Articles in Vancouver Canucks

from Stan Fischler of The Hockey News,

Knowing Bruce since the late 1970s when he was a Maple Leafs rookie, I gave him a call the other night to get a line on how an old pal is doing. We chatted about several topics, and Boudreau's answers follow the subject headings just ahead.

HIS SUDDEN CHANGES OF PACE:

"It's been like going from 90 miles an hour to zero. From excitement to boredom. I was lucky to have my wife Crystal, who has been a big part of my support, helping out. And I know I left Vancouver with the support of my players. The young guys were behind me and so were the vets. The reaction of the players made me feel good. They all knew what was going on."

HIS REACTION TO THE DISMISSAL:

"I was angry when I was fired because I hate losing a job. I always want to finish what I start."

INTENSE ADMIRATION FROM VANCOUVER FANS:

"I can't explain it because I've never seen anything like it. Never. Not anywhere. I think that part of it stems from the fact that I gave them hope. They had gotten to know me long enough and they appreciated the fact that I was honest with them. I believe that they took a liking to me because they saw me as a regular, normal guy – like them – who just happened to be doing the job that I loved."

read on plus more hockey topics...

from Iain MacIntyre of Sportsnet,

When he was traded Monday by the only National Hockey League team he has played for, Bo Horvat was starting a long-planned family holiday at Disney World before reporting for this weekend’s All-Star Game in Florida.

It was a chance, he told Sportsnet on Friday before leaving Vancouver, to unplug from the stress and craziness of a disastrous Canucks season that had the team’s 27-year-old captain swirling at the epicentre of trade rumours since it began.

Horvat and his wife, Holly, were having custom All-Star Game jean jackets made for their small children, Gunnar (2 ½) and Tulsa (9 months), with the Canucks logo on them.

“Keepsakes,” Bo explained.

The last of them, it turns out.

On Monday, Vancouver traded him to the New York Islanders for winger Anthony Beauvillier, centre-prospect Aatu Raty and a conditional first-round draft pick. When Horvat flies to New York on Sunday night, instead of turning west to practise with the Canucks in New Jersey, Horvat will head east to meet the Islanders on Long Island.

The Canucks checked all the boxes on their trade wish list: a solid, proven NHL player in Beauvillier who is two years younger than Horvat, an A-grade prospect in Raty who has already logged 12 NHL games this season and a first-rounder.

It is the biggest in-season trade for the organization since holdout Pavel Bure was sent to the Florida Panthers in 1999. That was five general managers ago for the Canucks. This is a massive transaction that will, one way or another, define the Jim Rutherford-Patrik Allvin era.

continued

Vancouver, B.C. - Vancouver Canucks General Manager Patrik Allvin announced today that the club has made multiple changes to its coaching staff.

Head Coach Bruce Boudreau and Assistant Coach Trent Cull have been relieved of their duties.

Rick Tocchet has been hired as the 21st Head Coach in franchise history. Adam Foote has been named Assistant Coach and Sergei Gonchar has been hired as a Defensive Development Coach.

from Iain MacIntyre of Sportsnet,

An older man with a heart bigger than the Stanley Cup got the rare chance Saturday night to say goodbye to his players and his fans. It was the least Bruce Boudreau deserved.

His 48 years in professional hockey, his 68 years on this earth, all those rinks and bus rides and practices and games, all the sacrifice and moments of extreme joy and disappointment, all that he endured this season when his weeks-long dismissal as the Vancouver Canucks’ coach became a public spectacle — all of that led Boudreau to that one moment behind the bench late Saturday, just after his team lost 4-2 to the Edmonton Oilers in what was likely his final game in the National Hockey League.

“You never know if it's the end,” Boudreau, constantly fending off more tears after shedding many in the dressing room, told reporters in a hushed interview room. “So when you've been at it almost 50 years, I mean, the majority of your life and if it's the end. . . I had to stay out there and just look at the crowd and just try to say: 'Okay, remember this moment.'

