Tag Archives: coach alain vigneault

Gallagher: Henrik’s post-mortem needs to be questioned

Posted on May 14, 2013 by admin in Province Hockey | No comments

Before setting off for the World Championships to play for Sweden — where that country hopes to be in the final it is hosting — Canucks captain Henrik Sedin stood up for Canucks coach Alain Vigneault at the end-of-season meet and greet with the media.

And why wouldn’t he. After all, as the captain, it’s his job to pretend it’s a wonderful sailing ship that just happened to take on a little too much water. And let’s be clear here: From Henrik’s perspective, what’s not to like?

The twins never have to kill penalties, they get the lion’s share of every power play — no matter how poorly things are going — they start almost every shift in the offensive zone and when things go awry the coach never fingers them publicly.

They’re in the team’s leadership group, which is the management sounding board for any moves they might be planning to make, and the worst blame that ever comes the...

Canucks: With lower salary cap, Ballard will be prime candidate for compliance buyout

Posted on May 9, 2013 by admin in Province Hockey | No comments

Keith Ballard conducted what’s surely his last interview as a Canuck the same way he did in his first , three seasons ago.

He was honest, thoughtful and maybe a little too self-effacing.

Ballard, 30, suffered the embarrassment of watching all four games from the press box as the Canucks were swept by San Jose in the first round. Worse, he was effectively pushed out of the lineup by rookie Frank Corrado, who just turned 20 and was playing junior hockey a month ago.

“It’s not No. 1, but it’s up there for sure,” said Ballard of where it ranks on his list of career frustrations. “It’s disappointing that we got swept 4-0 and I didn’t get a chance to contribute. I didn’t get a chance to maybe make a difference and that’s frustrating on a personal level. I don’t think anybody saw this coming. Everyone is shocked by it.”

GM Mike Gillis talked about the need for significant change to his lineup for...

Canucks’ Keith Ballard hopes to ‘make most of opportunity’

Posted on May 9, 2013 by admin in Sun Hockey | No comments

VANCOUVER — It's probably a safe bet that Keith Ballard has already figured out that two-thirds of $8.4 million is $5.59 million.

The Canuck defenceman has heard the suggestions that the team will buy out the remaining two years on his contract this summer.

"I don't know," Ballard said Thursday when asked if he expected to remain a Canuck. "I have got two years left on my deal. If I am, I am. if I'm not, I'm not. I'll make the most of an opportunity here or if I end up somewhere else."

With next year's NHL salary cap being cut by nearly 10 per cent, the Canucks face some significant payroll challenges and it is widely assumed that they will likely use both of their compliance buyouts this summer.

Ballard and winger David Booth seem the likely candidates.

Ballard has two years at $4.2 million a season left on his deal. Under terms of the new CBA, veteran players like Ballard can...

Canucks star Henrik Sedin sticks up for coach Alain Vigneault, expects changes

Posted on May 9, 2013 by admin in Sun Hockey | No comments

VANCOUVER — Canucks captain Henrik Sedin conceded Thursday he expects changes to the team after a second straight quick playoff ouster. But what kind of changes? A new coach? Some new core players?

Henrik proved he can stickhandle through an exit media scrum as well he stickhandles through an opponent's zone coverage.

“I think if things aren't going well for a few years or a few seasons, there are going to be changes,” said the captain, standing in a hallway at Rogers Arena. “I don't know what you mean by big changes but there are going to be some, I'm sure, whatever that is. I know our owners and our management aren't happy being an average team. It's not up to me to make those changes so I can't tell you what they want to do. We'll see what happens.”

The most likely change will be behind the bench where head coach Alain Vigneault is on extremely thin ice after the...

Canucks’ Cup dreams left to rot in hockey graveyard

Posted on May 8, 2013 by admin in Sun Hockey | No comments

Erect a tombstone on the Vancouver Canucks’ season and the epitaph would read: What if?

Like, what if Richmond referee Kelly Sutherland hadn’t blown an overtime call from 100 feet away? Or what if coach Alain Vigneault hadn’t publicly blasted Sutherland after another terrible call cost the Canucks a regular-season game in Calgary?

What if Kevin Bieksa hadn’t accused the San Jose Sharks of diving, a charge that doubled as an allegation against the referees?

What if goalie Cory Schneider didn’t bobble pucks on the two goals that ended the Canucks’ season? Or what if Vigneault had made a safer choice — on numerous levels — to start Roberto Luongo in the last game that mattered?

