Canucks Fire Dave Nonis

Well, my day was certainly brightened when I heard the news that Dave "No Balls" Nonis was canned as GM (and various other inflated titles) of the Vancouver Canucks.

Finally, some good news around here! The poor Vancouver Giants were knocked out of the WHL playoffs :(

So, Nonis is gone, and now rumours are floating about who will be his replacement ... Brian Burke, Ken Holland, Jim Nill ... basically, a lot of people around here are doing a lot of dreaming.

I just really hope it's not a promotion for Steve "Tamborine", since he's part of the old guard that helped put the Canucks in the muck they are in.

Now, I don’t want to totally kick Nonis while he is down. The man is obviously very bright and was a good soldier for the Canucks for many years.

Nonis was great as an Assistant GM (a position which he is much more suited for) under Brian Burke, negotiating contracts and doing the heavy legal work. If I were hiring an assistant GM, Nonis would be near the top of my list.

Yes, we know Mike Keenan was desperate to get Todd Bertuzzi, but give Nonis props for one of the most lopsided trades in NHL history. Pilfering Luongo out of Florida will always be Nonis' legacy.

Yet, in the end, Nonis could just not get the job done. The team continued to get worse and worse and doesn't exactly have a bright future looming over the horizon.

Everyone and their mother knew the Canucks needed offensive help this off-season, and then he goes out and signs Brad Isbister and Byron Ritchie. WTF?

Marc Chouinard? That's the type of low-skilled player Nonis is notorious for signing, and a big reason why the Canucks are loaded with lots of B-grade talent.

The Canucks have a lot of salary cap room this off-season, which is why now is the perfect time to get a GM who is assertive and has a plan. Nonis was simply too content to stay with the core group that was left to him, and too afraid to make any real changes to the roster, save for the Luongo deal. The new owners could obviously see that Nonis is not the guy you want when big decisions have to be made.

Nonis, to me, is a great business executive, but a poor hockey man. An NHL GM needs to be an astute hockey man, or have staff on hand that are. Nonis doesn't appear to be a wise judge of hockey talent, and lacked the staff on hand to support his weakness. The Canucks' scouting department is definitely below-average, and wasn't giving Nonis enough to work with in terms of talent evaluation. Very few good NHL GM's lack the talent evaluation aspect that Nonis appears to have.

So, today is a good day for Canucks fans, and let us hope that Nonis' replacement will know how to fix this club.

Don't feel too bad for Nonis ... he'll land on his feet. He's got too much knowledge of the business side of things to be unemployed for long.

Wayne's World: Our Southern Correspondent chips in.

The Vancouver 'Nucks fired their GM yesterday; when the hell will Atlanta Spirit get off their collective asses and fire Waddell and McCrimmon...after the Hawks get swept by the Celtics, so that they can get the big broom out and can everybody with both teams???

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, if Waddell comes back as GM, I'm not rooting for the Thrasher next season...

Well, the Thrashees have let it be well known that Waddell's job is safe. I guess Wayne will have to join another bandwagon next season.

Dave Nonis' Deadline Day Dud

by Jes

The swap of Matt Cooke for Matt Pettinger was basically a trade of two players that fell out of favour with their coaches. One used doorMatt for another.

While I was never a fan of Matt Cooke, I'm wondering if there is a small chance that we could get a mulligan on this deal.

I have been less-than-impressed with Matt Pettingzoo, as he shows nothing except an above-average set of wheels. Dude is 27, and has never had more than 38 points in a season. Like Cooke, Pettingzoo really doesn't seem to fit much of a role with the team, given that he's not good offensively, defensively, or physically.

Since the deal ...

Cookie: 2GP 1-2-3 +2
Pettinger: 4GP 0-0-0 -1

Pettingzoo hasn't had a goal in 32 games and has just 2 in 60 games this season. Pathetic! Even George Laraques has 3! There is nothing really to suggest that Pettinger is going to start scoring at a good pace, either.

For all of his faults, at least Cooke played with some aggression, and can lay out a few hits. On a team that lacks fire, Cooke stood out for stirring up the pot.

I don't get why Alain Vigneault was upset that Cooke didn't fight enough. Was it Marc Crawford or Brian Burke that said Cooke was the worst fighter in the NHL?

Whoever it was, the statement is pretty much spot-on, and wanting Cooke to fight was just inviting the guy to get smacked around. Even Wayne Gretzky would have a good shot at taking down the Cookie Monster.

I understand why Nonis got rid of Cooke and his bloated (soon-to-expire) contract, but why get back damaged goods? The Canucks already have enough disappointing players (Isbister, Ritchie) that clearly bring nothing to the table, and the last thing the team needed was just another warm body.