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  #1  
Old Posted Feb 3, 2009, 3:02 AM
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Save D-Man Shane O'Brien

Shane O'Brien is one of the hardest working, toughest, most consistent players on the Vancouver Canucks.

However, he is in coach Alan Vigneault's doghouse for his role in coming to the defence of Mason Raymond during a team practice, when Raymond was attacked by Willie Mitchell.

Now, O'Brien is going public with the fact that he is being forced to fight by management -- or face more benching.

It's high time for true Canucks fans to rise up against this injustice. O'Brien is a class act who deserves better... much, much better.
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  #2  
Old Posted Feb 3, 2009, 5:24 AM
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Shane who?

Seriously, he went public complained about being mistreated by the coaches instead of trying to solve the problem privately, his time with the Canucks is over, done and finished.

Being a high paid professional, he should be able to face the criticism from the management, media and fans. No players want to be benched, but this is the fact of life in the highly competitive sport world, if he can't tolerate his treatment, he is in the wrong profession, that's plain and simple.
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  #3  
Old Posted Feb 3, 2009, 6:10 AM
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I think he's right to air his concerns publicly. What are you, against free speech?

Shane O'Brien has been one of the bright lights for this team, and his defence of Mason Raymond at the hands of Willie Mitchell's unprovoked attack during team practice is nothing short of heroic.

He is class, personified.
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  #4  
Old Posted Feb 3, 2009, 6:35 AM
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Originally Posted by Rusty Gull View Post
I think he's right to air his concerns publicly. What are you, against free speech?
.
Me? against free speech? Just because I've a different view from yours?
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  #5  
Old Posted Feb 3, 2009, 6:46 AM
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Is there any article about this?
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  #6  
Old Posted Feb 3, 2009, 7:04 AM
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Is there any article about this?
Cry-me-a-river O'Brien

Canucks defenceman says management just want him to fight

By Ben Kuzma, The ProvinceFebruary 2, 2009 11:00 PMComments (1)


Shane O’Brien willingly throws punches at the opposition.

Now he’s even throwing them at the Vancouver Canucks brain trust. Clearly confused after being a healthy scratch Saturday against Minnesota, the brooding blueliner believes he’s in a no-win situation. His apparent lack of physical play and willingness to fight are deemed more detrimental to the club than improving as a player and cutting down on penalties.

The last time O’Brien slugged it out was Dec. 14, when he scored a unanimous decision over Gregory Campbell of Florida to improve to 5-0.

In his next 18 games, the defenceman didn’t scrap, but was a pleasing plus-6.

Even though O’Brien has a penchant for bad minors — especially when he doesn’t move his feet — the league’s former penalty-minute leader is still miffed at being scratched for the first time this NHL season in favour of Rob Davison.

“I’m not happy about it,” O’Brien said Monday. “I’m at the point in my career where I need to play to improve and if they don’t think I’m worth playing to see if I can develop — and they just want me to be a fighter — maybe it’s not the right situation.

“I’m not going to lie. I’m not going to sit here and say all the right things that I’m just happy to be a part of the team. I want to improve as a player and stay in the league as long as I can. You can’t do that from the press box.”

When O’Brien logged just 10:28 of ice time on Jan. 28 against Nashville — instead of his average of 15:40 — he knew something was up. Especially when he was benched for the third period.

“If the coach doesn’t feel comfortable putting you on the ice at all in the third, you know where you stand in his eyes,” said O’Brien.

And when O’Brien was told in a one-on-one meeting last week with general manager Mike Gillis that there were physical flaws in his game, he braced for the worst.

“I saw it coming and wasn’t surprised at all, but this is the first time anybody has talked to me this season,” added O’Brien.

“There you go. You find out how you really feel and how you really stand in the organization. Sometimes you don’t want to hear what they have to say, but at least they said it.

“I don’t want to be considered just a fighter. I want to play for a long time. Fighting can keep you in the league, but I think you really have to turn yourself into a good player as a defenceman to stay and that’s what I want. I don’t know if they feel I can do that. I think they think I have to fight to stay in the league and that’s their opinion.”

O’Brien can cite his plus-7 rating as a reason to remain in the lineup because only Willie Mitchell has better numbers on the back end with a plus-12 ranking.

Then again, O’Brien’s 132 penalty minutes are dotted with hooking and holding minors that drive coach Alain Vigneault crazy.

They’re only magnified with the Canucks in an 0-5-3 funk and on a sorry 0-6-3 slide on home ice, where they’ve surrendered eight power-play goals in the last four games.

Still, all this bugs O’Brien because he has cut down on his minors.

“I’m happy that he’s not happy,” Vigneault said of O’Brien.

