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.

Monday Morning Musics

by Jes

The one thing I can say that I have in common with the Vancouver Canucks is that we're both going through a period of mental hockey fatigue. It's the middle of the season, and I'm feeling 'blah'. The Canucks? They look the same way, winning just one of their past eight games, and generally sucking the big one. Injuries are really taking their toll as the Canucks can no longer seem to keep goals from being scored against them at a good pace.

Why is it the Canucks suck against sucky teams, especially Los Angeles? Post-lockout, the Blues, who could barely beat anyone else, whipped the Canucks like Mistress Veronique.

Vs. the Kings
October 19th: 4-2 loss
December 10th: 4-2 loss
January 10th: 3-2 loss

Are the Canucks trying to do Crawford a favor and sucking so that he can keep his job? WTF, eh?

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Wayne, our Southern correspondent, shares some thoughts over the weekend.

Did anyone hear Mike Milbury on NBC call out Jaromir Jagr as being "gloomy" and "moody"? He did everything except call him "Ee-yore"...Trying to think of an "All-Moody" team with Jagr and Marian Hossa; any other nominations?

Chris Pronger is definitely a big whiner, as is Raffi Torres. One more defenseman ... hmm ... Dion "Sour Puss" Phaneuf.

In goal? Can we pull Patrick Roy out of retirement?

And the coach? None other than the Great Whine, Wayne Gretzky

Jagr is truly the league's biggest diva, and both he and the Rangers would be in a great spot if he'd just shut up and story worrying about non-essential stuff. It's not enough for Jagr to be paid well, but he has to have the world revolve around him as well. For that reason, he's never been the guy you can truly build a team around.

I see that Marc Savard will finally make an All-Star Game this Sunday...wonder what kind of reaction he'll get in Atlanta...Me: I'd applaud...

As would I

As I type this, the Maple Laffs just fired their GM; what took them so long? Well, Don Waddell has an opening when Atlanta Spirit fires his ass this coming May.

I covered this over at NHL FanHouse. Until the Leafs change their management structure (ie. Too many cooks, not enough brains), it doesn't matter which GM they hire. The Leafs' ownership cares only about profits, and has too many people who want a say in the affairs of the club. For this reason, no GM can truly make their stamp on the team as they'll have many other people to go through.

It's a testament to Pat Quinn's GM skills that he did as well as he did during his tenure there, demotion and all.