Linden named President of Hockey Ops

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mathonwy
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Re: Linden named President of Hockey Ops

Post by mathonwy »

Art Vandelay wrote:wow as usual poster mathonwy nailed it . I guess if you consider a foul tip with a rolled up newspaper nailing it. Go back to following boys intramurals handball. You are out of your element regarding hockey talk.

:baaa: :drink:
:lol:

I love these denouncements and insults without an ounce of logic to back it up. Keep em coming.
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Re: Linden named President of Hockey Ops

Post by rats19 »

mathonwy wrote:
Art Vandelay wrote:wow as usual poster mathonwy nailed it . I guess if you consider a foul tip with a rolled up newspaper nailing it. Go back to following boys intramurals handball. You are out of your element regarding hockey talk.

:baaa: :drink:
:lol:

I love these denouncements and insults without an ounce of logic to back it up. Keep em coming.
Good resolve mathonwy....keep it coming...
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BurningBeard
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Re: Linden named President of Hockey Ops

Post by BurningBeard »

Island Nucklehead wrote:You want to talk about damaging your brand? Imagine ownership not giving him him the autonomy to do his job, or having a franchise hero like Linden being seen as an owners puppet.
Or having him quit after 3 months. Or having to fire him without a good reason.
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mathonwy
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Re: Linden named President of Hockey Ops

Post by mathonwy »

Island Nucklehead wrote:
mathonwy wrote: What Linden brings is his reputation as a honest hockey player that didn't bite any fingers who left it all out on the ice and was a terrific community guy. That is it.

Being a good guy and making the right hockey decisions are two different things. Let's just hope it all works out.
Well, if Linden can make this franchise resemble the way he played the game: honestly, hard working and with class, I think that will be a good start. It certainly seems that the guys Gillis has been drafting recently (Horvat, Gaunce etc) play that way, and if he can further remove this franchise from the head-snap, dive, hair-pull and bite era then that is only a good thing, imo. Having a coach that doesn't come completely un-hinged and attempt to attack others is probably in that direction also, just sayin'

Like I said, hopefully he brings in a GM and front-office staff that are experienced and share his values, and hopefully the owners know to give him a long enough leash. You want to talk about damaging your brand? Imagine ownership not giving him him the autonomy to do his job, or having a franchise hero like Linden being seen as an owners puppet.
And that is my hope as well.

If Trevor Linden can turn the Canucks into a successful organization that radiates the same type of honest hard working values that Trevor Linden is about then HURRAY.

I'm of two schools of thought when it comes to damaging the "brand".

The "Canuck" brand, damaged as it may be at this point of time, will survive indefinitely because they are the ONLY game in town. There is absolutely no way either the BC Lions or the White Caps can come even close to the fandom the Canucks have built up since 1970. And as the Aquilinis don't rely on the Canucks to put bread on the table (that I know of), the "Canuck" brand can survive a lot more damage than they've received this past season.

The brand that I'm actually worried about damaging is the Linden brand. There are a lot of Canuck fans that didn't go through the 94 cup run and don't know about how Linden almost singlehandedly won game 7 for us.

I get why Linden accepted the job. It isn't too often a major sports team is offering you the president's job. I'm just wary about Linden's capability of turning a lemon (season) into lemonade (inspite of the the owners).
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Re: Linden named President of Hockey Ops

Post by BurningBeard »

Hockey Widow wrote:One, season ticket sales are down by, one figure I have heard, as much and 7000 tickets.
Even after the season they just had, I find this surprising. If true, that's a message that's difficult to ignore.
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Re: Linden named President of Hockey Ops

Post by 2Fingers »

TSN is happy about this as it takes away from them writing about the leaves.

Before they had 4 - 5 stories a day about them, this player sneezed, this player farted, blah blah blah

now nothing except Linden and Gillis.
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Re: Linden named President of Hockey Ops

Post by okcanuck »

I find that 7000 non-renewing season ticket figure hard to believe, but even if it was 1000 it would be cause for alarm.

I predict TL is going to be very successful in turning this thing around. I wonder if Messier is pissed that he hasn't been offered anything close to that with any team. I hope so.
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Re: Linden named President of Hockey Ops

Post by Hockey Widow »

BurningBeard wrote:
Hockey Widow wrote:One, season ticket sales are down by, one figure I have heard, as much and 7000 tickets.
Even after the season they just had, I find this surprising. If true, that's a message that's difficult to ignore.

I have no way of knowing how accurate it is so your guess is as good as mine. Most people say significant, sales are soft. But I don't know if my source is any more accurate than that.
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Re: Linden named President of Hockey Ops

Post by vic »

Reefer2 wrote:TSN is happy about this as it takes away from them writing about the leaves.

