Bennett, Draisaitl, Reinhart, Dal Colle are all a toss up. We just need one team to pick a Ritchie, McCann or Virtanen and we've got a stud. And if they don't, we've got a lot of good players to choose from.
- Scooby_Doo

A lot of good players to choose from??? have you been a Canucks fan for long?? Our head scout is Ron Delorme!!! We can't trust the scouting of the Canucks to identify a legit "good player"...

we regularly leave guys who become studs on the table after our picks. We take guys like Patrick White, Kirril Koltsov, and other guys who never live up to the hype.

The Canucks scouting staff has regularly delivered 1 or less legit NHL players out of the entire draft on more than one occasion and that's just since year 2000....
2007-08-09 exactly 1 player made it to the bigs on a regular basis... 2010 - nobody... I'll leave 2011-1013 out of it, cuz maybe those guys are still percolating.

How can you or anyone trust the Canucks scouting or player development to deliver legit players on any kind of consistent basis???

http://en.wikipedia.org/w...ouver_Canucks_draft_picks

Just doesn't see the connection between the guy talking and the guy that was behind the bench all year.




Different brand, same factory? Can't have too many factories for this stuff can they? Or about 10 sweat shops churning 24/7?
- hillbillydeluxe

He says all the right things, just hope his actions speak louder to t Linden. Hopefully they are talking about what needs to be done to the team. Not about him staying on as coach.

He says all the right things, just hope his actions speak louder to t Linden. Hopefully they are talking about what needs to be done to the team. Not about him staying on as coach.
- anavar

Hopefully they are talking about what he's going to do for the Canucks as something other than as a coach the next 4 years. Like maybe be a scout....

A lot of good players to choose from??? have you been a Canucks fan for long?? Our head scout is Ron Delorme!!! We can't trust the scouting of the Canucks to identify a legit "good player"...

we regularly leave guys who become studs on the table after our picks. We take guys like Patrick White, Kirril Koltsov, and other guys who never live up to the hype.

The Canucks scouting staff has regularly delivered 1 or less legit NHL players out of the entire draft on more than one occasion and that's just since year 2000....
2007-08-09 exactly 1 player made it to the bigs on a regular basis... 2010 - nobody... I'll leave 2011-1013 out of it, cuz maybe those guys are still percolating.

How can you or anyone trust the Canucks scouting or player development to deliver legit players on any kind of consistent basis???

http://en.wikipedia.org/w...ouver_Canucks_draft_picks
- kaptaan

Him and Feaster could be a nightmare combination....pulling many jankowsis for years to come.

it's spelled Shaniqua....
- kaptaan

It's spelled spelt

It's spelled spelt
- A_SteamingLombardi

P.S. just sort of a last reminder/note with respect to a possible play-off pool. As mentioned, I will set things up at Office Pools. com but I'll need to confirm participation.

Thus far, we have myself (a friend of mine -no, NOT Sheneequa), Nucker, Chest, SMP, Ryan H (from the CWHL pool - sorry Ryan, I'm not sure what your team name was ugggg), and Pandakb. Hopefully we'll hear from others, although the time-line is pretty thin (I will send out one more note tomorrow as a reminder - if we can't get at least 15 people then we'll just have to try again next year)

Also, let me know what format we should go with (i.e. box-pool format, list-of-players format, or draft 'draft' which would be difficult to do at this point, given everyone would have to be on-line at the given time by tomorrow evening. Unless of course everyone is fine with drafting after the first day of the play-offs).

In any event, all thoughts/suggestions welcome

He says all the right things, just hope his actions speak louder to t Linden. Hopefully they are talking about what needs to be done to the team. Not about him staying on as coach.
- anavar

The questions the Canuck media asked Torts at the season end presser were a freakin' joke. No one asked him about the dump-and-chase system he attempted to enforce on players that actually had some skill, the universal shot-blocking regime, the odd tendency to run players into the ground (although he alluded to the Sedins playing more than he'd like), his supposed "hybrid" approach to team structure (whatever the $%#& that meant).

The type of questions he was asked were the type of grand strategy questions on the team's trajectory you ask of a GM, not a head coach.

Virtanen = Gilbert Brule v2.0

Virtanen = Gilbert Brule v2.0
- hankthetank

At least Doug Maclean is not in the league to ruin Virtanen like he destroyed Brule.

