That didn't take long!
Less than 24 hours after the firing of Vancouver Canucks President and general manager Mike Gillis, the team has announced that Trevor Linden will, in fact, become the new President of Hockey Operations.
From the press release:
In his role, Linden will be responsible for all hockey operations, including the coaching and scouting staffs, player procurement and development, and minor league affiliations and operations.
UPDATE: 11:20 AM - THE INTRODUCTORY PRESS CONFERENCE IS NOW COMPLETE. My new thoughts are in italics below.
Linden admitted right off the top that he was forced to lie during his television appearance yesterday; that the plan has been in place for awhile. He was cagey about the length of the discussions/negotiations, but did admit that he has spoken over the past few days to his peers who are now in management positions with other teams—Joe Sakic, Steve Yzerman and Cam Neely.
Despite that rather rocky start to the discussion, overall I thought he came across pretty well. He has that comfortable pre-existing relationship with a lot of the long-time media types around town—funny hearing them call him "Trev" in this circumstance. And it sounds like he wants to talk to some potential GM candidates who are currently employed with other teams and heading into the playoffs. He cited the end of June, or hopefully early June, as a target for getting that general manager in place. Maybe AGM David McNab of Anaheim is on the list?
He mentioned that he met John Tortorella for the first time this morning. I'd say that part of the equation will remain up in the air. Francesco Aquilini remains adamant that they did not engineer Torts' hiring, that it was Mike Gillis' decision, and it's been made clear that coaching decisions will now fall under Linden's areas of responsibility. So—we'll see how that goes over these final few games, which suddenly got a lot more interesting.
I liked the part where he compared himself to the backup quarterback (and was smart not to say 'backup goalie' in this market). "Everyone loves the backup quarterback because he hasn't made any mistakes yet." He gets it. He knows what he's getting into. And I think when he talked about the addictive quality of playing—winning and losing—that answered the question of why he'd take on such a tough role. He wants to give it his best shot.
I wondered if something might be up when Linden was used so actively during the Canucks for Kids Telethon night back on March 23rd. That's not something that has happened in the past.
By that point, it was clear that the team would miss the playoffs, so ownership must have already been putting the succession plan in place. Putting Linden out in front of the fans that night was also an excellent opportunity for the Aquilinis to gauge his current crowd-appeal first hand—and the response was great.
In hindsight, I suppose Mike Gillis was on a short leash all season—and that could be why we've seen Francesco Aquilini by his side so often. Going forward with a new president who has no hockey management experience, it'll be interesting to see if the owners remain as involved, or take more of a hands-off approach.
As for the hire, I'll take a wait-and-see attitude for now.
I'm surprised that Linden took the position. As we've discussed previously, he has been actively involved in other ventures and never seemed especially interested in getting back into hockey life. And he is such a beloved figure in town—that could change if he can't engineer a turnaround for the team in pretty short order.
Also, Trevor's role as president of the NHL Players' Association during the 2004-05 lockout seemed to really wear him down. I can't remember the details off the top of my head, but I feel like he was left with some acrimonious relationships when all was said and done.
In the end, I guess the opportunity to ride in and save the day was too tempting. I imagine his salary is pretty decent, too.
So, the first poll question today:
My earlier musings on the general manager situation are below. I thought they'd try to fill that slot immediately; a bit surprised that they're willing to wait until so close to the draft, but it's now clear that they want to look at candidates who they can't speak with until the playoffs are over. Feel free to re-vote in the poll if this changes your guess—the best candidate available may still turn out to be someone from this list. I'll look more closely at some of the other possibilities as we go forward.
I think the team could rely on incumbents Laurence Gilman and Lorne Henning to take care of the meat and potatoes under Linden. Or, maybe there's an experienced hockey man who could be brought into the fold.
I was surprised to see Jay Feaster's name surface yesterday, but he does have history with Torts from the pair's 2004 Stanley Cup in Tampa Bay.
Bob Nicholson's name is also in the mix, after resigning from Hockey Canada last week. He doesn't have NHL management experience but has done a terrific job with Team Canada, including his quick fix of the women's team going into last year's Olympics. At first glance, he'd be a name I could trust.
Then there's Markus Naslund. Linden threw us a red herring yesterday when he said he hadn't talked to the Aquilinis, so Naslund could also still be in the mix.
Have I left anybody out? Add your thoughts in the comments. For now:
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