RoyalDude wrote:Yes, Booth is injured, but when he was playing he sucked, the teams record with Booth in the line-up compared to with him out is not reflecting very nicely onto Booth. Booth's contract is not money well spent, same goes for Ballard. The contract he gave Luongo, nobody wants. I still don't get why some here think so highly of Gillis. That being said, if this team shits the bed like it seems they will, the pressure really is going to start on Gillis, FINALLY. He can no longer ride the coattails the great core he inherited as they seem be coming to an end. Firing AV, will only give him a short window of breathing room. It's the product on the ice that needs the real fixing and that all falls squarely on his shoulders. I'm looking forward to seeing what Gillis is truly made of.
That is probably the most rational paragraph regarding Booth and Vigneault that I have ever read from you.
I still think you put too much blame on the GM (regardless if it's Gillis, Nonis, Burke, or anyone) for the product on the ice.
I think that the coach needs to be responsible first in a case like this where the players he has possess the skill sets that we know they do. Vigneault has never been able to get anything out of the Sedins other than the cycle game. He has never managed to get them to step it up in playoffs. He has consistently put players in a role where they can't get it done. As GM, Gillis IS responsible for the players he acquired as well as the players he inherited from the previous management regime. He is responsible for addressing failures within the entire organization.
He should have moved Ballard when it became clear that AV didn't have a use for him. I do agree that if he could have moved Luongo for some 1st round picks or a pick and some prospects, then that should have been done at the draft last year. Especially since immediate help is not likely to come back in a return, at least not a return that reflects Luongo's value. But we do know he has been actively trying to move Luongo since the CBA was signed.
When a team like this, that has put up big scoring numbers in the regular season, starts to dwindle and is consistently held off the score sheet, and has only won 2 games all season when giving up 3 goals, at that point you have to ask what is wrong. It can't just be the players. The only way to test that theory is to change up the coaching staff and see if a new approach makes a difference. If it doesn't, then you start moving players and re-tooling.
Here's a bit of irony for ya.....
Around the time he was re-signing the Sedins, Gillis stated that the Canucks would play an up-tempo brand of hockey. The Sedins are among the slowest top line players in the league. They consistently bring the pace down. Puck possession? Sure. But up-tempo? Not them.