He gave up alcohol long ago...
- LeftCoaster

Doesnt mean I cant act drunk once in a while.

- boonerbuck

Solid post.

Then ban me (frank)er, because Harper is a piece of (frank)in monkey poop that is fukin up this country in more ways than I can count.......and if you're your cronies are reading this Harper....suck my big white horse cock......maybe ask your wife first; she'll tell ya it tastes like buttermilk.....hope you like buttermilk Stephen!


See ya in 3 weeks after my ban gents (I bet Makita works for Harper )......
- chompsey

Harper is a fascist, Justin Trudeau is Justin Bieber with better hair, worse singing voice, and Mulcair is a moron... I'm voting for the Rhino party

it tastes like buttermilk.....hope you like buttermilk Stephen!

- chompsey

How do you guys suppose he knows how it tastes??

Then ban me (frank)er, because Harper is a piece of (frank)in monkey poop that is fukin up this country in more ways than I can count.......and if you're your cronies are reading this Harper....suck my big white horse cock......maybe ask your wife first; she'll tell ya it tastes like buttermilk.....hope you like buttermilk Stephen!


See ya in 3 weeks after my ban gents (I bet Makita works for Harper )......
- chompsey

Flagged

Harper is a fascist, Justin Trudeau is Justin Bieber with better hair, worse singing voice, and Mulcair is a moron... I'm voting for the Rhino party
- DariusKnight

Benninged

With all this whining about how benning and/gilles screwed this team, I'd like to put a thought out there that should make all true Canuck fans (even Nucker and Bloated) feel good.

Look back over the last 10 years, is their any Canadian team that has had more success?
The Leafs are the laughing stock of the country, when was the last time that they where relevant in this league...... to my Jazz sessions ago for me to clearly remember, thank the good lord Benning that we are not Leaf fans

Ottawa, well Ottawa creaps into relevancy what every 6 or 7 years and then slips off into mediocrisy, if I was an Ottawa fan the only thing that would make me happy was the fact that Ottawa has consistently been a better team then the leafs

Montreal, well 24 Stanley cups, yada, yada, yada. now they have Price and Subban, they are on the upswing, yes. But remember, not to long ago when Price was a raw rookie and Luongo was top of the league, yeah we screwed that up(thanks Gilles) but how deep have they gone in the last 20 years? not as deep as us They go from log like world beaters one year to wannabe tankaholics (td) the next with all the drama regarding their top players.

Winnipeg, I kinda feel good for the Jets, feel good story right? How many years will it be before they post a better season then the canucks and then how long will they be able to keep that core together? Like other small northern market teams, if the money is the same elsewhere guess what? Ufa's will go elsewhere. Shoddy but true.

Edmonton, All I can say is they are the laughing stock of professional sports. Where the red wings are the class, The oilers are the A@s. By the time they are relevant they will have to pay up for all their top picks and guess what? Some will go, yes I'm kinda jealous of the young top forwards they have, would I trade the last ten years that we have had for their ten years? Not a Fr(ank)ing chance in hell.

Calgary, but but they knocked out the canucks last season!! So f(rank)ing what! how have they done for the last decade? not very well. So what if they look like they are on the upswing, they've sucked donkey nads for awhile, while we have been the class of Canada and almost of the NHL. would I trade our last ten for theirs? no, no and no.

So in conclusion, are we on the back nine with some of are aging superstars? yes. could we be looking at a few long years to recover from the all night party that the last decade has been? Yes. would I trade any of the success that we have had to be any other Canadian hockey team. Hell no . Does anyone think that any of the other Canadian teams are closer to the cup then e are? Maybe Montréal, but even then the difference is marginal, we racked up 101 points last season, only Montréal had more points then us. yes I would almost trade what we have now for what they have now, but I wouldn't trade our past decade for their past decade and I'm not convinced that they are that much better then us or would win a seven game series against us with the rosters set as they are.

Yes we are not going to be racking up presidents cup trophies for awhile, but I will hold onto the fact that our rebuild isn't going to be as painfull as the vast majority of other Canadian teams past decade has been.

Everything is Awesome
nope
but it will be ok

Perhaps politics are best not discussed in a testosterone filled hockey forum.

With all this whining about how benning and/gilles screwed this team, I'd like to put a thought out there that should make all true Canuck fans (even Nucker and Bloated) feel good.

Look back over the last 10 years, is their any Canadian team that has had more success?
The Leafs are the laughing stock of the country, when was the last time that they where relevant in this league...... to my Jazz sessions ago for me to clearly remember, thank the good lord Benning that we are not Leaf fans

Ottawa, well Ottawa creaps into relevancy what every 6 or 7 years and then slips off into mediocrisy, if I was an Ottawa fan the only thing that would make me happy was the fact that Ottawa has consistently been a better team then the leafs

Montreal, well 24 Stanley cups, yada, yada, yada. now they have Price and Subban, they are on the upswing, yes. But remember, not to long ago when Price was a raw rookie and Luongo was top of the league, yeah we screwed that up(thanks Gilles) but how deep have they gone in the last 20 years? not as deep as us They go from log like world beaters one year to wannabe tankaholics (td) the next with all the drama regarding their top players.

