Harsh words about Canucks GM Mike Gillis from Don Cherry
Posted May 9, 2013 6:53 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
TORONTO (NEWS1130) – He has one of Canada’s biggest mouths and he is using it to bash the general manager of the Vancouver Canucks.
Don Cherry went on a rant on CBC’s Coach’s Corner yesterday against Mike Gillis and Cherry’s words were about as ugly as some of his wardrobe choices.
“He did not have guts in Vancouver,” said Cherry. “If he would have made a trade, they would have still been playing. They would have got a good centreman, anyhow, and that’s how I feel about it now.”
Cherry believes the Canucks should have shipped out goaltender Cory Schneider before the trading deadline. He says Schneider would have yielded a bigger return than Roberto Luongo, because Luongo’s big contract has proven difficult to move.
“They didn’t make the trade, and now what are you going to get for him?” asked Cherry. “Really, you’re not going to get that much for him.”
Cherry blames Gillis for the Canucks’ second consecutive first-round playoff exit and says Coach Alain Vigneault did “a good job” and shouldn’t be fired.
Cherry says his old boss, former Boston Bruins GM Harry Sinden, was in a situation similar to Gillis’ in 1975.
“You got to have guts,” he said.
“[Sinden] made the trade of trades. He traded Phil Esposito [who had] 76 goals and 65 goals and All-Star defenceman Carol Vadnais. We got Brad Park, and I’m sorry if you’re listening Brad, but you had a bad knee and you were fat. And Jean Ratelle had a bad back. They got in shape. We had four first-place finishes, we clicked along at a .658 [winning] percentage and we almost won the Stanley Cup twice because he had guts.”
Gillis will address the media today for the first time since Vancouver was swept in their first round series against San Jose. You can listen to the news conference live at noon on News1130.
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