Management Thread | The Song Remains the Same Edition

[Nucker101]

Last few days have been awful for the organization.

Players, coaches, gms, media, everyone just going at this management and ownership.

This isn’t some media creation and it was insane for Rutherford to say that and also insane for people to buy into that shit.

Pfft who cares what guys like Trotz and Cogliano have to say?

It’s not like they’d know how the league works.

 

[valkynax]

Last few days have been awful for the organization.

Players, coaches, gms, media, everyone just going at this management and ownership.

This isn’t some media creation and it was insane for Rutherford to say that and also insane for people to buy into that shit.

This is one media pile-on I do not mind having.

For once, we need the worst of the worst of sports media to do what they do best and drag Fredolini's ass for a symbolic "hung drawn and quartered".

Anyone got Brooksie's number? Or should I just ask Torts?

 

[Pastor Of Muppetz]

rutherford is desperate to stay in hockey. if he walks from vancouver it's probably over for him. he doesn't have nearly the agency fans think he has

JR initially turned down Aqualini's offer to join the Canucks, and wanted 2 weeks to think about it...Doesnt sound desperate to me.?

Obviously though, this will be his last gig, given his age.

 

[drax0s]

I guess that could be the case...it just seems like a very dumb, long and drawn out method of "managing up"...when all it should take is a very direct conversation with Aquilini.

You're assuming he's open to the idea he's wrong.

 

[Pastor Of Muppetz]

Last few days have been awful for the organization.

Players, coaches, gms, media, everyone just going at this management and ownership.

This isn’t some media creation and it was insane for Rutherford to say that and also insane for people to buy into that shit.

This is precisely the long term damage to this franchise that I was talking about last week...This doesnt just apply to coaches either, it also applies to players and agents.

The Canucks are a 'red flag' organization..I would put the odds of them re-signing EP at less than 50%.

Rutherfords public criticisms of BB were disrespectful (everyone in the league took notice) , and he literally should have been pointing the finger at himself for not improving the roster.

 

[Peen]

There’s a funny alternate timeline where we are managed by Dale Tallon and coached by Mike Babcock.

 

[mriswith]

I don't really get this either, but there is a simple explanation that may be at least partly true: the thrill of being one of the 32 people on the planet running an NHL team doesn't wear off. Maybe you'll always convince yourself you can work within whatever bounds are set by circumstances. And being 73 works the other way sometimes -- at that age you're probably not going to have too many unexpected experiences, or learn a new language, meet new people, etc. An NHL GM writes a small footnote to history, and JR's ambition and self-regard might be what's making him choose that instead of golfing and eating nice dinners for another 5 or 10 years.

I think he got caught off guard by how awful Aqua is and he didn't realize the extent how hard and antagonistically he'd have to fight him. I'm sure he had an idea but not the full extent.

He had enormous agency in his first year here but he wasted it by not using it. A lot of that leverage is gone now and by next year even less will remain, and this is the stage where everything you described starts to affect his willingness to battle as his leverage diminishes.

I think the Boudreau situation is one where ownership interfered with what management wanted to do, management went ahead with what they wanted to do anyways, stoked the flames a bit and then let the situation boil over until public pressure forced ownership to concede. They might have stuck to this for too long but it's also hard to point to the exact spot that management dropped the ball when we don't know at what stage they were finally authorized to make their move and we also don't know if they let it run a bit long to really make the point stick.

Of course, there were similar explanations for Benning's boneheadedness in the early days and this could all be overly optimistic rationalizations of incompetence. We'll see.

 

[M2Beezy]

There’s a funny alternate timeline where we are managed by Dale Tallon and coached by Mike Babcock.

Everything Everywhere All At Once, Peener

 

[Reverend Mayhem]

Last few days have been awful for the organization.

Players, coaches, gms, media, everyone just going at this management and ownership.

When it comes to future outlook, I usually skew towards pessimism and that's usually right - usually.

I have a tough time seeing ownership see all this heat and looking in the mirror. I have an easier time seeing them double down and throw a tantrum like a teenager who "no one understands".

 

[rypper]

There’s a funny alternate timeline where we are managed by Dale Tallon and coached by Mike Babcock.

I was listening to a 650 show the other day (might have been Jamie Dodd right after the Rutherford presser) where a caller said that.

"Fire everyone and bring in someone good like Dale Tallon!"

Come to think of it, it was an older guy calling in, it might have actually been Dale Tallon...

 

[vancityluongo]

I am really glad you brought this up, because for all I agree with the majority sentiment that Boudreau has been done dirty, I do think the shock and awe about how unique and unprecedented this situation is has been a little exaggerated. It is weird, yes, but (i) is clearly the product of a struggle with ownership, and (ii) it has basically happened before right in Vancouver... Burke was hired in June 1998, and Keenan wasn't fired until January 1999, with absolutely everyone knowing it was coming for months.

I think the only real difference is that Bruce is a likable, nice guy and Keenan was public enemy no. 1.

(I don't recall Burke being unpopular for it, though... just ridiculed over his "Dave Gagner was an essential part of this trade" comments).

