There's been some nice buzz coming out of the development camp already this week. There seems to be genuine interest in this group of prospects, with hope that it won't be too long before some of them develop into legitimate NHLers.
We'll talk more about the players as the week rolls on.
For now, let's look at the Canucks' latest hires: John Weisbrod as Vice President, Player Personnel and Doug Lidster as part of Willie Desjardins' coaching staff. An exact title hasn't been announced for Lidster—he's being referred to as an assistant in some media reports. Given his past position as Willie's right-hand man with the Texas Stars, it wouldn't surprise me if he winds up being the associate coach.
Shortly before the Lidster announcement came out yesterday, I saw a comment from Desjardins that they wouldn't be announcing the coaching details until next week, so we might have to wait a few more days for clarification on how the roles will play out. I haven't seen this elsewhere, but CKNW seems to think that Glen Gulutzan will stay as part of Willie's new team:
I'm currently reading the Pat Burns memoir "Coach" by Rosie DiManno. I've been eating up the part where Burns climbs from coaching juniors to the AHL before taking the reins with the Habs in the late '80s. The path is similar to Willie's, but Burns was just 35 when he joined the Canadiens—basically the same age as the team's veterans Bob Gainey and Larry Robinson. Willie' may be a rookie, but he'll certainly have the authority and experience that comes with age.
The Burns book is whetting my appetite to see what a new bench boss can do with our roster.
As well as his ties to Desjardins, Lidster is also an ex-Canuck who played in Vancouver from 1984 to 1993. That means he was a teammate of Benning and Linden's in the late '80s. He's a B.C. boy—born in Kamloops—who was drafted by the Canucks in the seventh round in 1980.
He developed through four years of college hockey and was a member of Team Canada at the 1984 Olympics before joining the Canucks and became one of their most important blueliners.
Lidster had one outstanding offensive season: in 1986-87, he scored 12 goals and 63 points, which still stands as a Canucks team record. Lidster was also a career-worst minus-35 that season, on a team that finished last in the Smythe Division and didn't make the playoffs.
In 1990-91, Lidster was named one of Vancouver's three co-captains, along with Dan Quinn and Trevor Linden, in a year of transition out of the Stan Smyl era and towards Linden's full-time captaincy.
Lidster was traded to the New York Rangers during the summer of 1993 in exchange for John Vanbiesbrouck, who the Canucks acquired in order to expose him in the expansion draft as the Florida Panthers and Mighty Ducks of Anaheim joined the league.
Lidster played a depth role with the Rangers during their '94 Stanley Cup win, appearing in nine playoff games, and added a second Cup when he appeared in four playoff games during his final NHL season with the Dallas Stars in 1999.
Lidster's first coaching gig was with the OHL Saginaw Spirit back in 2004-05, where he spent one season. He also worked with the Canadian women's national team and the IIHF before signing on with the Texas Stars in 2012.
As for Weisbrod, his connection to the team was his role as director of collegiate and pro scouting with Boston while Jim Benning was there, from 2006 to 2011.
Around these parts, Weisbrod's better known for being part of the management team that had a rough ride for three seasons with the Calgary Flames. He had a similar title with the Flames to what he got in Vancouver—Assistant General Manager of Player Personnel—and was fired last winter during the transition to the Brian Burke era.
For his part, Eric Francis of the
Calgary Sun sounds less than impressed with what Weisbrod brought to the table in Cowtown:
Here's how Jim Benning describes Weisbrod's skillset, from Ben Kuzma's
article in The Province:
John understands the quality of player I like and is a good judge of talent. The difference between teams in the NHL is the job they do in the rinks with scouting. To me, there are two types of players — those who will play with in the NHL and those you can win with in the NHL.
My favorite fun fact about Weisbrod is that he spent one year as the general manager of the NBA's Orlando Magic in 2004-05. Not many hockey guys have that credential!
With the addition of Weisbrod, here's the Canucks current management team, according to the press release:
Weisbrod joins the Canucks Hockey Operations team led by Trevor Linden, Jim Benning, Stan Smyl, Laurence Gilman, Lorne Henning, T.C. Carling, Eric Crawford, Jonathan Wall and Mike Brown.
That management box is going to be crowded at games next season!
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