Canucks fire Willie Desjardin
- Thread starter BobbyMcgee
- Start date
Something that should have been done last season as far as I'm concerned. Now, lets see who'll lead this pack of young wolves. Available ones come to mind.....Hartley, Lindy Ruff, Travis green or Todd Reirden.
Todd certainly has the offensive knowledge being assistant to Current Washington and Previously the Pens. I expect a few more shake ups occurring in the off season.
Todd certainly has the offensive knowledge being assistant to Current Washington and Previously the Pens. I expect a few more shake ups occurring in the off season.
Yes he did poorly in his time here but part of it was upper management. No one wants to be hired to coach a losing team. The message from JB (especially in the first year) was to make the playoffs. He coached to do that, neglecting development of prospects and young players in the eyes of the fans. Finally this year when the direction we're headed became all too obvious, WD didn't do a whole lot to show that he was the coach to develop players either.
There'll be at least one (probably more) year of suffering before they'll contend for a playoff spot, so it'll be interesting to see if they take an 'older school' guy like Ruff/Sutter (unlikely imo) to tough it out or cycle through another lesser name coach. My preference at the moment would be Gerard Gallant.
There'll be at least one (probably more) year of suffering before they'll contend for a playoff spot, so it'll be interesting to see if they take an 'older school' guy like Ruff/Sutter (unlikely imo) to tough it out or cycle through another lesser name coach. My preference at the moment would be Gerard Gallant.
Uncle Willy was clearly out coached in the Calgary playoff series a few years ago. He's a stubborn old goat that cannot adapt to change and his systems (if he had any) clearly were not good. Canucks should have been this poor a few years ago when McDavid or Austin Matthews were in play.
True! I watched her do the happy dance of joy! (And believe me, it's a sight to behold!)
I think Willie was out of his element in the NHL. Clearly a very good coach at the Major Junior level but couldn't get the current Canucks to to mesh properly when faced with injuries and a very tough Western Division.
It does beg the question though; WTF has Jim Benning been doing the past few years? Other than moving Burrows and Hansen for decent returns, he has sat on his hands as far as I can tell.
It does beg the question though; WTF has Jim Benning been doing the past few years? Other than moving Burrows and Hansen for decent returns, he has sat on his hands as far as I can tell.
I'm not surprised at this. He made some mistakes, considering this is a rebuilding team that has to develop the young players.
Some of the problems are just their available roster, so the GM may be next to climb the gallows steps. (Getting Ericsson? Keeping Edler?)
The new era does not really begin until the Sedins are done. The Canucks need another top-notch centre, and much more besides that. We are still years away from a good team.
Some of the problems are just their available roster, so the GM may be next to climb the gallows steps. (Getting Ericsson? Keeping Edler?)
The new era does not really begin until the Sedins are done. The Canucks need another top-notch centre, and much more besides that. We are still years away from a good team.
I am glad he is gone. I didn't think he was the right one. In his defence he didn't have the right players either but I could see him screwing that up. This team is far from contending. They have some good prospects but I don't see any top end elite/game changers in there. They will go through one more coach before they are remotely close. In hindsight it looks like Torts was right about the team. Everyone just didn't want to believe it and he paid the price for it. Canucks fans are going to need some patience. Sorry. More patience.
Please be honest here.
When do you think Vancouver would be in contention at the level of the top NHL teams of today?
To me, more patience would be akin to "when pigs fly".
A lot of pieces would have to come together, from top management to coaching to the players. And a lot of will (& money).
Maybe some of the local hockey experts on this board have excellent suggestions, but would Canucks do anything?
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I don't see it in a long time unfortunately. Tor w/mathews and Edm/w Mcdavid are a are a couple yrs from contending. We are not even in that convo. It may get worse before it's better. The one positive is they will have 14 mil to spend once the twins are gone. Hopefully they spend it wiser than on Ericsson.
Having a poor roster and poor coaching are not two mutually exclusive things. Desjardins did not line match at any point in Vancouver, which is a fundamental basic of hockey at any level. He seems like a good guy and the players seemed to enjoy playing with him but he is certainly not an NHL caliber coach. It does nothing for the kids to learn poor system hockey during a rebuild, the key is to do what Toronto did with regards to strong fundamental hockey but just lack of talent.
deployment, line matching, development, free passes, doghouses, double standards... don't want to go on and on here, just hope they find an NHL savvy coach who can develop youthful skill players while transitioning vets out, or down the lines. who is that coach...it'll make or break Benning or Linden or both.
They had to blame someone as season ticket holders want to think that next year will be better. Blame Gillies (past GM) and their micro managing owner. They drafted poorly and Gillies dug a deep hole. They are in a sad state of affairs. I listened to Hockey Central at noon the other day. They are comparing the Canuck organization to the Cluster F#uck that Edmonton was for years, with too many of the "Good old Boys" in management and poor drafting
This is a symptom of an organization in disarray. You have a president who has zero NHL experience at that level and a GM who rode the wave of success of his superior in Boston. Then, you say you want to win and rebuild at the same time. Well boys, sorry, you can't do both.
I never thought Desjardins was a great coach, not even in junior hockey, but you can't pin all of this on him. If the Canucks want long term success, they are going to have to tear it all down, trade their veterans, and rebuild from the ground up. Problem is, this fan base won't let them. With so many disappointments from this franchise over the 45+ years of existence, they are afraid that too many losing seasons will alienate their fan base for good. They are stuck between a rock and a hard place and don't have the personnel with the smarts to get them out of it.
PS Gerard Gallant should be their next coach
I never thought Desjardins was a great coach, not even in junior hockey, but you can't pin all of this on him. If the Canucks want long term success, they are going to have to tear it all down, trade their veterans, and rebuild from the ground up. Problem is, this fan base won't let them. With so many disappointments from this franchise over the 45+ years of existence, they are afraid that too many losing seasons will alienate their fan base for good. They are stuck between a rock and a hard place and don't have the personnel with the smarts to get them out of it.
PS Gerard Gallant should be their next coach
Coaching wasn't the Canucks problem - just ask John Tortorella if he changed anything significantly to his approach in Columbus. You either have the horses or you don't. And those horses have to all be at the top of their game to be a contender in this league of 'the best of the best'!
We're slowly getting some players and require some assets to dramatically up their game (eg Louis and Jake). I expect next season to be another write-off but am looking forward to the following one.
We're slowly getting some players and require some assets to dramatically up their game (eg Louis and Jake). I expect next season to be another write-off but am looking forward to the following one.
