Roberto Luongo may be on the plane to Florida after getting traded to the Panthers by the Vancouver Canucks, but the news of his departure is keeping the city abuzz and the attention has now turned to the Vancouver Canucks general manager Mike Gillis.
Some are questioning whether Gillis’ recent decisions are to blame for the team’s lackluster performance and whether his job as the general manager may be on the line.
“If Mike Gillis’ job is in jeopardy, it will likely depend on how the team does for the rest of this season,” says Global BC sports director Squire Barnes.
He says the Canucks don’t like the idea of doing a complete breakdown and rebuild à la Edmonton.
“But last year at this time, the Canucks had two highly thought-of goalies. Both have been traded, and in return they have a first round prospect, a backup goalie, and a third line forward; hardly a good return for such assets. The biggest gain they got was in the salary cap space, but the cap is going up next year anyway,” says Barnes.
Sports blogger Harrison Mooney says it has been a while since a move made by Gillis has worked.
“You look at trades that he has made recently, guys like David Booth, who came in and have not done anything. He’s been in charge for a while now, and the team is really beginning to go down the drain…At this point, you have to point some fingers at Gillis.”
Today in Phoenix, Gillis was grilled by reporters about the trade deadline and why Canucks centre Ryan Kesler is still part of the team.
“We listened to offers… and none of them would be consistent with the direction that we are going to head in,” said Gillis.
When asked if he was worried about too much change after moving Roberto Luongo, Gillis answered with a resounding ‘no.’
“When your team is under performing, you get more calls from all kinds of different people trying to explore all kinds of situations,” he said. “That is how this business works. When we were in a position when we were achieving, we were doing the same thing, trying to get players from teams that are vulnerable. We knew that was going to happen today, and we were very cautious because of that.”
Despite all the apparent caution after yesterday’s bombshell trade, Vancouver fans did not hide their anger toward Gillis.
Chris Watkins, who started the “Fire Mike Gillis” Facebook page after the unsuccessful playoff run in 2011, says the activity on his page has spiked in the last 24 hours.
He says the overwhelming sentiment is discontent.
“They want him gone,” says Watkins.
One person wrote, “If he is not fired by the end of the day, this team is absolutely doomed.”
It was echoed by another comment saying, “The fans need to tell Aquilini that Gillis needs to be sent packing.”
Watkins says the real catalyst was last weekend’s Heritage Classic, when Luongo did not get the start.
“That is what people really reacted to,” says Watkins.
Since then, the popularity of the page has skyrocketed, with 800 new “likes” in light of Luongo’s trade Tuesday afternoon.
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