It must be different because of the media in 2023 vs 1999 and just how tuned in everyone is to rumours, right?

Like I can't imagine outside of the tapped in fan in Vancouver that anyone really followed the Keenan situation? Similar to how everyone knew by March 2014 that Tortorella was as good as gone even though he wasn't actually fired until May.

This situation has guys like Barry Trotz, who is probably the most sought after coach on the market, commenting about it: Trotz talks Maple Leafs, calls Canucks' slow-firing of Boudreau 'tough to watch’

Rutherford has navigated his whole career as a professional; but he's also almost 74 years old and is in a Canadian market with a feverish online fanbase. I think he personally miscalculated the degree of damage from the leaks to a large degree.

This will all blow over in very short order, and the Canucks are also a bit unlucky that there isn't another news story around the league to take up airspace, which has made this a national story when it otherwise might not have been.

 

[mossey3535]

if they were looking at babock they must think the room needs an absolute attitude enema.

He hasn't won in the salary cap age pretty much, so they also don't want to win....

 

[canuckster19]

Last few days have been awful for the organization.

Players, coaches, gms, media, everyone just going at this management and ownership.

This isn’t some media creation and it was insane for Rutherford to say that and also insane for people to buy into that shit.

And yet many of the Canucks so called faithful will never take a good long hard look in the mirror, this team doesn't owe us a thing and some yet some of us act like petulant entitled brats, you'd rather run your mouth and try and get people fired than turning the TV off for a bit.

Well to that I say, well done, either sit in the mess you made or shut the f--- up for once.

 

[Reverend Mayhem]

And yet many of the Canucks so called faithful will never take a good long hard look in the mirror, this team doesn't owe us a thing and some yet some of us act like petulant entitled brats, you'd rather run your mouth and try and get people fired than turning the TV off for a bit.

Well to that I say, well done, either sit in the mess you made or shut the f--- up for once.

Yeah, I definitely felt that way back when 18,000 idiots chanted to fire Gillis.

 

[Jyrki21]

It must be different because of the media in 2023 vs 1999 and just how tuned in everyone is to rumours, right?

That'd be part of it for sure, and Vancouver was a lower-profile NHL market then than it is now, but the Canucks were a spectacle and garnering attention back then for the dysfunction as well.

I do think the biggest difference is that Boudreau has a lot of fans (and friends outside the market), while Keenan has a lot of enemies. When you show no respect for anyone else's well-being, it makes sense they're less inclined to show respect for yours.

 

[gringo]

He hasn't won in the salary cap age pretty much, so they also don't want to win....

Wrong

Yeah, I definitely felt that way back when 18,000 idiots chanted to fire Gillis.

Hired actors provoked that ….

 

[SeawaterOnIce]

I am entirely convinced this is how it is. If you've ever heard him talk about himself, it's enough to make you puke. He's completely out of touch with reality and no one around him minus his leech-ridden family who built an empire off the backs of thirsty immigrants has the balls to do it.

The kicker is that the family won't sell. And if they do, I don't know that they aren't petty enough that they facilitate a move to another city when they inevitably run this cash cow into the incinerator.

He doesn't show any interest in listening and tries to be the loudest voice in the room. He really goes above and beyond to make you feel stupid, either through sarcastic remarks or body language.

There's a lot more specifics based on people that have dealt with him but it's best not to get into it.

 

[me2]

Yeah, I definitely felt that way back when 18,000 idiots chanted to fire Gillis.

When I think back on those people and the following 10 years. They got what they asked for

 

[Frankie Blueberries]

When I think back on those people and the following 10 years. They got what they asked for

What is remarkable is that there are still clusters of fans who think Benning did a great job. Doesn’t matter what the results for almost a decade indicate, their opinion is set in stone.

 

[kanucks25]

What is remarkable is that there are still clusters of fans who think Benning did a great job. Doesn’t matter what the results for almost a decade indicate, their opinion is set in stone.

but gillis
but covid
but schedule
but injuries
but lottery
but ownership
but linden
but media
but fans
but sedins

 

[CalderSchmalder]

 

[BrentSopelsHair]

What is remarkable is that there are still clusters of fans who think Benning did a great job. Doesn’t matter what the results for almost a decade indicate, their opinion is set in stone.

Their brains must be preserved for academic study. Could lead to unforeseen breakthroughs in dickriding research

 

[krutovsdonut]

JR initially turned down Aqualini's offer to join the Canucks, and wanted 2 weeks to think about it...Doesnt sound desperate to me.?

Obviously though, this will be his last gig, given his age.

tochett also allegedly didn't want the job and needed a month.

i think the obc guys know exactly how to play aqualini by now.

 

[Frankie Blueberries]

JR initially turned down Aqualini's offer to join the Canucks, and wanted 2 weeks to think about it...Doesnt sound desperate to me.?

Obviously though, this will be his last gig, given his age.

He’s probably regretting that decision lol. Should have trusted his gut!

 

[Breakers]

The order of operations that these clowns do tasks is so embarrassing.