck]

Not that I was a big Drake fan to begin with, but I lost a boat load of respect for him when he got upset about not being on the cover of The Rolling Stone magazine because the editors decided to go with recently deceased Philip Seymour Hoffman instead.

Hate the Drake.

 

[Scurr]

Not that I was a big Drake fan to begin with, but I lost a boat load of respect for him when he got upset about not being on the cover of The Rolling Stone magazine because the editors decided to go with recently deceased Philip Seymour Hoffman instead.

Hate the Drake.

How dare he call out the magazine for cashing in on someone else's tragedy. If there is one entity I can feel sorry for more than an out of touch rapper it's corporate America!

 

[Wetcoaster]

GMMG had time even before the new CBA with the Burkie inspired rule came to existence to move him. You can thank Bobby Lu's desire to go back to FLA and enforcing his NTC ... even more so. GMMG in hindsight should have been more aggressive in convincing Bobby Lu to waive it at the time, especially with the uncertainty of the "Changing Landscape" as they headed towards a new CBA.

GMMG has been consistently clear from the get-go that any waiver of NMC/NTC clauses is going to be at the player's behest.

 

[Betamax*]

GMMG has been consistently clear from the get-go that any waiver of NMC/NTC clauses is going to be at the player's behest.

Morally, I understand sticking to these principles but if they are such an impediment that he puts himself in a position that he can't complete a trade that needed to be done for the future of the franchise ... Well, then it's on GMMG.

No excuses.

 

[BobbyJazzLegs]

GMMG had time even before the new CBA with the Burkie inspired rule came to existence to move him. You can thank Bobby Lu's desire to go back to FLA and enforcing his NTC ... even more so. GMMG in hindsight should have been more aggressive in convincing Bobby Lu to waive it at the time, especially with the uncertainty of the "Changing Landscape" as they headed towards a new CBA.

"Lu's choice" is overplayed imo. There were only a small handful of teams even interested due to the length and ramifications of the contract as opposed to the NTC. He would have taken any of them at that point.

MG just didn't want to trade Lu that bad but probably would have given him to Toronto if he had an extra day to think about it. Either way, still figured he would deliver given Olympic year + return to #1 status + emotional maturation from age/experience. Cory was also an easier sell, cleared cap and actually got an asset. Still arguably equal chance to win The Cup at this point too.

Goalie market was bad. Probably will be for a long time to come. Satisfactory #1's are easy to come by these days and not worth jack on the market (although we'll see what happens with Miller).

 

[Betamax*]

"Lu's choice" is overplayed imo. There were only a small handful of teams even interested due to the length and ramifications of the contract as opposed to the NTC. He would have taken any of them at that point.

I was referring to the time during the off-season before the lockout and the new CBA was consumated when Burke was still the GM of the Leafs. Apparently, they had a framework for a deal (widely reported by MSM insiders like Mike Brophy and within social media via a once active twitter account "@SAMJAM99" who allegedly has/had connections to Canucks Ownership i.e. IIRC he apparently went to the same school as one of the owner's kids and and had previously broke the Cody Hodgson trade among others well before MSM had become aware of it) but apparently GMMG contacted Bobby Lu's camp to see if he was willing to go to the Leafs but he stalled the process because Bobby Lu heard through the grapevine that FLORIDA was going to make a play for him (this according to MSM insider Doug MacLean (former Panthers Coach) . They ultimately didn't ... we had the lockout and the rest as you can say is history.

Look, if Burke managed to make the huge splash and trade for Bobby Lu, do you really think he would have pushed hard for the so-called "Luongo Rule" in the new CBA? I don't think so.

 

[Taelin]

This thread has run its course.