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Reaction To Canucks Missing The Playoffs

By Zanstorm

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The fate of the coach is likely the immediate question. The Aquilini family was closely involved in Tortorella’s hiring last June, even as the hockey executives, led by Gillis, made the final decision. And while the Aquilinis like Tortorella’s hard-driving style, they have wondered about some decisions the coach has made, such as overplaying the team’s stars. The strategy – which Tortorella has said was decided because of a lack of roster depth – unduly wore down the key players – and it showed in the results.

-Globe And Mail

The night ended with some in the half-empty building chanting for Canucks president and general manager Mike Gillis to be fired. Gillis seemed to criticize the style of first-year head coach John Tortorella in a radio interview last week, saying that he wanted the team to get back to the type of game that got it to the 2011 final against the Boston Bruins.

But it's clear many blame Gillis for the team's current plight.

"(Fans) paid big money to come to these games. It's their prerogative how they handle themselves," said Tortorella. "As far as fans are concerned, that's their call.

"They pay money to come see the games. They're not happy. They can voice their opinion how they like to."

-TSN. How could he NOT hear the chant?

"Personally I don't think it's the right thing to do, but at the end of the day the fans come and they can do whatever they want. Put it this way: we're all going to take the blame for this. It's not just one or two guys. It's the whole team. We're going to take what we get, move forward, push through this."

-Kevin Bieksa post game. Really, Juice? They pay the big bucks they can say whatever the hell they want to.

The game marked Teemu Selanne’s final visit to Vancouver as a player. Set to retire after the post-season, 43-year-old has said repeatedly that the city is his favourite stop in the NHL. The Canucks honoured Selanne with a brief scoreboard tribute in the first period.

-Sportsnet. His favorite? Because he destroys us here? Or because the Roxy kicks ass?

...it was clear that this group is absolutely done with the fellow (Torts) and any thoughts of bringing him back should be banished permanently because any attempt to sell this unwatchable crap next season will resut in the total evacuation of Rogers Arena.

Gollum! Gollum Column!

The Aquilinis have sent legal letters to two local media members, requesting a retraction and apology for suggesting ownership had a significant role in hiring John Tortorella. (for disclosure sake, I’m not one of them) A libel notice must be sent within six weeks of an alleged libellous statement, and is the first step if you want to sue a publisher for libel. In writing, you need to let the author know you believe you have been libelled. In this particular case, the Aquilinis claim the reports, one of which says Tortorella was hired by consensus, were erroneous and Tortorella was their general manager’s choice, and one which they backed. They also claim that by writing they had a prominent role in the hiring it was designed to "incite ridicule for making bad or embarrassing judgments." Neither writer or publication, as of this date, are planning a retraction or apology and both stand by their stories. I would think this would be an extremely difficult case for the Canucks’ owners to win because, well, they are the owners and they write Tortorella’s cheques, so at some point, legally they hired the coach. Reports the Aquilinis were "heavily involved" in the hiring process date back to before Tortorella got the job in late June. Those who wrote about the Aquilinis involvement did not start hearing from the owners until the season spun out into a disaster. It’s been widely acknowledged that the Aquilinis were even present during the actual interviews between management and Tortorella, and that’s something the coach recently discussed. The undercurrent of the Aquilinis argument strikes me as amazing. The idea being whomever hired Tortorella is open to ridicule for making bad or embarrassing judgments is quite the claim by the organization.

Botchford @ The Provies. EEEK

Stop making me sad, Jeff!

Shut the fuck up!

Uhhhh....trade them away for top picks and prospects? STFU!

He DID say that post game. But then he said he'd ice the best lineup......ice the kids, Torts!

No they don't. That would be Leafs fans.

Me too.

I can't shit-talk Squire. I love that guy. He's like..a nerdy grandpa to me.

Hahaha. Love the Godfather reference..but no...

Suddenly looks like Florida. But hey! Luongo and Schneider missed the playoffs too!

God help us!

Which reminds me:

photo punch.gif

Hehehheh, shut up I like Torts.

Because i am evil.

Yep! See you in hell!

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