Past Canuck Players

[Lancer]

You can call that unfair, but that’s the life of people like him: they get the adulation on the same pedestal to which we elevate them...

I think that explains things.

You made him a god in your mind and you see the demise of this team as a failure that he should have been able to prevent. Quin could no more control the actions of other men than you can control the actions of your fellow posters here.

The mods here have more power to effect change on this here message board than Quin did on the Canucks.

I was wrong. It's not petty, it's naive.

Yeahno, none of them are 'gods' but Quit was the Team Captain, and yes - a team captain, especially one whom management wanted to keep at all costs, has pull in an organization. Hell, Matthews was reportedly consulted on MLSE canning Treliving.

And yes, I hold Quit to a higher standard as a result. I work in the most violent team-sport out there, and as an officer you're expected to lead - no matter who you're leading, peers or lower-ranking subordinates. I've been in charge of people the same rank as I, and I was held responsible for getting the task done no matter how asinine my superiors or how many glue-bags I had under me. That's leadership; that's what happens when they put you in the leadership seat. You seldom get an all-star squad, and you have to navigate personalities, but the mission remains the same even if you have to make a purse out of a pig's-ear. That's life when you're a leader, whether in my profession or Quit's. While I had sympathy for him and didn't envy his position dealing with two (arguably three) head-cases in the core, he still took the 'C' knowing what was under the hood with that team. Take aside my example, there are numerous examples of even informal peer leadership by team captains. You don't need to be a Messier-type throwing teammates against walls and such, but Quit gave off limper vibes as leader than Naslund at the end of Naslund's career. I give Quit an 'F' as a leader.

And yes, I hold Quit to a higher standard than ordinary folks. I am as well, by virtue of the job and position I hold. A boss gropes a co-worker by the ass or cheats on his wife with his secretary in civvy-life, it's a hush-hush affair with HR and an out-of-court settlement. That happens with me and it's on CBC. That's what happens when you take these kinds of jobs. I knew it going in, and if Quit didn't understand that when taking the 'C' - especially in this market - then that's on him. That's my standard. Fair? Not always. Understandable? Absolutely.

Helluva hockey player, and I'll give him credit for his effort on the ice. As for his character and leadership off the ice, he was absolutely wanting in his time in Vancouver.

[Picker of Cherries]

I don't like it that he's gone but who the fuck would want to be a part of all this when there are other options

Ummm…
Henrik Sedin
Trevor Linden
Stan Smyl
Orland Kurtenbach
Bo Horvat
Markus Naslund
André Boudrias
Don Lever
Doug Lidster
Kevin McCarthy
Chris Oddleifson

They all persevered playing on crappy teams for much of their careers with a few sporadic years of success and playoff runs.
I feel so sorry for Quinn Hughes. He had it so much worse than any other captain in the history of the Canucks.

[Lancer]

Word is he is reluctant to sign with NJD because it will take ice away from his brother. But I do think he won’t be rushed. Minny has a very good team but I don’t see them as a Cup team. I think the playoffs will go along way to decking if he will stay or not. Front money is, if not Minny, Detroit.

Minny could trade him to Detroit after July 1st if he makes a commitment to the team and try to recoup what they traded to get him. So if he is reluctant to extend this summer you could the drama play out all next season u til TDD. Minny will not want to risk losing him for nothing.

But as I said, it will depend upon how the playoffs go. I do t tho k he will care if he can get an 8 year deal as he will get paid no matter the term.

That would be a helluva turn of affairs if Minny got knocked out in the 1st or 2nd round, and Hughes decides to let Guerin know he won’t re-sign. Guerin will not get for Hughes what the Baldies got - as good as Quinn is he won’t be an appreciating asset if he’s that diffident.

Imagine trading for Hughes, only to have him leave and Vancouver possibly getting the better package for him?

[Cousin Strawberry]

I don't like it that he's gone but who the fuck would want to be a part of all this when there are other options

Ummm…
Henrik Sedin
Trevor Linden
Stan Smyl
Orland Kurtenbach
Bo Horvat
Markus Naslund
André Boudrias
Don Lever
Doug Lidster
Kevin McCarthy
Chris Oddleifson

They all persevered playing on crappy teams for much of their careers with a few sporadic years of success and playoff runs.
I feel so sorry for Quinn Hughes. He had it so much worse than any other captain in the history of the Canucks.

You have to concede that this was an unprecedented level of bullshittery though.

