Location: This message is Marwood approved! Joined: 11.30.2011
Nov 28 @ 11:07 PM ET
It's not happening fast enough. - A_SteamingLombardi
There's not a person in the world that can convince me Gillis couldn't have rebuilt the team more quickly. It's too bad the owner wasn't up for it. Haven't had a decent coach since AV either. Torts was such a bad fit.
There's not a person in the world that can convince me Gillis couldn't have rebuilt the team more quickly. It's too bad the owner wasn't up for it. Haven't had a decent coach since AV either. Torts was such a bad fit. - golfingsince
Torts was right when he said the core was stale. Aren’t they still paying his contract? 🧐
You know, I’ve been cheering for this organization for 50 years since I was a child, and I’ll continue to cheer for them because it’s what I grew up on. But I’m not going to sit by quietly and not complain about the on ice product. I’ve been complaining about Jim Benning for 5 1/2 years and now maybe some of you understand why. Some of it obviously has to do with ownership, but the whole situation is bullpoop. - LeftCoaster
Sure is tough backing an organization like this, for as long as we have.
This is pathetic, from the top all the way down.
There's not a person in the world that can convince me Gillis couldn't have rebuilt the team more quickly. It's too bad the owner wasn't up for it. Haven't had a decent coach since AV either. Torts was such a bad fit. - golfingsince
Yeah it's a shame he didn't get the okay to start the re-build.
Location: "The Alien has landed in Vancouver!" Joined: 03.09.2006
Nov 29 @ 1:02 AM ET
Predictions on Montreal tomorrow? This could be a real embarrassing loss, or a team bonding, come out of the darkness, go on a run kind of victory. - 1970vintage
It'll be like the Pittsburgh game, sloppy, but low-scoring, say 1-0 or 2-1 Mon
You know, I’ve been cheering for this organization for 50 years since I was a child, and I’ll continue to cheer for them because it’s what I grew up on. But I’m not going to sit by quietly and not complain about the on ice product. I’ve been complaining about Jim Benning for 5 1/2 years and now maybe some of you understand why. Some of it obviously has to do with ownership, but the whole situation is bullpoop. - LeftCoaster
Needless to say, although we did ask, pursuing Evander Kane isn’t and will not be a consideration for Canucks hockey operations.
From Drance
Also, this with JTM:
Miller’s frustrating week
It’s a bit of a challenge to be around this team right now as a reporter.
There is nothing good to talk about. Very little is working on the ice.
The actual job status and security of people you talk to two or three times a day has to be covered, and covered honestly and ruthlessly, which is deeply personal and complicated. And after losses, you’re asking tough, pointed questions to extremely competitive and frustrated athletes.
Amping up the discomfort further is that The Athletic is the only Vancouver-based outlet traveling to cover this team on an every-game basis at the moment. Brendan Batchelor and Corey Hirsch, who do the radio play-by-play call for Sportsnet 650, are on the trip as well, but they’re also part of the traveling party and, by definition, the job is a little different.
They’re not grinding management daily the way we are. Nor are they throwing haymaker follow-up questions at the players they cover after frustrating losses.
Right now, there’s only one person around this reeling club who represents “the media” and the source of all external noise, and that’s me.
That creates some tension here and there.
Like, for example, over the past week, I’ve had a pair of moments with J.T. Miller.
The first was after the Pittsburgh Penguins loss on Wednesday — a game that represented, by far, Vancouver’s most lifeless performance of this dispiriting 0-3 trip — when he hesitated in response to my question about whether everyone on the team is buying in:
(the I don't know clip)
And the second was this light-on-context but completely accurate episode I observed and overheard at the club’s Thanksgiving Day practice in Columbus this week:
(the we don't know what we're doing)
I thought I should try to chat with Miller, who is the least on-line Canucks player, about my coverage after morning skate Sunday, to try to clear the air.
And my instincts weren’t off. Miller hasn’t appreciated my coverage over the past few days. In particular, he felt I whiffed in presenting the full context of the episode at the Thanksgiving Day practice in Columbus. I’ll admit that after hearing him explain it from his point of view, he’s right.
In tweeting about the practice confusion, I hadn’t quite understood that the confusion stemmed from the drill being a one-off. It was a lighthearted, fun pace drill that isn’t in the Canucks’ regular rotation. A drill designed to ease the tension, to permit everyone to have some fun, rather than a more disciplined drill for the purpose of working on skills or fitness or systems.