“I just wanted to savour looking at the stands because who knows if I'm ever going to get this chance again. And just keep that in my mind in the memory. . . let it burn there forever.”

more

from Patrick Johnston of the Vancouver Province,

What a way to treat a human being.

Asked Friday morning about how much he values being a head coach in the National Hockey League, Vancouver Canucks bench boss Bruce Boudreau got so emotional he couldn’t answer.

“I’ll talk later,” was all he could manage in response to the final question of his pre-game media scrum, tears welling in his eyes and a lump clearly in his throat.

Everyone knew what it’s about: his days behind the Canucks’ bench are numbered.

He’s expected to be replaced within days, most likely by Rick Tocchet, the ex-NHLer who has been working for TNT’s NHL telecasts and who has served as head coach of the Arizona Coyotes and Tampa Bay Lightning.

continued

from Michael Traikos of the National Post,

Is it a first-round pick, a top prospect and a young roster player? Is that too little? Too much? That might depend on whether Horvat is just a rental player or whether the team that acquires him can then ink his name to a long-term contract extension.

Either way, it’s time to get those offers in.

The Vancouver Canucks are officially open for business. And they aren’t waiting around until the March 3 deadline to make a deal.

That was essentially the message that president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford sent on Monday in a mid-season address that seemed directed more towards the other 31 teams in the NHL than Vancouver’s ownership group or a disgruntled fanbase that has been littering the ice with Canucks jerseys this year.

“We are taking a step back, whether we want to or not,” Rutherford told reporters. “And we’re not happy about it. And I’m not laughing about it. But the fact of the matter is, we are in the process of taking a step backwards.”

Rutherford, who didn’t sugarcoat his words, was praised for his blunt — if not brutal — honesty regarding where the Canucks are, what got them here and how they are going to turn things around. At times, he blamed himself, saying he was disappointed in the job he’s done. And though he was optimistic that better days are ahead, he also said the next year is going to be painful.

Major surgery is going to be required. Unpopular decisions are going to have to be made.

more

from Iain MacIntyre of Sportsnet,

All the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put the Vancouver Canucks together again.

But Bruce Boudreau will keep trying.

The National Hockey League team, which crashed on its first road trip in October and has seen its fragments smashed into smaller bits since then, blew another three-goal lead Tuesday and lost 5-4 to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

It’s not that this game made the Canucks irreparable, blowing a 3-0 first-period head start over the span of 10 minutes. It’s all the games they’ve kicked away in the franchise’s most disappointing first half this century.

Tuesday was the third time in 40 games they lost in regulation time after scoring the first three goals. It was the eighth time they’ve lost while leading by two or more goals.

But, really, what has made them unfixable is the way they defend – leading or otherwise. They have surrendered five or more goals 18 times, nearly every other game. And only the Anaheim Ducks have allowed more goals this season than the 158 pucks the Canucks have fished out of their net.

continued

Game highlights are below.

from Patrick Johnston of the Vancouver Province,

If we are to believe Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Vancouver Canucks have only one untouchable player in Elias Pettersson.

There’s no doubt that Pettersson is the team’s best player and the Canucks should do everything in their power to retain him....

So, yes, the entire focus of Canucks’ management should be on retaining Pettersson.

Their efforts must extend to a second player though: Quinn Hughes.

Friedman suggested on the 32 Thoughts portion of Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday that only Pettersson is truly untouchable for Canucks management, with the caveat that it would take a mountain of an offer for the Canucks to even consider trading Hughes.

But truly, there’s no replacing Hughes’ talent on the Canucks’ blueline. Hughes is, simply, the most dynamic defenceman that has ever played for the Canucks.

read on

from Iain MacIntyre of Sportsnet,

“You know, anytime you're not winning on a regular basis, for coaches it's perplexing,” Boudreau told reporters. “I guess the biggest part is you can look like champions one night, and then the next night you come back and you don't look like champions, you look like the opposite. And that's the most perplexing thing for me right now. Because I've seen the best of us (and) I've seen the worst of us. I know we're going to come out of this because we have in the past all the time. But it's hard going through it.”...

