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Vigneault to go

By Elliot Chan, Staff Writer

he argument is not whether

or not Alain Vigneault’s
seven years with the Vancouver
Canucks was a failure. After
all, he is the winning-est
coach in franchise history and
the recipient of the 2007 Jack
Adam Award. He coached two
Presidents’ Trophy teams and
got the Canucks all the way to
game seven of the Stanley Cup
finals. He has done everything
possible, except win the cup and
that is why it’s his time to go.

With Vigneault’s leadership,
the Canucks have become a

  
    

  

tough team to cheer for. An
undisciplined team that whines
over every call and flail like
soccer players at every check.
“We deserve it,” felt like the
mentality of the Canucks these
past few seasons, instead of
most other teams’, which is,
“we'll earn it.” They expected
everything to be handed to them
and that made them consistently
lose in the playoffs despite
having such an elite team. The
Canucks might be straight-A
students in the classroom, but
out on the playground they are
incompetent.

He is always diplomatic
and polite, but he never had
any fire. In his press conference
after game four of the 2013
Stanley Cup quarterfinals
against San Jose, Vigneault

i

looked absolutely defeated as he
answered questions. Meanwhile,
his players were in the locker
room complaining about a bad
penalty against Daniel Sedin

in overtime. It was a pathetic
image, far worse than getting
swept in the first round.

The Canucks have never
been a team with killer instincts.
A long history of losing to bad
teams and playing well against
good teams made Vancouver an
incoherent group. Leadership
has always been a problem with
the Canucks from the days of
the soft-spoken Markus Naslund
to “unable to do much because
he’s a goalie,” Roberto Luongo,
and then to the other soft-
spoken Swede Henrik Sedin.
The team needs a passionate
leader that doesn’t only lead by

example, but also by exclaiming
it. Vigneault was not the type of
man that gets his team fired up,
he couldn’t rock the boat and he
never won a championship.

Vigneault might have
squandered the best years of
the Vancouver Canucks, and
any coach after will be working
with the remains of a first-class
team, but there are a few Head
Coach-calibre candidates out in
the market that may be suitable
for our deteriorating Canucks
squad. Former Rangers bench
boss, John Tortorella has a
quality that might just force the
team to the next level. His fiery
attitude is exactly what this
undisciplined team needs, and
he would do wonders when it
comes to short-term goals, such
as winning the Stanley Cup.

Yi

 

Another candidate would
be Lindy Ruff, who for many
years has been waiting to join
a competitive hockey team.
Renounced as one of Canada’s
top coaches year after year, it
would be interesting to see what
he could bring to a team that has
metaphorically been colouring
within the lines for so many
years.

Vigneault was not GM Mike
Gillis’ organic choice. He was
the hand-me-down of former
GM Dave Nonis, and although
they had a successful six-year
partnership, Gillis will now
search for a coach that can lead
with an iron fist and not just a
courteous smile.

Alain Vigneault | Photo courtesy of Gerry Kahrmann/The Province

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