Winnipeg, I kinda feel good for the Jets, feel good story right? How many years will it be before they post a better season then the canucks and then how long will they be able to keep that core together? Like other small northern market teams, if the money is the same elsewhere guess what? Ufa's will go elsewhere. Shoddy but true.

Edmonton, All I can say is they are the laughing stock of professional sports. Where the red wings are the class, The oilers are the A@s. By the time they are relevant they will have to pay up for all their top picks and guess what? Some will go, yes I'm kinda jealous of the young top forwards they have, would I trade the last ten years that we have had for their ten years? Not a Fr(ank)ing chance in hell.

Calgary, but but they knocked out the canucks last season!! So f(rank)ing what! how have they done for the last decade? not very well. So what if they look like they are on the upswing, they've sucked donkey nads for awhile, while we have been the class of Canada and almost of the NHL. would I trade our last ten for theirs? no, no and no.

So in conclusion, are we on the back nine with some of are aging superstars? yes. could we be looking at a few long years to recover from the all night party that the last decade has been? Yes. would I trade any of the success that we have had to be any other Canadian hockey team. Hell no . Does anyone think that any of the other Canadian teams are closer to the cup then e are? Maybe Montréal, but even then the difference is marginal, we racked up 101 points last season, only Montréal had more points then us. yes I would almost trade what we have now for what they have now, but I wouldn't trade our past decade for their past decade and I'm not convinced that they are that much better then us or would win a seven game series against us with the rosters set as they are.

Yes we are not going to be racking up presidents cup trophies for awhile, but I will hold onto the fact that our rebuild isn't going to be as painfull as the vast majority of other Canadian teams past decade has been.

Everything is Awesome
nope
but it will be ok
- Pres.cup

That's all real nice and stuff but Montreal has Dale Weise on their team. I'd trade 10 years of success for that.

Watch the leafs this season. That is exactly what they are doing.
- bloatedmosquito

Truthfully the Leafs abviously aren't going to win but they're also not as bad as everyone says. Minus Phil Kessel it's the same team that took Boston to seven games a couple of years ago in the first round.

They still have Bozak, Kadri, JVR, Morgan Rielly and decent goaltending, plus the youth they've drafted over the past couple of drafts.

Doesnt mean I cant act drunk once in a while.

- boonerbuck

fair enough....

It's funny because this is our first one and I'm actually utterly terrified.
- CubanBuffet

Congrats

Congrats
- VANTEL

Trevor Linden on how they're going to approach the long term future. As for right now, acquiring guys like Dorsett, Miller and Prust are just short term to help the players they have now compete and make the team harder to play against.

The essential buiding blocks will be acquired through the draft.

“To me, the two most important things moving forward are the amateur scouting side and the player development side, and there are many aspects to player development,” he says. “There’s strength and conditioning, there’s sports science, there’s the medical side, nutrition, and they all have to be integrated.

“The only way we’re going to get better is to draft and develop our players. Then we have to do a good job of developing them and getting them here as quickly as possible. That takes up most of my time.”

Trevor Linden on how they're going to approach the long term future. As for right now, acquiring guys like Dorsett, Miller and Prust are just short term to help the players they have now compete and make the team harder to play against.

The essential buiding blocks will be acquired through the draft.

“To me, the two most important things moving forward are the amateur scouting side and the player development side, and there are many aspects to player development,” he says. “There’s strength and conditioning, there’s sports science, there’s the medical side, nutrition, and they all have to be integrated.

“The only way we’re going to get better is to draft and develop our players. Then we have to do a good job of developing them and getting them here as quickly as possible. That takes up most of my time.”
- LeftCoaster

If that is not window dressing and they truely believe that then they should be looking to draft higher.

Benning on Jake Virtanen.

“We’ve talked to Jake,” Benning said. “There’s no pressure on him to do something he’s not capable of doing. He has the physical skills — we all know that. And he’s worked hard to get himself into the physical shape to play against men. If he’s ready and he can help our team win, then we’ll figure out a way for him to get into the lineup.”

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.c.../story.html#ixzz3lAJjRqEm

Linden is the mouthpiece for the Canucks. The buffer between Ownership , the management and the fans. He is paid to appease the masses. Ownership wants the money , especially with the weak Cdn dollar. Can't blame them . They won't allow tanking but I think this team this year can earn a top 10 draft pick.

As I said I would be completely fine with missing the playoffs and getting a high pick for three years.

Canucks are not that far away from having a decent team. We need a stud Dman and a #1 centre mostly.

I think Horvat JV Cassels, McCann Boeser will lead a competitive team into the next decade. Get rid of the boat anchor contracts and we can be open for business in three years.

Benning on Jake Virtanen.

