Canucks News N Notes 25-26

[Cornuck]

I'm thinking COPOHO is the one to go with.

Although around Christmas time, it will be CO PO HO!

[Topper]

Wow, that was one of the most awkward New Management reveal pressers I have ever seen. Tough to have been a key part of the past 4 years debacle, somewhat defend it, yet say you are moving in a new direction. It is electioneering Kamala talking of her years as Biden's VP.

Overall, it looks like a Benning rebuild, ice a competitive team every night that will play exciting hockey, win or loose.

My Coles Notes with my comments

Opening Statements

Aquaman
reads (badly) prepared bullet points

Why did he even mention external candidates? Is that uncertainty in RyJo?

Repeats the Benning line - competitive every night while rebuilding

Sedin
Mantra - Connected, Committed, Purpose the new Pride, Hustle, Desire

RyJo
thanks Geriatric for his guidance LOL

Thanks Sedins for the job because they know him

Questions
Sedins - looking to make player dev better - who did they develop?
RyJo - started as consultant for Smyl and Gillis - familiarity got him the job (again)

Everyone was eliminated from the job by the Geriatric/Aqualung but Gold and RyJo - Sedins then got to choose
Did Gold want to work for the Sedins? Really does sound like the price wasn't right, RyJo from Temu

Reporter asks about poor culture the past few years - what the fuck were these guys doing? Sedins stumble hard on an answer.

RyJo - Need to build an environment "a safe environment" - what the fuck have they been doing the past few years

RyJo - Build through draft, increasing cap means FA's to expensive - go cheap? Will acquire more draft picks but no idea how. With increasing cap, fewer dog contracts to take on along with a high pick.

RyJo - Foote had too many externals to evaluate him, wait and see. Not fair to decide yet likely but not committed.

RyJo - locker room drama - be a good team mate, push each other. Not worried about wins and losses. Will be talking to players about expectations.

Sedins will agree with each other

Ownership meddling/autonomy - 100% autonomy - said with a straight face

Scooter? - RyJo - do you move him? - RyJo wipe away the expectations and be the most prepared he has ever been. Clean slate.
Sedins - Part of the ups and downs of a career - needs to come in better prepared.
Repeatedly - Scooter needs to show up prepared to play, work and lead - sounds like Scooter hasn't been putting much effort in, this is the same the Geriatris and RoboSwede were saying.

Past Drama - Why - won't talk about it. Best players have to be your best leaders. At one point RyJo talks about leaders calling out teammates but those leaders also not fully committed (back checking, too long of shifts... everything that everyone has said about JT/Scooter

Fans did the wave the last home game of the season so they must be happy about the future LOL

Sedins named Gold specifically by name but decided on RyJo - again, why name him? weird

Fastest way to rebuild is go slow (Sedins) . RyJo - no need to spend to the cap - go cheap

It really sounds like Benning methodology. "Ice competitive exciting to watch team every night while rebuilding"

Practice facility is getting close.

That presser did nothing to inspire any confidence in these guys.

[Meds]

Fastest way to rebuild is go slow (Sedins) .

This was perhaps the only thing I heard that was remotely encouraging. Go slow = patience.

Otherwise, yeah, more of the same.

Their dual speech off of the cue cards.....reminded me of grade 6 public speaking.

[donlever]

Meet the new boss.....

[Kenji]

Idk

I like the vibe

What could the Co-POHo-Bros say, the whole plan? They said they are gonna make sure RJ is through and RJ said he’s going to get every department into elite level. And yet they sounded modest and respectful.

With the ownership being what it is at the best of times, and this being far from the best of times, thereby limiting the spending on non-personnel upgrades, you can only get so optimistic but I’m choosing to be happy with the front office part.

[Hockey Widow]

I didn't read they were limiting spending. Just the opposite. They will spend what it takes and provide the new management team with whatever they feel they need in order to expedite the rebuild without going to fast or cutting corners. They emphasized several times that every decision moving forward will be following the rebuild plan that they develop and they will not deviate. Will not take a shower rod unless it conforms the their long term goals.

