The disaster that was the Vancouver Canucks home opener left the fans angry, the head coach frustrated and the president of hockey operations pulling no punches when assessing his team on Hockey Night in Canada.
Jim Rutherfordsa国际传媒檚 appearance on After Hours following the Canucks 5-1 loss to the Buffalo Sabres this past Saturday clearly put all members of the organization on notice that the teamsa国际传媒檚 performance to start the season was unacceptable.
Even Bruce Boudreau, whom Rutherford has a good relationship with dating back to their NHL playing days, didnsa国际传媒檛 escape Rutherfordsa国际传媒檚 criticism. One of the jobs of any coach at any level is to have his team prepared to play and Rutherfordsa国际传媒檚 assessment was blunt when that subject was broached.
sa国际传媒淲e didnsa国际传媒檛 have a very good camp and itsa国际传媒檚 carried over into the season. We have a lot of bad habits,sa国际传媒� Rutherford told Hockey Night.
Rutherford then went on to criticize another area that the head coach has significant influence in sa国际传媒� namely team defense.
sa国际传媒淲hen we talk about defence itsa国际传媒檚 just not the guys playing defence itsa国际传媒檚 a team defence and those guys arensa国际传媒檛 getting enough support.sa国际传媒�
Rutherford even downplayed using injuries as excuses, and again, took aim at the teamsa国际传媒檚 defensive structure.
sa国际传媒淚 believe if our team has a real strong structure you can play through those things,sa国际传媒� said Rutherford, whose team has used 10 defencemen through seven games.
Although never mentioning his head coach or Boudreau by name, Rutherford made it very clear that more was expected not only from the players but also from the man behind the bench.
Boudreau is in an interesting position in that he was inherited by Rutherford and Canucks GM Patrick Allvin, being appointed as the head coach on Dec. 5 while Rutherford was hired a few days later on Dec. 10. Allvin didnsa国际传媒檛 join the organization until Jan. 26. Usually a president is brought in, who then hires a general manager who then in turn hires a coach. That clearly wasnsa国际传媒檛 the case in Vancouver.
When asked why Boudreau wasnsa国际传媒檛 extended after last season in which he coached the team to a 32-15-10 record, Rutherford indicated that he was out of the loop on the hire.
sa国际传媒淗e came here and it was my understanding that he was going to get a contract for just last year. He got a contract really for two years and so hesa国际传媒檚 still got his contract. It wasnsa国际传媒檛 about that we extended him one year, itsa国际传媒檚 just that we lived by the contract he had. As I look at it now, it was the right thing to do. Hesa国际传媒檚 got to work through this with his team, and at the appropriate time, we will talk to him about what his future is.sa国际传媒�
Even though he wasnsa国际传媒檛 his hire, Rutherford was on board with the move given those comments. The same cannot be said for Allvin. As with most GMsa国际传媒檚, Allvin would love to bring in his own guy but his authority is obviously superseded by Rutherford, who didnsa国际传媒檛 want to terminate Boudreau after his success of last year. And given Boudreausa国际传媒檚 success, letting him go would have been a public relations disaster.
Boudreau does have some rope to play with but with every loss that rope becomes shorter. The follow-up 3-2 loss to Carolina on Monday saw the Canucks at least compete but you donsa国际传媒檛 get paid to compete sa国际传媒� you get paid to win.
Veteran B.C. sports personality Bob sa国际传媒渢he Mojsa国际传媒� Marjanovich writes twice weekly for Black Press Media. And check out his weekly podcast every Monday at or your local Black Press Media website.
