Mike Gillis to be named Vancouver Canuck's GM

Former pro hockey player and player agent Mike Gillis is said to be named the new GM of the Vancouver Canucks later this week.

The Province has confirmed the next general manager of the Vancouver Canucks will be super agent Mike Gillis.

He has been the frontrunner for the job since Dave Nonis was fired last Monday.

The Aquilini brothers are set to unveil him as the next general manager Wednesday morning.

So you may all be wondering... who is Mike Gillis? Well here's some background:

• He's 49, and from Toronto.
• He played in the NHL with the Boston Bruins and Colorado Rockies in the late 70's and early 80's
• He was a former 1st round draft pick
• Had a career ending knee injury
• He then went ahead and got a Law degree from Queens and taught sports law
• Has spent many years as a player agent representing the likes of Geoff Courtnall, Markus Naslund, Pavol Demitra, and Pavel Bure
• Was involved in the negotiation of lucrative contacts for Tony Amonte, Pavel Bure, Bobby Holik.
  
• Was considered for the GM position with the Canucks in '98 when they hired Brian Burke

I wasn't a fan of the Nonis firing, but we can't call it a bad move until we see what Mr. Gillis does. I'm at least glad they filled the post quickly. I was waiting to take it all in before I really sounded off on the whole situation.

So here goes...

So like I said before, I wasn't a fan of the Aquilini decision to fire Nonis but they have their right as the owners to make a decision. Even if it was a bit of a knee jerk reaction. However, we can't dwell on the past. We have a new GM coming in and he's got a lot of work to do in a short amount of time.

Mike Gillis is a bit of an "outside the box" candidate. He's never had had any experience as an GM, but that's not to say he can't do the job. In fact, he might just work out really well. Sure people will say there's no experience there and that he doesn't know what he's doing... blah blah blah. Well a good manager needs a good support structure and supporting cast. That'll be his first test and we'll see what he does there. I'd sleep much easier at night if Steve Tambellini stays as his Assistant. But for those that say he doesn't know how to do the job think of this.

He's a former player - so he knows the game and knows what it's like to be a player and how an organization works in that capacity. He was a former first round draft pick - so he knows what the pressure and things like that would be like at an elite level. He's smart and understands the business - he has a degree in law, taught sports law and was a very successful player agent for many years. In fact, he was the man who negotiated the lucrative deals for Bure, Bobby Holik , Markus Naslund and Tony Amonte. So he's no stranger to the business of hockey. In fact, I see this as an edge. He can see the game and business from many angles that other people would not understand. This gives him an edge as he was well known as a shrewd negotiator. Now add in the numerous contacts he has all over the hockey world and league.

If someone say works as a buyer for a retailer they get to really understand the ins and outs of that business. Say they leave the job and work for a vendor instead that now sells product to the retailer. That person would be very well equipped to perform that job because they have been on both sides of the fence and can see the "big picture".

He's got some big decisions to make as far as his coaching staff, and direction this team needs to take. This is a big summer for him as we have a lot of cap space to spend money and we need to improve our offense. Nonis has left many pieces in place that can make him successful as long as he makes smart decisions. I only hope he's not as trigger happy as our owners.

So before we pass too much judgment, I think we have to see what Gillis does and what he potentially can bring to the table.

Dave Nonis Fired? Canucks Head Office in Turmoil

TSN reports that Dave Nonis has been Fired.

The Vancouver Canucks have fired Dave Nonis after three seasons as the team's general manager. Under Nonis, the Canucks failed to make the playoffs in two of their last three seasons.

Sportsnet.ca had this quote:

“The decision to relieve Dave of his duties was difficult,” said Vancouver Canucks chairman Francesco Aquilini in a release. “We want to thank Dave for the many contributions he has made helping to build our organization during his tenure.

“However, I think this important change in leadership is critical to the future of the team and the direction we need to take. It’s not acceptable to our fans or to us as owners that our team isn’t in the playoffs.”

This came right out of left field as we've heard rumblings about the Fabian Brunnstrom signing.
I'm sitting here watching the Pens and Senators game and I get a text that rocks my world. Thanks to Joe for the heads up!

I don't really like this decision. I've always been a fan of Nonis for not trading away our assets for quick fixes. He did everything he could to keep us from turning into the Toronto Maple Leafs of the west. It sucks that the failure to make the playoffs was ultimately blamed on him, with all the injuries, and other factors. I would have rather seen the Coach V go instead.

This was to be the summer of Nonis where he could rightfully put a stamp on this team without having to deal with Cap issues and contracts he didn't sign. I'm sad for Dave. Sure, there was criticism for him not making a move during the deadline, but i was glad he didn't make the Brad Richards trade. The best move he could have made there was no move.

