And honestly? That was a nice change of pace for this fanbase.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s make one thing clear. The feelings of hope and optimism that Thursday brought aren\u2019t coming from the fact that Jim Rutherford is gone. Rutherford did his best to treat people well during his time here and isn\u2019t the villain in this story. Rather, it has a whole lot more to do with what the Sedins and Johnson represent. Johnson has long been known as an honest straight shooter. He\u2019s paid his dues, and just like he wants to see every player he meets succeed, he genuinely came across like he has the organization\u2019s best interests at heart instead of his own. And of course, there\u2019s no question that the same can be said of the Sedins, who have bled blue and have identified themselves as Canucks for the past 26 years.<\/p>\n
There was an undeniable sense of \u201cokay, this is a new era, and it\u2019s going to be different\u201d in the media room at Rogers Arena on Thursday, and, based on the reaction we saw online, the fanbase absolutely felt it as well.<\/p>\n
Patience, patience, patience<\/p>\n
Right off the bat, the biggest question fans had heading into Thursday was how serious the new regime would be about rebuilding. Would they use ambiguous language? Would they say things like \u201cnext year will be bad, but we\u2019ll see what happens the year after that!\u201d Would they put a timeline on the rebuild? Would they sound open to trading more veteran players, even those with no-move clauses and even those who Rutherford essentially tabbed as the Canucks\u2019 next captain before he left?<\/p>\n
The answer to those questions: No, no, no, and yes.<\/p>\n
The three men seemed very aligned with one another. They have a clear vision of how they want to rebuild the Canucks\u2019 culture and standard from the ground up, and let that influence their decisions on player personnel.<\/p>\n
For the question of how long a rebuild could take, Henrik Sedin gave a great answer, saying \u201cif we want to do this as fast as possible, we have to be very careful and go slow. I think that\u2019s the fastest way to get to where we want to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even the owner used the word rebuild and made it clear the Canucks want to build a championship calibre team, not just one that sneaks into the playoffs.<\/p>\n
Patience was a common theme on Thursday, and for a fanbase that\u2019s been practically begging for a patient approach and a rebuild over the last decade, that resonates very well.<\/p>\n
The Vancouver connection is undeniable<\/p>\n
Under the Rutherford-led Canucks, messaging wasn\u2019t always clear. There was a level of \u201cwe\u2019ve got this, trust us,\u201d and it never really felt like Rutherford or Patrik Allvin really understood just how much pain Canucks fans had been through before they arrived on the scene.<\/p>\n