Hopefully they are talking about what he's going to do for the Canucks as something other than as a coach the next 4 years. Like maybe be a scout....
- kaptaan

Yes we truly need 16 Brad Richardsons on the team..

At least Doug Maclean is not in the league to ruin Virtanen like he destroyed Brule.
- Chest Rockwell

But we have Torts.

Yes we truly need 16 Brad Richardsons on the team..
- VANTEL

Just use the bandaid approach on him. Enough of this talk. Unless TL is looking at a bigger picture and want to go for Connor McDavid next year. This meeting could be about strategies on how to tank properly. they would look at mistake this season and how to correct them. or it could be how do we convince the Sedins to demand a trade out.

Just use the bandaid approach on him. Enough of this talk. Unless TL is looking at a bigger picture and want to go for Connor McDavid next year. This meeting could be about strategies on how to tank properly. they would look at mistake this season and how to correct them. or it could be how do we convince the Sedins to demand a trade out.
- Linden_4_Capt

Keep Torts at the coach?

Please, dear baby Jesus, let this be the day that Torts is fired.

Bieksa, Garrison and Burrows playing for Canada.
garrison on the big ice...

But we have Torts.
- Linden_4_Capt

For now...

Hypothetical question: Say the Penguins go down in the first round and Bylsma gets fired; do we pounce?

For now...

Hypothetical question: Say the Penguins go down in the first round and Bylsma gets fired; do we pounce?
- Chest Rockwell

Pounce.

For now...

Hypothetical question: Say the Penguins go down in the first round and Bylsma gets fired; do we pounce?
- Chest Rockwell

No.

You Ponce!

No.

You Ponce!
- hillbillydeluxe

What does Dave Nonis have to do with this?

For now...

Hypothetical question: Say the Penguins go down in the first round and Bylsma gets fired; do we pounce?
- Chest Rockwell

HeLLLLLLz

He's a bad enough coach with the 2 best players from this era centering his top 2 lines...

For now...

Hypothetical question: Say the Penguins go down in the first round and Bylsma gets fired; do we pounce?
- Chest Rockwell

I don't think he's more than slightly above average as a coach and certainly not much of a strategist. If it's not going well on the ice, he doesn't seem capable of adjusting his approach like Quenville or Babcock might.

On the plus side, the players really seem to like him though, so they might be willing to play harder for him. Just speculating.

Bottom Line: Is he better than Torts? Yes. Is he the coach I'd like to see here? No. But if there's nothing better available then go for it. Better than Hitchcock, Carlyse, or any of the other coaches who may become available soon.

I don't think he's more than slightly above average as a coach and certainly not much of a strategist. If it's not going well on the ice, he doesn't seem capable of adjusting his approach like Quenville or Babcock might.

On the plus side, the players really seem to like him though, so they might be willing to play harder for him. Just speculating though.

Bottom Line: Is he better than Torts? Yes. Is he the coach I'd like to see here? No. But if there's nothing better available then go for it. Better than Hitchcock, Carlyse, or any of the other coaches who may become available soon.
- AlexF

There in lies the problem: what coach currently on the market or who may be available would we want here?

Laviolette, Trotz, John Stevens, Guy Boucher, or fire Torts and promote Gullutzan?

There aren't many desirable options currently out there.

On the coaching question....keep an eye on Ken Hitchcock in St. Louis. I think the Blues might be on the verge of a major collapse.

This is *not* what I discuss in the new blog, which just posted.

Who are you cheering for in the playoffs?

http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog.php?post_id=59438

There in lies the problem: what coach currently on the market or who may be available would we want here?

Laviolette, Trotz, John Stevens, Guy Boucher, or fire Torts and promote Gullutzan?

There aren't many desirable options currently out there.
- Chest Rockwell

Someone innovative. A teacher who understands how to get the most out of every player's skillset & allows them to play with instinctive freedom. It's not our job to find that guy - it's Linden & the new GM's. They should be looking at every level for the right guy.

I still like Gulutzan, Willie Desjardins, Ralph Kreuger, and what about Denis Savard in his 2nd NHL opportunity? The Blackhawks core that kicked our ass all those years credits him for how he mentored the young talent he had to work with. Maybe he's a bridge coach at the very least?