Canucks in No-Man's Land
By AL STRACHAN -- Toronto Sun
VANCOUVER -- If the Vancouver Canucks' front office had a focus, the team might follow suit.
But general managers around the league say that these days, their counterpart in Vancouver, Pat Quinn, seems to be lacking direction. He knows that the National Hockey League always stages an auction at this time of year, but can't decide whether he wants to put his goods up for sale or bid on someone else's.
Quinn occasionally jokes with his friends about his job security - or the lack of it - and that, too, is part of the problem. Ever since John McCaw took over control of the team, Quinn's power gradually has been eroded.
McCaw has cleaned house in all the other areas of the parent company, Orca Bay Entertainment, and although Quinn has survived so far, few people expect him to last past his existing contract which has another year to run.
A recent vote of confidence from McCaw produced the usual cynical response and did little more than convince the doubters that Quinn is indeed in trouble.
Quinn's assistant, George McPhee, is also in a never-never land. Orca Bay has until June 30 to decide whether to terminate his contract as he heads into his final year, or renew it through to 1999.
Because neither Quinn nor McPhee has any long-term certainty of employment, they naturally don't make long-term plans for the team.
It may, for instance, make good long-term sense to unload Pavel Bure and Alexander Mogilny, but such a move will not be made by managers who are worried about their own short-term future.
Either way, Bure and Mogilny present the Canucks with their biggest problem. When those two want to play, they dominate a game. As a result, it makes sense to build the team and its strategy around them.
But on many nights, those two don't bother to show up. When that happens, the Canucks usually get thumped.
That's also one of the reasons Quinn can't decide what to do. If Bure and Mogilny were to play their hearts out in the playoffs, the Canucks would be close to being a Stanley Cup contender. If Quinn could add a couple of key players - a solid defenceman and a high-level play-making centre - the Canucks could make a serious run at the Cup.
But the price for players of that nature is high and what happens if Quinn gets them, then the Russians decide to float through the playoffs?
Now it's not just his future that's in doubt, it's the future of the entire team. No wonder that he can't decide whether he wants to be a buyer or a seller.
Further complicating the situation is the fact that Mogilny becomes a free agent this summer. He's already earning more than $4 million US and, like everybody else, wants a raise.
The Vancouver salary scale, some of which is not Quinn's fault, creates another difficulty. The Russians aren't particularly well-liked - and certainly not respected - by their teammates.
But they're the highest-paid players on the team. Bure earns $5 million US on a deal that was formulated by the former CEO, Arthur Griffiths. Mogilny's deal was baggage he brought from Buffalo.
The Canucks can support a huge payroll if they're winning. But at the moment, they're in a life-and-death struggle for a playoff spot. If the playoff revenues aren't forthcoming, then that payroll will have to be reduced.
There is a rumor - and nothing more than that at this point - that the Canucks might accept a San Jose offer for Trevor Linden. But Linden is the heart of the team. If they lose him, they lose a lot more than just a solid player.
The word `chemistry' often is used in sports and it refers to a team which is focused and has all its priorities in order. Using that definition, the Canucks are a perfect example of a team lacking chemistry.
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