Just for you Pacific Blue

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Blob Mckenzie
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Just for you Pacific Blue

Post by Blob Mckenzie »

Since you seem to have difficulty understanding my position on the current state of the Vancouver Canucks hockey team I will put it all in here in a nice tidy package you can refer to when engaging in debate with yours truly. It is also a reference point for yourself and your fellow bed pissers when you see people not acting as childish as yourselves and you feel the need to call them apologists for GMMG aka Eye Bags or as some call him Mike Gillis.

I feel Mike Gillis has done a decent job of managing this team though he has had his share of ups and downs, and I do see some shortcomings in his work. The prospect cupboard is fairly mediocre and though there appear to be some nice youngsters in the system there is no real elite talent. They haven't really had the draft position to pick those elite type prospects since 1999 when they picked the twins.

One can really only judge the drafting from 2008 - 2010. And considering the small amount of picks they had and the fact that they were late picks its a small sample size. It is however a fairly weak effort imho with only really Cody Hodgson to show for their efforts. I feel that Jordan Schroeder will be a bubble NHLer at best. Picks like Anton Rodin and Yann Sauve have been disasters to say the least. At this point I would give him a D for his drafting. In a year or two that could change if Bo Horvat, Ben Hutton and/or Hunter Shinkaruk develop. Guys like Brendan Gaunce , Frank Corrado and Nick Jensen could turn this grade into a C + but at this juncture he gets a D from me.

One area where Mike Gillis has really shone is the aquisition of undrafted free agents. It mostly starts and ends with Chris Tanev, but Kellan Lain looks like he may be a regular 4th line player as early as next season. Eddie Lack looks like a definite keeper and may turn into a starter within a year or two. Aaron Volpatti has also become an NHL player. Dane Fox could hopefully add to this pool of players. To me Gillis gets a B+ here.

As far as trades go this is a real wildcard for Eye Bags. He made good trades for Christain Ehrhoff, Max Lapierre, Chris Higgins . The trade of Cody for Zack Kassian is still up in the air but imho this will one day go down as a very good hockey trade for this team. The trades for David Booth and Keith Ballard were both shitty deals that hamstrung this team mostly in the form of dead cap space. The assets given in both deals were not of high value to this team especially if Booth and Ballard had actually performed anywhere close to their previous capabilities. Steve Bernier was aquired for a 2nd and a 3rd round pick. He had two meh - decent seasons but he did provide top 9 depth if nothing else for both of his years here. People seem to forget just how thin the forward depth was during Dave Nonis's last season at the helm. The Derek Roy trade was pointless in the end and the waste of an asset. I give Gillis a C- atm with a potential for a C+ if Kassian continues trending upwards.

When one looks at unrestricted free agency Gillis has done a decent job here with bringing in guys like Garrison, Hamhuis,Santorelli,Richardson and past decent signings of Torres, Malhotra, and Tanner Glass. Not too many bad contracts have been handed out for incoming free agents under the Gillis administration.While some of the names in the 2nd group of players seem underwhelming NHL teams need players to fill out a roster in a cap world and nall of those guys earned their contracts. Hell even guys like Sundin and Demitra added skill during their brief tenures when Nonis had left the team high and dry in forward depth. The fact that Gillis has snagged regulars in Stanton, Sestito and Weise on the waiver wire should not go unnoticed. He gets a B from me.

Gillis gets an overall grade of about a high C to a C + from me. I didn't like the Burrows extension and although I am ok with the twins deal they need some fucking support before they get too old. Gillis has not done a great job but he isn't the buffoon RD and the piss posse make him out to be. The team needs to be upgraded this summer and some tough decisions have to be made regarding buyout(s) and trades. The team isn't good enough and the other teams in the conference have all improved while Vancouver has taken a step back.

So I guess if giving the GM a C+ for five + season of work is being an apologist , what ever floats your fucking boat. I just don't jump up and down and soak the boards with piss every time the team loses a game.
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Chef Boi RD
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Re: Just for you Pacific Blue

Post by Chef Boi RD »

Sorry blobby lagers but this post of yours reeks of a Gillis Apologist. You like Gillis more than Tony Bones Gallagher

C fucking plus? Are you kidding me? How do you give a GM a C plus for watching his team go from an nhl elite team to barely hanging onto a playoff spot while the Canucks elite peers like the Blackhawks, Sharks etc remain at an elite level?

I could live with a c minus. But a c+???? No way Jose
Last edited by Chef Boi RD on Sun Jan 26, 2014 6:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Just for you Pacific Blue

Post by mathonwy »

Now kiss.
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Blob Mckenzie
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Re: Just for you Pacific Blue

Post by Blob Mckenzie »

RoyalDude wrote:Sorry blobby lagers but this post of yours reeks of a Gillis Apologist. You like Gillis more than Tony Bones Gallagher

C fucking plus? Are you kidding me? How do you give a GM a C plus for watching his team go from an nhl elite team to barely hanging onto a playoff spot while the Canucks elite peers like the Blackhawks, Sharks etc remain at an elite level?

