There has been a lot of chatter about the culture of the current Vancouver Canucks team, especially after the trade of their Captain, Quinn Hughes.

Sportsnet 650’s Jason Brough asked Canucks General Manager Patrik Allvin at the Hughes trade press conference whether the team had a culture problem, citing the rift between JT Miller and Elias Pettersson, their Jack Adams Award-winning coach, Rick Tocchet, who left despite being offered a substantial contract, and their Captain, who wanted out. Allvin denied the claim.

On Thursday morning, former Canucks Assistant General Manager Laurence Gilman appeared on Halford and Brough to discuss his new role as Vice President of Hockey Operations with the Columbus Blue Jackets, and the topic of culture came up again. This led Gilman to tell a fantastic story about how he and General Manager Mike Gillis developed the culture that would stick with the Canucks through their 2011 Stanley Cup Final run.

“Well, obviously, there were great pieces that were here when we got here,” Gilman said. “But I go back to one event that occurred right off the hop. It was in our first training camp, we had two young players in Mason Raymond and Jannik Hansen, who clearly played well enough to make the team. And you had two other players that were veteran players, and they were on one-way contracts, and they were Matt Pettinger and Jeff Cowan.

“Mike Gillis and I sat down with Francesco Aquilini, and Mike explained that the players know who makes this team. And if you really want to have a competitive culture, these two young players need to be on the team, and we need to put Cowan and Pettinger on waivers. And that means, if they clear, you’re going to eat – if I’m not mistaken – $1.8 million in salary for the Manitoba Moose.

“To his credit, Francesco Aquilini didn’t flinch. He said, ‘Do it.’ We put those players on waivers. And I believe that instance right there established the culture that we meant business, and we came here to run this thing in a manner that was going to be competitive and that the money didn’t matter. What mattered was the competitive nature of the team and doing everything that we could in our power to win. Unfortunately, we came one game short of that.”

This ruthless move to cut a pair of veterans for younger, hungrier players helped foster a competitive culture for the Canucks, pushing one another with the understanding that no one in that locker room’s spot was guaranteed. That philosophy helped the Canucks win five Northwest Division Titles, five playoff rounds, and a 309-175-56 record during Gilman’s tenure in Vancouver.