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Ice Storm: The Rise and Fall of the Greatest Vancouver Canucks Team Ever
An incendiary inside look at the Canucks' meteoric rise to the top of the NHL and their dramatic post-riot fall to mediocrity—all at a time when new efforts are being launched to save the once-great team.
In 2008, the Vancouver Canucks were Team Modern, revolutionizing the NHL under their new GM, former player agent Mike Gillis. Cool, calculating, and unsparing with the media, the onetime number one draft pick of the old Colorado Rockies swept away the tangled psychological past of the Canucks with bold innovation, remodeling Vancouver as a destination city for NHL star players. To do so, he built the Canucks from a non-playoff team in 2008 to the best in hockey from 2010-2012. He modernized the players' diets and psychological approach, he rebuilt the dressing room, and he sought sleep consultants to help with the Canucks' punishing travel schedule. More than that, his winning team lifted Vancouver from eighth overall in NHL revenues to second by 2013. When the team took to the ice for Game 7 of the 2011 Cup Final, it seemed there was nothing the Canucks couldn't overcome with their "Canucktivity" approach. The hockey world was at their feet.
But things changed in Game 7. Physically exhausted and bullied by the Bruins, the Canucks succumbed 4-0. To cap the greatest season in team history, Vancouver rioted. Gillis tried a number of aggressive moves to get back to the Final, from switching Luongo for Schneider to trading players, but nothing worked. From there, the dominoes fell: Alain Vigneault was dismissed, John Tortorella hired; Tortorella raged, fans bayed for Gillis' head; and finally, Gillis and Tortorella were both fired. In spring 2014, tried-and-true Canuck hero Trevor Linden was installed as president, with former teammate Jim Benning by his side as GM. No one was quite sure if this was an improvement, but at least the hysterical screaming had stopped.
How did it happen? Ice Storm follows the journey that led the Canucks from the top of the mountain to the bottom of the abyss in six short years.
In 2008, the Vancouver Canucks were Team Modern, revolutionizing the NHL under their new GM, former player agent Mike Gillis. Cool, calculating, and unsparing with the media, the onetime number one draft pick of the old Colorado Rockies swept away the tangled psychological past of the Canucks with bold innovation, remodeling Vancouver as a destination city for NHL star players. To do so, he built the Canucks from a non-playoff team in 2008 to the best in hockey from 2010-2012. He modernized the players' diets and psychological approach, he rebuilt the dressing room, and he sought sleep consultants to help with the Canucks' punishing travel schedule. More than that, his winning team lifted Vancouver from eighth overall in NHL revenues to second by 2013. When the team took to the ice for Game 7 of the 2011 Cup Final, it seemed there was nothing the Canucks couldn't overcome with their "Canucktivity" approach. The hockey world was at their feet.
But things changed in Game 7. Physically exhausted and bullied by the Bruins, the Canucks succumbed 4-0. To cap the greatest season in team history, Vancouver rioted. Gillis tried a number of aggressive moves to get back to the Final, from switching Luongo for Schneider to trading players, but nothing worked. From there, the dominoes fell: Alain Vigneault was dismissed, John Tortorella hired; Tortorella raged, fans bayed for Gillis' head; and finally, Gillis and Tortorella were both fired. In spring 2014, tried-and-true Canuck hero Trevor Linden was installed as president, with former teammate Jim Benning by his side as GM. No one was quite sure if this was an improvement, but at least the hysterical screaming had stopped.
How did it happen? Ice Storm follows the journey that led the Canucks from the top of the mountain to the bottom of the abyss in six short years.
280 pages, Paperback
First published September 6, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
February 22, 2015
I'm sure that the more accurate title for this book, The Rise and Fall of Mike Gillis, would prompt zero sales. The point of long form sports journalism is to shed more light on a situation by deeper analysis or layering on in-depth knowledge. This book lacks both, although it does create a surprising sympathy for Gillis. I can't believe I'm writing these words, but I would have liked to see more information on Mike Gillis, his history, his personality, and what actually happened in the disputed trades & hirings. He certainly became the lightning rod between the old and new ways of managing hockey teams. Unfortunately, this book adds little that Canucks fans don't already know and beginning the book with the ending of Game 7 is brutal.
