It would be fitting that my first post after my introduction would be about sports. A clear passion of mine for those who know me. I had the fortunate opportunity to apply my own skills (GIS) to the world of hockey for the purposes of mapping data and doing analytics. I even spoke with 7 NHL front offices as a result of it but never received an opportunity for employment. Still I tried with baseball and the 2015 MLB Winter Meetings, even competing for an internship with the Blue Jays & talking to 3 other MLB clubs (JP Ricciardi is a great guy). The experience was about as memorable as our 2010 Winter Olympics or that 2011 Stanley Cup Run that my Vancouver Canucks did.
Yeah 2011, that was a big year.
Enter the Vancouver Canucks, a 54 win team with 3 robust but different forward lines, a formidable defence corp, arguably the best goaltender in the sport, but above all an intelligent management group led by Mike Gillis.
In case you forgot, 8 years ago following a season which the team missed the playoffs; a new era would begin. After purchasing the Canucks in 2005, new owner Francesco Aquilini made his first big decision since taking the helm: Hiring Mike Gillis as GM & President. An agent, Gillis quickly decided to establish an Organizational Culture about the Vancouver Canucks that was built on two principles: Efficiency & Effectiveness.
It was Henry Mintzberg who once said:
“Culture is the soul of the organization — the beliefs and values, and how they are manifested. I think of the structure as the skeleton, and as the flesh and blood. And culture is the soul that holds the thing together and gives it life force.”
The Canucks themselves were a unique franchise:
- They traveled more miles than any other team.
- They had a history of losing, especially in key moments.
- They had a poor history of drafting, especially in the late rounds.
- Which has resulted in no Stanley Cup Championships.
- But more importantly, they suffer(ed) from an identity crisis.
In short, they lacked organizational culture, and Gillis knew that.
Gillis quickly identified that in order for the Canucks to compete with the rest of the NHL they needed to do three things:
- Maximize performance.
- Acquire talent for each role on the team.
- Establish a culture that players will buy into.
Having represented players like Mats Sundin and Markus Naslund, Gillis knew the importance of managing his assets to no end. The health of his clients was important and getting the most out of their contracts was critical. Little known fact about Mike Gillis, he was the player who exposed the corrupt Alan Eagleson for his fraudulent activities. Law was definitely in this grinder’s future.
Moving from agent to GM, Gillis started with ways he could maximize the performance of his players despite traveling an egregious amount of miles & time. His first step, hire a sleep doctor. Sleep was a critical component of performance for a team that traveled as much as 3 time zones on a week to week basis. No other sports organization across North America adopted this innovation, it was the Canucks who did first and it has caught fire.
The 2nd step? learn to eat better. Most athletes never experienced food in the locker room before or after, if anything it was the kind of food we all would love to eat daily. Gillis made sure the Canucks had fresh fruit, vegetables, yogurt and protein at their disposal. He even made sure players would follow a strict meal plan moving forward.
Finding talent to fit the culture
The Canucks by 2008 had a small core group of players, some raw and some with promise. With players like Henrik & Daniel Sedin, Ryan Kesler, Kevin Bieksa, Alex Burrows & Roberto Luongo, the foundation was there. It took a few years of veteran free agent acquisitions to get the best out these players (Sundin, the Late Pavol Demitra, Kyle Wellwood & Steve Bernier) but those players were equally as important as that 2011 Stanley Cup Roster because they helped the core become better NHL players.
