Nucks Misconduct, a Vancouver Canucks community

"Vancouver was not a destination point for really high-level free agents for a variety of reasons. Anywhere from taxes to rain to travel, you name it," he said.

"I felt if we were going to be a competitive team and organization, we had to change that mindset. We did it by approving a plan that was in place to redo the dressing room facility.

"We did it by initially offering more money to certain players we felt would legitimize our team in the short-term for others, one of them being Mats Sundin -- he made a significant difference in our organization -- and we tried to provide a guarantee we were going to make players better by every means possible."

There’s a management refrain about how it’s better to deliver on low expectations than fall short of high expectations.

Canucks GM Mike Gillis isn’t a subscriber.

Asked if Stanley-Cup-or-bust was a fair expectation for the 2010-11 Canucks, Gillis said: "I think we’re one of four or five teams that are considered to be capable of winning the Stanley Cup."

"I think our team is really deep in every area, and I don’t think we have a glaring weakness that needs to be addressed," he continued. "But injuries and different things can change that."

"When we went out for dinner with Ryan and Henrik after the awards, we talked about our team," Gillis explained after the draft ended Saturday. "I didn't think we'd be this close for an additional year. We knew we had to accelerate our program. I would have hated to have this group of players come to training camp in September and tell them we couldn't make any key improvements." -The Vancouver Sun

"I'm not talking about Cody Hodgson," Mike Gillis said from Boston. "He doesn't play for our team."
When asked what he made of Hodgson's statement, Gillis replied: "I don't care."
"[Hodgson] has some ideas of his own," Gillis said. "I haven't talked to him, so I'm not going to comment until then."