When asked if they wanted to clean house, my words, they said they have a lot of skilled personnel who work hard and will be part of the team moving forward. So they are not looking so much as to who to move out but where to add. Of course totally non committal re Foote.

Malhotra may not have a lot of players to work with in Abbey next season. I mean Cootes if he doesn't make Vancouver. But other than that who? So maybe having him come to he big club as an Assistant coach might be the smart move?

Mean they said all the right things. Things fans have been clamouring to hear for years and years. It started off with the owner using the dreaded R word several times. How much clearer can they be? There appears, for the first time, full buy in at all levels that a full rebuild is necessary and will happen.

I just don't think they have had the time to analyze exactly what that means. But they did talk about obtaining more draft capital and more younger prospects, starting with 10 picks thus upcoming draft. My reading of it is that we will see trades but not sell offs. We will see them target UFAs not top end but role players with character and leadership ability.

They want to fix the dressing room with character guys, true leaders, players that put their teammates first and want to play for each other. They want to build chemistry and put fun back into the dressing room. RJ mentioned a safe dressing room twice. Simply put good teams, winning teams, play for each other and are close.

So I can see a few different approaches on how to do this.

[Topper]

.
So I can see a few different approaches on how to do this.

The guys have had major roles in the organization for several years.

The geriatric said rebuild when Quinn was traded last Fall.

Word of Alvin leaving has been out since the trade deadline.

Why don't they have a plan?

Sedins say player development needs to improve. What was their job the past few years? Player development.

RyJo has been AGM for years, rebuild has been talked about for months. His succession into the GM role has been talked about by the Geriatric for years. Why is he not prepared?

He was AGM in Vancouver and GM in Abby because the two operations were fully integrated and working as one.

They know the path the Geriatric and RoboSwede charted They know what they agreed with, what they didn't and what they would do differently..

Instead they choose to BS that it's only day one and were the fresh new faces that need time to assess things first before we make our plans.

Yet we are told Gold came in with a plan and names of people he wanted with systems needed to be invested in.

So the guy on the outside was ready to hit the ground running. The guys promoted from within need time to assess and come up with a plan.

The only explanation for these Three Stooges not being prepared is that everything the Geriatric and RoboSwede said is bullshit. There was no coordination between Abby and Vancouver. Vancouver's POHO and GM operated in a vacuum without input or knowledge of their assistants and it was my way or the highway.

They can't claim inside knowledge and familiarity while at the same time say, we're new here and need time to assess things.

Would moving Manny to Vancouver as an assistant undermine Foote? Many was an assistant in Vancouver before booting to TO.. Would he take an assistant role again?

WooooHoooooo let's all do the wave from our new seats

[Cousin Strawberry]

That's pretty well what I saw as well. Prepare yourselves for different people saying the same crap with the same results.

Drawing on the Sedin's passion for the game to hopefully lead to them becoming super presidents out of the blue is a pie in the SKYO pipe dream.

Johnson may be well respected and all that feel good nonsense but what the fuck has he really done in Abby? Ok a championship is a good thing but that seems like a group catching fire on a one and done more than a successful development program finally bearing fruit

[Topper]

Their dual speech off of the cue cards.....reminded me of grade 6 public speaking.

Their Swedish Twins stag party dancers commercial may have been their finest moment.

Safe to say, they will let their GM handle media duties.

[UWSaint]

I finally watched the presser and am pretty nonplussed....

Sure the cue card reading was tough, but I actually didn't mind the way the Sedins handled the questions -- I thought they did a very good job giving very short answers where firmness was required (or to not delve into it). Johnson, on the other hand, struck me as a shivering leaf just happy to be there. That's not to say he won't improve once he's settled, but it wasn't a confidence inspiring performance because it didn't project confidence or direction.

