Tuesday 5 November 2013

Ryan Pilon Leaves Lethbridge Hurricanes

The Lethbridge Hurricanes were dealt a blow Tuesday, when Defenceman Ryan Pilon chose to leave the team.

Hurricanes General Manager, Brad Robson is disappointed Ryan has chosen to take this route in his hockey career at a time when the team is working hard and committed to winning.



Pilon was drafted in the first round, 3rdoverall in the 2011 Bantam Draft. In his rookie campaign, the 6’2, 212 pound defenceman played in 57 games and registered 28 points (5G, 23). This season, he’s played 17 games and has 3 goals and 4 assists. Pilon has also competed internationally for Team Canada.  He competed at the 2012 Youth Olympics and was a member of the Canada’s Gold Medal winning team at the U18 Ivan Hlinka Tournament this past summer. He was also named Captain of Team West at the U17 Hockey Challenge.

With Pilon’s decision to leave the team, he has returned home to await a trade.

52 comments:

  1. Wow.
    I don't know if there is anything left to say. I'm sure we will be seeing a bright future from Pilon and it's too bad it won't be with the Hurricanes.
    CaneFan

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  2. Kids have got to realize it is a team sport. if I was robsson I would put a stop to this while he can Do not trade him let him wait till hell freezes over. kids will stop whining and jumping ship !

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    1. They may also refuse to come to Lethbridge in the first place in the Bantam Draft. Every thought of that?

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  3. I find it hilarious that these players think they are too good to be here. If it takes 2 months of "bad" coaching to ruin your abilities or completely hinder your skills, maybe you weren't as good as you and everyone thought you were? I'm speaking in regards to sam and Jaimen especially, 4 goals together and they were too good to be here? Laughable. I'm curious what excuses people will come up with to blame coaching for these high end players falling short (Duke, etc) when players like Wong and Ramsay are still working their butts off and actually making a difference rather than quitting and blaming the coach for their own lack of heart and commitment. Still a huge fan of the guys who realize their role on this losing team and don't think they are above it. Hope things turn around soon

    -HC

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    1. It's always best if you understand the game and it's various parts (coaching is a HUGE part of it) before laying blame solely on the players. They want to have fun while they're playing the game the love. They obviously weren't having fun playing for the new coaches.

      Empty Net

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  4. How is this team committed to winning? By doing the same system night after night? Another player asks to leave the team. Why? Look at the coaching team dynamics. Something has to give here before there are no players left. Sad situation right now.

    Wannabe

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  5. I agree with Wannabe.To lay this entirely on the players is absurd. There is obviously more going on than what we are privy to. If Robson is hell bent on keeping this coaching staff, then as the leaders of this organization (and the adults, I might add) it is up to them to figure out what is going on and how to deal with it. We don't need spoiled brats but we also don't need hard headed coaches who are too stubborn to see what is happening right in front of them. If your systems aren't working swallow your pride and change them. As was mentioned numerous times on the weekly radio show, get yourselves back to simple and find a way to help these players win some games. I am afraid if they don't the team will be done before this season is.

    -cc

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  6. Another day another trade.

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  7. Call the Harvard Business School. I have an example for them of "Worst Run Business in Canada."

    As much as I hate to type it, you may as well package up Duke with Pilon in this trade if you can, because if he hasn't already, he will be asking for a trade very soon.

    You may as well add in Derko, because although he has been excellent, he probably hates it here, too. Oh yeah, Estephan probably should go because he'll be asking sooner or no later than next year, and we may as well trade Ramsay while we are at it, so he can play on a good team for once in his WHL carreer.... and of course, Maxwell, he deserves another team too,.. and most of all, Tyler Wong.. He has been our best player, and he must absolutely hate it here, and he would drive a great trade!

    Good ole Lenny Hackman, Chris Tai, and Bryton Sayers and Joel Topping. Lenny seems so nice, dependable, and easy going, and Topping, Sayers, and Tai all seem to have great positive attitudes! There is our new team.

