Interview with Dowbiggin - new book on Gillis

[Larry Goodenough]

http://www.vancitybuzz.com/2014/09/rise ... dowbiggin/

[rats19]

Thnx...if we were healthy we would have won the cup...so there ya fucking go...

[mathonwy]

Luverly..

Thanks for the link!!

Dowbiggin seems like quite an even keeled guy and he echos all of my personal sentiments regarding Torts and the hiring of Trevor Linden. I've heard his name before but I'm not overly familiar with who he is.

I'm really looking forward to reading his book!

[mathonwy]

Thnx...if we were healthy we would have won the cup...so there ya fucking go...

The beginning of the end started when Hamhuis went down and Mike Gillis's massive 4.2M mistake Keith Ballard couldn't pick up the slack.

[SKYO]

dowbiggz - obviously a gillyfanboy.

[Todd Bersnoozi]

I made a post about it in another thread. Would luv to hear a review from anyone that gets a chance to read it.


viewtopic.php?f=2&t=9721&start=2595

A book is out about the fall of the 2011 "Greatest Canucks" Team. I'd still take the 94 team over the 2011 team though.

http://greystonebooks.com/book_details. ... 1771641319

The author seems to be located out in Calgary though, so not sure if he followed and knows the Canucks as much as us. He did know MG for a long time, so he might have some insights there. MG has gone dark ever since he was let go. I would luv to hear his thoughts about the whole Torts thing, Trev coming in, his last stand when he drew a line on the sand and eventually his firing. Doubt he said much now, but hopefully some day he'll come out and share his side of what happened.

I'll probably read it if I can find it in the library.

[Todd Bersnoozi]

Thanx for the Link to that VanCity Buzz article Larry G. I just read it and have to disagree with 2 points the author made.

1) Did MG weasel the job away from Dave Nonis?

The thing about Mike is, and I know this sounds a bit naive, but I like to think I know when someone is BSing me or not, and I’ve never known Mike to tell me something that isn’t true. If he’s in a position to have to lie about something, he just says nothing, so when he tells me he wasn’t involved in this great campaign to stab Dave Nonis in the back, I believe him.

I find this hard to believe. Considering at one of the trade deadlines, we almost moved Lou to TO. There was all this chatter that Nonis and MG were not even talking directly, it was between their assistants. A deal was supposedly done, then it falls apart in the last minute, almost like Nonis was dicking around with MG. Nonis seems to h8 MG with a passion.


2) Do players want to play in Vancouver?

Not at the moment. It’s toxic. If you’re an player or agent right now there’s major questions about what this ownership wants out of the team, what kind of team they’re going to have going forward. Everybody sees that he just threw the local hero at the situation to placate everybody.

Right now people don’t want to come here.

*LOL* Hello? This past off-season JB just went out and got Miller Time and Chibata Vrbata with relative ease. Vancouver is a popular place to live, whether it be Asains buying up all the real estate here or million dollar hockey players.

[Strangelove]

Holy CRAP, I pretty much agree with everything poster Todd just said!!

*smells open bottle of wine*

[Meds]

My favorite snippets from the link posted.....

The Aquilinis obviously bought what Mike Gillis was selling when they hired him. Did they lose faith last year?

The turning point was when Francesco’s name was brought up at the trade deadline. The Penguins said, ‘We had a deal but the owner wouldn’t let it go through.’ Whatever Mike wanted to do in taking responsibility, now the public was seeing that the owner was involved. I think at that point, the owner needed somebody to blame.

The reason I say they were desperate is, Trevor Linden – he’s got no experience. If you’re really serious about winning, you don’t hire a guy who’s been selling glasses and elliptical machines for six years. You hire a guy who understands the president’s job today.

You’re not sold on the direction the team’s taking now?

I don’t know what the direction is. All I know is they’ve hired a guy who has no experience as a president, a guy who has no experience as a general manager, and a guy who has no experience as a coach. These are all newbies.

Ummmm......so your saying that when Gillis was hired as GM and President of the Canucks he had a wealth of experience? He was a player's agent, and he hired a former Assistant GM to be his right hand man.

And I suppose GMJB's years as the Assistant GM of the Boston "Beat Gillis' Ass in 2011" Bruins didn't get any experience at all there?

This author of this book must have spent a pile of time under MG's desk at some point and really misses it.

[Todd Bersnoozi]

And I suppose GMJB's years as the Assistant GM of the Boston "Beat Gillis' Ass in 2011" Bruins didn't get any experience at all there?