Before they had 4 - 5 stories a day about them, this player sneezed, this player farted, blah blah blah

now nothing except Linden and Gillis.
Baseball game is still on Sportsnet so I turned to TSN for more on the story.

It was the fifth our sixth story on their broadcast, even MLSE's phone call to Shanahan was reported and talked about first (then commercial break) then Linden story.

A bunch of douche bags over there at TSN.
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Re: Linden named President of Hockey Ops

Post by Todd Bersnoozi »

Hockey Widow wrote:During his suspension there was general dislike for Sullivan. By then I think Torts lost the room and the respect of a number of players.
I dunno, this I kind of have a problem with. Sully was just behind the bench for like what, 6 games? C'mon they are payed millions to play the game we luv, most of us dreamed of playing in the NHL and would kill to be in their shoes. If this is true, it makes our players look like a bunch of pussies. Oh, we didn't like AV anymore, we had him too long. Oh Torts, he's too emotional and works us too hard. Sully? We don't like that guy, no apparent reason. If he was that bad, I'm sure they could of put Gultuzen in charge. Oh wait, we don't like him either cuz he's too pale. Seriously, I think both Guluzen and Sully have NHL coaching experience with some modest success. I'm sure something could of been worked out.

Torts going ape shit before the start of the Calgary game and at the end of the first period lost the room. One player described it as very confusing. The players didn't really understand what he was so triggered by.
Again, if this was the only reason, it makes our guys look like a bunch of flakes. You can make the arguement that as a coach, he commands his players to be disciplined, if he's not disciplined himself, why do the players need to listen to him? However, Torts is an emotional guy and human, he made a mistake and he apologized to everyone about it. Move on, get over it. Go out there and do what your paid to do, go play your game. The whole incident was probably nothing more than a personal feud between Torts & Hartley. Who cares, the league took care of it. I could understand if the players didn't feel they could play Tort's system, that would hold a lot more water. Most of us have worked or do work for a boss we don't like, we just make the best out of it (be professional and do your job).

I also think the Aquos will be going out of their way to improve their image and will do what they can to remove the meddling owner stigma.
I sure hope so. Last thing I want to see is Trevor come in here and become a puppet, it would be sad times for the franchise if so. Trevor definitely doesn't need this, he's making a shitload of cash with the stuff he has going on. If the Aqua-men start telling him what to do, he'll probably just classfully walk away.
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Re: Linden named President of Hockey Ops

Post by Island Nucklehead »

Strangelove wrote:
A "figurehead" isn't necessarily completely without power.

He won't be a puppet of the pwners, he will the face of the organization... imo.

I'm good with that.

And no doubt, over time, as he learns, he will become more than that.

Now if he starts to run amok, I'll be the first to complain.

But he's a smart man and he knows a few things about leadership, so no chance of that.
Can't disagree with anything here.

I'm not dead-set against this hiring, I just think Linden is taking a very significant risk with this franchise/ownership, at this stage. Neely, for example, went from Vice-President in 2007, to President in 2010. There's a certain progression there, that I would have preferred in this case. Again, needs being what they are, he's going into the fire for an owner that doesn't accept failure, in a market that for some reason expects an elite team and tends to enjoy eating their own when things don't go perfectly. Especially with what HW is saying, re: Playoffs or bust as far as the ownership is concerned. Unfortunately, this team IS aging, has a lot of No-Trade contracts, and it does not have the 20-25 year old up-and comers of a San Jose or St Louis or even Detroit to keep them going. I believe we are better than what we showed this year, but getting top-3 in that division is going to be real tough without more depth of talent and youth into the lineup.

Basically, there is a very real possibility that this team will get worse before it gets better, and a very real possibility that we are going to be battling for wild-card spots in a very tough division for a couple years. I hope that missing the playoffs, or being a 1 round and done team, for a couple seasons won't force the owners to throw Linden under the bus. If it's not just a PR move, and they are going to give him a solid 7+ years to run this franchise, then fine. But if this is a gimmick solely deployed to boost lagging season ticket numbers it's extremely disappointing that Linden is being used in such a short-sighted way.
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Re: Linden named President of Hockey Ops

Post by Hockey Widow »

^^^^

I've never been an Aquos fan. But in this instance I think there is sincerity. I know they wanted Linden back in the organization from the day he retired. It wasn't the right timing. While it would have been preferable that he had some experience before this move I don't think that takes away from the fact that they have the guy they want.

There is no question this is also a PR move, the timing alone tells us that. But I really do think they have coveted having him aboard in some capacity for some time. He will be the primary face of the franchise. They will capitalize on that. That will buy him a lot of cred with the owners.

