Official 2008/2009 Canucks Thread

[cspec]

^ Easily break 200

[the_rickster]

i was thinking more like 350+

[trdees]

Sundin!1!!!!

[AzNightmare]

lol, I was thinking of the same thing just this morning. The season hasn't even started yet but we're almost at the 50 page mark.

Even when the news is slow or there just isn't any hockey news at all, we make our own news by taking up 3 pages debating about plane travelling comforts.

Page total will depend if Canucks make it far into the playoffs or not.
People tend to post less if Canucks aren't in, since lot of people stop contributing to the thread if Canucks aren't playing anymore. And new people (bandwagoners) jump in when they are winning. If canucks make it into the finals, just about every member in RS is gonna be posting in here. Even the ones that don't watch hockey at all. (It's hard to not care about hockey in a hockey town. People will be horning their cars and everyone oblivious about Canucks will be wtf is going on??)

Then again, the page total will increase if you have newbies posting random posts like the one above mine.

[Ch28]

Originally Posted by AzNightmare

I seriously wonder which players are part of Gillis' plan B and C.
He could very well have deals prepared already if Sundin officially declines the offer,
but I'm just curious what kind of players could Canucks get for Bieksa?

Afinogenov??

I wanna see Sundin retire just so we can find out what backup plans Gillis has

[AzNightmare]

Originally Posted by Ch28

I wanna see Sundin retire just so we can find out what backup plans Gillis has

I'm not sure if I'm prepared for the risk of that. lol
Just because he has a backup plan, he never said they were a good backup plan...

[Ch28]

Originally Posted by AzNightmare

I'm not sure if I'm prepared for the risk of that. lol
Just because he has a backup plan, he never said they were a good backup plan...

Who cares

I'm sick and tired of this Sundin soap opera shit. You'd expect a guy that has been around the league for so long to not be pulling this kind of shit this late in the offseason.

I blame Neidermayer and Selanne for this. Fucking selfish bastards.

At least Forsberg had a legitimate excuse with his foot injury. These guys are probably just sitting at home twiddling their thumbs.

[Hi_Im_Mike]

Damn...I dunno what I want anymore...
A free player like Sundin that costs $10M
Or we lost that and trade a few players away and see a few top 6 forwards come in...
Fuck you Sundin...So much drama...

[iwantaskyline]

Sundin to retire?


While Sundin has remained mum on his future, hockey observers in Sweden say his actions are speaking loudly. For about 15 years, Sundin has been the catalyst and organizer of informal summer skates among NHL players based in Sweden. Those workouts are set to begin again Aug. 11 at the Globen Arena.

Normally, this is when Sundin would be working the phones making sure his countrymen know about the available ice. This summer, that gruntwork has fallen to someone else and Sundin, though he is in Stockholm, isn't even expected to attend the skates.

"He's not working out. It doesn't seem like he plans to. He's just golfing," said one source.

Barry said the retirement possibility is "why this whole consideration is taking so long."

http://www.thespec.com/Sports/article/412552

[KenM]

Originally Posted by CRS

Vermette just signed w/ sens for a multi year contract.

I doubt murray is going to trade him.

I think it was a sign and trade deal the whole time.

[AzNightmare]

I knew nothing will be answered on Aug 1.
this is getting pathetic.

Be prepared if Canucks end up with only Demitra and Sundins as their offensive core.
Plan B and C may be too late to execute if needed. Because from the looks of it, Sundin's gonna continue twiddling his thumbs. And Gillis isn't going to back out until there's an official decision made from Sundin.

[europeeing]

Originally Posted by AzNightmare

I knew nothing will be answered on Aug 1.
this is getting pathetic.

Be prepared if Canucks end up with only Demitra and Sundins as their offensive core.
Plan B and C may be too late to execute if needed. Because from the looks of it, Sundin's gonna continue twiddling his thumbs. And Gillis isn't going to back out until there's an official decision made from Sundin.

Yes, Demitra and the SUndins

[Ronin]

Originally Posted by Ch28

Who cares

I'm sick and tired of this Sundin soap opera shit. You'd expect a guy that has been around the league for so long to not be pulling this kind of shit this late in the offseason.

I blame Neidermayer and Selanne for this. Fucking selfish bastards.

At least Forsberg had a legitimate excuse with his foot injury. These guys are probably just sitting at home twiddling their thumbs.

Don't lump Sundin in with the Ducks fiasco last season. There's a big difference.

To be honest, I'm not all that upset at Sundin. From the very beginning, he was up front about it and said that he would give a decision in August. No bullshit...he said he wanted to think about it and that he would tell everyone in August. It is the media that has blown this entire thing out of proportion and blaming him for being a primadonna but from day one, he has been very honest. All the rumors about him making a decision have been from unreliable sources...and generally people that aren't Mats Sundin. He is an unrestricted free agent...he can do what he wants. He isn't under contract so if he wants to make a decision in August, that's his right. Don't blame Sundin...blame all the GMs that centered their plans around him knowing full well that he doesn't want to say until August and calling him everyday to ask him "Are we there yet?"

Niedermayer is different as he was under contract and chose not to report to training camp and as such, locked up $6m of the Ducks money that they couldn't do anything with until he made a decision. Selanne was a UFA as well.