    Surely these three guys will stick it out with us and won't ask to be traded?? We'll suit them up, and take our chances, then? We'll just focus more heavily on the 3 on 5 situation.

    ROBSON!! Your team needs to fix THE CAUSE, and it is NOT all the players who naturally don't want to play for these clowns! Sit down with your arrogant coaching staff and get them to stop insisting on their lousy plan and get them to stop spewing their useless insisting drivel. NOBODY IS BUYING IT... OBVIOUSLY... Face it!! The Canes under the brilliance of the DRAKE are 42 seconds away (Oil Kings) from a 1 win season 1/4 way through this painful season!

    The players either hate or can't understand or don't believe in his systems, and why would they??

    We fans sure as heck aren't enjoying it, and the longer this goes on, NO PLAYER IS EVER GOING TO WANT TO PLAY FOR THESE GUYS UNLESS THEY ALTER their methods! DID THE NHL MAKE THESE COACHES ALL BLIND, or was it all the hits to the HEAD?

    On the bright side, the price to Kris Versteeg and his contingent just keeps going down....... Hey, wait a minute. Kris played for TML,... the Drake also played for the leafs... hmmmmmmm...

    NOTHING LESS THAN A FIRST ROUND PICK IN 2014 and at LEAST two roster players for PILON!!

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  8. Tirade: this is basically the point I was trying to make but you seem to have done it so much better. I couldn't agree more.

    -cc

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  9. Another one quits the TEAM. Should have been the best D man the Canes have. I am not a share holder or on the BOD but would love the chance to talk to the players to try to find out what is going on. To the BOD and GM post on here that you are interested in this and I will reply. If they have not figured out something is really wrong then they need to get rid of there selfish ego's and sell the team while there still is a team. KAOS

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  10. What needs to happen for this organization to realize that this staff has lost its team?
    Is this not enough? The best talent this organization has seen since Seabrook is gone at 17. Two assistant captains requested out. Both picked to be leaders of the team.
    I don’t know how this staff can last until the end of the week. Especially with all the ‘accountability’ talk after Rich was fired.
    Long Run

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  11. As a long time Jets fan, I should have known; any franchise that begins as the "Winnipeg Jets" is going to have LOTS and LOTS of organizational and performance problems!

    Just curious: Who quits, asks for a trade, or walks off the job first?
    Twister, Hecklers Row, or Pat Siedlecki?

    Richie.

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  12. The best way to deal with him right now is the way Prince George dealt with Forsberg...they let him sit at home and eventually he came back realizing it was his best option. Wait the year and or at least let things cool down. Right now most teams will think Lethbridge is desperate and likely will not offer much. Also, the team needs to send the message that the players will not dictate how the club is run. I could see if Ryan was not playing much or not given the opportunity like some other high draft picks here in the past but he has been given huge ice from the beginning, He plays 20-30 minutes a night and has since he arrived. Let him go home, wait and see if cooler heads can reset things. Most importantly Robson needs to send the message to the rest of the players that he is listening to the players and that there are better solutions then going home and asking for a trade. Before this can happen someone in the front office has to recognize that things in Lethbridge need to be fixed.

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    1. Robson has either already tried this unsuccessfully or doesn't believe it would work or hasn't even thought of it. Sending a 17 year old budding star home isn't the way to deal with the situation, agreed, but Robson seems to be hell-bent on taking a hard-line approach. It's hard to tell, he didn't address these points in his interview, which is part of the problem with this current administration. There's more questions than answers.

      Empty Net

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  13. Why is everyone so quick at blaming the staff. We do not know the reasons why Pilon decided to leave. Listening to Mr. Robsons interview above he indicates that Pilon thought "he was not developing as he thought he should be". "He does not want to be here". anything further Mr. Robson says you have to talk to Pilon. That does not sound team centered to me. On the radio show on Monday , Pat please correct me if I am wrong, but the round table indicated that there was about five trades or people that should be moved. Also another comment site indicates that the coach approached the GM about trading five players. Now one can not believe or put much credence in unsubstantiated posts. These comments are out there for all to read. By my count that is four players now gone. We do not know all of the reason for this decision and may never know.