September 30, 2024
A fairly good recounting of Mike Gillis' Canucks. Rise and Fall of the Greatest Canucks team ever is a bit of a misnomer as this book doesn't really acknowledge the building that Burke and Nonis did with this team, also barely mentioning the Higgins and Malhotra signings seems like a massive oversight, those guys were critical to the success the 10/11 Canucks had. Jumps around a lot and at times goes so far off the tracks, you feel like you're reading an NHL history book as opposed to one about the Canucks exclusively. However, despite its many flaws, as a die hard Canuck fan (and a bit of a Gillis truther), I'm very happy that this book exists and I find it endlessly fascinating
January 4, 2022
Excellent book. Interesting to look back on it now with the firing on Benning. Gillis was far more innovative then all of the other GMs. True Canuck fans (and seriously cerebral NHL/pro hockey fans) who are interested in the team will enjoy this book. This was a great find at my local library.
September 16, 2020
A well-written account of how the Vancouver Canucks' brainy approach to hockey almost led them to their first Stanley Cup victory. Highly entertaining when discussing the actual hockey games during this period, but drab when talking about the business side of things. For Ice Hockey fans only.
April 24, 2024
Timely read on eve of first playoff action in 9 years. Nice style of writing. Apt title as the fall was hard and lasted a long time.
June 24, 2019
Dowbiggin doesn't really add anything new for those who followed the Gillis-era Canucks, but it is nice to have it all in one volume like this. He examines the ideas behind Gillis' plan for the Canucks, and why he did what he did.
However the book also has a few key issues. There are a couple notable errors, like stating it was Adam McQuaid who checked Mason Raymond into the boards during the 2011 Final (it was Johnny Boychuk), simple things that a quick fact check should have fixed and instead detract from the message. The chapter detailing the 2012 lockout is also an unabashed attack on Bettman, with insults and the like thrown about constantly. While Bettman should be critiqued for the lockout, NHLPA head Donald Fehr also deserves credit for causing it, yet is exonerated throughout the chapter. The constant attack on Bettman also serves to lessen the narrative, as it really takes away from the message, and if Dowbiggin has such an issue with Bettman he should have dealt with it elsewhere, not force it into this book.
Finally the ending of the book, chronicling the downfall of Gillis, is really rushed through and not given the proper analysis that the rest of the book has. This can be explained in part because originally the book was supposed to be a simple look at the 2010-11 Canucks and their rise, but as Gillis was fired during the final process of writing the book Dowbiggin slightly changed the tone of the book to chronicle the rise and fall of the team. However it is quite apparent that he wrote the last part in a rushed session, as it barely skims what happened and feels tacked on, of which it was. It would have served best to either not add this section, or delay publishing the book so a proper analysis could have been written. As it stands, it really ruins the overall feeling of the book, which was not terrible otherwise.
However the book also has a few key issues. There are a couple notable errors, like stating it was Adam McQuaid who checked Mason Raymond into the boards during the 2011 Final (it was Johnny Boychuk), simple things that a quick fact check should have fixed and instead detract from the message. The chapter detailing the 2012 lockout is also an unabashed attack on Bettman, with insults and the like thrown about constantly. While Bettman should be critiqued for the lockout, NHLPA head Donald Fehr also deserves credit for causing it, yet is exonerated throughout the chapter. The constant attack on Bettman also serves to lessen the narrative, as it really takes away from the message, and if Dowbiggin has such an issue with Bettman he should have dealt with it elsewhere, not force it into this book.
