Winds of change.
Posted 4:26 AM ET | Comments 3
Naslund-NYR
Morrison-Ana
Linden-Retierd
Krajicek-Tam
Pettinger-Mtb
Cowan-Peoria
Ritchie-out
Izzy-Ott
Shannon-Ott
Weaver-out
Miller-out
Demitra
Bernier
O'Brien
Johnson
Wellwood
Hordichuk
11 player's from last year's roster either playing elsewhere or out of the league. 6 players added from either trades or free agency, and a handful of youngsters earning their 1st full-time NHL jobs in Rick Rypien, Jannik Hansen, and Mason Raymond.
Mike Gillis made alot of promises when he was named the replacement for long time Canuck employee Dave Nonis. He replaced a man who had dreamed of working in this organization and was a loyal foot soldier for many year's before he was given his 1st shot, steering the ship himself. And as any GM who has worked for this organization he received his fair share or criticism, but was the firing of Dave Nonis really just? Has Mike Gillis really done that much better? Well in all honesty only time will tell, Dave Nonis had his time to shape his team and build his roster and farm system. Mike Gillis has had 1 draft and 1 summer of free agency and a pre-season, so any real comparison of the two cannot really be made.
But here's what we know. Nonis is responsible for bringing the man who is now the face of this franchise to this team, while at the same time moving an aging veteran surrounded by controversy and is widely considered one of the best trades this team has ever made if not the best. (Getting Naslund might still be the best) But other than that what did Dave Nonis really do? Draft team backbones like Patrick White, Michael Grabner? Not exactly home runs at the draft but Grabner does look to be a solid NHL scorer one day. Now who was added to this team? Well there was the Marc Chouinard "incident" as it should be called, the Jan Bulis experiment, the Brad Isbister "re-birth". And before them the men to lead the Nucks to the promise land in Eric Weinrich, Keith Carney and Sean Brown. We all know how those roster additons worked out for us.
Now what has Mike Gillis done in his and i stress short time at the reins. Well he's added a promising but underachieving power forward for a relatively low cost. Pick up a talented but troublesome and out of shape center for nothing. Signed an aging former star center coming off a career worst season. Added a garbage truck full of grit and toughness and gave the kids a shot to shine. We've been promised a faster, more entertaining brand of hockey, yet our Jaques Lemaire 2.0 is still behind the bench. A show of confidence or keeping a scape-goat?
Mike Gillis may not have hit the home runs he would have liked, but at a relative low cost of a couple draft pick, and Lukas Krajicek the Canucks have added some very talented players who are yes surrounded by question marks but have the talent to succeed in this league. To go along with his young talent and rejuvenated roster Gillis hired Dave Gagner conditioning and development guru to make sure our young players are given every opportunity to succeed and achieve excellence in this organization. As well as hiring sleep consultants to help with the Nucks league worst travel, and named Ryan Walter an assistant coach for his leadership knowledge and power play and offensive schemes.
Going into this year we have about as much change and uncertainty as there has ever been in this franchise, critics come in all walks of life and won't ever disappear. But so far so good in my opinion, not alot has been proven but alot has been done. Results will only come in time and on the eve of this Canucks season opener with the fans nestled in their beds, with visions of highlight goals in their heads, I ponder the future of a team in change unable to say for certain for better or worse?
Only time will tell...
Morrison-Ana
Linden-Retierd
Krajicek-Tam
Pettinger-Mtb
Cowan-Peoria
Ritchie-out
Izzy-Ott
Shannon-Ott
Weaver-out
Miller-out
Demitra
Bernier
O'Brien
Johnson
Wellwood
Hordichuk
11 player's from last year's roster either playing elsewhere or out of the league. 6 players added from either trades or free agency, and a handful of youngsters earning their 1st full-time NHL jobs in Rick Rypien, Jannik Hansen, and Mason Raymond.
Mike Gillis made alot of promises when he was named the replacement for long time Canuck employee Dave Nonis. He replaced a man who had dreamed of working in this organization and was a loyal foot soldier for many year's before he was given his 1st shot, steering the ship himself. And as any GM who has worked for this organization he received his fair share or criticism, but was the firing of Dave Nonis really just? Has Mike Gillis really done that much better? Well in all honesty only time will tell, Dave Nonis had his time to shape his team and build his roster and farm system. Mike Gillis has had 1 draft and 1 summer of free agency and a pre-season, so any real comparison of the two cannot really be made.
But here's what we know. Nonis is responsible for bringing the man who is now the face of this franchise to this team, while at the same time moving an aging veteran surrounded by controversy and is widely considered one of the best trades this team has ever made if not the best. (Getting Naslund might still be the best) But other than that what did Dave Nonis really do? Draft team backbones like Patrick White, Michael Grabner? Not exactly home runs at the draft but Grabner does look to be a solid NHL scorer one day. Now who was added to this team? Well there was the Marc Chouinard "incident" as it should be called, the Jan Bulis experiment, the Brad Isbister "re-birth". And before them the men to lead the Nucks to the promise land in Eric Weinrich, Keith Carney and Sean Brown. We all know how those roster additons worked out for us.
Now what has Mike Gillis done in his and i stress short time at the reins. Well he's added a promising but underachieving power forward for a relatively low cost. Pick up a talented but troublesome and out of shape center for nothing. Signed an aging former star center coming off a career worst season. Added a garbage truck full of grit and toughness and gave the kids a shot to shine. We've been promised a faster, more entertaining brand of hockey, yet our Jaques Lemaire 2.0 is still behind the bench. A show of confidence or keeping a scape-goat?
Mike Gillis may not have hit the home runs he would have liked, but at a relative low cost of a couple draft pick, and Lukas Krajicek the Canucks have added some very talented players who are yes surrounded by question marks but have the talent to succeed in this league. To go along with his young talent and rejuvenated roster Gillis hired Dave Gagner conditioning and development guru to make sure our young players are given every opportunity to succeed and achieve excellence in this organization. As well as hiring sleep consultants to help with the Nucks league worst travel, and named Ryan Walter an assistant coach for his leadership knowledge and power play and offensive schemes.
Going into this year we have about as much change and uncertainty as there has ever been in this franchise, critics come in all walks of life and won't ever disappear. But so far so good in my opinion, not alot has been proven but alot has been done. Results will only come in time and on the eve of this Canucks season opener with the fans nestled in their beds, with visions of highlight goals in their heads, I ponder the future of a team in change unable to say for certain for better or worse?
Only time will tell...
Sleep consultants? Are you serious? Gillis's back office changes are probably the most siginifcant to the organization, even more so than the 11 players you noted changed this year.ps. Weaver ended up in St. Louis.
Fairly balanced article. Just one point about Nonis: yes, his firing was justified. he did not ever get what the Canucks need(ed) -- consistent secondary scoring. He stated that that's what he would do and didn't do it. It may be a bit simplistic, but that's what cost him his job. As for Gillis -- we'll see how it works. But certainly he has immediately addressed the major concerns...probably more successfully than Nonis. And he has definitely added defensive toughness and grit to strengthen an already solid D (injury epidemic aside).
Thanks for the feed back guys, I didnt really want to take on side or the other. Just put the facts out there and compare the 2 jobs theyve done to this point. 1st blog ive ever written for anything so feedback would be appreciated.