Gilman says he's a candidate to be Canucks' GM

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Canucks assistant GM Laurence Gilman phoned in to the Team 1040 in Vancouver Friday afternoon.

On how he would describe the Mike Gillis era of the Canucks:

"First and foremost, I can tell you from my own perspective this has been not just the best six years of my hockey career - it's been the best six years of my life, living in British Columbia and my family has been happy.

"Our team won five consecutive division titles, two consecutive Presidents' Trophies and came within a game of winning the Stanley Cup. We accomplished some very good things.

"This season, clearly, things did not go our way. We obviously wish that our fortunes had been different. They weren't for a number of reasons. The end of the era has been a disappointment to us all and to all of those who are fans of the Canucks, but I think in time when people look back on Mike Gillis's body of work as general manager, they will note that he presided over a pretty successful reign as general manager of this hockey team."

On if he's a candidate to be the next GM of the Canucks:

"He informed me that I am a candidate to be the next general manager of the team. He also informed me that he's going to be interviewing a number of people. We spoke about some aspects of the team. We had a philosophical discussion about what's happened with our team, where we are at and at this stage we're both going to take it day by day as we get to know each other better on a professional level."

Gilman also said, "I feel a big part of this organization and I think there are many ways in which I can serve it other than being the general manager."

Gilman noted, "nothing has been promised to me."

The new GM, if not Gilman, "may be someone who wants to go in a different direction and have someone else fill my role. That's something that's not up to my control. All I can do is all I can do, so to speak, and continue to move forward and contribute in any way that I can until I'm told that my services are no longer needed."

On if he believes in and has confidence in the current group of Canucks:

"Well, you know, I definitely think that the team is better than the way it performed this year. You can read into that what you will. It's been a difficult year for us on a number of fronts, not the least of which due to injuries that we've had, trades that were made. You know, we will assess things once the season ends and we'll go forward."

Source: Team 1040 Vancouver