Evolu7ion
#firelindenning
"Five years ago we came in here and reset this organization and it's time to do it again," Gillis said. "When I took this job we decided on a style of play [skill, speed, puck possession] that resulted in great success, and clearly the landscape has changed and we have to address those changes".
"I don't think the style of play is any longer a one-off; I think it's a trend and we have to address it".
Both of those quotes are from Gillis at the year-end press conference last Thursday, it appears Gillis believes the league is moving away from a skill and speed oriented style, and towards a crash and bang style. He mentioned the landscape has changed, and that the Canucks need to evolve and get bigger and younger.
Honestly, this is the first offseason in a long time I think Gillis has it wrong.
When I look around the league at the teams doing really well, those who are succeeding in the playoffs, I see a lot of speed and skill. Chicago, Pittsburgh, Washington, Ottawa, Detroit are all built with the same system gillis wants to change. Heck, San Jose beat us with skill while we were outhitting them and trying to be the bigger team. Yeah, Boston, Anaheim, and LA are all big teams that have had success, but all of those teams also have tremendous skill and speed.
And why would the league want to move away from skill and speed which are the exciting parts of the game? These are the part of the game that fill the seats, generate revenue, and grow the sport. The end to end style is so exciting, and makes this sport different from other sports like football basketball and baseball. Who would generate more audience and popularity in the finals, Pittsburgh v Chicago or LA v Boston?
If Gillis moves out skill and brings in size and banks on the league going in the direction of LA and Boston instead of Chicago or Pittsburgh, he is wrong. We have a ton of skill and speed, we should play to our strengths and get even faster and more skilled. We already have decent size, any more and we will sacrifice other aspects of the game,
What do you guys think! Is Gills right in his assessment, or is he out to lunch on this? What aspects of the game should we focus on to give us the best chance of success? For me, it's speed and skill. Speed skills!
"I don't think the style of play is any longer a one-off; I think it's a trend and we have to address it".
Both of those quotes are from Gillis at the year-end press conference last Thursday, it appears Gillis believes the league is moving away from a skill and speed oriented style, and towards a crash and bang style. He mentioned the landscape has changed, and that the Canucks need to evolve and get bigger and younger.
Honestly, this is the first offseason in a long time I think Gillis has it wrong.
When I look around the league at the teams doing really well, those who are succeeding in the playoffs, I see a lot of speed and skill. Chicago, Pittsburgh, Washington, Ottawa, Detroit are all built with the same system gillis wants to change. Heck, San Jose beat us with skill while we were outhitting them and trying to be the bigger team. Yeah, Boston, Anaheim, and LA are all big teams that have had success, but all of those teams also have tremendous skill and speed.
And why would the league want to move away from skill and speed which are the exciting parts of the game? These are the part of the game that fill the seats, generate revenue, and grow the sport. The end to end style is so exciting, and makes this sport different from other sports like football basketball and baseball. Who would generate more audience and popularity in the finals, Pittsburgh v Chicago or LA v Boston?
If Gillis moves out skill and brings in size and banks on the league going in the direction of LA and Boston instead of Chicago or Pittsburgh, he is wrong. We have a ton of skill and speed, we should play to our strengths and get even faster and more skilled. We already have decent size, any more and we will sacrifice other aspects of the game,
What do you guys think! Is Gills right in his assessment, or is he out to lunch on this? What aspects of the game should we focus on to give us the best chance of success? For me, it's speed and skill. Speed skills!