Quote:
Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe
That's surprising. I heard it was Clark who didn't feel he had the energy any longer for the role and wanted more time away. If the Canucks do end up giving permission to other teams, I hope Conroy comes knocking. No offence to Labarbera, but Clark has been known for quite some time at being incredibly good in his role.
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So there are a mixture of things at play here. Ian Clark is not a young man. He has both a shoulder and apparently a hip issue that are not going to get better and are likely just part of who he is at his age so he requested a move to an off ice role and suggested the promotion of the AHL goalie coach in his place.
Now when Clark asked for this new role he envisioned moving into a Head of Goalie Development role that would see him off ice but overseeing the entire organization's goalie system (NHL, AHL, ECHL and prospects).
Unfortunately there is some belief within the organization that Ian Clark's hard driving style played a big role in Markstrom and Demko's injury history. Particularly Demko. There were some rumours that Demko and Clark may not get along personally as well, but that has since been debunked. So the Canucks were not sure they wanted that to be the team's policy top to bottom in the organization.
By all accounts, at his age Ian Clark does not want to leave Vancouver. He wasn't some shrewd get by Benning, Clark picked Vancouver because it was home. There is some belief that he may just slide into the scouting role and finish out his days close to home. But if a team, likely a west coast or near by team comes with an offer he may listen.