Vancouver Canucks: What Linden and Benning can learn from Rangers

The New York Rangers are fully committing themselves to a rebuild, realizing that this is necessary in their pursuit of the Stanley Cup. Jim Benning and Trevor Linden should take note of this move considering the state of their team.

This morning, the New York Rangers put out an open letter to all of their fans:

Read this letter. Read it as many times as it takes to fully understand where Glen Sather and Jeff Gorton are coming from. The New York Rangers have only missed the playoffs once in the Salary Cap Era. They list off their accomplishments and like the Canucks were very close to winning the Stanley Cup during this time.

However, when it was clear that they were not good enough to compete for the Cup, they made an honest assessment of the current team. The Rangers are being upfront with their fans and telling them what needs to be done. They are admitting that this team is not good enough.

Trevor Linden and Jim Benning must read this letter. Thoroughly. This is the kind of message that could have been used when the duo took over the team. I think the biggest difference between the Canucks and Rangers management groups lies in the primary goal of each organization.

Sather and Gorton want to bring a Stanley Cup back to New York. It’s stating the obvious, but every single team in this league should have the same goal in bringing the Cup to their city. The Canucks have set their sights on a much lower goal. For the last four years, their aim has been to squeak into the playoffs and see what happens.

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The notion is shortsighted and foolish. It is a plan that depends heavily on luck when that time could be spent accumulating a wealth of young talent through the draft. Rangers management is admitting they made mistakes. They are willing to make the tough human decisions that could involve saying goodbye to fan favourites.

Jeff Gorton and Glen Sather are putting themselves out there, accepting responsibility for their team. Trevor Linden likes to hide behind the phrase, “we came in a tough situation.” They always talk about a plan and how they like the direction that they are going in. Seems to me that they won’t accept all of the responsibility for the current state of the team. This cowardly denial is acceptable in year one, but not year four.

Vancouver needs to sober up and accept this team for what it is. Most of all, this management group should show some courage and make a commitment similar to the Rangers. The interest from the fanbase is waning, whether you want to admit or not.

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I applaud the brutal honesty from the New York Rangers. It’s a refreshing change of pace in a league full of teams that are in denial of what they have. I do wish more management groups were willing to admit when they were wrong. It’s a tough pill to swallow, but I can appreciate this level of respect for a committed group of fans. There is a good reason why the Rangers are the most valuable franchise in the NHL.

For a team with their eye on the future, they are more worried about keeping an expensive third pairing defenceman instead of moving him for picks. Once again, the team has less than seven picks going into the draft. I thought rebuilding teams stockpile picks.

When the decisions of the two oldest players determine whether an impending UFA is traded, we have a problem. There is little balance between rebuilding and making the playoffs. More often than not, this team leans towards the latter and fails.

The Canucks are going to have to mend fences with their fans. They are the lifeblood of the organization and from where I’m standing, they are not buying what you are selling. The fans aren’t dumb. The word “competitive” has lost all meaning in this market.

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Linden and Benning need to go back to the drawing board and admit that they were wrong. A simple letter like this can achieve just that. The gesture may improve the hope fans have for this franchise. At this point, hope will get people back in the seats. You just have to commit to it.