Yeah, you're right. Toughness, in all it's forms is still very important in the game.
The Jim Benning and Management Megathread - CAD got you down? He has you covered
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Yeah, you're right. Toughness, in all it's forms is still very important in the game.
Too bad we traded away two guys tougher than Prust, and that the 15-16 Canucks are the softest team in franchise history.
good to know he's not afraid to fight guys like Lucic. Virtanen can run around hitting everything and let Dorsett/Prust be the punching bags.
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3 coaches lmao. If the Sedins were 23 year olds on the Canucks right now would you trade them? They just had 3 coaches and they haven't seemed to 'get it' for 2nd and 3rd overall picks. Not only that, they're like 6'3 and they refuse to throw body checks.
We should trade him before they go through another coach!
1. It's not like Kassian was the reason these coaches were fired.
2. Powerforwards take time to develop
3. He quite clearly did 'get it', just that 'it' wasn't what management wanted. They wanted a Bertuzzi/Lucic, but Kassian plays more like Joe Thornton.
We should trade him before they go through another coach!
1. It's not like Kassian was the reason these coaches were fired.
2. Powerforwards take time to develop
3. He quite clearly did 'get it', just that 'it' wasn't what management wanted. They wanted a Bertuzzi/Lucic, but Kassian plays more like Joe Thornton.
Ryp37
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Interview with Miller
http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/...er+good+than+popular+iain/11366017/story.html
Here's an interesting quote, more gold about Bennings intelligence
“When you get down to it with Jim, it’s really about how he wants to stage players coming in and how he wants to stage contracts. Eddie is a great goalie, but I think it really came down to Jim having to make a decision that projects out more than just one or two years.
So he didn't want the cheaper, younger goalie that would be able to play longer than Miller? Makes sense
http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/...er+good+than+popular+iain/11366017/story.html
Here's an interesting quote, more gold about Bennings intelligence
“When you get down to it with Jim, it’s really about how he wants to stage players coming in and how he wants to stage contracts. Eddie is a great goalie, but I think it really came down to Jim having to make a decision that projects out more than just one or two years.
So he didn't want the cheaper, younger goalie that would be able to play longer than Miller? Makes sense
Jimson Hogarth*
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As opposed to what Many around here do, slag players while they are Canucks,
Nothing the organization has done with the goaltending situation since Benning arrived has made an ounce of sense, in either the short-term or long-term.
To see this being framed as a 'long-term' decision is like watching people argue the earth is flat.
We have the 2nd oldest starting goalie in the NHL and a guy who has never been effective in the NHL, and both are UFAs in 2017. We literally have the worst long-term goaltending situation in the NHL.
Benning decided that Markstrom is the better long term plan than Lack and he didn't want to go with two young goalies. he wants that vet presence for Markstrom.
Ryp37
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... which is just a bunch of gobbeldygoop that means nothing.
What exactly does a 'veteran presence' do? How does having Ryan Miller wear a baseball cap on the bench for 25 games make Markstrom better relative to having Lack wear a baseball cap on the bench for 25 games?
Keep in mind that Miller has an almost Barrasso-esque reputation for being prickly to young backups over the course of his career.
If anything, you almost felt that Miller was being 'mentored' by Lack last year in terms of how to be a better teammate.
Samzilla
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Horse McHindu
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Source? I highly doubt that this is the case. Benning is quite picky when it comes to players' characters, personality, etc.
From what I hear, Miller and Lack had good comraderie with one another and really pushed each other. I don't think Miller is anything like Ed Belfour or Tom Barrasso.
I think Benning really values the idea of successful veterans mentoring young guys, because there's so much more to being a professional than natural ability. Things like off-ice work habits, nutrition, training, accountability to teammates, etc., all factor in. I know many on here scoff at the idea of that, and perhaps Benning does put a little TOO much stock in that (at the expense of young guys playing more), but I like this philosophy of Benning.
It was kind of a throwaway comment, but when you looked at their Twitter interactions and Canucks TV videos and stuff, you were left with the sense that Lack was the 'leader' of the two socially bringing the surly veteran Miller out of his shell a bit.
That may be completely wrong.
And yeah, his reputation in Buffalo for dealing with young players was not good. At all. Surly, unhelpful, defensive, kept to himself.
Ho Borvat
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In what world is Miller better at any of this than Lack? He's not even the better goalie either.