I could live with a c minus. But a c+???? No way Jose
I said high C - C + ,learn to read Commercial Drive. That is based on his five + year tenure. I and most others knew the team was tight against the cap and it would be a tough season. They couldn't have bought David Booth out if they wanted to because he was hurt and has been hurt 1/2 the time he's been here. Might be a blessing in disguise conseider Alex burrows looks like an ECHL player this season.

I also said this summer is his where he will makeit or break it as he needs to put his stamp on this team. I have mentioned that Gillis has made some shitty moves, i just don't cry like a bitch about every one of them.
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Chef Boi RD
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Re: Just for you Pacific Blue

Post by Chef Boi RD »

Listen Heritage Mtn, I am of the opinion that Hack Gordon was a better GM than
Gillis is

The dude inherited a helluva good young team on the eve of their prime . We now finally see him for what he is - a farce, now that he can no longer ride the fine workings of the previous mgmts as those players are fading fast.
“Tyler Myers is my guy... I was taking to Scotty Bowman last night and he was bringing up his name, and saying he’s a big guy and big guy need big minutes to play, he is playing great for ya… and I agree with him… He’s been exceptional” - Bruce Boudreau
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Blob Mckenzie
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Re: Just for you Pacific Blue

Post by Blob Mckenzie »

Soooo Nonis and Burke get credit for leaving good players but Mike Keenan gets none for his heist of Todd Bertuzzi and Bryan McCabe which led to the aquisition of Roberto Luongo and Daniel Sedin. Interesting .....
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Chef Boi RD
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Re: Just for you Pacific Blue

Post by Chef Boi RD »

Where is Gillis amazing trade? Erhoff? Where is his current legacy? Garrison? Hamhius? Tanev? Lack? Higgins? Kassian?
“Tyler Myers is my guy... I was taking to Scotty Bowman last night and he was bringing up his name, and saying he’s a big guy and big guy need big minutes to play, he is playing great for ya… and I agree with him… He’s been exceptional” - Bruce Boudreau
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Blob Mckenzie
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Re: Just for you Pacific Blue

Post by Blob Mckenzie »

RoyalDude wrote:Where is Gillis amazing trade? Erhoff? Where is his current legacy? Garrison? Hamhius? Tanev? Lack? Higgins? Kassian?

Didnt say he made one yet. Just want to see you and your urine outfit thowing bouquets to Iron Mike the way you gush about the Cheeseburger bros leaving this team in such stellar shape for Gillis. Be consistent otherwise you look like you have an agenda. :mex:

I wonder what return Keenan could have gotten for Pavel Bure had be been the man to make that trade. Or Alex Mogilny for that matter. Two pretty mediocre returns by Brian Burke .
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Chef Boi RD
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Re: Just for you Pacific Blue

Post by Chef Boi RD »

Jovo and Morrison were pretty good young returns for two fickle falling stars past their prime.

BTW, I never did say that the bertuzzi, McCabe acquisitions were not great trades for us, probably the only good that Keenan did here. Btw wasn't Steve Tambellini the interim GM at the time? I can't remember, maybe it was Keenan
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Blob Mckenzie
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Re: Just for you Pacific Blue

Post by Blob Mckenzie »

It was Iron Mike who stole Bert and McCabe and he would have gotten more for two superstars than a good but wildly inconsistent Jovo and a 5ft 7 runt from Pitt Meadows that was a 2nd line centre at best who had the pleasure of playing with two of the leagues best players on one of the leagues best lines.
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Re: Just for you Pacific Blue

Post by Chef Boi RD »

Blob Mckenzie wrote:It was Iron Mike who stole Bert and McCabe and he would have gotten more for two superstars than a good but wildly inconsistent Jovo and a 5ft 7 runt from Pitt Meadows that was a 2nd line centre at best who had the pleasure of playing with two of the leagues best players on one of the leagues best lines.
Blobby Six Pack have you ever given Nonis credit for the Luongo trade and Schneids draft which led to Bo Horvat?
“Tyler Myers is my guy... I was taking to Scotty Bowman last night and he was bringing up his name, and saying he’s a big guy and big guy need big minutes to play, he is playing great for ya… and I agree with him… He’s been exceptional” - Bruce Boudreau
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Re: Just for you Pacific Blue

Post by BurningBeard »

mathonwy wrote:Now kiss.
Do it...
Every time I look out my window, same three dogs looking back at me.
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Re: Just for you Pacific Blue

Post by SKYO »

