VANCOUVER -- There is no easy fix for the problems faced by the Vancouver Canucks, says the man who took a foundering franchise and came close to winning a Stanley Cup.
DeSean Jackson Redskins Jersey . Pat Quinn, the former defenceman who moved behind the Canucks bench and into the general managers office, believes new team president Trevor Linden -- a player Quinn drafted and coached -- has the potential to return Vancouver to the NHL elite. "There is no magic luxor," Quinn said Sunday after being inducted into the Canucks ring of honour at Rogers Arena. "You have to fix it. You have to have luck, you have to have cap room. "A lot of things come into play." A promising season turned bad for the Canucks, who will miss the playoffs for the first time since 2008. Watching the team this year Quinn noticed a slip in the talent level. "Its cyclical," Quinn said. "The hard part is when your good players skills start to diminish a little bit, then youve got to find replacements for that top level player." A 30-team NHL reduces that talent pool. "We dont have enough top players," Quinn said. Fans will need to be patient. "Thats where the first step comes in, the assessment that needs to be done," said Quinn. "I think thats the stage where Trev is. "Ive read he has a plan. When you have a plan you dont go around telling everybody." Linden was named president last week after Mike Gillis was fired as Vancouvers president and general manager. Quinn shrugged when asked if he will play a role in the Canucks rebuild. There has been speculation Linden may ask Quinn to return to the organization in some sort of advisory capacity. "Its a different day today," said the 71-year-old Hamilton native. "Whatever happens, happens. "Trevor is a terrific kid, there is no question. Im not really thinking about that sort of thing. He has lots on his plate." Quinn was joined by members of his family at centre ice prior to the game against the Calgary Flames for the induction ceremony. Other members of the ring of honour include Thomas Gradin, Kirk McLean and Harold Snepsts. The crowd gave Quinn a standing ovation. "It was inexplicable," Quinn said. "You cant express the emotions you feel. "You are mindful of the people who touched you along the way, how important they were to me." Quinn was Vancouvers president and general manager from 1987 to 1997. He coached the team from 1991-94 and then again late in the 1995-96 season. There are some parallels between what Quinn, 71, faced back in 1987 and the task Linden now faces. Quinn took over a wheezing, money-losing franchise and helped turned it into a high-scoring team that came within one game of winning the 1994 Stanley Cup final. "When you are first starting you know one thing," said Quinn. "I always wanted to be a team player. "No one person wins a hockey game, no one person builds a franchise. I got pretty lucky in putting this team together." In 280 games as a coach, Quinn had a record of 141 wins, 111 loses and 28 ties. With him behind the bench the Canucks won two division titles, five playoff rounds and he was voted coach of the year in 1991-92. As a general manager Quinn helped build the Canucks by drafting players like Linden and Pavel Bure. Quinn also traded for players like McLean, Cliff Ronning, Dave Babych, Jyrki Lumme, Greg Adams, Geoff Courtnall and Markus Naslund. It was through Quinn people like Brian Burke, Dave Nonis, Steve Tambellini and George McPhee received their first NHL jobs. Quinn played his junior hockey with the Edmonton Oil Kings, winning a Memorial Cup in 1963. He spent nine years as a player, playing defence for Vancouver, Toronto and Atlanta. He coached the Philadelphia Flyers, Los Angeles Kings, Canucks, Toronto Maple Leafs and Edmonton Oilers. On the international stage, Quinn coached Team Canada to gold medals at the 2002 Winter Olympics and 2009 world junior championships. Quinn said the Canucks may have struggled this year but he sees hope for the future. "When I came here in the 1970s it was hard to find a Canuck fan," he said. "Now we are all Canuck fans. "Thanks for how you treated me."
Brandon Scherff Redskins Jersey . A 19-game winner with the New York Yankees in both 2006 and 2007, Wang spent most of this year at Triple-A for the Yankees and Blue Jays. The 33-year-old right-hander was 1-2 with a 7.