That’s on me, and it was an honest mistake. My tweet gave a different impression of the practice than what was true. I’m comfortable putting my hand up and admitting that although my description of what occurred was 100 percent accurate, it wasn’t to my standard of giving fans a glimpse, to the best of my abilities, into what’s really occurring with this club.
With that said, what follows is the exchange between Miller and me on Sunday after practice, as we talked through his frustrating and very public week of big, widely shared media moments on this road trip on the record:
Your postgame moment got a lot of attention. Obviously, it’s tough right now, but is there anything from that, that you want to clarify to help fans understand where your frustration level is at?
Yeah, I just think it’s pretty black-and-white.
When our group shows up, we all play the other team tough, and we’ve done that a lot. Our record has shown us in as bad a light as it could. I don’t think one guy in that room thinks we’re a six-and-whatever team right now.
Our penalty kill is starting to do better, our power play is getting looks every game — we’re just not finding a way to put one in the net. More games than not, we’re outplaying the other team, so I think I believe in the group. But that being said, when we buy in on a more consistent basis, we’re a better hockey team.
That’s as a team. I’m not pointing fingers at one or two guys; I’m pointing a finger at myself, too. Everybody in a team has their moments, but I think when we play more consistent, we’ve shown that we can play with any team in the league.
The practice thing — my tweet recapping the confusion went viral. Was that fair? And what was actually happening in that moment?
No, it wasn’t quite fair.
It was a day after we hadn’t played well against Pittsburgh. We didn’t play well enough to win, and we could sit around and pout, but instead, we talked about it as a team, and that was about as positive and upbeat a practice as we’ve had this season.
In that moment, it was a new, fun drill we haven’t done before. When I yelled, “We don’t know what we’re doing!” it’s because I didn’t want us to start the drill when we don’t know what we’re doing. It was more of a funny thing versus our club doesn’t know what we’re doing. That’s not where we’re at as a group.
That was a positive day, and then we played one of our best games of the year the next day. We’re trying to build off of that. We’re not down in the dumps here; it’s not as miserable as it looks to everybody else. We’re just trying to move forward here.
So, this week you were in a fake trade rumour, then you have the postgame moment, then the practice thing, and then also you hate Bo Horvat …
(Laughing) Well, I do …
Can that kind of noise make it more difficult to focus on getting things back on track?
Yeah, that’s up to the individual. For me, I’m not worried about it. I’ve said it a billion times, but it’s true.
I’m worried about one thing, and it’s how we’re going to be prepared to play tonight. I find it funny — I don’t think it matters, any of it. If you’re a person that is going to let the outside noise bother you, it’s going to be hard on yourself. So I don’t. All of this stuff is completely out of my control. I’m just worried about playing a game tonight.
So confirmed, you and Bo, despite what he said on the Sportsnet broadcast the other night, are at odds?
You know, I’ve been cheering for this organization for 50 years since I was a child, and I’ll continue to cheer for them because it’s what I grew up on. But I’m not going to sit by quietly and not complain about the on ice product. I’ve been complaining about Jim Benning for 5 1/2 years and now maybe some of you understand why. Some of it obviously has to do with ownership, but the whole situation is bullpoop. - LeftCoaster
Its all about the players. Look what marchand did last nite. One player. Locker room win games.
Its all about the players. JB is not on the locker room. 100% Travis fault and coaching crew.
The vultures are circling. Over Half the league had their GMs/aGM/Head scout in attendance.
Apparently everyone’s been told that Horvat/Boeser/Miller are available. So.... that’s great.. Benning gets to keep his job but the on ice product changes first. And Green is left in 5-10 games late?
The vultures are circling. Over Half the league had their GMs/aGM/Head scout in attendance.
Apparently everyone’s been told that Horvat/Boeser/Miller are available. So.... that’s great.. Benning gets to keep his job but the on ice product changes first. And Green is left in 5-10 games late? - I-own_da-Northwest
The vultures are circling. Over Half the league had their GMs/aGM/Head scout in attendance.
Apparently everyone’s been told that Horvat/Boeser/Miller are available. So.... that’s great.. Benning gets to keep his job but the on ice product changes first. And Green is left in 5-10 games late? - I-own_da-Northwest
According to this article, there were 11 teams, 12 if you count the Bruins, with scouts in attendance, but it also states, it is more likely that change to the front office is coming first.