Blob Mckenzie wrote:Soooo Nonis and Burke get credit for leaving good players but Mike Keenan gets none for his heist of Todd Bertuzzi and Bryan McCabe which led to the aquisition of Roberto Luongo and Daniel Sedin. Interesting .....
It's a multitude of various GM minds (Keenan, Burke, Nonis, Gillis...?) that put this team together, maybe we just need a new bolder GM to get this current team to the top? lol.
Can the Canucks just win a Cup within the next 5 years.
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Todd Bersnoozi
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Re: Just for you Pacific Blue

Post by Todd Bersnoozi »

Although I'm not the biggest Gillis fan, I will give him some credit in some of his acqusitions. He did a great job in finding Stanton, Magic Mike and Richardson from the reject pile of other teams recently. He signed some pretty good undrafted players in Chris Tanev, Eddie Lack and Kellan Lain is looking promising. His drafting is OK (good and bad). He has nothing much to show for it right now, his first pick CoHo was starting to look good, but he flipped CoHo for Kassassian, which is looking promising right now. Gaunce and Corrado are looking good, big question marks to Schroeder and Jensens. The most recent draft maybe his most promising with BoHo, Shinkaruk, Cole Cassels and Jordan Subban. It should be of note that the team has done pretty well during MG's tenure and finished higher up in the standings, thus it is harder to draft a good player.

He did make some really bad trades, which really hurt the team (ie - Booth & Baltard). 2 guys who ate up like $8M in cap space, but they didn't do much when they played and the coach generally went with other guys who made a fraction of those 2 in the big games that mattered most. If MG just stayed away from acquiring players with a high price tag (especially with Florida) and just went around acquiring relative unknown players who are still trying to prove themselves, he'd be doing pretty good.

Aside from his trades of the bigger variety, there are 3 things that stick out that I don't like right now.

1) I would say MG failed in finding big, strong grittier guys who are skilled enuff to battle though tuff grueling 7 game playoff wars. He's good at finding some good 2-way players like Tanev, Corrado, Standon, Richardson, Malhotra, Samuellson, Rome, Magic Mike, etc, but most of them are of the softer variety. While the Cali teams got skilled and bigger, Gillis's team got some skill, but generally lacked the grit. He did try to get some bigger, grittier, asshole types in SoB, Hornychuk, Sestito, Weiser, but none of them are exactly impact players. The best player in that department is probbly Kassassian. He's looking like the best of the bunch and is getting better, but he is only 1 guy and even he hasn't earned the full trust of the coaches just yet.

2) Gillis may have tried to live off the treasures of his predecessor a little too long. Signing Burr, the Sedins, and Lou to those long term deals may hamper the team for the next few years as all of them are showing signs of declining. Handing out no trade clauses left and right may also make things worst, as he may get stuck with an underperforming player eating up a lot of cap space and he is unable to move them.

3) Gillis squeezed out some great years out of the core he inherited (ie- Lou, Kes, Sedins, Schneids, etc), but he hasn't really found some star players to add to and help the core. Ehrhoff may have been his best, but failed to keep him. Hammer is good, but I won't say he's a star player. Sundin came for half a season, but he didn't have much left in the tank. Kassassian and BoHo may become core star players for the team, but both still have a lot of work to do and a lot to prove. The sad thing is that by the time Kass and BoHo become impact players, some of the current core may become shadows of their former selves and just not good enuff anymore, then we're constantly stuck in the cycle of not having enuff horses in their primes to win 16 games in the playoffs for a Stanley Cup.

Overall, I would give Gillis C+, maybe B-. I just hope someone will take Lou off our hands and hopefully the Sedins will start producing more. I don't expect them to win scoring titles again, but hopefully they can hover around point/game guys. I wonder about Kes too, he's up in 2 years and with the way things are going, I wonder if he looks for greener pastures and tries to win elsewhere. If MG cannot get him signed in the next year or so, it might be best to move him for youth (1 or 2 good young prospects). As of now, Kes is probably our best asset in the trade market to get something back of significant value.
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Re: Just for you Pacific Blue

Post by Meds »

RoyalDude wrote:Sorry blobby lagers but this post of yours reeks of a Gillis Apologist. You like Gillis more than Tony Bones Gallagher

C fucking plus? Are you kidding me? How do you give a GM a C plus for watching his team go from an nhl elite team to barely hanging onto a playoff spot while the Canucks elite peers like the Blackhawks, Sharks etc remain at an elite level?

I could live with a c minus. But a c+???? No way Jose
By this logic Ken Holland is an absolute asshat of a GM and on track to be one of the shittiest hockey minds in recent history. I mean, his top forwards are all getting old (all but Zetterberg are older than the Sedins), he has a question mark between the pipes, they haven't gone beyond the 2nd round since 2009, the team has trended down in the regular season to the point where they are now a playoff bubble team in the eastern conference (were Detroit still in the West this year I would put them in 9th or 10th right now), and there is nobody of not waiting in the minors to step up.

Keep smoking what you're smoking dude.
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