1: He had a beautiful assist on the only goal we scored in game 5, despite being dead tired. The team did play better once they got him that's for sure., but without him against a hot goalie

2: The ability to cut out the crowd, the excitement, the nerves, the raw energy of a hyped up NHL game in crucial minutes to have the most incredible focus to deliver top performance = Clutch. It exists, in the heat of a game, some players have it. You can't say the Sedins haven't been clutch for us. Without Daniel we weren't scoring goals. I know you agree that you can't say Kassian was more helpful than Hodgson. He was a defensive liability, yes, but Kassian was much worse of one (huuuge turnovers getting out of our own end). The trade was a factor in our loss, one goal in games 1 - 3 from a depth scorer like Hodgson could have made all of the difference.

Hodgson had 33 points (+8, 8 pims) in 63 games with the Canucks this season. That's roughly .5 per game, so one point every 2 games. We needed that, badly, as other people we needed to step up and score a goal Raymond (20 points in 55 games, +4 with 18 PIMs). His stats prove he was less of a defensive liability, a more consistent scorer than one of our other significant offensive players. The trade deadline affected the team in a negative way, we traded away depth we needed up front. I believe Gillis was arrogant in the skill level of his team.

3: Look in the AHL, there's brilliant minds hiding there. I have some problems with the way AV coaches, but I will recognize his effectiveness as our coach. He's been one of our best, but I don't think he's at his best anymore. I just remember how he had the team playing in his first year here, he took no shit and threw together lines of who was playing hot in the game when we were down goals in the 3rd period. He played who he saw making a difference, but now... Burrows was having a tough game 5 against LA. He wasn't clicking with anything, had to duck a hit every 2 seconds, looked tired... so he threw him with the Sedins to try and get him going. He was relying on a player who had made a difference in the past, not going with who looked like they wanted it to the most out there. Burrows and the twins made no difference, as they did against Boston last year. He's stopped trying new things, which is why I think we need a change.

I think there is a ton of talent on this club that has learned everything they could learn from Alain Vigneault, and I just see somebody has having to be the scapegoat for the fan base. I don't want it to be our core, I think our team is that good, you don't get as close as we did last year without being that good... they just need a rest, not to be traded. AV could use a fresh start with another team, and we could use a new man, a nobody could be useful for us. Or we have MacTavish coaching our AHL affiliate, he's taken a team to the cup before and not too long ago, could be the change we need.