    Mr. Robson indicated that he talked to the team today and asked if anyone else would like to be moved. Does not sound like there were any takers.

    I was looking at the Buzz on the Hurricane Web Site as well as some of the twitter feeds of the players and no one seems to be saying good bye or wishing the departed players good luck. Just find this interesting and in this day and age of social media the younger generation seems to only communicate on twitter, facebook or text.

    Some things that I have noticed though is that Pilon's play dropped of considerably after the Christmas break last season. Again the team was loosing. His play this year has been uninspired and lackluster at times. Last year he did not seem to get along with Matt Kabayama who was coaching the defence last year. This leads me to believe that he was unhappy prior to the changes of staff and this decision probably was in the making over the summer months or the seeds of this decision were certainly sown during these months.

    This team has some players that are giving their heart and soul out on the ice. Maxwell, Ramsay, Wong, Sheen and Hackman and others. It is plain to see the players that play every night. It is also plain to see those that do not.

    I believe that there needs to be further changes made to improve this team and they involve players. There still are some players along for the ride. These players need to be moved or released.

    Players such as Maxwell, Ramsay and others who give it their all each and every night deserve teammates that give it their best like they are. It is my hope that a trade is consummated fairly quickly and players that want to play and give their best are brought here. Most certainly players that do not spell team with an I. We do not need anymore of those. After the previous two trades, Henry and the McKechnie and Yakabwoski trade, the Hurricanes seemed to have a spark as they were not weighed down with players who do not want to be here. I believe this will happen again I guess I am a glass half full kind of guy!

    A View from Above

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  14. I don't blame these kids at all for wanting to go to a new team and get a fresh start. For 95% of these kids they play major junior in hopes of moving on to the next level. Every game they play there is at least 1 NHL team in attendance and usually anywhere from 3-10. Why stay in a losing environment with suspect coaching (at least by the looks of it) you need to show scouts you can play at the next level and that's tough to do when you constantly get embarrassed. This team needs a new direction. Sell the team ASAP!!

    Disgruntled fan

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  15. KAOS. You have certainly changed your tune. Guess it wasn't just Sam and Yak who were "quitters". And now you're asking for the BOD and GM to personally respond to your demand for accountability. It's obviously not just the quitting players fault eh? Hilarious. You can see you need to get in line and the issues here are much deeper than a bunch of difficult kids. I feel so bad for Maxwell, Ramsay and others who have given everything and are getting the serious short end. You know what? Pilon was getting worse. As Merkley did. As Tot did. As Duke definitely is. As Erkamps is. See a trend? Somebody please go and BEG Bryan Maxwell to come back and do what he did with the dozens and dozens of NHLers he trained in Medicine Hat (Memorial Cup), Spokane (Memorial Cup) and Lethbridge (Memorial Cup finals). Lethbridge deserves this.

    Wannabe Oldimer

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  16. Sell the team, sell the team! That request keeps coming up anytime something goes wrong! Ok sell the team! Does that mean that Kris Versteeg gets to own the team? Possibly. But first the shareholders of the franchise (not the board) have to vote 75% in favor of putting the team on the selling block. Then the WHL steps in a looks at all the groups or individuals that want to own a franchise (and according to the commissioner there are several already in place). They then look at setting the market value of a WHL franchise (likely in the 7-9 million dollar range). Then the WHL, not the shareholders, not the BOD decide upon the new ownership like they did with Saskatoon.
    So selling the team is not up to the BOD! It is up to the shareholders.
    That is the process. Until someone or some group approaches the shareholders, nothing will happen.