Lack was an undrafted backup in Sweden, to Markstrom no less, who worked hard until he got signed, then played in Utica, then played as a backup in the NHL, then stole the job from both Luongo and Miller. I'd rather have that guy mentoring Markstrom, even without their existing relationship, over Miller any day.
We also have Dan Cloutier, who is still a young guy freshly retired from the NHL and probably knows the pressures of the market as well as anyone alive.
If you're looking for a 'mentor', Cloutier should be the guy.
I would say that the management team traded him because they are allergic to almost all MG guys.
I mean one of the thing we heard was that, they can clear cap by trading for Prust because his contract comes off next year. That doesn't make any sense unless they feel that Kassian has the ability to have a really good season forcing them to pay him more (or feel the wrath of the fan base because he is already so popular). So they want to get rid of him now regardless so they can have cap to go for Lucic.
I think this management is a mess, they try to sell us that Lack is a backup but they are afraid of keeping him in the wester conference thus taking only a 3rd round in return. They tell us Kass is bad and inconsistent and doesn't fit and then on the other hand say it's a way to clear cap to go for Lucic.
No kidding. It's almost like Kassian is being blamed somehow for the management disaster over the last 3 years that left him with an all-over-the-place developmental environment.
If 3 coaches in 3 years was a problem (it wasn't), then maybe you'd think that, with a young player of his potential, that having the same coach and message for multiple years finally would help him considerably? And that that might make more sense for a rebuilding team than dumping him for nothing?
Ho Borvat
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No one scoffs at the idea of these being important.
But Lack is a dude who in the offseason, flies to Sweden, essentially locks himself in a cabin in the middle of nowhere with his trainer and works his ass off. Kevin Woodley also raves about how he trains in all the cutting edge goaltending techniques and Botchford corroborates that Lack is an insanely hard worker.
The "mentor" excuse is garbage considering Lack was a teammate/fan favorite who by all reports was a tremendous professional.
Are Dorsett/Prust and better of a "culture carrier" than your average NHL vet (like a Brad Richardson or a Matt Stajan or a Kyle Chipchura)? Does Luca Sbisa watch significantly more film than a guy like Nick Leddy?
I don't buy that these guys bring more "mentoring/off ice habits" than your average NHL'er (or at least not enough to actually make a difference).
Ho Borvat
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The more and more I look at it, I almost feel like it would have been best for Kassian to really stew away in the AHL for as long as possible (just so he could avoid all the chaos this team went through the past 2 seasons).
Almost feel it would have worked out way better if he spent last year as his rookie season, and then 2 seasons prior in the AHL as our #1 callup.
DL44
Status quo
Miller states that Benning is looking beyond 2 seasons from now. i.e. Lack wasn't a long term solution to our goaltending.
Seems pretty consistent with everything else.
He definitely needed more time in the AHL. His toughness was NHL-ready when we traded for him and his offensive game was good enough to hang around the NHL, but his conditioning and three-zone game needed a lot more work.
He should have spent another year in the AHL just working on that.
Unfortunately, we wanted his toughness in the lineup, and I'm sure the fact that Hodgson was so popular here (at the time) meant there was pressure on management to get his replacement on the roster.
... and that literally could not make less sense.
The guy was one of the better, younger starters in the NHL. He was the definition of a long-term answer to our goaltending.
Instead we have a fossil who has stunk for his last 80 games and a guy who has never been able to compete at this level, and both are UFAs sooner than Lack would have been if we'd given him a reasonable extension this summer.
Horse McHindu
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You make good points, but I think there is something to be said about a guy that has been an elite goalie at some point in his career. Miller was, and possibly still is, that guy.
I think Benning is really high on Markstrom to be honest, and truly believes that Markstrom will successfully take the reigns from Miller. I think Benning feels like Markstrom's upside is far greater than Lack's. Time will tell obviously, but I just don't think that Benning felt comfortable with the idea of signing Lack to a long term contract.
In Benning's mind, perhaps he really feels that Markstrom will be a top flight NHL goalie in two years, and so if you sign Lack to a 4 year deal @$3.5 mill per (or whatever the 'rumored' terms was going to be), then you'd have a pretty expensive back-up goalie signed long term if Markstrom pans out to the extent that Benning might think he will.
Atleast with Miller, his contract expires in two years, at which point, you can see how things have panned out.
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