“We’ve talked to Jake,” Benning said. “There’s no pressure on him to do something he’s not capable of doing. He has the physical skills — we all know that. And he’s worked hard to get himself into the physical shape to play against men. If he’s ready and he can help our team win, then we’ll figure out a way for him to get into the lineup.”

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.c.../story.html#ixzz3lAJjRqEm
- LeftCoaster

If that is not window dressing and they truely believe that then they should be looking to draft higher.
- VANTEL

I think those high picks will come naturally as they transition out older players and the Sedins retire in a few years. As for now, they're trying to create a competitive environment. And I'm cool with that.

Canucks have some good young players that I don't think people give enough credit to. Gillis had a good draft his last one, Benning had a good draft despite only being on the job for a month last year. This years could even be better!

It's more about making the right selections with the picks you've got. Look at Winnipeg, in the five years they've been in Winnipeg they've never selected higher than 7th overall, yet they have a good pool of kids there. Some of those kids, due to Chevys patience, are now ready to compete for jobs.

Draft, develop and patience.

I think those high picks will come naturally as they transition out older players and the Sedins retire in a few years. As for now, they're trying to create a competitive environment. And I'm cool with that.

Canucks have some good young players that I don't think people give enough credit to. Gillis had a good draft his last one, Benning had a good draft despite only being on the job for a month last year. This years could even be better!

It's more about making the right selections with the picks you've got. Look at Winnipeg, in the five years they've been in Winnipeg they've never selected higher than 7th overall, yet they have a good pool of kids there. Those kids, due to Chevys patience, are now ready to compete for jobs.

Draft, develop and patience.
- LeftCoaster

I think I just posted this too

I think I just posted this too
- VANTEL

There's so much luck involved with drafting, the Canucks need some of that, thru hard work in amateur scouting, to come their way.

Pittsburgh was lucky to win the Crosby sweepstakes in 2005, Chicago was lucky the Penguins and Blues passed on Toews, Chicago was lucky when they finished 5th last but won the draft lottery and got to pick Patrick Kane, Edmonton was lucky they won the draft lottery TWICE and got to select McDavid and company etc. etc. etc.

That's all real nice and stuff but Montreal has Dale Weise on their team. I'd trade 10 years of success for that.
- Marwood

True, But the blame for that colossal misstep falls on Gilles not Benning

Linden is the mouthpiece for the Canucks. The buffer between Ownership , the management and the fans. He is paid to appease the masses. Ownership wants the money , especially with the weak Cdn dollar. Can't blame them . They won't allow tanking but I think this team this year can earn a top 10 draft pick.

As I said I would be completely fine with missing the playoffs and getting a high pick for three years.

Canucks are not that far away from having a decent team. We need a stud Dman and a future #1 centre mostly.

I think Horvat JV Cassels, McCann Boeser will lead a competitive team into the next decade. Get rid of the boat anchor contracts and we can be open for business in three years.
- VANTEL

Fixed, I think a top 7 scoring centre in the league probably deserves to be called a number one center. .... or maybe that's just me?

I think those high picks will come naturally as they transition out older players and the Sedins retire in a few years. As for now, they're trying to create a competitive environment. And I'm cool with that.

Canucks have some good young players that I don't think people give enough credit to. Gillis had a good draft his last one, Benning had a good draft despite only being on the job for a month last year. This years could even be better!

It's more about making the right selections with the picks you've got. Look at Winnipeg, in the five years they've been in Winnipeg they've never selected higher than 7th overall, yet they have a good pool of kids there. Some of those kids, due to Chevys patience, are now ready to compete for jobs.

Draft, develop and patience.
- LeftCoaster

45 years of patience.

There's so much luck involved with drafting, the Canucks need some of that, thru hard work in amateur scouting, to come their way.

Pittsburgh was lucky to win the Crosby sweepstakes in 2005, Chicago was lucky the Penguins and Blues passed on Toews, Chicago was lucky when they finished 5th last but won the draft lottery and got to pick Patrick Kane, Edmonton was lucky they won the draft lottery TWICE and got to select McDavid and company etc. etc. etc.
- LeftCoaster

I agree, but in the middle/late rounds you can't keep using the "well we didn't draft top 5" excuse. I find it hilarious how much some teams overthink things and draft inferior/role junior players and pass on guys who are star/core players at the junior level and then wonder what went wrong.

Most of the good role players in the NHL today were star/core guys in junior levels of hockey and simply adjusted their game in the pros since the competition is obviously way better. Everyone usually moves down a notch or two. So the 3rd/4th junior liner some teams waste picks on falling down a notch or two in the AHL/NHL leaves them on the outside looking in(again, not all of the time but it's a near-lock).

Obviously there's some unique cases where there's a player playing on a stacked junior/college/euro team with some older talent and he's not getting PP/top 6 time and such. But typically you're lowering the odds even further than they already are by drafting a depth/role junior player and somehow hoping he can do the exact same in the nHL when in reality almost everyone moves down a notch.