    As for bringing Bryan Maxwell back as a coach, (no disrespect intended) but his style of hard nose, tough hockey has long since gone in the WHL. The teams are now fast, skilled and have size and play a different brand of hockey.

    Pilon is gone, why? Who knows the exact reason? Just him and his agent. But the lack of goodbyes and good luck wishes from his former teammates could be an indication of underlying problems with him.

    If this cleansing of the dressing room results in the team being better on the ice, then most of us will button up. If the team continues to falter then there are more serious problems.

    When the time comes for the trade, I hope that Brad gets a 1st round pick for 2014, a big strong physical, smooth skating 19 yr old defenseman and a big strong skilled 18 yr old forward.

    This is the generation of "me first". Is Pilon an example of that? (Just asking out loud).

    Dump'n Chase

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  17. Just some food for thought on the ownership issue. Wayne Gretzky and Michael Jordan are fantastic examples of great athletes who could not translate their success as athletes into success as executives. The professional and amateur sports landscape is littered with highly successful athletes who could not make the transition successfully into ownership, management, and coaching roles. The skill needed to succeed in these positions are a very different skill set than the skills needed to succeed as an athlete in a team sport.

    When you look at the great franchises of the past 10 to 15 years such as the Detroit Red Wings, the New England Patriots, or the Boston Red Sox they are run entrepreneurs, managers, statisticians, player personnel experts and live event specialists. They hire coaches who have developed themselves as coaches and not simply ex players. The individuals who handle player personnel are as skilled at managing ego's, agents, and negotiations as they are at talent identification and knowledge of the sport.

    In every league the majority of the teams are run by talented individuals who have had success in their past endeavors, and in all those leagues there typically are only a handful of teams that are truly consistently successful. The WHL is no exception. There are a host of factors that affect success which range from hiring decisions, the individual market, player injuries, drafts, and even the local economy.

    Don't be so quick to assume that a 27 year old NHL forward with no management experience, no hiring experience, no sales experience, no marketing experience, no post secondary education, no scouting experience, no coaching experience, no public relations experience, and never having owned a business in his life is necessarily the answer.

    Give the situation the opportunity to play out, and at the end of the season let the shareholders deal with the results in an appropriate manner. All parties involved have solid resumes and are surely trying there best and deserve 72 games to be judged on.
    ML

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    1. You have some very good points that I agree with and I believe that the WHL will have the experience and knowledge to figure out ownership in this City.
      Anyone that is approved by the WHL to purchase this team at the 7-9 million dollar range will have enough knowledge, monies and incentive to fix problems.

      What incentive does the BOD have to step in and try to fix the current problems?
      I believe that they have the same position as you do; they want to allow this situation to play out for the 72 games and let the next ownership group fix the problems.
      Talk about abandoning the players and fans.

      What is this 72 game process going to cost this organization? 4-5 more players being sent home? Players being drafted and not reporting? Picking the NCAA route instead?

      How about the Pres of the BOD comes out makes a statement on behalf of this organization. In light of the recent events, we as a group are going to take the following steps “”””””” . This organization is extremely important to our city, fans and players. It is our job to monitor and correct.

      At least hire an independent consultant to try and pinpoint the problem. Many pro teams take this route when major issues arise.
      Long Run

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  18. Not bad of an idea... hiring Bryan as a senior advisor... he is at most games anyways.

    Remember that the Canes have a rookie GM, rookie Head Coach, and two rookie Asst Coaches... not to forget that the players form the youngest roster in the entire WHL...

    Someone with experience should be asked to help out...