I actually think the author has a point there and I thought about it way back when Trev, JB and Willie all came aboard. Yes, JB was a big part of that Bruins team and yes, he probably had a big hand in helping them; however, until u actually the head guy, it's not the same. The big boss usually takes most of the credit for the success and most of the blame for the failures. The Bs really were Chiarelli and Neely's team (they made most of the big and important decisions), JB was just an assistant. I'm sure JB had a big say in all matters, but it was Chiarilli who ultimately made the tough calls for personel, players and direction of the team.

We all know JB is a pretty good scout and he seems to really like and excel in that part of the job. He also has shown that he isn't afraid to make tough decisions as he put his stamp on the team right away by moving out a few guys and bringing in some new blood. However, did he and will he make the right calls and decisions for this team and franchise? I hope so, but I have some doubts. We'll find out soon enuff with the start of the season just around the corner.

[dangler]

FWIW, Dowbiggin has worked covering the flames for several years

[Blaster86]

And Flames fans think he's an idiot.

[Blob Mckenzie]

Dowbiggin is an idiot similar to Bruce Garrioch . Nothing more thàn a rumour monger and a Gillis ball licker . So what if Linden has no experience as a president he is a very smart guy and a smarter hockey guy . He has been in on huge business deals and he is really only a figurehead and a face but some of the mouth breathers can't wrap their oily domes around this . Lol at Odd Todd . Neely had fuck all to do with the Bruins team that won the cup . it was Chiarelli , Benning and Scott Bradley .

[Todd Bersnoozi]

Neely had fuck all to do with the Bruins team that won the cup . it was Chiarelli , Benning and Scott Bradley .

OK, let's say things worked out for us in 2011 and we won the Cup. Ppl would say Mike Gillis led the team to the win, there would be little or no mention of Henning and Gilman. Prime example, after the shit season we had last season, who was the fall guy? MG. Yet, Gilman and Henning were unscathed and remain with the team.

As the words of The Thinker, think about it.

BTW: is that guy still around? Was he Beta too?

[Meds]

And I suppose GMJB's years as the Assistant GM of the Boston "Beat Gillis' Ass in 2011" Bruins didn't get any experience at all there?

I actually think the author has a point there and I thought about it way back when Trev, JB and Willie all came aboard. Yes, JB was a big part of that Bruins team and yes, he probably had a big hand in helping them; however, until u actually the head guy, it's not the same. The big boss usually takes most of the credit for the success and most of the blame for the failures. The Bs really were Chiarelli and Neely's team (they made most of the big and important decisions), JB was just an assistant. I'm sure JB had a big say in all matters, but it was Chiarilli who ultimately made the tough calls for personel, players and direction of the team.

We all know JB is a pretty good scout and he seems to really like and excel in that part of the job. He also has shown that he isn't afraid to make tough decisions as he put his stamp on the team right away by moving out a few guys and bringing in some new blood. However, did he and will he make the right calls and decisions for this team and franchise? I hope so, but I have some doubts. We'll find out soon enuff with the start of the season just around the corner.

Ummm.....what?

I'm pointing out that Benning is taking the reigns in 2014 with WAY MORE front-office experience under his belt than Gillis had when he took over back in 2008.

Benning's passion is knowing all of the players in the league and scouting young talent. Do you really think that Peter Chiarelli didn't lean heavily on JB when it came time to draft and/or trade?

Gillis came in and had some good ideas and made some savvy signings and trades to fill positions that were needed to support the core. But after 2011 Gillis just floundered and did nothing.

His biggest splashes were when he picked up Ehrhoff and Torres. Very key players to the team's success in 2010-11, particularly in the playoffs.

He then let both of them walk. Hoff was let go and signed at a lower cap hit than anyone in our top-4.

Torres wasn't even offered a new contract so far as we know.

He then made a bunch of questionable trades, and him and Vigneault appeared to be on very different pages by the end of 2011-2012.

Even look at what AV had in his resume when he took over from Crow.

No championships at any level. A losing record in Montreal. Not much playoff experience behind the bench.

Willie has won a championship at every level. He actually has quite a solid resume for a first time NHL coach. What is most impressive is the Championship he won in the WHL. The Tigers had missed the playoffs for 5 years until he got there. He won the Dub Championship and a trip to the Memorial cup in his 3rd year. That's a pretty quick job of bringing a bunch of kids together, particularly when you consider the quick turnover of players in the CHL. His quick turnaround of a team that missed the playoffs in the AHL to a championship 2 seasons later also speaks highly of his ability as a coach.