I hope that Aquilini knows what he's doing. The question is who replaces Dave? Steve Tambellini is the logical conclusion or do they go test the waters a new GM? Regardless, they better do it quick with the draft right around the corner. Does Vigneault go too?

I wish Dave the best of luck. He was a good GM, and we can never forget that he brought Luongo here. I'm sure Nonis will land on his feet. He'll easily find a job again. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Brian Burke is on the phone offering Nonis a job right now.

The Downward Spiral that is the Vancouver Canucks

It's been a roller coaster ride of ups and downs this season for the Vancouver Canucks. This stretch run of a four game losing streak could not come at a worse time. How did we get here?

The glaring holes in our defense has been made very apparent recently, as our division rivals are all gunning for the playoffs playing their best hockey of the year.

And why do we have these holes you ask? In Mirtle's blog he once posted about the amount of man games lost to injury, that's a pretty good answer in this case. I don't have the total numbers but I believe within the Northwest Division we have the most injuries on the blue line. We lost Salo and Bieksa early in the season, but we rallied from that and arguably played our best stretch of hockey in November.

Then we got Salo back and lost him again. He came back later and has his flashes of brilliance every so often, but I don't think we've seen a comfortable 100% injury free Salo this season.

Then we lost Krajicek.

Then we lost Mitchell for an extended period.

Then we lost Ohlund for the rest of the season.

I think you see the trend. On the bright side, we've seen the rise of Alex Edler, albeit lately I think the huge minutes are starting to wear on him.

So defensive woes are apparent. We also have offensive woes, rather than offensive "whoas" as well.

We lost Morrison earlier in the season to a wrist injury. Then we got him back, and our offense looked somewhat stabilized.

Then guess what happened? Torn ACL.

Our Iron Man ain't so iron no more.

We saw the rise of a promising young Mason Raymond as well. He's on the shelf too after a knee on knee against a Phoenix Coyotes player.

So to recap injuries have plagued us. But as many hockey teams state that is no excuse, and it really isn't. It's disappointing but as a fan I wouldn't care so much if I saw some more effort.

But lately it's like the Canucks are bipolar. They're as wishy washy as most of the bandwagon jumping fans here in Vancouver.

As Naslund likes to say, "choked". Yup. We're choking down the stretch. A week ago we were in contention for the Division title. Now we're in danger of missing the playoffs. We're tied with Nashville today with 86 points, but by virtue of the tie breaker they're in 8th. So with five games left, we don't even control our own destiny.

If they run the table they're in. If we run the table, we have to hope that someone comes along and plays spoiler.

Even if we make the playoffs we're squeaking in by the skin of our teeth. Then what? Bounced in the first round?

With the effort we've seen lately... absolutely. Remember last year?



I'm a Canucks fan through and through, but I'm also a hockey fan. And as a hockey fan, I don't want to see us make the playoffs because we don't deserve to make the playoffs. There are no more excuses to be made. I see it in the players and it's sad, they look defeated.

My mom once said that GM Place is cursed because it has bad Feng Shui. I think I'm starting to believe her.

But I don't want to end on a downer. So lets look at the positives.

We have a big off season ahead of us. Nonis has a lot of work to do. I'll touch more on this in a future post.

For the most part, I applaud Dave Nonis for the way he's handled the team this year. He couldn't have predicted the injury plague we've been hit with. He really should have addressed some of the secondary scoring issues last year, but his hands were tied a bit with the cap space and he wanted to leave room for the deadline.

I'm also extremely happy we didn't sell the farm for a Brad Richards at the deadline. For those of you who knock Nonis for having no balls, the ballsiest move he made at the deadline was doing nothing.

Where we need to improve is in our scouting. We need to draft better. I can't state this enough.
In the last few years we've found a few gems in the 2nd rounds or later, but we've also passed on some serious talent in our draft history. In this era of the NHL you need youth to chip in at a lower salary range if you want a chance to win a Stanley Cup.

I look forward to the off season for a chance to refresh our team and really prove to Luongo and our other heart and soul players that we are committed to winning. This year had its lowlights but also some highlights as well.

Our youth is on the rise. We finally have some talent in the system which we shouldn't rush. Let them develop properly. Do you want to turn out like the Toronto Maple Leafs?

The rise of the youth on this team is encouraging. Kesler, Burrows, Edler, Raymond and Shannon will start to shift towards the core of the team. Our current core players will add veteran experience.

It's been a doozy of a post. My boss at work told me that the other posts were short. So K, here you go it's a longer one for you.