In recent years, we here at CanucksArmy have gotten accustomed to writing 4-5 news articles after each Vancouver Canucks press conference. But that wasn’t the case on Thursday when the Canucks unveiled Daniel and Henrik Sedin as co-Presidents of Hockey Operations, and Ryan Johnson as General Manager. Sure, there were some notable items, like the new management trio’s thoughts on Elias Pettersson, their approach to building a strong culture, and more, but there really weren’t a ton of headline-grabbing items.

And honestly? That was a nice change of pace for this fanbase.

Let’s make one thing clear. The feelings of hope and optimism that Thursday brought aren’t coming from the fact that Jim Rutherford is gone. Rutherford did his best to treat people well during his time here and isn’t the villain in this story. Rather, it has a whole lot more to do with what the Sedins and Johnson represent. Johnson has long been known as an honest straight shooter. He’s paid his dues, and just like he wants to see every player he meets succeed, he genuinely came across like he has the organization’s best interests at heart instead of his own. And of course, there’s no question that the same can be said of the Sedins, who have bled blue and have identified themselves as Canucks for the past 26 years.

There was an undeniable sense of “okay, this is a new era, and it’s going to be different” in the media room at Rogers Arena on Thursday, and, based on the reaction we saw online, the fanbase absolutely felt it as well.

Right off the bat, the biggest question fans had heading into Thursday was how serious the new regime would be about rebuilding. Would they use ambiguous language? Would they say things like “next year will be bad, but we’ll see what happens the year after that!” Would they put a timeline on the rebuild? Would they sound open to trading more veteran players, even those with no-move clauses and even those who Rutherford essentially tabbed as the Canucks’ next captain before he left?

The answer to those questions: No, no, no, and yes.

The three men seemed very aligned with one another. They have a clear vision of how they want to rebuild the Canucks’ culture and standard from the ground up, and let that influence their decisions on player personnel.

For the question of how long a rebuild could take, Henrik Sedin gave a great answer, saying “if we want to do this as fast as possible, we have to be very careful and go slow. I think that’s the fastest way to get to where we want to be.”

Even the owner used the word rebuild and made it clear the Canucks want to build a championship calibre team, not just one that sneaks into the playoffs.

Patience was a common theme on Thursday, and for a fanbase that’s been practically begging for a patient approach and a rebuild over the last decade, that resonates very well.

Under the Rutherford-led Canucks, messaging wasn’t always clear. There was a level of “we’ve got this, trust us,” and it never really felt like Rutherford or Patrik Allvin really understood just how much pain Canucks fans had been through before they arrived on the scene.

The Sedins and Johnson, though? They fully understand that. They wanted to win a Stanley Cup here when they were players, but came up just short. Daniel admitted on an interview with Sportsnet 650’s Halford and Brough on Thursday morning that that’s long eaten away at him and his brother. He also added that they have a deep desire to get it done now that they’re at the helm of the organization.

And while he only spent two years as a player in Vancouver, Johnson has been involved with the Canucks’ hockey operations department since Mike Gillis was still around. This is a person who leads people and gains their trust. So often in talking to Abbotsford Canucks players, we’ve heard them say they’d run through a wall for RJ. I mean, how else do you win a Calder Cup?

That’s another big part of all of this, is that criticisms about the Canucks’ lack of community involvement in recent years and a vow from management to get better and once again reconnect with this city? That’s the kind of stuff that makes a fanbase feel seen and heard.

As Henrik Sedin said, they’re going to do their absolute best to make people proud to be Canucks fans again.

It’s great that everyone feels a lot better about the direction of this franchise than they did a week ago. And I mean that.

It’s also great that the Sedins and Johnson said all the right things and have left an undeniable sense of hope in the fanbase that hasn’t been there after a press conference. I mean that, too.

But I’ll gently remind everyone that most of us were all very excited when Jim Rutherford first arrived on the scene. He similarly brought up many of the concerns fans had felt about the Canucks under the previous regime, and he similarly said all the right things at the time. It wasn’t until his group’s moves — particularly the ones that caused the Canucks to fall flat after a magical 2023-24 season — that it became clear this wasn’t going to work out.

At the end of the day, actions speak louder than words. And even though words certainly matter too in this business — and the Sedins and RJ of course nailed the words part — what matters most is what moves they execute to help the Canucks through this rebuild. That work begins now, and the first things this group will be judged on are how they handle the NHL Draft and free agency in about a month and a half.

But make no mistake about it. Thursday’s press conference instilled a feeling of optimism and hope in this fanbase that hasn’t been felt in years, and that matters.