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But it leaves the faithful to wonder what is the vision for this team. The Canucks’ lone strength is its prospect pool. It’s the only reason their fan base haven’t given up on this team.

So is the plan now to peel off three or four of those young assets to land a star? That’s the only way you’re going to land a Karlsson-type player and Benning knows that. He should also know making that kind of deal will further alienate a fan base whose patience has been worn to a nub.

It’s just the latest example of an organization which trips all over itself trying to tell its story. The Canucks’ direction remains muddied but one thing is clear. They’re not going to win back consumer confidence by changing course again.

Photo by DARRYL DYCK / THE CANADIAN PRESS

• Then there’s the Lions. No one wants to see Wally Buono go out this way, but this is his team and right now he has to bear the responsibility for the Leos’ 3-6 mark. The slow starts, the lack of discipline, the familiar mistakes, all point to the head coach.

On Saturday, you could throw in a couple of new problems for the Lions. One, their receivers who aren’t Bryan Burnham couldn’t catch a cold in a meat locker and, two, they couldn’t gain a yard and a half when the game was on the line.

First the receivers. There were seven times in the game that Lions’ receivers had their hands on the ball and couldn’t come up with a catch.

Buono and Ed Hervey had their reasons for passing on Duron Carter, who signed with Toronto on Sunday, but the crying need for an impact receiver remains. And that was before Manny Arceneaux went down with a knee injury on Saturday. This is now on Hervey to fix and he has two weeks to come up with a solution.