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Team competitiveness key to Nazzy's return
Two other teams matched Vancouver's three-year, $18-million-US offer

Tony Gallagher
The Province


Wednesday, August 03, 2005

In the end, it seems Vancouver general manager Dave Nonis was extremely successful in selling the take-less, compete-more theory to his Swedish superstar Markus Naslund, the pitch evidently falling on receptive ears Tuesday night.

Naslund opted to return to the Canucks late in the evening because he wanted to play here and because the other two high-revenue teams which matched the offer of $18 million US over three years he will receive from Vancouver weren't, in his view, quite as ready to compete now as is the local club.

The agreement comes as great relief to the ownership and management of the Canucks, who were looking at restructuring their team had Naslund decided to take his skills elsewhere -- not really what you want to do from a marketing point of view given the NHL is returning from a tiresome lockout.

Naslund's re-signing allows them to hit the ice in much the same shape as they were when the lockout began, which is far more than most teams can boast. It puts them in what should be excellent shape for a good start to the season Oct 5.

"We evaluated every element to this and in the end it all pointed to the market being what it is and Markus' desire to return to Vancouver," said Naslund's exhausted Kingston, Ont. agent Mike Gillis, who had a long day also signing clients Tony Amonte (Calgary), Bobby Holik (Atlanta) and Pavol Demitra (Los Angeles).

"There's no doubt that competitiveness played a huge part in his decision and maybe the way it is now, you really do have to sacrifice a little to be on a winner.

"I mean, there's a reason why Martin Brodeur took less to stay playing in New Jersey. Obviously, money was not the overriding factor in Markus' final decision."

The return certainly blows away all the nonsense about Naslund being bothered by the personal attention he receives in this city, and the burden of being the captain and having to speak to the media every day during the season, as has been suggested publicly over the last two weeks.

Had he been troubled by these factors, the other cities in the running would surely have been given more consideration.

The locking up of Naslund comes just as the league appears set to make an announcement on the reinstatement of the Swede's longtime linemate Todd Bertuzzi, who will certainly be heartened to hear that when he does return to the ice the chemistry the pair generates should still be very much intact.

Bertuzzi is said to be in the best shape of his life, tipping the scales at 238 pounds, roughly 10 pounds lighter than when he was suspended by the league in March 2004.

Naslund went to bed late Tuesday night in Sweden and was not answering his phone, but his decision now allows Nonis to go about the business of actually improving the team that left disappointed after losing Game 7 to the Calgary Flames last year.

Word is he has made inquiries about Paul Kariya and at least two other players about the possibility of joining the Canucks, whose image around the league certainly gets a lift with Naslund's return.

That's great news," said Ed Jovanovski from Florida, where he was trying to contact his departing defensive partner of last year, Marek Malik, to congratulate him on his big-money deal.

"Obviously Markus is a big part of our team, the captain, and he brings a lot with his presence. With the new rules, I expect he'll really be something special this year. The rules will help him ... they should help us all. I just hope they find a guy for me to play with soon."

Jovanovski will become an unrestricted free agent at the end of next year, so he presents the next big challenge toward keeping this team together (the market for Scott Niedermayer likely to be a good indicator of where he'll come in next year at just 30 years of age).

Ibland lönar det sig att läsa message boards, ja förutom Avalanches som inte ens vill låta mig besöka den sidan utan säger att jag är "banned".

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"Naslund signing shows Nonis has a firm grip
No one needs to worry about 'boy GM'

Ed Willes
The Province


Wednesday, August 03, 2005


Considering that the world around him was going insane -- and considering the next couple of days would make or break the Vancouver Canucks, to say nothing of his embryonic career as an executive -- Dave Nonis sounded fairly calm Tuesday.

Yes, he said, negotiations were under way with Markus Naslund and the captain was aware of the Canucks' limitations. Yes, there had been talks with Scott Niedermayer, but Nonis doesn't regard the situation as either/or ... in other words, the Canucks wanted to proceed with Naslund and the familiar core which, tragically, no longer includes Marek Malik, or they would rebuild around Niedermayer and a new nucleus.

Nonis left the distinct impression he's very much in control of things, which may come as some comfort to the faithful who are used to the more theatrical style of his predecessor.

Then again, there was a reason he sounded very much in control of things. Nonis, as The Province's Tony Gallagher uncovered later in the evening, had locked up Naslund for the next three years, thereby securing the core of his team and, just as importantly, securing his position as the new sheriff in town.

With the player market in the new NHL moving at the speed of light, there was some concern over the new man's ability to do the job. But with the signing of Naslund, Nonis has sent a clear message about the franchise's future and his own abilities.

He isn't Brian Burke. He's still a little green. But in a hyper-accelerated marketplace, where GMs are adding and discarding players as if they were managing fantasy-league teams, Nonis delivered the one player he had to deliver.

Now the Canucks can get on with their season and the fans can get on with the serious business of living and dying with this team. But the one thing they no longer have to worry about is the boy general manager.

"The pieces only fit if the numbers let them fit," Nonis said earlier in the day. "If it doesn't work out, it's up to us to move on to something else."

Still, earlier on Tuesday, there was some question over what would be left if things didn't work out for the Canucks. Day 2 of the new NHL was marked by unprecedented movement around the league, but as Canucks fans waited for news of Naslund, Plan A, or Niedermayer, the organization's fallback, the only announcement concerned the loss of the useful but expendable Malik to the always accommodating New York Rangers.

Niedermayer's name, in fact, generated most of the heat throughout the day. Late in the afternoon, his agent Kevin Epp said the great defenceman could finalize his decision as early as today -- which seemed to indicate he would choose between Vancouver and Calgary. Niedermayer, who's also contemplating a multi-year, $6.8-million-US-per offer from the New Jersey Devils, may still end up in Vancouver, but if Nonis can find a way to work Naslund, Todd Bertuzzi and Niedermayer under the salary cap, he should consider a new line of work.

Minister of Finance pops to mind.

But, in the end, Naslund was restored to his team and this market, and there's something reassuring about that. The sublime Swede might have received more money elsewhere but Naslund, you sensed, was never fully about the money.


Being captain of the Canucks seemed to mean something to him. Playing in Vancouver seemed to mean something to him. The fans' unconditional affection for him seemed to mean something to him. Today, all those things we always thought about him will be confirmed.

It's funny. During the course of attempting to track this story down Tuesday, a call was placed to Burke to see if he had any interest in signing Naslund for his new club in Anaheim. The Canucks' former GM protested he'd never do that to Nonis.

"[Naslund] should finish his career in Vancouver as a Canuck," Burke said. And there was something very right in that.

"After the game, it was a mess up there. I had to clean off my computer screen because it had spit all over it."

Mike Haynes, radiokommentator från Avalanche matcher berättar om sina känslor under matcher mellan Detroit och Colorado.