With some calculated moves in the trade market & free agency, Gillis was able to acquire big name talent. Even though they suffered two straight series losses to the Chicago Blackhawks (The epitome of establishing Organizational Culture), the Canucks set out to sign and trade for players at discounts:
- D Dan Hamhuis: 6 Years $27.6 M (A top pairing defenceman)
- F Manny Malhotra 3 Years $7.5M (Clinical Faceoff Specialist)
- F Mikael Samuelsson 3 Years $7.5 M (A right handed two way player)
- F Raffi Torres 1 Year $1M (A physical forechecking bottom 6 forward)
- D Christian Ehrhoff (Acquired after SJ was in a cap crunch)
- D Keith Ballard (Intended to be a top 4 Defenceman, but was a competent bottom 4)
- F Maxim Lapierre (An agitating nuisance with great speed)
- F Christopher Higgins (A former 1st round pick struggling to regain his scoring touch)
Even though players like Willie Mitchell were let go due to health reasons, the Canucks continued to roll on with their new found identity.
The players bought into the idea that they could be a contender with the incentive of taking a no movement or trade clause in their contracts in return for less salary. 
And it paid off…big time.
What seemed to be an overnight transition the Canucks went from being middle tier to elite in the NHL. They had the right formula (Scoring line, two way line, checking line, 4th line, shutdown D pair, mobile D pair, elite goaltending and blue chip depth). They went on to produce an Art Ross winner, a franchise record in wins, points and goals for/against. All because of Mike Gillis & Management establishing an Organizational Culture.
They only had one more thing to accomplish: Win the team’s first Stanley Cup.
The final stamp of approval to ownership & the fans that the plan had worked.
There were only 3 factors Gillis could not control though within his created culture: Injuries, Officiating & Luck…yes Luck. 
After the cup…
One game away, one game away. Up until puckdrop of Game 7 of the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals, No team had ever won 3 Game 7s in a playoff year ever.
Until the Boston Bruins did that to the Vancouver Canucks.
We all know what happened after: The Team never got over it, it stung and it still hurts to this day. The fans who rioted don’t deserve any acknowledgement or publicity for their action, there’s another organization who cares about that.
The most upset person about all this though? Not Mike Gillis or the players, but rather Francesco Aquilini, the owner.
Aquilini has always been a quiet one but because the Gillis culture failed, its only up until recently that we have seen the true motivation and rationale of the owner and the performance of the hockey club, and that motive is money.
The performance of the Canucks drove up huge revenues never before seen in the Vancouver Market since 2002-03 and 1993-94. Aquilini was cashing in.
Following the cup in 2012 and 2013 the Canucks experienced two early playoff exits and to justify the loss they fired their creative yet calming coach Alain Vigneault in favor of the rash and brutish John Tortorella.
This was a total mismatch for the already established organizational culture.
The Canucks fell into a period of futility with players playing in a role they were not accustomed too, the conflict of egos resulted in bitter quarrels and eventual departures.
Gillis was later fired for his actions because Aquilini was losing playoff revenues…I mean because he thought the organizational culture was stale.
The only Opportunity Costs Gillis experienced in his tenure as GM:
- Drafting: drafting talent that was not considered elite was not going to help the win now philosophy of the organization.
- Trades: While the Higgins & Lapierre & Ehrhoff trades were good, the others after the cup and even before to a degree proved to be fatal. David Booth, Keith Ballard, Luongo, Schneider…
- The No Trade Clauses: A short term sacrifice for security with long term ramifications.
And this is where we find the Canucks,
In the middle of an identity crisis.
Now granted, Jim Benning is the best talent evaluator we have ever had as a franchise.
But he does not establish the organizational culture, that task is now Trevor Linden’s.
He is without question the most popular player the franchise has ever had. But sorry Trevor, you are not doing a great job of establishing organizational culture that your predecessor did.
So why culture?
Because its transforming, it creates identity and purpose for all of your members. The pattern of shared values, beliefs, and assumptions considered to be the appropriate way an organization should act. It strongly influences behavior and its shared. Gillis’s culture helped shape the attitude of the Vancouver Canucks.
Aquilini’s decision to fire Gillis came at an even bigger cost as fans walked out on the team because of the loss.
So now this team is back where it was in the mid 80s, late 90s, mid 2000s and now in 2016.
The real question is:
Who are the Vancouver Canucks and what are they trying to be?
Stuology 