I watched the Canucks the other night (against Edmonton) and was underwhelmed. I think
that Nonis has painted himself into a corner by concentrating on using a few marquee
players at the expense of the team. A lot of the players (Burrows, Cowan....) are making
the bare minimum ($475,000/year etc). Anyone with a two way contract will always be sent
to the minors before the minimum game plateau is reached at the NHL level.

The Canucks have a new owner who is trying to re-coup a large investment. I think that the
management will be pressed to eliminate spending on bonus points; this leads to the same
demoralized product that existed when Pavel Bure, Mogilny and friends "couldn't wait" to
get out of Vancouver after the strike. I remember when Pavel had purchased a home on
Marine Drive in Vancouver just after he came to the Canucks. He was supposed to receive a
$5 million signing bonus but Arthur Griffiths Jr. refused to pay it. Pavel ended up having
to sell his furniture to make ends meet during the strike. He couldn't pay his bills and
was being chased for money by everyone.

This is the Vancouver management mentality. It is going to ruin the Canucks for a long
time. Naslund, the Sedins, Ohlund, (even Morrison) will all be leaving when contracts
expire unless a better quality of owner appears on the scene.