Jordan Reed Redskins Jersey .Hoffenheim forward Anthony Modeste opened the scoring on a counterattack in the 15th minute, shooting though Jaroslav Drobnys legs after Lewis Holtby lost the ball in midfield.OAKLAND, Calif. -- Sonny Gray spent the past few days with Oakland pitching coach Curt Young, making subtle adjustments to his delivery. Grey wont reveal exactly what he and Young worked on. Suffice to say, the Athletics young staff ace is pleased with the results. Brandon Moss hit a tiebreaking RBI double in the fifth inning, and Gray bounced back from two sub-par outings to lead Oakland over the Texas Rangers 4-2 Wednesday, giving the Athletics (44-28) the best record in the majors. "Overall it was a pretty good outing," said Gray, who had won just two of eight starts before going seven innings against Texas and striking out seven. "I dont think there really is a difference other than I was able to make pitches," he said. "Thats probably it. People sometimes forget that baseball is a pretty hard game and theres going to be some rough patches that youre going to go through." Grey (7-3) bounced back nicely from his recent rough stretch. The right-hander needed only 31 pitches to get through the first three innings, then struck out Brad Snyder on a high 95 mph fastball to end the fourth with runners at second and third. Grey also got help from left fielder Yoenis Cespedes, who made a leaping catch at the warning track to rob Adrian Beltre of extra bases two batters before Snyder struck out. His lone mistake came in the fifth when Texas loaded the bases with two outs. Gray walked two and gave up an infield single before Shin-Soo Choos two-run single made it 2-2. "Its just balance for him," As manager Bob Melvin said. "He knows his delivery (and) his mechanics pretty well, and Curts terrific at pointing out subtle things. There are a couple things hes been working on." Cespedes and Josh Donaldson each had two hits for the As. Oakland has won four of five and is a season-high 16 games over .500. Their record is one game better than cross-bay rival San Francisco. "Anytime in the season that you can say you have the best record in baseball, its satisfying," Melvin said. "But theres a lot of baseball yet to be played. At least for the time being it feels good." Luke Gregerson pitched the eighth, and Sean Doolittle worked the ninth for his ninth save.
Josh Doctson Redskins Jersey. Nick Tepesch (2-3) went five innings for Texas. Choo drove in both runs for the Rangers. "We have to get more than five innings out of our starting pitching and we have to have a shutdown inning after we score runs," Texas manager Ron Washington said. "Somehow that (Oakland) lineup is always functioning. Somebody is always having a good day." Melvin shuffled his lineup and didnt start centre fielder Coco Crisp and second baseman Eric Sogard. Oaklands offence didnt miss a beat. John Jaso replaced Crisp in the leadoff spot and knocked in the As first run with a double in the third. Craig Gentry, who filled in at centre field, added two hits and scored a run. Second baseman Alberto Callaspo also had two hits. That was enough for Gray, who gave up two runs and six hits. He improved to 8-2 with a 1.90 ERA in 13 career starts against teams from within the As division. "He was keeping us off balance," said outfielder Alex Rios, who doubled off Gray in the fourth. "He managed his slider well. and his fastball had good velocity. He was locating it well." Cespedes scored the go-ahead run in the bottom of the inning. He singled off Tepesch and scored on Moss double to right, barely beating the throw home with a headfirst slide. After Donaldson singled Moss to third, Stephen Vogt hit a short sacrifice fly to left to put Oakland up 4-2. Tepesch remained winless since May 26. He allowed nine hits over five innings with two walks and one strikeout. NOTES: Doolittle hasnt allowed a run in 22 1/3 innings, the longest active streak in the AL. ... Crisp was given a normal day off. ... Sogard pinch-ran after Callaspo singled in the ninth. ... Rangers 3B Luis Sardinas singled in the third to extend his career-best hitting streak to seven games. ... Texas LHP Joe Saunders (0-2), who will pitch the opener against the Angels on Friday, has allowed two earned runs or fewer in four starts since coming off the DL. ... Oakland LHP Scott Kazmir (8-2), who opens the series against Boston on Thursday, has a 0.95 ERA over his previous four starts.
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