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  19. I am not sure fans quite understand that there can be no "long run" perspective for these players. They have a 1-3 year window to make their mark if they want to play pro. Canes have not had a drafted player in years because scouts don't want to watch incredibly poor and mismanaged teams like the Canes. Hockey is still a team game and unless you are a rare breed like a Crosby or Gretzky you can't do it alone even if you are a very talented player. So Pilon his family and his agent made exactly the right decision to get him to a place where he his talents will be noticed and he can have success. He has no chance of success with the debacle that is the Canes. I hope other talented players with pro potential like Duke will what is best for them as well. The WHL knows, agents know and the pros know its not about the quality of the players who are leaving Lethbridge but about the quality of the organization they are leaving behind. Robson can degrade the players leaving all he wants but the reality is if you want to play in the CIS come to Lethbridge, if you want to play pro avoid it like the plague. CanesTrainwreckContinues

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    1. Ryan had millions to lose. Dropping from a first round (potentially top ten) pick next season to a 5 round pick has huge money and career implications.
      If the GM and coaches had a son in the same situation, they would probably advise their son to do the same thing.
      It is a short stint in the scheme of things.
      Having no dman older that 18 to mentor under is also not a good situation to be in.
      Long Run

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    2. Well said Long Run.
      CanesTRainWreckContinues

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    3. Continuing to promote the philosophy "we only want players who want to be here" by Robson has much more far-reaching effects than just the 3 players who have left and the remaining players. The total disarray of the organization is a red flag for future Bantam picks. It's entirely possible that parents of future picks will not send their son to Lethbridge and tell them prior to the draft or if drafted by the Canes, opt to send them to an American college. This is something I don't think the Canes' GM and BOD is taking into consideration. If they are, I guess they don't care?

      Empty Net

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  20. Hey Wannabe pretty sure the first sentence says quits on the Team. Do I think Pilon is a quitter absolutely. Ask Seattle how the quitters are turning out. Have I questioned the BOD about who they hire, Roson's ability as a scout and GM. So maybe you need to go back and read all my statements. KAOS

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  21. Pilon will have to QUIT being ryan pilon to be a 1st rounder. Just another hyped up kid who couldnt put the fishing rod and golf clubs away to develop the way he needed to.

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  22. Just read a very interesting quote from Alex Forsberg who played with Pilon in Saskatchewan and left the team he has now returned to. " It was tough to not be on a team with a winning attitude. I just felt we could have been better than we were. I am sure Pilon feels the same way but for a player wearing an A, ostensibly one of the leaders of the tea, he needs to understand that establishing that winning attitude comes from inside the dressing room and walking out on your teammates isn't what winners do." This from a player that learned the hard way missing a year of top level junior competition. Forsberg's quote says it all.

    Quote obtained from CaneCast..

    A View from Above

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    1. Learn where Forsberg’s quote begins and ends.
      Forsberg did not mention anything about Pilon. At least be responsible in your quote as to not mislead.

      Do you not think that the coaches and GM strongly suggested to not go on social media to comment on anything?

      I do want to give Brad R credit for being consistent in his message to the team when kids request a trade. That is likely why he won’t pull a Prince George on Ryan.
      I think it is smart, there are probably players that won’t go to PG given the way they handle their business. Just a guess though.

      Long Run

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    2. Read the quote for the meaning not just the words. The Salient point is that winning comes from the players in the dressing room and winners do not walk away from teammates. That is the total point of the quote.

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  23. Nobody is going to buy this team without owning the building - Nobody with any business sense that is. And that's out of the hurricanes to decide - its the city, and good luck with them coming to the table when they aren't even willing to change a few operational components in the building to make game day go smoother.... like opening up more doors! Pilon has the talent, but looks slow and unmotivated out there. I think his play this season shows what kind of guy he is, he looks lazy, doesn't look like he is putting in the effort to be game ready. I think the coaches are starting to see they made a few big mistakes right out of the gates on picking their captain and assistants - lost some of the guys buy in right there. There are kids on this team that want to play and it is EVIDENT who they are and who left is still not putting in the effort. I'd be frustrated if I were in the locker room with those guys - put up or shut up, show some character, be part of the solution not the problem.