Finally the ending of the book, chronicling the downfall of Gillis, is really rushed through and not given the proper analysis that the rest of the book has. This can be explained in part because originally the book was supposed to be a simple look at the 2010-11 Canucks and their rise, but as Gillis was fired during the final process of writing the book Dowbiggin slightly changed the tone of the book to chronicle the rise and fall of the team. However it is quite apparent that he wrote the last part in a rushed session, as it barely skims what happened and feels tacked on, of which it was. It would have served best to either not add this section, or delay publishing the book so a proper analysis could have been written. As it stands, it really ruins the overall feeling of the book, which was not terrible otherwise.
December 14, 2016
I come away from this book with the following thought: "Boy, this author really likes the words phlegmatic and Byzantine!" These words came up multiple times, and were probably much more noticeable because they are so uncommon. But I think the lack of a good editor is what leads to much of my disappointment in Ice Storm.
Ice Storm is more or less about Mike Gillis, the General Manager of the Vancouver Canucks from 2008-2014, arguably the greatest years in the Canucks' 40+ year history. There's some really great background info on Gillis, which makes the reader really respect his forward-thinking mentality. This is countered nicely with Gillis' later years where the author hi-lights the worst of Gillis. The GM's questionable moves, professional meltdown, and the team's inevitable collapse are really felt.
Around the 3/4 mark of the book there are maybe 50 pages of draft talk and how managers' jobs were defined over time. There's way too much here that takes place in the summer 2012 off-season, where nothing of any great impact actually happened. And a lot of talk about drafting forward Brendan Gaunce, who is not exactly a factor in the rest of the book.
It would have been nice if Dowbiggin had delved deeper into the one year of John Tortorella and the Ryan Kesler trade demands, both of which really signaled the end of Gillis.
The subsequent dismissal of Gillis, and to a lesser degree, Alain Vignault and Tortorella, was a bit too quick considering this was supposedly what the book was about.
Some interesting insights into the sport but may not sustain any real interest unless the reader is a big Vancouver Canucks fan.
Ice Storm is more or less about Mike Gillis, the General Manager of the Vancouver Canucks from 2008-2014, arguably the greatest years in the Canucks' 40+ year history. There's some really great background info on Gillis, which makes the reader really respect his forward-thinking mentality. This is countered nicely with Gillis' later years where the author hi-lights the worst of Gillis. The GM's questionable moves, professional meltdown, and the team's inevitable collapse are really felt.
Around the 3/4 mark of the book there are maybe 50 pages of draft talk and how managers' jobs were defined over time. There's way too much here that takes place in the summer 2012 off-season, where nothing of any great impact actually happened. And a lot of talk about drafting forward Brendan Gaunce, who is not exactly a factor in the rest of the book.
It would have been nice if Dowbiggin had delved deeper into the one year of John Tortorella and the Ryan Kesler trade demands, both of which really signaled the end of Gillis.
The subsequent dismissal of Gillis, and to a lesser degree, Alain Vignault and Tortorella, was a bit too quick considering this was supposedly what the book was about.
Some interesting insights into the sport but may not sustain any real interest unless the reader is a big Vancouver Canucks fan.
April 13, 2015
Not as revealing as one would hope. Most of the behind the scenes stuff between 2011 to 2014 is well known to anyone who followed Canucks blogs, etc through the Era.
Still, it is a quick read and the Canucktivity info is interesting. If anything , it's a decent book that could have been much better with more direct sources from the team.
Still, it is a quick read and the Canucktivity info is interesting. If anything , it's a decent book that could have been much better with more direct sources from the team.
March 31, 2015
Bruce Dowbiggin graphs a city's sporting neurosis
Authoritative, insightful culture analysis. I feel like I know the Canucks now. The very best of sports journalism, highly recommended.
Authoritative, insightful culture analysis. I feel like I know the Canucks now. The very best of sports journalism, highly recommended.
November 16, 2014
Fascinating examination of the birth and death of the Mike Gillis/Alain Vigneault/John Tortorella-era Vancouver Canucks.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews