Mastodon
@Vancouver Canucks

[Clark] Behind the Scenes Look at how Canucks chose Quinn as Captain



[Clark] Behind the Scenes Look at how Canucks chose Quinn as Captain

by VanCityWildcat

8 Comments

  1. barelyincollege

    The article’s packed with a ton of fluff that boils down to “teams have different ways of picking captains.”

    Here’s a summary:

    > Tocchet was also charged with another task by the Canucks’ front office: finding the next captain. Going through the search prompted him to step back. He wanted to see how players reacted after the Canucks won or lost. If Tocchet voiced his displeasure with the team’s performance, he wanted to see how particular players approached practice the next day.

    > “I saw a lot of players grow over those three months,” Tocchet said. “Then came the hard decision: Do you wait a year? Is the guy we’re going to pick, is he ready? Are there a bunch of guys that are ready? Or do we wait? That was the big decision. Do we wait or do we pull the trigger because we have a guy who’s emerging.”

    > Tocchet said that Hughes, Miller and Petterssen were all players who “had the qualities” to be the Canucks’ captain. What stood out about Hughes for Tocchet was the fact that he “knew where he stood in the organization” and was willing to take the next step.

    > “It’s coming to the rink early and not just showing up for practice,” Tocchet said. “It’s staying after practice and working with a young kid or picking up a kid for lunch. Not being selfish. Those were the little things that I saw emerge. It just insulated what I thought in terms of a guy who could be a great leader for this team.”

    > Tocchet checked in with former Canucks coach Travis Green, a close friend, for his take. Green told Tocchet that Hughes came to the rink and put in the work.

    > Aquilini, Allvin, Rutherford and Tocchet periodically spoke throughout the summer about the captaincy decision facing their team. Tocchet said they were leaning toward picking Hughes but had one last thing they wanted to do before finalizing their decision.

    > They invited Hughes and his parents out to lunch to learn more about him and his background.

    > “I think that’s the final cherry on top. It’s about their values. His dad’s a terrific guy, and his mom was terrific at lunch. I think that kind of sold it that we made the right decision,” Tocchet said. “I respected that Jim [Rutherford] really wanted to have some kind of sit-down with the family. It kind of checked the box that, ‘OK, we made the right decision.'”

  2. I thought Aquilini wasn’t going to get involved? 

  3. ThisIsFineImFine89

    Quinn speaking out on the handling of Tanner Pearson’s injury was the moment it clicked for me.

  4. ubcthrowaway-01

    Because he signed for 4 years longer than Petey

  5. It’s weird as hell to me that the captain isn’t chosen by the players themselves.

  6. marcosbowser

    I remember and interview after a game. I think it was only his second year. He was talking about getting better and said “I want to be the…” then paused and said something about wanting to be a really good defensemen in the league. I’ve never forgotten it because I’m sure he was about to say “I want to be the best defensemen in the league” and stopped himself, to not sound conceited or presumptuous. But I believe that all along he has wanted to be not just one of the best but THE BEST. Whether he actually is people will debate (Makar enters the chat), but that has been his goal all along and he will continue to get better for a long time.

Write A Comment