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    1. Of course somebody would buy this team with out owning the building.. that is a ridiculous comment. How many teams in the WHL own the building too? Name me some - I can name you the teams that do NOT own the buildings and they are successful franchises.
      Wannabe

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    2. There is always a chance that a new private owner would build a new arena outside the city limits. The threat of that would definitely get the City of Lethbridge's City Council's ear as they've had the Hurricanes bent over a barrel for several years.

      Empty Net

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    3. Do you have any idea what a new arena would cost?

      An observer

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  24. When the Portland Winter Hawks were going through their dark days a few years ago setting a record for most losses the players stuck around because they new the club was for sale and the actual coaching and management was decent. New ownership turned that team around in 2 years. There really is no hope for the young players in Lethbridge in the foreseeable future. A Board and Management with no winning history and not willing to sell and coaching staff with zero experience and proving it in a way not seen in the league in a long time. I don't think the league can do anything about it which is sad for the players and the community. Asadfan

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    1. I agree. I do not see anything changing with this team until it is sold and no longer community owned. And of course Robson is standing behing his coaches and making it look like he is building a winning team. It is his "team" and "his coaches". He is looking like a fool right now. He does not know enough about the business obviously and thinks that by the kids working hard and wanting to be here that they are going to create a winning atmosphere. Working hard might work for part of the game but when you are playing teams that are just down right better there will not be a W in the win column. Wait until Friday when Spokane is here.

      Areallysadfan

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    2. If the team goes bankrupt, I'm assume the league will step in and force the sale of the team.

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  25. When will Lethbridge get it together.Lost the broncos and now sell sell sell.The blades aren't in the basement we need some new blood in management but an easy 2points for opponentRobson needs to step down and sell out too bad no alumni would buy the team I wonder why?

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  26. This is a business for everyone including first round NHL picks. Right now the Hurricanes are a poorly run business. If your investing money (1st round) do you want to hold Hurricane issued bonds. In order to showcase you have to be on at least a competitive organization. When three core players ask to be traded within a month, you can't say they were all quitters. When businesses fail, it always from the top down. Don't point the finger at these kids until you are certain that the reasons weren't entirely bona fide. I won't trash someone's 17 or 18 year old kid much like I wouldn't want anyone to trash mine. There is something cancerous on the team for a bunch of kids to want to quit. Those have to be addressed before things will return to normal.

    Enigma

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    1. This is the first comment I've read about not bashing these kids and that is great to see. I think we often forget that at the end of the day these players are kids and the comments to/about them hurt them more than they would an adult. I understand that it comes with the territory of playing major junior hockey in Canada, but at the end of the day they are just kids...kids who need the support of the community.

      Yes, we don't want to support the organization because we are all angry and we aren't winning...we want to make a statement. Put yourself in their shoes, back to your teenage years where when you were down, you needed someone to pick you up. You needed the support of your family, your friends, your teachers, etc. This is no different.

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    2. The support of my friends and family doesn't come at a $22 cost per game. When I spend that kind of money, I expect to be entertained and the Canes are not entertaining this year (I don't care how many players are working hard). I'll spend my money elsewhere thank you.

      Empty Net

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    3. However, I completely agree about your business model comments and the possibility that there are very good reasons for these kids not wanting to play for this organization anymore. These reasons are not available for public consumption. That would be fine if the organization was privately owned, but not for a community-owned franchise. The BOD needs to keep it's shareholders better informed. 3 meetings per year isn't good enough.

      Empty Net

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  27. Call them quitters, don't call them quitters, it doesn't really matter. They didn't and don't want to be here. They all have their "reasons" , but in my opinion it comes down to the fact that they don't want to work that hard. Under Preston's management / coaching it was like a frickin country club around the Enmax. There was no one calling a spade a spade, no one demanding any kind of work ethic. And now, Berehowsky and Lukowich actually expect them to work hard at practice, work hard off the ice, buy into their system ( I know I know, what's the system???) and be team first players. What I am seeing is that the damage Rich Preston did to these kids is really starting to show and I don't think we have seen the end of it. There are about half of the forwards that are putting in the effort and we all know who they are, and the rest look like they're literally in pain when they are on the ice. Culture issue???? There's your cancer.

