CrashingTheGoalie

by Ron Spence

With the Canucks’ poor play of late, there’s been talk of Vancouver hiring a new coach.

Firings hit me in two ways: I think of families being disrupted; and I wait for the barrage of cliches.

So, this post merges these two elements – the human and the humour.

I have shown pictures of every Canucks’ GM and coach since 1970 (With the exception of Bill LaForge’s, whose picture I couldn’t find.) in chronological order.

And, I have interspersed their pictures – and relevant information – with typical cliches.

Sportscliches.com  has collected cliches from all sports – for every occasion. 

They have listed their “firing” quotes under three headings: what ownership and management say; what the fired coach says; and what the new coach has to say.

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NORMAN “BUD” POILE (GM 1970-73)

“Unfortunately there are days like this.”

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HAL LAYCOE (GM 1973-74)

(coach 1970-72)

“We’re in the business of winning.”

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VIC STASIUK (coach 1972-73)

“I’m the last one to make excuses.”

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BILL MCCREARY (coach 1973-74)

“I’m looking forward to my future endeavors.”

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PHIL MALONEY (GM 1974-76)

(coach 1974-77)

“It’s the nature of this business.”

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JAKE MILFORD (GM 1977-81)

“Orland is a class act.”

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ORLAND KURTENBACH (coach 1977-78 )

“Obviously I’m disappointed things didn’t work out.”

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HARRY NEALE (GM 1981-84)

(coach 1978-82)

(coach 1984)

(coach 1984-85)

“We need a clean slate.”

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ROGER NEILSON (coach 1982-84)

“I take the blame.”

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BILL LAFORGE (coach 1984)

AN UNSCRIPTED COMMENT MADE AT THE TIME OF BILL LAFORGE’S DEATH….

“Bill’s passion for the game was obvious…” said Harry Neal, “but the NHL just wasn’t his cup of tea. That became fairly obvious, fairly quickly and it was too bad.”

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 JACK GORDON (GM 1985-87)

“It’s time to move on.”

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TOM WATT (coach 1985-87)

“I’m going to spend more time with my family.”

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PAT QUINN (GM 1987-1998 )

“Everyone has to be held accountable.”

(coach 1991-94)

(coach 1996)

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GETTING FIRED IS A LONG WAY FROM GETTING HIRED – NOT JUST TIME AND A GREAT DEAL OF STRESS.

THERE’S A WHOLE DIFFERENT SET OF “CLICHE SPEAK” TO PICK FROM.

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BOB MCCAMMON (coach 1987-91)

“I’m excited about this opportunity.”

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RICK LEY (coach 1994-1996)

“I have high expectations for this team.”

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TOM RENNEY (coach 1996-97)

“These fans deserve a winner.”

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MIKE KEENAN (coach 1997-99)

“We’ve got a good, solid foundation to build on.”

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BRIAN BURKE (GM 1998-2004)

“We need someone who can take us to the next level.”

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MARC CRAWFORD (coach 1999-06)

“We’re going to get things turned around.”

 

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DAVE NONIS (GM 2004-2008 )

“It’s all about winning and losing.”

 

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ALAIN VIGNEAULT (coach 2006-2009)

 ”This franchise has a great winning tradition.”

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MIKE GILLIS  (GM 2008-11)

“We need a change of direction.”

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JOHN TORTORELLA (coach 2009-)

“We’re going to right the ship.”

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TREVOR LINDEN (GM 2011-)

“This is a great hockey town.”