“He just needs to get back to playing a good, hard style and stay away from the hooking and other penalties that put the team in trouble. We want him to be physical and play with an edge. You don’t bother anybody with hooking and slashing penalties.”

O’Brien has a hard time understanding that he’s not playing physical enough on a team that’s third in fighting majors with 49.

And because he’s making a conscious effort to stay out of the penalty box, in his mind the healthy scratch rationale doesn’t have a lot of legs. “I’ve fought my whole career and I’m not afraid or scared to fight,” added O’Brien.

“I’ve said it since the day I got traded here — I’m going to play and I want to be a player in this league for a long time. You can ask anyone around the league, they know I’ll fight and if someone wants to fight me, I’m there. Nobody is banging down my door and we’ve got enough toughness to go around.

“I don’t think it’s a problem, but apparently they [management] think it is.”

© Copyright (c) The Province
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  #7  
Old Posted Feb 3, 2009, 7:46 AM
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O'Brien is a mediocre defenseman at best. The fact that this is even newsworthy really only underscores the sad state of affairs the Canucks have become at the moment.

I was actually shocked to hear that he was a plus 6 in the last month; when he's not taking a pointless penalty, he's turning the puck over.

At some point in his career, he'll be forced to accept that his value is primarily in his toughness, not his defensive skill (or lack thereof).
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  #8  
Old Posted Feb 3, 2009, 9:30 AM
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Shane O'Brien is a career 6th or 7th defenseman at best. Instead of going public with his complaints, he should have dealt with it internally with coaches, and managment. His time with the Canucks is probably done, because this kind of thing does not bode well in the locker room, or with the organization as a whole. He's replacable, and I'm sure some teams in the NHL would love to have a hard-nosed defenseman.

I've said before that if the Canucks lose 3 out of 4 on this current home stand, AV will be fired, and the Canucks will probably be sellers, not buyers come the trade deadline. I wouldn't be surprised if the Canucks go towards a full out youth movement. We have some nice pieces in place: Edler, Raymond, Hodgson, Wellwood, Schneider, etc. We also have some nice pieces we can use as trade bait: Luongo (If the Canucks continue to lose, he's not going to stay, so might as well trade him to a team out east), Ohlund, Mitchell, etc (I know they have no-trade clauses, management can talk to them about waiving them to go to a contender), Salo, Shane O'Brien, H. Sedin, D. Sedin, etc.

If we can retain H. Sedin and D. Sedin for decent prices, I'd say resign them. However, I can't see them as captains of this team. Good players, but not great. They produce, but they're not clutch players when the moment calls for them to be just that.
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  #9  
Old Posted Feb 3, 2009, 4:12 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hong Kongese View Post
Me? against free speech? Just because I've a different view from yours?
No, you're against free speech because you can't stand the fact that Shane O'Brien is taking his beef to the media -- instead of the usual NHL habit of keeping everything a secret.
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  #10  
Old Posted Feb 3, 2009, 4:15 PM
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Originally Posted by Vancity View Post
Shane O'Brien is a career 6th or 7th defenseman at best. Instead of going public with his complaints, he should have dealt with it internally with coaches, and managment. His time with the Canucks is probably done, because this kind of thing does not bode well in the locker room, or with the organization as a whole. He's replacable, and I'm sure some teams in the NHL would love to have a hard-nosed defenseman.
I agree, he's probably going to be shipped out, though I won't agree with it.
Pound for pound, he was probably much better than 6th or 7th defenceman on this team, however. His play, night-after-night, exceeded the play of Edler, Bieksa, and Mitchell.

Do you really think dealing "internally" is working for Shane O'Brien? He has been benched for two games for his brave act of coming to the defence of Mason Raymond during practice.
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  #11  
Old Posted Feb 4, 2009, 3:41 AM
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Originally Posted by Rusty Gull View Post
No, you're against free speech because you can't stand the fact that Shane O'Brien is taking his beef to the media -- instead of the usual NHL habit of keeping everything a secret.
You're against free speech as well because you don't like what I said about your "hero".
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  #12  
Old Posted Feb 4, 2009, 5:00 AM
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O'Bie says he's sorry


By Elliott_Pap 02-03-2009

You could see the apology coming as soon as Shane O'Brien stepped into the Canuck dressing following today's morning skate. The burly blueliner didn't even wait for a question before launching into his 'mea culpa'. O'Bie said he was sorry for his Monday outburst, that it was borne of frustration, that he was never told by GM Mike Gillis he had to fight more and that he shouldn't put his personal situation ahead of the team. And so another chapter in the Canuck soap opera was closed, for now anyway. The media should thank O'Brien. He offered up two days worth of stories on a silver platter when everyone was scrambling to find a new angle on the team's depressing losing streak. Maybe the Nucks will give reporters something else to write about tonight -- like a victory.