And what I found most alarming about the presser was that Johnson basically said one of the nice things about being the internal candidate is that he didn't have to make the same kind of pitch. Huh? Maybe that's because everyone knows what he thinks, but this was his opportunity to tell the media what that is. More likely, it was because its not a philosophy or orientation that was his brief, but familiarity. Which works when you don't need disruption, but that's not where the Canucks are.

The second most alarming thing is when RJ repeated this "safe place" language. This alarms me for two reasons. One, its a parrot of JR's comments, which makes me think that RJ's path to the job was adopting JR's view, and it is JR's views and instincts that have probably been the largest contributor to the Canucks' downfall. Even if it were descriptively accurate to say it "wasn't" a safe place or even if the best philosophy is to coddle these sensitive players (I don't think it is but for the sake of argument), it suggests that RJ's taking lessons from JR and those lessons are not "that was an example of what not to do/say." Second, substantively, its woke/corporate horseshit language. If QH or JT or Conor Garland or Myers were dicks, it didn't make the locker room "unsafe". Absent hazing that rises to the level of assault, it is not a "safety" issue, and focus should not be creating an HR "safe" workplace, but demanding a no assholes policy. These might have the same effect in practice, but one message (safety) is focused on sheltering and protection of the grown men (imagine Pink's mother....), and the other (no assholes) is about the kind of character that goes along with leadership, duty, and comradery. And in one of RJ's better moments, he *almost* articulated this, he almost articulated a military "brotherhood" philosophy of high mutual expectations and directness but we always have your back and we are in this together, but that message was lost in the corporate/woke babble of "safety" and "collaboration" and whatever the heck those three Sedin-articulated words to live by words are -- so memorable that I have forgotten all but "purpose," and was thinking, purpose *towards* what?

They also said ownership had their back with resources, but not a peep as to how those resources would be used or prioritized (you'd think a huge question to both a President of Hockey Ops and GM). Even something like "look, there's no point to spend to the cap unless we are able to weaponize cap space -- but ownership has said this simply frees up money to improve things that will improve our competitiveness when it makes sense to once again spend to the cap. So we are going to use that to enhance our scouting footprint, improve our training facilities, and increase our analytics capabilities, especially at the amateur and minor league levels."

On the bright side, I think the reemphasis on Canucks returning to a higher level of community involvement is a very good thing. And I am not generally a huge fan of corporations using charitable activity to increase community goodwill. But here, I think that the primary beneficiaries are the players themselves. Especially when the charity is something like the children's hospital, it is a great tool to put the world into perspective. That even when things aren't working on the ice, they are having a positive impact on people. That because what they do and who they are (athletes, entertainers and at least local celebrities) affects people outside of the product, that the manner of this effect encourages players to carry themselves differently, that carrying themselves differently will have a beneficial effect on how they treat each other, how other "noise" affects them, etc.

We forget that these are YOUNG men, by and large, and their perspective on life and the world is not only immature, but the product of a very strange, very internal subculture of the elite athlete. I think that community engagement that is direct, like spending an hour playing video games with some kid who is undergoing chemo therapy at an age where your parents were spending thousands and thousands of dollars on your elite camp, can have a real perspective-enhancing effect on these young men.

I remember about 25 year ago, as the WCE era was emerging, thinking it seemed to me that there was a higher rate of married young guys on the Canucks than I would have expected. That sort of gave these players a different (and on net, beneficial) perspective, with a bit more resiliency -- its not the same as the Canucks for Kids activities or whatever, but it kind of it hitting on the same thing.

The other things I liked about the presser messages is (1) I like they were able to mostly coherently articulate that the fastest way to competitiveness is not through shortcuts (Sedins said "by going slow," but I would have put on those note cards "by being deliberate, intentional") and (2) I don't think its the worst thing to have a short term goal focused on character/how to be a professional. The former isn't "news" (but the more it is said, the more it is believed), the latter I surely hope they find a way to articulate their expectations better. But it isn't a bad first building block.