“Look at, I hate being booed,” Boudreau said. “I mean, in life you hate being booed, right? And you know they have the right to do it. . . and so that's a hard pill to swallow. We'd love to be 41-0 at home and make it tough for teams to come into this building and win. But right now, that's just not happening.

“As a coach, I've never had a losing season, so I just never think that we're going to lose. I think every game we start, we're going to win. I thought going into the third period (down 3-1), if we scored one goal early that we would win the game. And if you believe otherwise, then you have no chance of winning.

“A lot of times it's not all rainbows and everything else. But I've got to believe I've got to make them think that they can win. If they don't think they can win, then there's no chance of us ever winning.”

more

from Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic,

The return that Vancouver could be looking for in a Bo Horvat trade is one of the interesting things to consider as this market starts to develop.

It might not be what we expect.

I assumed the Canucks would be asking for a futures-only package, as selling, retooling teams most often do when they’re dealing with an in-season trade for a pending unrestricted free agent. But so far, it seems that Vancouver is looking instead for more of a hockey deal — to upgrade at center ice and/or right-shot defense if possible and bring in a player in the twentysomething age range this Canucks management group has focused on since coming on board...

And the possibility of Horvat re-signing with his new team as part of a trade? It’s hard, but we did see it happen last season with Hampus Lindholm after being traded from the Ducks to the Bruins. I also wonder if non-playoff teams with cap room to spare would try to get in on Horvat, viewing the acquisition price as worth it in order to cut off the competition ahead of July 1 free agency. That’s a longer shot, I think, but you can’t rule it out.

I would also never completely close the door on Horvat re-signing with the Canucks, even though those chances are certainly more remote now than they’ve been in the past. Sometimes when the reality of a possible trade hits you — both as a front office and as a player — there can be a sudden change of heart.

At the moment, all signs point to the Canucks front office exploring the trade route after being unable to sign Horvat a couple of weeks ago. But stranger things have happened.

more (paid) and additional trade chatter

via TSN,

It appears the Vancouver Canucks may be looking to move captain Bo Horvat ahead of the NHL trade deadline.

TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun, citing a report on Monday by CHEK's Rick Dhaliwal, tweeted that the Canucks made Horvat's camp a new contract offer a couple of weeks ago that was rejected and that the team is focused on the trade market between now and the deadline on March 3.

Horvat, 27, is in the final year of a six-year contract he signed with the Canucks as a restricted free agent in 2017 and carries a cap hit of $5.5 million. He will become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.

He has 20 goals and 29 points in 28 games this season. Horvat scored a career-high 31 goals last season and posted 52 points in 70 games as Vancouver missed the playoffs for the sixth time in the past seven seasons.

Horvat, who was named captain of the Canucks in 2019, has 190 goals and 395 points in 600 career games.

from Iain MacIntyre of Sportsnet,

Two weeks into his Calder Trophy season four years ago, Elias Pettersson was thrown violently to the ice in Florida by defenceman Mike Matheson, who had been embarrassed by the rookie Vancouver Canuck earlier in the shift.

Pettersson got a concussion, Matheson a two-game suspension and the incident set off an inferno of debate about the culture of both the Canucks and the National Hockey League.

But even then, as a 19-year-old with the physique of a 2-iron, Pettersson was tougher than he seemed. Tougher mentally and physically. Four years later for Pettersson and two teams later for Matheson, the Canucks’ elite two-way centre victimized the Montreal Canadiens’ defenceman in overtime to give Vancouver an inexplicable 7-6 victory in front of fans who have rarely been so entertained.

continued

Highlights are below.

from Iain MacIntyre of Sportsnet,

Thatcher Demko’s dark start to the National Hockey League season turned black Thursday when the goalie was injured trying to rescue his collapsing team. It’s hard to see any light around the Vancouver Canucks now.

