From the Pressbox

To all the critics of the hiring. You also criticized the canucks for their lack of success during the season, the lack of scoring, you cried for change. Well the owner is acting swiftly and executing change. Within weeks of ending the season, the Canucks fired and hired a GM. They hired a GM who stated he will address everything the critics have criticized about this team over the last two years. Quit whining, give the guy a chance, he has no track record, therefore your criticism has no basis. As this article mentioned there are plenty of succesful GM's who were once agents.

Vancouver has lived a soap-opera for what seems like forever and nothing they do seems to fix it. The madness always seems to be enough of a distraction that they do poorly come spring or tank in the playoffs. I hope this will fix the problem but only time will tell. I would love to see the Canadian 6 do well but either Vancouver or Toronto are always in trouble. If Roberto appears like he is dissatisfied who should be surprised. Stanley is what players live for and Vancouver is not even close it seems. Solution get Hossa and some more Grit.
PS: you are going to need something or Edmonton is going to walk all over Vancouver next year.

Well hopefully the 'nucks will tank next season but in doing so will be in a position to draft Tavares. Sounds like a lose, win, (and hopefully win some more in the future) scenario

Well, this move by the Aquilinis sure raised eyebrows like the firing of Nonis. Being this is Gillis's first time as a GM, the biggest thing the brings (for me anyway) is a big question mark. His hiring doesn't exactly fill me with confidence, but I'm going to give him a chance to see what he can do with this team.

What I see in these recent events with this team is the Aquilini's making their mark on this team. The wanted to bring in people that they are comfortable with and missing the playoffs is a good reason for them to clean house. I do believe that there will be more changes within the organisation at all levels over the coming months. Gillis will want to structure the organisation to his liking and will bring in people he believes in.

I do believe that it will be 1-2 years down the road before we really see what Gillis can do. In that time look for the following:

-- How will Gillis use the cap space that is freed up when Morrison's and Naslund's contract expires? There is opportunity to sign free agents or make some deals with other teams.
-- How will Gillis handle Luongo? There are questions about his long term commitment to this team. If there are doubts about Luongo, expect him to be moved before next year's trade deadline.
-- Who will be the Canuck's next coach? With the new GM, I expect that he will bring in a new coach. Nothing against Vigneault, but I think he's gone within the next year.

I believe it will be at least 2 years before this starts to look like Gillis's team. Hopefully, there won't be another ownership change before Gillis gets a chance to finish what he started.

yikes!Here we go.Gillis the new GM.I thought Aquilini said Experience Etc....Let me get to the meat of the matter.New jerseys.How about the Titanics,speaks for itself,or the Appollo 13s,The "EGO" has landed.One small step backwards for hockey,One giant leap backwards for Canuck fans.Aquilini is showing everyone that his own personal agenda comes first.Hockey decisions second.Rename GM place CircusCircus,Let the Decade of incompetance begin.Get your popcorn ready,The show is about to begin.

I sure hope I'm wrong but I think this is a REALLY stupid move to hire someone who's ONLY experience has been as a fringe player and a greedy agent.Better have a good assistant...Also,anyone who thinks Luongo will "LEAD" this team to a Cup is dreaming. I said at New Years that he looked like he wanted out. Look around,there are lots of good goalies in this league.If the "best" goaltender "wins" the cup,then where the hell is Broduer today?

Craig Button was NOT the finalist of the Atlanta 's expansion job in 1998 (1 year before they entered the league whey they hired their first GM), Elliotte. I believe Brian Burke was the other finalist, Whoa~

both the twins combined get paid 6 mil. How many points on average do they bring in? Much more than most players making that much.

Well, lets give him a chance! I beleive he will have to trade the twins to improve his team and get some CANADIAN talented players if he is seriuos about running for da! Hi Franky boy.........from Kingpin.....Trade the twins to Toronto, they don't care.

Wow. I'm sure I haven't read a more informed and interesting sports article in the past year. Hey Friedman, spend some more time on your laptop (and back it up, for pete's sake), there will be plenty of broadcast opportunities once the populace ceases to know how to read. Damn, I'm curmudgeonly this morning, maybe b/c I'm still waiting for the Leafs to strike as quickly/efficiently as the despised Vancouver Canucks.

A green GM who's never coached is scary, so let me help out a bit with a short ticklist for the ol' inbox...
First order of business is a promise from Luongo that his wife and child are moving to Vancouver. If not, this long-distance family relationship yields pure distraction this team has seen in large doses. It does no one any good and like it or not, the immediate future of the Canucks lies with Mrs. Luongo's plans. So, Roberto, what's her answer?
The new GM inherits all the talent he needs, except a creative coach who can get them to score consistently. At his last press conference, Coach Vigneault, under press fire, stated he coached like 90% of the other teams in the league. Well, that's unacceptable. Where's the edge, the creativity? For that matter, has anyone noticed a lack of Canuck emotion? Their scoring proved there wasn't any of the above. I see this as a serious red flag and if you love strict statistical coaching, save a few bucks and hire the guy who programmed the robots in the movie, "Strange Brew".
Nonis tolerated low scores for 2 years and what did it get him? Easily fault the coaching staff, as likable and classy as they are, but again ultimately Nonis, for not restaffing the bench, say, around January. Canning the Coach of the Year has been done, just ask Ted Nolan.
So, there's the first order of business: a coaching staff, possibly one of the best goalies gets moved, plus someone expensive and popular may have to go. Tune in this time next year when we find out if this move was pure brilliance or chaotic hubris.

Good-bye, winning records! Hello, draft lotteries!

As Naslund's current agent, isn't there some sort of conflict of interest issues that need to be sorted out?
I hope he doesn't try to keep Naslund around. The team really needs a new captain to rejuvenate its focus.