poop flows downhill.
I don’t believe TL is so stupid as to go out on a limb against his boss. Why FA tweets anything is beyond me why its not left to the hockey ppl he hires. Was it not obvious how often TL & JB wriggled under questioning from the media & their answers seemed to be more about how to word FA’s dictates & not their own?
- Nighthawk

I think he was drunk on a few 1000 dollar bottles of wine!

I think he was drunk on a few 1000 dollar bottles of wine!
- LeftCoaster

Or his nonas grappa

ok so willes claims linden hired - and drafted - everyone and benning did not...

not buying it at all

I am not sold on Hughes as a potential #1, maybe a 4/5 guy, Dobson I see as a future #1, at worst a #2.
Just my opinion though.
- Reubenkincade

My opinion, just my opinion. Hockey is a sport you clearly dont understand.

They can be respectably bad with or without him. The reason Hextall has built the best prospect pool in the league is because he's traded for so many good picks since he came onboard in 2014 doing this very thing.

Just my opinion...
- LeftCoaster

They have a worse prospect pool and have done nothing. Once could say that even without acquiring extra picks Benning has done better.

Nobody is
- VANTEL

Guance is a fully upgraded, younger, better looking, smarter, version of beagle.

My expectations are irrelevant, I simply posted an article I read.
- LeftCoaster

I didn't bother reading it

Too much fluff

Yeah I believe Linden was adamant that they try to compete while the Sedins were on the club.

So many mixed messages, they look foolish with the owner saying one thing and two minutes later the GM saying another thing. The never ending poop-show with this organization!
- LeftCoaster

I would be livid as an owner if after 4 years the top guy came to me and said we need to start over now. I would have asked WTF have you been doing for the last 4 years and fired him too.

I would be livid as an owner if after 4 years the top guy came to me and said we need to start over now. I would have asked WTF have you been doing for the last 4 years and fired him too.
- VANTEL

I agree, probably would have kicked Benning ti the curb immediately after the draft.

Just read this from Willes in the Province...


Trevor Linden leaves behind something of substance: a collection of good young prospects, some good hockey men and some reason for optimism.

Ten years ago, in the aftermath of Dave Nonis’s firing as Canucks general manager and the hiring of Mike Gillis, the great Tom Larscheid took stock of the, er, unorthodox manner in which these franchise-changing decisions were made and made the following statement:

“How are they going to hire anyone who’s good after this?”

This, we remind you, was a couple of days after the end of the regular season and after the Aquilini ownership group had dumped Nonis and plucked Gillis out of the blue. This wasn’t the result of an exhaustive search. It wasn’t the case of scouring the hockey world to identify the best man for the job. Gillis, instead, had been recommended by former client Geoff Courtnall and The Province’s Tony Gallagher and was hired, essentially, after one interview.

Now, it might be a stretch to connect Nonis’s firing and Gillis’s hiring and eventual firing to the latest instalment in the Canucks’ story, but there remains something about Larscheid’s prophecy that rings true 10 years after the fact. The Aquilinis have just undertaken another impetuous regime change, disappearing resident icon Trevor Linden and turning hockey operations over to Jim Benning and John Weisbrod. Perhaps they’ll bring in a new president/overlord to sit atop the organization, as Francesco Aquilini tweeted three weeks ago. Or perhaps they won’t, as Benning stated in a news conference at about the same time.

But whatever the next step is — and word in the hockey world is former Los Angeles Kings GM Dean Lombardi has already turned the Canucks down — it can reasonably be asked, who would want to work with this ownership group? Is there a hockey man out there with an established track record who would take a look at the latest mess and say, ‘Now there’s the organization for me.’

If the Aquilinis want to bring in a name — and why do I keep seeing John Tortorella as I type this — they have a unique way of selling themselves. But that’s just one of the issues that hangs over the Canucks after this latest tire fire and it’s hardly the only one.

Linden’s track record in his four years was hardly impeccable. But in his time he laid the groundwork for a new era both on and off the ice. The prospects you know about but, equally as important, was the hockey department Linden built as the Canucks were acquiring those prospects. He’d assembled a group of bright, youngish hockey men, most of whom had deep connections to the Canucks and who seemed to be building toward something. Head coach Travis Green is the most visible Linden hire but, beyond Green, there’s Utica GM Ryan Johnson, assistant coaches Nolan Baumgartner and Manny Malhotra, director of amateur scouting Judd Brackett, director of pro scouting Brett Henning and player development consultant Scott Walker.