The Sun
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  #13  
Old Posted Feb 4, 2009, 5:01 AM
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You're against free speech as well because you don't like what I said about your "hero".
Nice.
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  #14  
Old Posted Feb 4, 2009, 5:09 AM
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Now, this is what I call class..



Not forever a Canuck, classy Ohlund plays on

Defenceman has spent his entire career here, but is prepared to move

By Iain MacIntyre, Vancouver SunFebruary 3, 2009


While a brush fire raged Monday near Vancouver Canuck defenceman Shane O'Brien, who dropped napalm as reporters asked him about being a healthy scratch, across the Vancouver Canucks' dressing room the slow smoulder around Mattias Ohlund continued unnoticed.

Ohlund isn't angry, merely largely resigned to the likelihood that his decade-long stint as the backbone of the Canucks' defence is nearing an end. Any frustration Ohlund harboured about a slightly diminished role in what seems his final National Hockey League season in Vancouver, long ago dissipated. It was never expressed publicly.

In Saturday's 4-3 loss to the Minnesota Wild, everyone saw that Mats Sundin didn't get off the Canuck bench in the final minute of regulation time and overtime. Maybe you didn't notice Ohlund was sitting at the other end of it.

Ohlund's only contribution was a fragment of broken stick, snapped against the dasher when Marc-Andre Bergeron scored in OT, that skipped across the ice as the Wild celebrated.

"That was just frustration that we got scored on," Ohlund said.

When the Canucks pressed desperately for a tying goal, coach Alain Vigneault used defencemen Sami Salo and Alex Edler in the final minute. And when he changed penalty-killers in overtime, going to two defencemen from one, Vigneault left blueliner Willie Mitchell on the ice and sent Salo out to join him. Ohlund stayed on the bench.

"Without a doubt in my mind, Sami and Alex Edler were our two best Ds as far as moving the puck and trying to get their shots on net," Vigneault explained Monday. "Those two guys, at the end of the game, were our two best defencemen. That's why they were out there."

Fair enough.

It was a far more defensible position than Vigneault's decision to scratch O'Brien and winger Mason Raymond in favour of Rob Davison and Mike Brown, replacing two guys who can handle the puck with two guys who can't. Though admirably competitive, Brown and Davison combined for just 7:34 of ice time, about 221/2 minutes fewer than what Raymond and O'Brien offer.

Partly because of Davison's limitations, Ohlund logged 25:12. But that nudged the 32-year-old's season average to only 21:59, nearly two minutes less than last season and about 31/2 minutes off the Swede's career average.

Small changes, but Ohlund has noticed.

"I'm not trying to analyse it," he said. "They're going to put out whoever they think gives us the best chance to win. When I get tapped on the shoulder, I go out and play. That's all I know. I'd like to be out there. I'm sure other guys would say the same thing."

Overshadowed by the possible free agency of first-liners Daniel and Henrik Sedin, Ohlund's contractual status generated little fanfare when talks on an extension broke off last fall.

Ohlund, eight points shy of becoming the franchise's all-time leading scorer on defence, is probably the first Canuck victim of the global economic crisis. He badly wants to stay in Vancouver and general manager Mike Gillis reiterated Monday he'd like to keep the defenceman who has spent his entire 11-year career with the Canucks.

But no one knows what the NHL salary cap will be next season, except that in the next two years it is likely to plummet. With the Sedins still to sign, goalie Roberto Luongo under contract next season at $7.5 million US and defencemen Kevin Bieksa, Mitchell, Salo and Edler on the books for $14 million, Gillis simply doesn't have enough money to keep Ohlund.

Not for anything close to market value ($5-6 million US over 4-5 years), anyway.

Ohlund understands this. He believes the Canucks have acted in good faith, and accepts there are consequences to the economic uncertainty. He is not bitter. Not even close.

But that doesn't make this season easier for him. It is no accident that he has never played for another team. So content was he to stay -- and willing to give a discount -- none of his previous contracts made it to the final year before Ohlund re-signed.

He lives here more than 10 months a year, spending just July and another week or two back home in Pitea. Vancouver is the only home his children, Viktor, 9, and Hannah, 7, have known. Viktor was born with one leg shorter than the other, and the Ohlunds have strong ties to staff at Children's Hospital.

"My son is pretty interested in hockey, so he knows what's going on," Ohlund said of not knowing where he'll be next season. "But they're kids. They don't think much further than the next minute.