[Meds]

I didn't read they were limiting spending. Just the opposite. They will spend what it takes and provide the new management team with whatever they feel they need in order to expedite the rebuild without going to fast or cutting corners. They emphasized several times that every decision moving forward will be following the rebuild plan that they develop and they will not deviate. Will not take a shower rod unless it conforms the their long term goals.

What’s this about a shower rod?

[Lancer]

"Safe environment" can mean a couple of things. It can mean a psychologically safe space like you say. It can also mean a safe environment for youngsters to make mistakes without fear of getting benched or ostracized in the room by vets who are focused on making the playoffs at all costs and don't have time for rookie bullshit. If someone were to tell me that there were times when players played it safe - and not creating anything out there - out of fear of getting sent down or to the press box, I would believe them. We'll see how this 'safe environment' manifests itself. You can crab about the kids these days having eggshell egos and all, but that's what they have to work with until we breed a more resilient generation or world events make this bunch more resilient, with the attendant casualties along the way.

Re: resources from ownership, I don't expect that team to have more than a conceptual idea of how those resources will be allocated. Even if an incumbent party wins an election - complete with a policy platform - they usually take a week or two before even announcing cabinets, especially if the party has new leadership. I wasn't expecting a detailed, fully-formed plan at this announcement - even less a plan that they would be prepared to publicly discuss at this juncture. That said, these guys remember the Gillis ethic regarding spending on competitive edges that didn't count to the cap; while I don't anticipate that they'll be spending to the cap the next couple years I would anticipate that they would use some of that unspent money elsewhere - practice facility, perhaps??

I also believe that they will, as a rule, prioritize character over talent. I know that means an increased likelihood of them drafting Manny Jr., but that doesn't disqualify the likes of Carels or Vehoeff either. After the last couple years, I'm okay with that. Perhaps they can mold a core/leadership group that internalizes the ethic and culture they're looking after that, down the road, can bring young high-talent/low-character types into line. I have no doubt that there were more than one or two additions to the room when the Twins were in there who had some asshole or character flaws, but they were never allowed to fester in the room. Who knows if Mitchell was a case of that?

I'm not dancing through the halls over these picks for management, but I'm not as morose as some around here.

[Meds]

Very much on the same page as Topper and UW.

I will add to what Topper says by throwing in the perspective that none of us should have expected them to sit down in front of the cameras and announce that they were cleaning house. These things are always politically presented. Answers that aren’t specific, intentionally vague, while sounding somewhat deliberate. So it is a case of watch and see what they do between now and July.

I’m not saying that I have high hopes for massive changes. It’s the primary reason why we needed Gold instead of RJ and the Sedins. He has no relationships here, house cleaning can be cold and calculated without remorse. Do Hank and Dank and RJ have the capacity to flip the emotional switch to off and send people packing that they’ve been working closely with for years? I have my doubts.

But I’m not hanging my opinions on this media scrum.

The “safe space” is troubling too. It’s largely driven by current social issues and I hope it’s just the language they are adopting from those issues to describe a dressing room culture similar to what was present from 2007-2012. It better not be about mollycoddling fragile minds…..

[Cousin Strawberry]

Safe space sounds like a place free from Brad Marchand speed-baggings or JT Miller's scornful glares. Lame

[Megaterio Llamas]

Johnson may be well respected and all that feel good nonsense but what the fuck has he really done in Abby? Ok a championship is a good thing but that seems like a group catching fire on a one and done more than a successful development program finally bearing fruit

That was a veteran AHL squad, Cuz. It was exactly the kind of team that wins in that league. Not exactly prospect-laden. The few that did emerge were older, late blooming depth guys like Karlsson and Sasson, and the two goalies. Johnson and Malhotra deserve some props for winning the championship, but it didn't advance the franchise all that much.