Sorry, any hockey department who employs The Wild Thing has to be doing something right.

All these men, to one degree or another, were Linden hires and all are loyal to the Canucks’ former president. So does the new regime headed by Benning and Weisbrod change that?

That’s another question that hangs in the air.

Benning has certainly worked closely with this group and, on the surface, it looks like the Canucks’ GM will step into the vacuum created by Linden’s departure and continue the work of the organization. We were told repeatedly after all, that the Aquilinis, Linden and Benning shared the same vision for this team. OK, in view of recent events, maybe shared isn’t the right term, but there’s still a plan in place and good hockey men in this franchise.

The problem, of course, is things tend to change when a new man starts calling the shots. They want to bring in their own people. They want to build their own organization. Benning and Weisbrod didn’t get to their place in the hockey world by lacking confidence in their abilities, which is why this next phase of Canucks history will be worth watching.

While we’re asking questions, here’s another one: Can the Canucks afford to make another abrupt change in their direction and maintain what’s left of the consumer confidence in their brand?

As for the X-factor in all this, well, if the last decade has taught us anything, it’s taught us predicting the Aquilinis’ next move is an inexact science. Linden was hired to help repair the Canucks’ brand. He believed he was promised autonomy in rebuilding the organization and he was until he wasn’t. Now he joins Gillis, Nonis and others in the Canucks’ ex-wives club.

Still, he leaves behind something of substance: a collection of good young prospects, some good hockey men and some reason for optimism. As part of his tweet thread, Francesco Aquilini posted: “A rebuild is a long, slow, gradual process. Everybody needs to be united behind the same vision and pulling in the same direction.”

Funny, that long, slow rebuild was an integral part of Linden’s vision for the team. It’s started. Where it goes from here is anybody’s guess.
- LeftCoaster

Thanks Lefty.

I agree, probably would have kicked Benning ti the curb immediately after the draft.
- Pres.cup

That is quite true if anyone actually knew what was said behind closed doors for four years

My opinion, just my opinion. Hockey is a sport you clearly dont understand.
- morrison1980

Clearly, when someone has a different view of a player, than several others, that person or persons is either an idiot, or doesn't understand the game.
How dare someone have a difference of opinion than the masses.

Clearly, when someone has a different view of a player, than several others, that person or persons is either an idiot, or doesn't understand the game.
How dare someone have a difference of opinion than the masses.
- Reubenkincade

Try suggesting efficiency within a government agency. You get the same reaction.

I would be livid as an owner if after 4 years the top guy came to me and said we need to start over now. I would have asked WTF have you been doing for the last 4 years and fired him too.
- VANTEL

TL. "following your direction FA"

So much speculation. The whole mess is a joke.

I wish the organization would concentrate more on music.

I would be livid as an owner if after 4 years the top guy came to me and said we need to start over now. I would have asked WTF have you been doing for the last 4 years and fired him too.
- VANTEL

It's a mess with Aquilini wanting playoffs, Linden wanting to be competitive for the Sedins and Benning throwing his stupidity in there. Not surprised things went a bit off the rails with three guys all pulling in their own direction.

It's a mess with Aquilini wanting playoffs, Linden wanting to be competitive for the Sedins and Benning throwing his stupidity in there. Not surprised things went a bit off the rails with three guys all pulling in their own direction.
- LeftCoaster

The Canuck way. Calamity and dysfunction.

It's a mess with Aquilini wanting playoffs, Linden wanting to be competitive for the Sedins and Benning throwing his stupidity in there. Not surprised things went a bit off the rails with three guys all pulling in their own direction.
- LeftCoaster

First of all the Canucks have been rebuilding for the last 4 years . That is why they have one of the better prospect pools right now.

Secondly if I was an owner who loved hockey and my team , and spent 80 mil per season on it , I would be in on most things that happen as well as you would. Anyone who says differently is full of sh1t.