"I'm sort of past that point [of worrying]. We've played most of the year. There were talks last summer that didn't lead anywhere. You get to the point where you're kind of reconciled to it, and then you move on. You go through times where you reflect on it, but now I'm excited about the future."

Gillis said he hasn't given up on trying to sign Ohlund after the season and praised the assistant captain for his professionalism and commitment.

"No one knows what the future is from a salary-cap situation," Ohlund said. "I know this is a business. I've been here 11 years and it has been great. But if I'm not here, I'll move on and be perfectly happy somewhere else."

imacintyre@vancouversun.com
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  #15  
Old Posted Feb 4, 2009, 11:22 PM
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Ohlund has been a great defenseman for the 'Nucks for so many years. I hope that Gillis can work something out so that the defenseman stays for the rest of his career as a Canuck - that would be something special.

My gut feeling tells me that he's gone, but we can all wish, can't we?
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  #16  
Old Posted Feb 4, 2009, 11:25 PM
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Originally Posted by Rusty Gull View Post
I agree, he's probably going to be shipped out, though I won't agree with it.
Pound for pound, he was probably much better than 6th or 7th defenceman on this team, however. His play, night-after-night, exceeded the play of Edler, Bieksa, and Mitchell.

Do you really think dealing "internally" is working for Shane O'Brien? He has been benched for two games for his brave act of coming to the defence of Mason Raymond during practice.
Are you sure that's why O'Brien's been benched the last two games? I would think it was because of his play? Raymond I know exactly why the guy has been benched, he has been underachieving so badly this year, I bet the guy wants this season to be over with, and start afresh. Management would be foolish to trade Raymond, in my opinion, I think the kids' a sleeper, and a keeper. Sure he may be underachieving currently, but he's still young, at age 23, he's still got some upside. I say, give him another year or two, after that, if he doesn't produce then, he won't produce ever.
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  #17  
Old Posted Feb 6, 2009, 8:48 AM
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Originally Posted by Rusty Gull View Post
No, you're against free speech because you can't stand the fact that Shane O'Brien is taking his beef to the media -- instead of the usual NHL habit of keeping everything a secret.
The Canucks are a business, they are a organization, their in the entertainment industry and in the entertainment industry image is everything. Obrien is a employee, a highly paid one at that, makes just shy of a million dollars a year. He has about as much right to talk negatively about the organization while employed by them as a burger king employee does to customers while working behind the till. he should be traded, just like that burger king employee would be fired, because he would be damaging the businesses image and on top of it ruining morale.
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  #18  
Old Posted Feb 6, 2009, 8:53 AM
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Are you sure that's why O'Brien's been benched the last two games? I would think it was because of his play? Raymond I know exactly why the guy has been benched, he has been underachieving so badly this year, I bet the guy wants this season to be over with, and start afresh. Management would be foolish to trade Raymond, in my opinion, I think the kids' a sleeper, and a keeper. Sure he may be underachieving currently, but he's still young, at age 23, he's still got some upside. I say, give him another year or two, after that, if he doesn't produce then, he won't produce ever.
with raymond you have to wait atleast till he gains another 20-25lbs of muscle and keeps it from the start of a season to the end. 20-25lbs of muscle makes a world of a difference for a player.
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  #19  
Old Posted Feb 6, 2009, 10:34 AM
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with raymond you have to wait atleast till he gains another 20-25lbs of muscle and keeps it from the start of a season to the end. 20-25lbs of muscle makes a world of a difference for a player.
If Raymond works hard this off-season, he can put on the 20-25 lbs. But that's if he really works at it this offseason. I think he can, and he'll have a better year next year. His confidence, obviously, this year has plummeted, and Vigneault's benching doesn't do any good for a young player like Raymond. I agree that he has underproduced, for a player that's supposed to have a top six role on the team, he's massively underachieved. I still believe that Raymond can be a top 6 player on the Canucks, he just needs time. Let's be realistic here, he was a 2nd round draft pick - he's going to be a decent player, but not a great player. I say eventually, he's going to be a 20-25 goal scorer, no more. I've seen him play on tv, and he's not really a creative player with the puck, he's more of a dump and chase type of player, although, I think he can be more creative when he has the puck. He's going to be a good player in the future (1-2 years) after putting some pounds on his frame.

Edler, surprisingly, has had difficulties this year, shortly after he's signed his new contract. I think he's going to be a great player for the Canucks organization for many years to come. It's just hard to watch him struggle so much this year.

I can't wait to see what Michael Grabner can do in the NHL. He's got wheels, and he can definitely score, but his defensive game suffers. Hope that he's not a bust
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  #20  
Old Posted Feb 6, 2009, 4:27 PM
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You guys've probably known that Mike Brown had been traded to Anaheim for Nathan McIver.
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