1990: Brian Burke hires a 24-year-old Dave Nonis, who attended Burnaby North High and played for the Burnaby Bluehawks.

ARTICLE TOOLS

• Printer friendly
• E-mail

Font:

• *
• *
• *
• *

Nonis went to college in Maine, where he was introduced to Burke. Nonis followed Burke to the league offices after Burke lost his job in Vancouver. Nonis worked for four years as the NHL's hockey operations manager.

AUG. 18, 1998: Nonis returns to the Canucks and is introduced as the team's senior vice-president of hockey operations. Burke said it was a "great get." Suggestions of cronyism abound.

MAY 6, 2004: After the Canucks fire Burke, they hire Nonis as GM. Nonis said he took the job only with Burke's blessing, adding: "People are going to be proud of this team, the way it's run and ... the people working for it."

JULY 2005: At the end of the lockout, Nonis made the decision to bring back Burke's team basically intact. Nonis re-signed Markus Naslund, Brendan Morrison, Matt Cooke, and Dan Cloutier. In retrospect, it can be viewed as a key mistake as the team foundered and failed to make the playoffs.

APRIL 2006: Nonis fired Marc Crawford. His replacement, Alain Vigneault, has a reputation as being a defensive coach whose act wears thin.

JUNE 24, 2006: Nonis makes his signature move, bringing in Roberto Luongo and Lukas Krajicek in a trade from Florida. Nonis is lauded not only for getting one of the best goalies in the game but also for finding a taker for Bertuzzi.

SUMMER 2007: After a season during which the team won a playoff round, it's obvious the Canucks need scoring. The problem is not addressed in the offseason. Nonis spends the offseason picking up Byron Ritchie, Brad Isbister and locking up Jeff Cowan for two years.

FEBRUARY 2008, TRADE DEADLINE: The fans, the media and the players were all waiting for the Canucks to pull off a trade-deadline deal. Nothing happens. The big problem is again scoring and again it is not addressed.