What if Jannik Hansen hit the empty net near the end of Game 2 or Daniel Sedin had buried his open-net rebound chance in Game 4?

What if key secondary scorers Hansen and Chris Higgins had managed even one goal each in the series instead of combining...

Iain MacIntyre: Canucks’ Cup dreams left to rot in hockey graveyard

Posted on May 8, 2013 by admin in Sun Hockey | No comments

Erect a tombstone on the Vancouver Canucks’ season and the epitaph would read: What if?

What if Kevin Bieksa hadn’t accused the San Jose Sharks of diving, a charge that doubled as an allegation against the referees?

What if Jannik Hansen hit the empty net near the end of Game 2 or Daniel Sedin had buried his open-net rebound chance in Game 4?

What if key secondary scorers Hansen and Chris Higgins had managed even one goal each in the series instead of combining...

Cam Cole: Daniel Sedin’s penalty cruel and unusual punishment

Posted on May 8, 2013 by admin in Sun Hockey | No comments

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Out in the hallway, where the Vancouver Canucks brought Henrik Sedin to be interviewed because the tiny visitors’ locker room at HP Pavilion couldn’t have handled the crush, reporters crowded around the captain and ... how to put this? He said a bad word.

It rhymed with woolspit.

Coming from this thoroughly decent gentleman, it was as out of character as ... well, as his brother Daniel earning a post-game, game misconduct penalty for abusive language, for telling referee Kelly Sutherland what he thought of the boarding penalty in overtime that cost the Canucks a 4-3, season-ending decision Tuesday night at the hands of the San Jose Sharks.

No matter how you feel about the Canucks, the idea that their season, and almost inarguably their era of excellence, should end on an undeserved penalty to one of the most decent human beings in the game is damned poor symbolism.

In the hall, Henrik stood up for Daniel, just as...

Game Within Game: Words come back to haunt Canucks against Sharks

Posted on May 7, 2013 by admin in Sun Hockey | No comments

THREE STARS

ONE – Joe Thornton, Sharks. Set up series winner. Finished with three assists, four shots and 13-for-23 on faceoffs.

TWO – Joe Pavelski, Sharks. Two goals, nine shots, two blocked shots, 10-for-18 on the draw.

THREE – Alex Burrows, Canucks. One goal, one assist, three shots, plus-1.

PIVOTAL POINT – With the Canucks leading 3-2 in the third period and trying to protect their slim advantage, Kevin Bieksa shoved Tommy Wingels into the boards and drew a cross checking penalty. The Canucks lost the subsequent draw, the Sharks pressured, Cory Schneider coughed up a rebound on Joe Thornton's wrister, Logan Couture poked the loose puck over to Joe Pavelski, who roofed the tying goal with 4:27 left in the third. Patrick Marleau then put the Canucks away for good in overtime as Schneider couldn't handle another Thornton shot.

BY THE NUMBERS – Canuck coach Alain Vigneault's playoff record behind the Canuck bench fell to 33-35 and 2-12 in his last 14...

Canucks swept out of playoffs by Sharks, with likely sweeping changes to come

Posted on May 7, 2013 by admin in Sun Hockey | No comments

SAN JOSE, Calif. — There’s no need to embellish how bad the Vancouver Canucks have been in the playoffs since reaching the Stanley Cup Final two years ago.

They have now lost 10 of their last 11 playoff games and for the second straight year have made an early first-round exit from the Stanley Cup playoffs.

This time they were swept.

The San Jose Sharks beat the Canucks 4-3 in overtime Tuesday night at the HP Pavilion to take the series 4-0.

Patrick Marleau scored at 13:18 of overtime, tapping in a loose puck in the Vancouver crease, to give the Sharks the win.

A first-round sweep figures to lead to sweeping changes, both on and off the ice, for the Canucks.

• PHOTOS: Canucks fall to Sharks in overtime

The jobs of head coach Alain Vigneault and his staff are most certainly on the line and general manager Mike Gillis is going to face some uncomfortable questions from ownership over the team's...

End of an era for this Canucks team

Posted on May 7, 2013 by admin in Province Hockey | No comments

They were, arguably, the most extraordinary Vancouver Canucks’ teams in the four-decade-plus history of the NHL franchise.

But the Canucks might be looking at an ordinary future.

Questions will be asked after Tuesday’s 4-3 overtime loss to the San Jose Sharks — the Sharks sweeping aside the Canucks in four straight games.

A collective cringe was felt by Canuck fans across the province when the OT winner went in, with some taking to social media to vent their frustration.

