Press briefings for a lot of Vancouver Canucks senior managers over the years have been must-see theatre.

Imposing and authoritative, Pat Quinn once flicked his stick to knock a microphone out of a reporter’s hand, sending it skittering metallically across a concrete floor amid stunned silence. You didn’t dare miss a Mike Keenan press conference lest, as in NASCAR, you miss a fiery pileup.

The Brian Burke Show was endlessly quotable and often funny, and Rick Tocchet was always refreshingly direct and honest, even if he sometimes lapsed into a Rocky Balboa-like delivery that a former player described as "Tocky."

But for sheer volume of news bombs dropped by simply telling us what he thought, president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford should be on the reporters' Wall of Honour — if we had one. (We’d settle for a working press room at Rogers Arena).

His casual declaration at the end of Tuesday’s post-draft-lottery press conference that he’d be retreating to an advisory role after the entry draft in June — and after he hires a new general manager — was an explosion instantly heard around the National Hockey League.

"It’s time," Rutherford told us Wednesday before resuming the final phase of his GM search. "I have taken some time with this (decision), probably at least a year, not knowing exactly when I was going to make it. But you know, once you start thinking about it, then it's time."

In an interview with Sportsnet, Rutherford said he knew this would be his final season involved in key hockey operations decisions. He has a grown daughter in Raleigh, N.C., which has long been Rutherford’s home, and a son going into his senior year of high school at Shattuck-St. Mary’s Academy in Minnesota.

Rutherford wants to be nearer to them, which is why he will be based in North Carolina while he counsels Canucks owner Francesco Aquilini and the soon-to-be-named general manager. He will also be involved with the NHL as the Canucks' alternate........

© Sportsnet