Trevor Linden is stepping down in VAN

[Mickey107]

Keeps taking new turns as more tiny little hints surface.
Unless something changes, right now, for all intents and purposes, it truly is:

LORD BENNING !!

[Blob Mckenzie]

I can see no president being hired until after the coming season. The [mod edit] will save salary and talk to their friends/advisors. Unless Elmer gets the team into the playoffs he will be taking the bullet next. They will trot out a new superboss a couple months before the draft. Hopefully the guy has some pride and a set of balls unlike Trevor and Elmer. Someone has to be able to tell the Italians to piss off and stay the hell out of the hockey ops other than scratching the cheque.

[Strangelove]

.
^ nice narrative you're selling!

sinking ship

Everyone else around here is excited about the future, but not Blob 'Voice of Reason' Mckenzie!

[Strangelove]

LORD BENNING !!

[Rocky Dennis]

I can see no president being hired until after the coming season. The [mod edit] will save salary and talk to their friends/advisors. Unless Elmer gets the team into the playoffs he will be taking the bullet next. They will trot out a new superboss a couple months before the draft. Hopefully the guy has some pride and a set of balls unlike Trevor and Elmer. Someone has to be able to tell the Italians to piss off and stay the hell out of the hockey ops other than scratching the cheque.

I subscribe to this theory with the exception that I think we probably see the new Superboss (I'm guessing Lombardi) fill the president role by the start of the season. As someone above mentioned, if next season's results are poor in the owners' eyes, then Benning will get turfed and superboss assumes GM mantle as well. With nothing more than the eye-test, I think at best the results are 50/50 as far as people approving of the Linden change so I think the Aqua Bros are going to want something splashy to announce to curb negativity and hopefully boost fan interest/sales.

Which also leads me to the Hughes discussion: I now think its a lock he starts the season here (see "splashy announcement" reasoning above). Personally, without having seen him play yet, I would've been inclined to send him back to college for one more year and then signed him for the end of the year games at the pro level (if scheduling worked out). Sure hope they have plans to shelter these kids if they're going to rush them in and/or put them in spots they are not ready or mature enough for. Otherwise it's going to be Oilerville...and we have no mcjesus. well, hopefully elias is a savior but that remains to be seen.

[Richardstroker69]

I’m no fan of Linden but I think it’s better for him to get off the sinking ship at this point. Aquilini is making the team a laughing stock. I can’t see anyone decent wanting to work for the [mod edit]

Dude the ship is done sinking, it’s now on the rise, stay away from hfcanucks blob. This isn’t the end of the world, the rebuild is still happening, young players will get to play and even veterans may get waived.

[Rocky Dennis]

Hopefully the guy has some pride and a set of balls unlike Trevor and Elmer. Someone has to be able to tell the Italians to piss off and stay the hell out of the hockey ops other than scratching the cheque.

I forgot to comment on this. Obviously you were being sarcastic because no one is going to get a super fan owner to completely butt out of the operation. But some people have commented on the nice guy Linden and that persona being ineffective. Perhaps, but overall I see having balls/spine in this job as being irrelevant. I think both Nonis and Gillis showed balls to ownership that, if true, contributed or led directly to their ultimate demise (the Brad Richards non-trade and let's go full rebuild, respectively). Well, that and they both were adequate at best as GM's. Looks like Linden was standing up for what he believes in as well, right or wrong. So my point is, even with a spine, if the owners' are not getting what they want, history is showing that they will throw you to the curb. The only way to keep your job in this outfit will be to win, because only winning puts butts in seats in Vancouver (despite what people want to believe, this is a horrible sports town). If the Canucks owners are rash and irrational owners with kneejerk reactions and constantly moving goalposts, you're likely going to have to get lucky and catch lightning in bottle to win.

[ukcanuck]

^ It's just not considered very "manly" (can we still use that word?) is all.

Lol only behind an avatar on a goddamn hockey message board

[Blob Mckenzie]

.
^ nice narrative you're selling!

sinking ship

Everyone else around here is excited about the future, but not Blob 'Voice of Reason' Mckenzie!

You have your herd of sheep that are highly excited and march in lockstep with you. They feel management hasn’t made a single mistake and if they won a lottery this team would be one is the leagues elite

Some of us are waiting to wait it out and see what happens and critique the moves one by one but still want the team to do well.

Your crew can’t individualize or process single moves and instead chomp up and down on that gorillas banana like it was a 12 inch god.

One outfit will either be proven correct or be grabbing their ankles.

[Strangelove]

Some of us are waiting to wait it out and see what happens and critique the moves one by one but still want the team to do well.

But you said the team is "a sinking ship".

And you make comments like that All. The. Time.

You know Diehard was joking about you being "the voice of reason"... right?

[Strangelove]

https://twitter.com/imacSportsnet/statu ... 4444761088

Iain MacIntyre
‏@imacSportsnet

#Canucks GM Jim Benning on conference call: Francesco Aquilini told him owners are not looking to fill position vacated by hockey-ops president Trevor Linden.

LORD BENNING !!

[Blob Mckenzie]

https://twitter.com/imacSportsnet/statu ... 4444761088

Iain MacIntyre
‏@imacSportsnet

#Canucks GM Jim Benning on conference call: Francesco Aquilini told him owners are not looking to fill position vacated by hockey-ops president Trevor Linden.

LORD BENNING !!

No shit... why pay another salary for a year?

[Blob Mckenzie]

Some of us are waiting to wait it out and see what happens and critique the moves one by one but still want the team to do well.

But you said the team is "a sinking ship".

And you make comments like that All. The. Time.

You know Diehard was joking about you being "the voice of reason"... right?

I know a lot of things

[ukcanuck]

Thanks to 3 silver spooned rich kids The Canucks are a GM/President graveyard. Nonis refuses to trade futures for vets Richards/Jokinen...fired! Gillis wants to do a full rebuild...fired! Linden wants to stay on the rebuild path, the Aquas say the rebuild is over....fired! We are screwed with meddling, spoiled brat as owners. In the mean time, the rich kids are still looking for their “Yes Man”.

Yeah other than spending to the cap these asshole greaseballs might be the leagues worst owners

Linden couldn’t do the job or aqualini sucks can’t be both.

I’m still not sure which one think it is.

But I’ve never bought into this idea that the Canucks were pursuing a light rebuild over a full rebuild. What does that mean anyway?
2012 when it became clear the team as it was, wasn’t good enough. All the key pieces were locked into NTCs - you know the story.
What was any GM going to do?

Any way moving forward, I seriously hope they aren’t pursuing some huge trade involving the prospects they finally have. Nor am I interested in trading what should be another high first or second.

The only card to play is to get the prospects into the line up sooner rather than later ... or not.

Yet you had no problem with the team trading away picks the past few years.... what’s changed?

At the time we had nothing, no prospects other than Horvat (whom I remember a bunch of pissed folks that we sent Cory for) A bunch of bums or guys with NTCs.

We didn’t have much choice but to use a few draft picks to get some warm bodies.

Now though we have a raft of potential players and it’s time to focus on them and keep our picks because there doesn’t seem to be a trade market anymore.

[SKYO]

Kinda wishing for a ruthless Jim Benning right now to handle the team and make the big moves to improve the team while staying course on icing a young, hungry and talented team.