[AzNightmare]

Originally Posted by europeeing

Yes, Demitra and the SUndins

Yes, I typed Sundins by accident. Good eye, sleuth.
You should have bold the "n" too.

[willystyle]

Alright, so where the fuck is the announcement?

[the_rickster]

^ apparently the entire north american media misinterpreted his deadline as being august 1st, when really it was just "august". fucking hilarious.


as much as it kinda cramps our plans for putting together a team asap, you gotta give the guy props for taking advantage of his star power.

[[ jay ]]

^ he's being a bitch (aka. typical chick) is what he's being lol.

[Ch28]

^

he's being nothing but an attention whore

[punkwax]

Boo-urns. How did no one pick up on the fact he never once said August 1st? Especially people in the media.

Every Canuck fan has been waiting for today.

Weaksauce.

[Hondaracer]

i knew that he was never going to make a descision today because I actually listened to the interview!

he never said shit about then from the beggining, his use of words just lent pratt and taylor to belive that it was the first of august because he said somthing along the lines of "he will make a descision come august" or somthing like that

i didnt expect anything from that gillis interview 2 weeks ago.

[fukamoto]

Originally Posted by Nodnarb

Boo-urns. How did no one pick up on the fact he never once said August 1st? Especially people in the media.

Every Canuck fan has been waiting for today.

Weaksauce.

He said August and the Swedish media (who has effed up a few times throughout this ordeal) wrote August 1st.

[cspec]

I wonder what Luongo feels about his team all changed up...

[fukamoto]

Probably okay with it.

An article from CDC stated how Luongo was "pissed off" most of the past season and after spending the summer with his wife and new kid, he's rejuvenated.

[the_rickster]

hearing that makes me think we should unload bobby lu in 09/10 season. unless we go deep this season, he's outtie.

[Razor Ramon HG]

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=2450...s=topStory_nhl

YZERMAN: PUT OFF RETIREMENT IF ANY DOUBTS
THE CANADIAN PRESS
8/1/2008 7:43:21 PM

Steve Yzerman and Joe Nieuwendyk were forced into retirement by injuries and never really had to wrestle with the decision about when to call it a career.

So when they see players like Mats Sundin or Joe Sakic struggling to make up their minds, they have one simple piece of advice.

''If there's any doubt and guys aren't sure, I think they should be playing,'' Yzerman told The Canadian Press on Friday. ''You can be retired for the rest of your life. You'll know when you're done.

''If you're not 100 per cent certain that you don't want to play anymore, then the decision is that you should be playing.''

Added Nieuwendyk: ''People always told me: 'Play as long as you can.' I think these guys you're talking about still have some good years left in them.''

The last NHL season ended months ago for Sundin and Sakic and the next one is fast approaching. In the meantime, both players are still trying to decide whether they want to go through the grind of another 82 regular-season games.

While fans have grown frustrated as they await the final word, Yzerman says he can understand why some players take a long time mulling things over.

''I think guys want to be certain and just do it once,'' he said. ''You look at what Brett Favre is going through right now, it's better when you make the decision just to do it one time.

''It's better for everyone if it's the right decision and you don't change your mind and have any regrets after.''

Sundin had targetted Friday as a ''soft deadline'' for deciding whether he would return for an 18th NHL season. The 37-year-old ended up letting it pass, but presumably not for long.

He and Sakic have both expressed a desire to attend training camp if they're going to play, which means that each will likely need to make a decision in the coming week or two. NHL training camps open in mid-September.

Neither player seems likely to follow the route taken by Anaheim Ducks defenceman Scott Niedermayer last season. He didn't join the team until December and only ended up playing 48 regular-season games.

Teemu Selanne waited even longer. He didn't play his first game for Anaheim until February and is another of the players who hasn't decided what he wants to do this coming year.

While Niedermayer was considering retirement last fall, he called his former teammate Nieuwendyk for some advice.

''He really felt that he was at a point in his life where he really wanted time to do other things and felt like he was missing out a little bit,'' said Nieuwendyk. ''I think once he took half a year off, he realized that those things will be there when hockey's over.

''I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up playing again after this contract.''

The same could happen with Sundin and Sakic - players who spent time together with the Quebec Nordiques early in their careers.

Yzerman now works in the Detroit Red Wings front office while Nieuwendyk joined the Toronto Maple Leafs management team earlier this summer. That keeps both men close to a game they would still like to be playing at the highest level.

''My desire never wavered,'' said Nieuwendyk, who retired in December 2006 because of a back injury. ''I loved it right until the very end. I really don't have any regrets - I played until I was 40, which is more than a lot of guys get to do.'''

When Yzerman held a press conference in July 2006 to end his career, he spoke for more than two minutes before saying the word ''retirement.''

Repeated knee injuries forced his hand.

''The only reason I retired was health,'' said Yzerman. ''I loved playing the game and everything about it. If I could have remained healthy and trained and what not, I would've kept playing.

''But I just physically couldn't do it anymore.''

Even he took some time before making the decision official.

Yzerman knew during the season that it would probably be his last but waited almost two months after the playoffs ended to tell the Red Wings.

''Once I had done it, I felt really good about it,'' he said. ''I knew it was the right decision at that time.''