The Miller/Pettersson crap, the senile old bastard barfing his inside thoughts at every turn, letting key pieces walk for squat, overpaying for this guy but not that guy, 6 coaches in 6 years, meddling ownership...im sure I've forgotten plenty more

[Meds]

I don't like it that he's gone but who the fuck would want to be a part of all this when there are other options

Ummm…
Henrik Sedin
Trevor Linden
Stan Smyl
Orland Kurtenbach
Bo Horvat
Markus Naslund
André Boudrias
Don Lever
Doug Lidster
Kevin McCarthy
Chris Oddleifson

They all persevered playing on crappy teams for much of their careers with a few sporadic years of success and playoff runs.
I feel so sorry for Quinn Hughes. He had it so much worse than any other captain in the history of the Canucks.

How many of them have Cup rings?

[Hockey Widow]

Word is he is reluctant to sign with NJD because it will take ice away from his brother. But I do think he won’t be rushed. Minny has a very good team but I don’t see them as a Cup team. I think the playoffs will go along way to decking if he will stay or not. Front money is, if not Minny, Detroit.

Minny could trade him to Detroit after July 1st if he makes a commitment to the team and try to recoup what they traded to get him. So if he is reluctant to extend this summer you could the drama play out all next season u til TDD. Minny will not want to risk losing him for nothing.

But as I said, it will depend upon how the playoffs go. I do t tho k he will care if he can get an 8 year deal as he will get paid no matter the term.

That would be a helluva turn of affairs if Minny got knocked out in the 1st or 2nd round, and Hughes decides to let Guerin know he won’t re-sign. Guerin will not get for Hughes what the Baldies got - as good as Quinn is he won’t be an appreciating asset if he’s that diffident.

Imagine trading for Hughes, only to have him leave and Vancouver possibly getting the better package for him?

well the advantage that Minny would have in trading him is that Hughes could say yes ahead of time to an extension. Word was that Detroit was very high on him but since they could not talk extension until this July they were not prepared to make a top offer for him. Only Minny was willing to make the top offer.

So in a scenario where Quinn says to Guerin I ain't re-signing here, but yes I will do a sign and trade or yes I will agree ahead of time to a deal with team X, then Minny could get a pretty decent return. But if Guerin hangs onto him until he hits FA then all is lost, unless he re-signs. So it depends upon if Minny wants to hang onto him for a second playoff run no matter the consequences.

[Meds]

well the advantage that Minny would have in trading him is that Hughes could say yes ahead of time to an extension. Word was that Detroit was very high on him but since they could not talk extension until this July they were not prepared to make a top offer for him. Only Minny was willing to make the top offer.

So in a scenario where Quinn says to Guerin I ain't re-signing here, but yes I will do a sign and trade or yes I will agree ahead of time to a deal with team X, then Minny could get a pretty decent return. But if Guerin hangs onto him until he hits FA then all is lost, unless he re-signs. So it depends upon if Minny wants to hang onto him for a second playoff run no matter the consequences.

The problem for Minnesota is that they are not where Vancouver is.

When Quin said he wasn't extending here the Canucks were headed for a rebuild. They had nobody in-house coming up on the blueline, and the forward corps was headed for the rocks. When they finally traded him it was obvious that the team was headed for a rebuild whether or not Hughes stayed. That meant that the Canucks needed picks and prospects.

Minnesota is a team that is expected to be entering their compete window. If they trade Hughes they can't just have a Buium, Rossi, Ohgren, and a pick coming back. A hockey trade works where the return in a top-4 D and a 1C.....but that's it.

Is Hughes good enough for the Red Wings to gut their roster to acquire him? No. And I don't think even a trade of Hughes for Seider or Edvinsson and picks keeps Minnesota in compete mode without something else big happening for the Wild.

[Nuckertuzzi]

I don't like it that he's gone but who the fuck would want to be a part of all this when there are other options

Ummm…
Henrik Sedin
Trevor Linden
Stan Smyl
Orland Kurtenbach
Bo Horvat
Markus Naslund
André Boudrias
Don Lever
Doug Lidster
Kevin McCarthy
Chris Oddleifson

They all persevered playing on crappy teams for much of their careers with a few sporadic years of success and playoff runs.
I feel so sorry for Quinn Hughes. He had it so much worse than any other captain in the history of the Canucks.

How many of them have Cup rings?

Douggie?

But kind of ironic the only captain we've had with multiple Cup rings was arguably our worst of all time.

For that matter, the same could possibly said about our management teams. If not mistaken, the baldies are the only ones who came in with multiple rings (like Lidster, Burkie and McPhee got their only rings after they left). Fair to say they go down as arguably our worst with what they did in the past two seasons alone. That's really saying something with our history of ineptitude.

Edit: Keenan also served time as GM.

[Nuckertuzzi]

Good debate. Valid points by all and it remains up in the air who's right and wrong. Ultimately, I hope Quinn provides the answer by heading off to Jersey.