For the second straight home game, the Canucks were dull and leaden at the start, outskated and overrun by the Florida Panthers in a 5-1 loss at Rogers Arena. The Washington Capitals beat the Canucks by the same score on Tuesday, but this game was worse for Vancouver.

It was worse because there was no discernible boost in energy, emotion or cerebral function by the Canucks after the previous game, and because on Thursday they lost not only another lopsided contest but their starting goalie.

Demko hobbled off the ice with what appeared to be a significant leg injury with 47 seconds remaining in the first period after the Canucks surrendered three goals in 59 seconds to the Panthers. It was the fastest any National Hockey League team has surrendered three goals this season.

continued

Below watch the 3 quick goals by the Panthers and the Demko injury...

from Jonathan Tovell of The Hockey News,

Former Vancouver Canucks employee Rachel Doerrie alleged the team and assistant GM Emilie Castonguay discriminated against her.

Doerrie filed a human rights complaint with the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal on Nov. 22 and shared the document on Twitter Sunday evening. She alleged that her sex, mental and physical disabilities played a role in her termination on Sept. 27.

Castonguay is specifically named in the complaint “because of the central role she played in the termination of Ms. Doerrie’s employment,” said the document, written by Peter Gall, Doerrie's counsel. The Canucks are also named as a respondent.

Doerrie alleged that Castonguay grew “cold” towards her after Doerrie was promoted to the coaching staff as an analyst and assistant to the video coach. That eventually led to Castonguay allegedly saying to Doerrie, “I don’t know if you have what it takes to do the job, mentally.”

“Ms. Doerrie suffered damage to her dignity, self-esteem, and physical and mental health resulting from Ms. Castonguay's comments, and her subsequent treatment by Ms. Castonguay,” the document alleged. “She also suffered financial losses arising from her unexpected loss of employment.”

continued

from Adam Proteau of The Hockey News,

The Vancouver Canucks have been a slightly more competitive team in recent games, going 5-4-1 in their past 10 contests. But that’s not nearly enough to justify Canucks management choosing to go to battle with the same group of talent for the rest of the season. This can’t be the second year of them fighting uphill through the final three-quarters of the year, only to fall short of a playoff berth.

Even then, even if they did beat the odds and clawed their way back through the Pacific Division’s bottom half, and did wind up earning a low post-season spot, does anyone not employed by the organization really believe the Canucks can do any sort of damage once they get to the end of the year?

It’s clear now, after nearly one-quarter of the season, that Vancouver simply does not have the depth of talent, particularly on defense, to be a serious Stanley Cup contender. And that means GM Patrik Allvin and president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford must take an axe to the roster, keeping a handful of young players and shearing off the rest for whatever they can get on the trade market.

That means veteran forwards Bo Horvat, Brock Boeser and Connor Garland should be on the trade block. That means veteran defenseman Tyler Myers should join them there. Only Myers has a no-movement clause in his contract, but as per Cap Friendly, that’s only a modified NTC, with Myers able to submit a list of 10 teams he can’t be dealt to.

continued

Trevor Zegras with another Michigan goal but entering the zone, the Ducks were offside after a challenge.

from Iain MacIntyre of Sportsnet,

When the tireless advocates for a complete rebuild of the Vancouver Canucks talk about blowing up the team, they aren’t envisioning the franchise president doing it on radio.

But the blast from Jim Rutherford’s blunt assessment of the Canucks’ 3-6-3 start was still reverberating around the team, 4,000 kilometres away, as they prepared Tuesday to try to save their season when they open a five-game trip against the Ottawa Senators.

Head coach Bruce Boudreau, who seems halfway down the plank protruding over shark-infested waters from the SS Canucks, spent nearly all of his morning media availability responding to questions about Rutherford’s criticism of “structure” and player performance during a Monday afternoon appearance on Sportsnet 650 radio in Vancouver.