    I hate seeing Pilon leave, I think he will be a very good WHL'er and quite likely a good pro, but if he thinks he wouldn't get noticed because the Hurricanes are a poor team, he has been given bad advice somewhere. If you're that good, you're going to get noticed. They don't just draft players off of winning teams, if you're that good, you're gonna shine regardless of your team's overall performance.

    CDD

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    1. Country club or not....where were the Canes in the standings this time last year under Preston with players the current staff didn't want?. How well did no nonsense Bobby Valentine do managing the Red Sox last year ? Cleaning up their country club clubhouse? ...oh ya last place....and this year with the laid back John Farrell..oh ya World Series. Its about getting the most out what you have and that is the trademark of a good coach. Preston got that...these guys haven't a clue. LthHnds

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    2. I have to agree. To blame Preston for this years woes is ridiculous. Some of you didn't like him. We get it. We listened (read) about it for the last few years. I just counted and there are 12 players on today's roster who played full time under Preston last season. This includes Derko who was with the team for a very short time. Add in Henry, Pilon, Yakabowski and McKechnie and that is sixteen players that started the season here who played under Preston. Today there are 23 players on the roster. If you again include the four players no longer with the team, that means 16 out of 27 active Hurricanes this season played for Preston. That is only 59%.

      Now let's take into account that most people seem to have absolutely no issues with the play and effort of Wong, Ramsey, Maxwell, Derko, Watson and Laurencelle. (I select these names as they are the ones I have seen most often on the message boards). That is six more players. So what we have now is that only 10 out of 27 active players this season are apparently spoiled and ruined from the "country club" effect, or 37%. Oh but let us not forget that four of those players are now gone. Make that 6 out of 27 or 22%.

      According to your comments, those 6 players have apparently been so destroyed under Preston's guidance that they have someone managed to bring down an entire team all by themselves. Given the fact that I would argue that at least 4 of those 6 are giving it hell out there, your comments continue to become more and more preposterous.
      David

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    3. As the very wise Greg Drinnen said today in his blog commenting in the Pilon exit:
      "Will the last one out, please turn out the lights in the dressing room"
      Is there any worse place to be a player in Major Junior Hockey in Canada??? The answer is no. TD

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    4. At this time last year we were a .500 hockey club, from here on we were a .350 hockey club. Not sure how that is getting the best out of the players we had last year. I realize that we aren't going to approach either of those numbers this year, my point is that we were already heading in the wrong direction and like it or not, that was Rich Preston's coaching. You may not like what these guys are preaching, but I would rather watch half the team working their asses off with the other half sitting on the bench. Until they get all 24 guys pulling in the same direction, nothing is gonna get better. If that means they need to move the other 12 guys and bring in 12 that will work, so be it.

      And comparing 16 and 17 year old kids to pro ball players doesn't make much sense to me, these kids need to be taught what those ball players have already learned, and that is what it takes to be a pro. Are DB and LK the guys to do it, I guess we'll find out.

      CDD

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    5. Continuing to move players who "don't want to be here" could possibly have much further reaching effects on the franchise. Specifically, it may cause parents to tell Robson not to draft their kid as well as not being able to obtain players via trades.

      Empty Net

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  28. Dah...wake up! Three core players cashed in their chips. I am pretty sure they just didn't wake up Monday morning and decide to call it quits. There is some significant issue that folks aren't hearing about. This is a business and as I said they fail top down, and not the other way around. Anybody should look at the top before you look towards the bottom.

    Enigma

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    1. You're correct in your "top-down" assessment and that there's obviously some coaching issues going on with some of the players.

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  29. Love the twitter comment by Griffin Foulk. This is a kid since he got here has played hard and given his all each game. He shows great maturity and seems to have his head on right. I feel that we won that trade. Good luck tonight Griffin and Go Canes

    A View from Above

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