The President of Hockey Operations for the Vancouver Canucks, Jim Rutherford, joined Matt and Blake for the first time.

Talked about his early observations of managing a Canadian team. Was born in this country and loves it. Also loves living in the US. Canada is a special place, he doesn’t need to explain the sport to anyone here. Doesn’t have a whole lot of observations at this point. Just sees the passion from the fans during the games.

Talked about where he thinks the team is. They are somewhere in between that initial winning streak and what they have been since new years. They don’t have as much depth and it has affected the team. Gives the players credit. Jim doesn’t talk to the players a whole lot. That is the coach’s job. Stays on top of everything, needs wise. No real direct connection.

Talked to the captains when he first got here. Says the players voices are heard by their actions. Thinks it is important to let them continue down the road in this playoff race that they have gotten themselves back into. They need to get a bit younger and in a better spot in the cap.

Talked about when they will be cup competitive. The advantage is that the Canucks have a franchise goalie. With the parody in this league, it is hard to get into the playoffs but once you get there anything can happen. Referenced Nashville in 2016. Can’t put a number on how many more skaters they need. He wants 4 lines they can roll through and not worry about which one is out there. That’s what they will work towards.

Talked about the structure of the FO. Everyone will be able to do their job. Critical decisions, he will weigh in on. Will let everyone know what the downside is. He is there to help when they want the help. They have very good communicators. Wanted to hire the appropriate people and let them do their jobs. Will try to create as much cap space as they can. When you are working in a flat cap world there will be some very good deals that will present themselves.

Will never be as much as they want it to be. Some tough decisions, maybe unpopular ones, will have to be made. Won’t want to be picking up bad money to make room for later years. Thinks he has a good handle of the cap but no more than anyone else around the league. Gets tricky with LTIR. That’s why they brought Emelie in. She has the experience working on the player and union side.

Talked about Castonguay and Granato. He is very impressed with them. They want to be there and work hard. They are learning and willing to learn and work with other people. Broke down the draft structure. Todd Harvey reports to Cammi who reports to Patrik. There are a lot of good check points. Allvin can make the final decision but he works like Jim does. Says at some point we will see Rathbone at the NHL level this season.

Talked about how much he loves the game

Our Canucks reporter, Jeff Paterson, joined us in his regular non-game day spot. Talked about our chat with Rutherford. Couldn’t believe he said he loves the media. Talked about Jack Rathbone and the conversations surrounding him in the front office. JPat doesn’t get the impression that JR is impressed by a few wins and these results. Talked about Demko. Talked about Miller. JPat not convinced that his price will ever be higher. Thinks that he is very much in play. Talked about the 50 game mark and the difference between Green and Boudreau.

Rob Williams of the Daily Hive joined Matt and Blake in his regular Friday slot. Says that Canucks fans are demanding to know who won the belt. Talked about wrestling. Talked about when we will see the Skate jersey.