I personally don't think he's a quitter, he's a phenomenal player we were lucky enough to watch for 7+ years and I'll always appreciate his time here (much like Pavel, as time goes by I'll remember the talent more than their unceremonious exits). I believe he had it in his mind all along to put in his shift here then move on. He took the captaincy with the open mind of staying longer only to let the clowns make the easy excuse for him to get his wish and go.

Whatever's the case, it doesn't look good for a 'captain' to walk away from a bad situation then quietly blame others for it. Tocc kinda did the same thing while careful not to point fingers. I didn't think too much about it at the time but when Bieksa let it slip he'd "rather go down with the ship", there's something admirable about that. It's OK to not want to be around for a rebuild but he comes across as "I'm too good for this" and it's a bad look.

[Topper]

LOL

I can think of 92,800,000 reasons, a dead dad and a locker room washing machine why Quinn is not a quitter.

Why the fuck do fans think he should shed a tear for Vancouver?

Incompetent and incontinent management has made the town intolerable.

[BoS]

LOL

I can think of 92,800,000 reasons, a dead dad and a locker room washing machine why Quinn is not a quitter.

Why the fuck do fans think he should shed a tear for Vancouver?

Incompetent and incontinent management has made the town intolerable.

Ownership. This is all on the ownership.

[Madcombinepilot]

LOL

I can think of 92,800,000 reasons, a dead dad and a locker room washing machine why Quinn is not a quitter.

Why the fuck do fans think he should shed a tear for Vancouver?

Incompetent and incontinent management has made the town intolerable.

Ownership. This is all on the ownership.

Yes. Blame the owners.

[Picker of Cherries]

Nobody said he wasn’t a great player.
Nobody said he’s a bad person for wanting out of Vancouver.
What was said was he sucked as a captain.
He definitely quit on the team and didn’t try to be part of the solution like other better captains (not better players) tried to do.
Figuring out the percentage of blame to assign for his leaving and to whom is fine, but ultimately it was Quinn’s decision.
You can blame the players for sucking and creating a toxic locker room, and not winning enough.
You can blame Tochett for quitting on the team and leading the way out.
You can blame coaching and management for ever naming him captain when he likely always had one foot out the door since the day his brother was drafted. Widow’s comments that both he and Jack come across as arrogant, entitled boys rings true to me. I’d add that many American’s would rather play in America for cultural and financial reasons. Naming someone that management always knew wanted to play elsewhere (or with his brother) captain, turned out to be a mistake.
Management can get more blame for their habit of treating people with disrespect and inability to fix the toxic locker room issues.
It’s not hard to speculate that other managers could have done better than Allvin and Rutherford.
Rutherford stupidly said a lot of “honest” things out loud which enflamed the local fan base and media, for no apparent benefit to the team.
Better managers hold cards closer.
And ownership oversaw and tacitly approved everything.
All this is true. Quinn Hughes is a great player. He is not an evil person. He quit on the team, and he was a shit captain in Vancouver.
I wish him nothing but failure in his quest to win a Stanley Cup.

[Meds]

On the “quit”…..

Who are we comparing him to?

Captains of losing teams gone by?

That’s pointless, but OK…..

Hank had Danny. And a helluva a competitive group behind them.

Naslund had Bert and Mo.

Linden had guys pulling their weight.

But as I said, they never won, which is mostly the point for these guys.

Look at other captains of this era…..

McDavid probably doesn’t stay in Edmonton if Draisaitl isn’t there. As it is he has put them on notice for 2 years.

Calgary has been a tire fire and shipping leaders out forever it seems.

Winnipeg? They gave their C to a 3rd liner and then overpaid him by $1.5M on a retirement deal with trade protection.

Matthews has had Marner and Nylander and Tavares.

Crosby has had Malkin with him for 20 years. Letang has been there a long time too.

Stamkos, Barkov, MacKinnon, all had supporting cast members. (I realize Landeskog is the captain, but everyone knows it’s Nate’s team)

Hughes? He had JT and Pettersson. His support hated each other, and when management committed to one and the other asked out, he tried to work with the guy he would have preferred be gone…..and olive branches were rejected.

And it sure didn’t look like management was going to be finding any solutions any time in the next 6 years.

[Topper]

As a Picker of Cherries should know, you can't have it both ways. You can't be part virgin.

The basic premise is wrong, there was no team to quit on. Management had guaranteed that.

Vets were lining up to exit at the deadline, they were falling over themselves to say they were willing to move.

Quinn was hand picked by Tocchet for his leadership skills. Ricky may have his flaws, but leadership was never one of them.