The Canuck way. Calamity and dysfunction.
- bloatedmosquito

Just gotta roll with it and hope for the best. I hate that Benning is working for this team, my Hextall avy is my protest, but there's nothing the fans can do about it so we just watch and hope.

As you say, it's been the Canuck way for almost five decades.

First of all the Canucks have been rebuilding for the last 4 years . That is why they have one of the better prospect pools right now.

Secondly if I was an owner who loved hockey and my team , and spent 80 mil per season on it , I would be in on most things that happen as well as you would. Anyone who says differently is full of sh1t.
- VANTEL

???

What does that have to do with the President of the club getting fired mid rebuild when he's advocating for a rebuild after they tried to stay competitive for the past four years for the Sedins?

Sure they tanked the past three years mid February when their plans all went to poop but that doesn't mask that they wanted to be competitive every year they've had Aquilini Linden and Benning together.

It's a mess with Aquilini wanting playoffs, Linden wanting to be competitive for the Sedins and Benning throwing his stupidity in there. Not surprised things went a bit off the rails with three guys all pulling in their own direction.
- LeftCoaster

Three way Dutch rudder, nobody finishes...

Three way Dutch rudder, nobody finishes...

- Pres.cup

It was never going to end well, as the media is saying. Working for the Aquilini family rarely does, apparently.

It's a mess with Aquilini wanting playoffs, Linden wanting to be competitive for the Sedins and Benning throwing his stupidity in there. Not surprised things went a bit off the rails with three guys all pulling in their own direction.
- LeftCoaster

IMO I believe with the Sedins still around back then FA & TL thought they could catch lightning in a bottle if trades were gems & some UFA luck panned out. It started ok. JB shook up the line-up but WD couldn’t put it together forcing 4 lines to roll out. Depth was always the underlying issue. D injuries & also no prospects in the cupboard made it that JV & McCann were played too early. Miller signing said it all that FA on down thought the infamous & dreamy retool on the fly was possible. Well we know how that has gone down. So it was change gears time & nobody wanted to say rebuild to FA. So i’m thinking it was TL who said its time to slow down & lets bite the green wienie & get real. I doubt JB was dumb & didn’t disagree with Trev. Trev & FA were always in touch & reality didn’t sit well with FA. JB doesn’t like losing but didn’t throw TL under the bus. He’s just too honest & I’m betting FA put him on tbe spot. Bye bye Trev.

Trader Jim has other teams wanting to toss him anchors in every trade. Its a dog eat dog world & when down offers are bad. Explains some trades & why others haven’t happened.

???

What does that have to do with the President of the club getting fired mid rebuild when he's advocating for a rebuild after they tried to stay competitive for the past four years for the Sedins?

Sure they tanked the past three years mid February when their plans all went to poop but that doesn't mask that they wanted to be competitive every year they've had Aquilini Linden and Benning together.
- LeftCoaster

I am assuming the Pres got fired because probably after 4 years when his best friends retired he went up to the owner and probably said lets rebuild now . I would have fired him too

For the record at the last two drafts I have seen the draft table and it was the GM and his scouting staff calling the shots not the owner or president.

IMO I believe with the Sedins still around back then FA & TL thought they could catch lightning in a bottle if trades were gems & some UFA luck panned out. It started ok. JB shook up the line-up but WD couldn’t put it together forcing 4 lines to roll out. Depth was always the underlying issue. D injuries & also no prospects in the cupboard made it that JV & McCann were played too early. Miller signing said it all that FA on down thought the infamous & dreamy retool on the fly was possible. Well we know how that has gone down. So it was change gears time & nobody wanted to say rebuild to FA. So i’m thinking it was TL who said its time to slow down & lets bite the green wienie & get real. I doubt JB was dumb & didn’t disagree with Trev. Trev & FA were always in touch & reality didn’t sit well with FA. JB doesn’t like losing but didn’t throw TL under the bus. He’s just too honest & I’m betting FA put him on tbe spot. Bye bye Trev.
- Nighthawk

That's really hard to read, but yeah, Aquilini has always wanted playoffs, so they tried with UFA signings and trades. Nothing worked beyond the first year so they accepted reality every February and tanked. Which is how they built a nice prospect pool.

Linden does some modelling of successful rebuilds and pitches it to Francesco, which obviously didn't go over well