“Listen, I'm not going to get into an argument of whether we do or whether we don't (have structure),” Boudreau said. “We play as hard as we can, we do as well as we can and we lay it all out on the line, I think, every night. That's what I can tell you.

“It is what it is, right? I try to keep the noise out and keep the noise out of the room as much as possible and just focus on what we have to do at hand, and that's win a hockey game. So that's our focus tonight.”

continued

from NHL.com,

Ethan Bear and Lane Pederson were traded to the Vancouver Canucks by the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday.

Carolina received a fifth-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft.

Bear, a defenseman, has not played an NHL game this season. He had 14 points (five goals, nine assists) in 58 games for Carolina last season and did not play in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The 25-year-old signed a one-year, $2.2 million contract with Carolina on July 28 and can become a restricted free agent after the season.

"We're pleased to have added an established defenceman to our blueline," Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin said of Bear. "It gives the coaching staff another option with his right shot, his ability to move pucks, and his ability to get the puck out of our own end quick. His transition game has been something that I've watched over the years that I like."

continued

from the CP at TSN,

Ilya Mikheyev scored his first two goals of the season and the Vancouver Canucks ended their season-opening losing streak at a franchise-record seven games, beating the Seattle Kraken 5-4 on Thursday night.

Elias Pettersson, Andrei Kuzmenko and Conor Garland each had a goal and had an assist to help coach Bruce Boudreau reach 600 NHL victories. Garland scored the winner into an empty net.

“Just to to hear the music in the (locker) room and knowing how hard they’ve practiced and they’ve never given up hope,” Boudreau said. “... The spirit has never been down where we’ve gone into a game and gone, ‘Oh, woe is me.’ So I think it was a great reward for them.”

continued

Game highlights are below

from Michael Traikos of the National Post,

Something has to give when you start the season 0-5-2. And unfortunately for Boudreau, who took over from Travis Green last December after a similarly ugly 8-15-2 start, the easiest thing might be canning the coach.

“There’s been a number of tough years in Vancouver. Everyone’s frustrated,” Canucks president Jim Rutherford said in a phone interview on Tuesday. “Certainly when you have a record like we do, sometimes you get put in a position that you don’t want to be in.”

After all, we all knew the Canucks weren’t going to challenge for a Stanley Cup this year. But after Boudreau went 32-15-10 last year — a 106-point pace — the hope was that they would challenge for a playoff spot. At the very least, they should be competitive. Not setting records for blown multi-goal leads or getting blown out by the Buffalo Sabres. Or playing so poorly that fans were tossing jerseys and booing the team off the ice in the home opener. ...

This is the worst start in the franchise’s history. The Canucks are the only team in the NHL without a win. And that’s in a league where Arizona, Chicago and others are trying to tank for a chance at drafting top prospect Connor Bedard.

“I don’t want to say I’m not surprised what’s happened here,” said Rutherford. “I am surprised that we haven’t won a game at this point, but I‘m not totally surprised at what’s going on.”

more

from Iain MacIntyre of Sportsnet,

Well, at least we’re guaranteed another couple of days without martial law on the West Coast.

After terrorizing the fan base with their performance, and the spectacularly quotable criticisms by their coach and president in their home-opener on Saturday, the Vancouver Canucks had a more noble 3-2 loss Monday to the formidable Carolina Hurricanes.

But it was still wholly unsatisfactory, as Vancouver dipped to 0-5-2 and remain the National Hockey League’s only winless team.

And the worst part of what could have been a bounceback night for the franchise, was that yet again the game was there for the Canucks in the third period, tied 1-1, only to have them yield easy goals to Sebastian Aho and Jesper Fast on the second and third shifts of the final frame.

In their seven games, the Canucks have been outscored 17-2 after the second intermission.

continued

Game highlights are below