It sounds like he knows he needs to surround himself with the people who can get the job done. And I think he will do his best to do that.

I for one welcome a kinder voice in charge. It gets tiring listening to the likes of BB and MG.
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Re: Linden named President of Hockey Ops

Post by ukcanuck »

When it comes to the aqualinguini's I always have thought of them as like rest of us except with the cashola to buy the team. They are fans like us and they are as knowledgable about hockey as the rest of us give or take a few brain cells as the case may be.

They clearly have a 1970 historical narrative with the team and it's personality. They seem to me to be honest about wanting a Stanley cup and they have some idea how to get there.

If they are guilty of meddling in the day to day affairs of a GM I doubt that it is about arrogance or pride but rather that desire to win. If they fired Nonis because he failed to make the playoffs and he refused to get Richards as a fellow fan, I'm okay with that. If they fired Gillis because he failed to make the playoffs and the fan base spoke loudly enough for them to hear it, I'm okay with that too.

Now they have turned to a hero from 94, a man known for his integrity and love of the franchise and city and have put the team in his hands...a puppet to continue to make decisions that former GMs would not or could not make?

Or maybe just maybe as fans like us they believe in the same things linden does. His vision and opinion of what has gone so terribly wrong since 2011. I know if I had a chance to have a heart to heart over beet juice with linden I would be very interested in his opinion and I bet money, knowing how he played the game (chin first) that I would be hearing gospel.

Perhaps instead of puppet, they have listened to Linden and placed him not as GM but as president to be the puppet master for them. They agree on what the team should look like and how it should behave on and off the ice (as we all do) and they trust as I do on face value that the man has the smarts and the experience and the cache to surround himself with very capable puppets who will make committee decisions that linden will be able to veto or support in full confidence of the aqualinguini's

In such a position I think linden will be quite successful even if the team itself will not always be successful on the ice in the new NHL. He can hire and fire GMs and coaches and the pretzel guy as he sees fit. If he does that wisely one layer removed from the mess, he can be here a long time.
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Re: Linden named President of Hockey Ops

Post by Cookie La Rue »

I like this move, generally the same role as Sakic in Denver. Based on the success he (Sakic) has so far without having much experience before too, Linden even has an advantage because he already worked in a part of this business for the NHLPA. (Ok, Sakic had 2 years as an advisor in the Avs organization before.)

Nobody can predict if somebody will have success for sure, but for the first step it seems like a good decision.
He was the posterboy for the Canucks like Sakic for the Avs, so why not?

I'm excited again to see how it pans out and i have new hopes. If Linden fails who cares, at least they tried it and i don't think his reputation as the player he was will suffer.
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Re: Linden named President of Hockey Ops

Post by dbr »

I am still ambivalent about the Gillis firing.

I think a few days ago there was a coherent interpretation of the last few years that gave some real hope for the future with Gillis' stated vision: that there had been some meddling from ownership maybe, some wandering in the dead puck desert certainly, but that the team was going back to what made them great and that a clear vision would be pursued to get them there.

How much of it was true? Are the libel notices pure bluster or could they be meaningfully backed up by the facts? Was Gillis' last interview an earnest statement of his plans and a shot across the bow of ownership - or simply meant to come across that way by an executive looking to leave a more flattering picture behind after his (imminent, in hindsight) departure?

Who knows.

And of course without knowing how can one interpret the new direction laid out yesterday?

Is Trevor Linden a class act whose career on and off the ice will get him and this franchise the respect many feel it deserves? Will his intelligence and humility enable him to not just seek out but actually select the right group to surround himself? Does he have enough pull with ownership to actually have autonomy over hockey ops and if so will that still be the case of the immediate on ice results aren't stellar?

Or are we seeing a cynical ploy from ownership to trot out another alum, beloved by the local fans but polarizing among actual insiders, without real authority to implement a long term vision (that doesn't involve immediate success), basically a hockey operations hire made mostly with an eye to marketing and another to the prevailing winds in other franchises (without following their template of giving their former players a steady upbringing in a less pivotal role)?

Undoubtedly, some elements of both sides of the story are likely to be true.

This is a critical stage for this franchise, it sounds like a lengthy rebuilding process is not in the cards which makes this year's high draft pick and relatively fluid cap situation a pair of rare opportunities to make a big mark on this team for the next several years - it's going to be a mad dash to get the hockey operations staff into place to do the work that needs to be done to help this team out over both the short and long term, it would be a big shame to either go through this period without a fully functioning hockey ops department or with a new GM making rookie mistakes for that matter.

If we're looking back at the 2014 draft or offseason and saying things like "well, it was __________'s first one, how can you expect them to have been prepared" - I don't think the current roster or the prospect pipeline can withstand that kind of result at this juncture.
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