“Gutted ... long summer ahead. Time to rebuild and rehab,” wrote Amy Bosch on Twitter.

“I’m not going to blame to refs like some hockey casual, the Canucks weren’t the better team and that’s why they lost. Time for an overhaul,” wrote@NickyNasty.

“I can’t believe the Canucks are out. So heartbroken.” tweeted Nim Bedi.

It’s the second straight year the Canucks have lost in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs — and a team that was one game from its first championship 23 months...

Game Day: Vigneault calls Cory Schneider the Canucks’ MVP and gives him Game 4 start

Posted on May 7, 2013 by admin in Sun Hockey | No comments

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The Vancouver Canucks will be counting on a bounce-back game from goalie Cory Schneider tonight (7 p.m., TSN, Team 1040) when they try to extend their season by winning Game 4 of their best-of-seven playoff series against the San Jose Sharks.

Following Schneider's struggles in the third period of Game 3, there had been some debate about who coach Alain Vigneault would start tonight.

Vigneault suggested today it was not a difficult decision to make.

"Cory in my opinion is our MVP," Vigneault said after this morning's game-day skate at HP Pavilion. "He is one of the reasons why we got into the playoffs. He has had great bounce-back games and he has been outstanding this year and I think our group has total faith in both goaltenders.

"But they have a lot of faith in Cory and I have got a lot of faith in him. That's why we are going with him tonight."

Schneider surrendered three quick...

Game Within Game: Sharks score on a softie and Canucks crash

Posted on May 5, 2013 by admin in Sun Hockey | No comments

THREE STARS

ONE – Logan Couture, Sharks. Two goals, two assists, three shots, three blocked shots and an awesome 15-for-18 on the draw.

TWO – Joe Pavelski, Sharks. Two goals, one assist, six shots, two blocked shots.

THREE – Patrick Marleau, Sharks. One goal, seven shots, two hits.

PIVOTAL POINT – With the Canucks still in the game entering the third, and down only 2-1, Cory Schneider allowed one of the biggest McSofties of his career on a harmless Logan Couture shot from the left wing and the roof – crash! – came tumbling down on coach Alain Vigneault's crew.

BY THE NUMBERS – The Logan Couture and Patrick Marleau goals nine seconds apart early in the third period set a dubious Canuck record for fastest two goals against in a playoff game... The Canucks failed to score a first-period goal on the Sharks for the sixth time in their six meetings, including three in the regular season. The Sharks have scored five...

Iain MacIntyre: These Canucks showed no push back or resolve

Posted on May 5, 2013 by admin in Sun Hockey | No comments

SAN JOSE, Calif. – The Vancouver Canucks, who should have won the Stanley Cup two years ago and until last week still talked about winning one, have been reduced to seeking a moral victory, a sliver of respect before their National Hockey League season is taken from them.

Rarely have the Canucks looked as flimsy as they were Sunday when, playing for their playoff lives, they were easily beaten 5-2 by the San Jose Sharks.

Rarely have the Canucks been pushovers.

But they're now likely to be thrown out of the Stanley Cup tournament in the minimum four games, swept for the first time in any round since 2001 when Vancouver was still struggling as a franchise for respectability and footing.

But even then, overmatched by a Colorado Avalanche team on its way to the Stanley Cup, the Canucks battled fiercely through every shift.

CANUCKS-SHARKS GAME 3 PHOTOS

Sunday, they hardly battled at all when they fell behind 3-1 early in the...

Cam Cole: Canucks’ biggest issue not Cory Schneider or Roberto Luongo in wake of Game 3 loss

Posted on May 5, 2013 by admin in Sun Hockey | No comments

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Cory Schneider’s “body injury” has healed. His other wounds, apparently not.

And worst of all, his goal-scoring drought continues.

Schneider, re-inserted as the starting goalie for Game 3 by coach Alain Vigneault for no other reason than because he thought it was the right thing to do, was lit up for three early third-period goals -- two of them by the amazing Logan Couture -- to seal the Vancouver Canucks’ fate, both for the evening and for another abbreviated Stanley Cup playoff run.

Perhaps “run” isn’t the right word.

CANUCKS-SHARKS GAME PHOTOS

Because, of course, they are done now. Down 3-0 in the series, with Game 4 here at HP Pavilion on Tuesday, they don’t look remotely able -- certainly not mentally -- to handle what the San Jose Sharks are throwing at them.

The Sharks poured three quick ones past Schneider in the first five minutes of the third period to take a 5-1 lead, bringing Roberto Luongo...