Demitra unhappy with Vigneault's line juggling

Uh-oh. The coach-killing ensues. From the Province:

Demitra, who is expected to miss his third straight game with a groin injury tonight, expressed his displeasure with the rotating lines.

"Noboby likes that," Demitra said. "When you play with different guys all the time, it's tough.

"This game, it's not easy to score goals anymore and everyone can play hockey so it's hard. When you play with the same guys all the time, it's a much easier game. When I had my best years, I played with the same two guys for like four or five years. I played with (Scott) Mellanby and (Keith) Tkachuk for like five years straight.
"It's an easy game when you play with the same guys all the time."

Demitra is hoping he will play with Mats Sundin again when he's healthy.

Opinion #1
I think most fans would agree with Pavol's displeasure. I think it's a double-edged sword. Vigneault gives playing minutes to those who EARN IT. That involves shuffling lines to bump players up and down. But hypocritically, he won't separate the Sedins, even if they stink it up for a few games. You can't have that double-standard.

Opinion #2
It's almost as if Vigneault is a knee-jerk kind of coach, and maybe needs a little more patience with his lines at times. He looks for instant chemistry. If he finds it he sticks with it. If he finds it and loses it he switches up, most of the time.

Opinion #3
Besides his defence, AV has obviously been the most content with the Sedins and Kesler and Burrows, and I suppose Hordichuk and Johnson. I think it's fair to say that those guys put out more consistently than the rest. But it gets pretty easy to question the work ethic and productivity of the rest. Let's start with the whistle-blower named Demitra. He is streaky at best. He can be a floater. He can be a defensive hazard. Then he can be brilliant. That isn't going to cut it with Vigneault. Pyatt, Bernier, Hansen, Wellwood and Raymond (Sundin gets a pass for now, but not for much longer), have all been great at times yet eventually turn into duds when given the chance with more minutes on a scoring line. Can we fairly blame Vigneault for that? How patient are we expecting AV to be? At what point can we say that those players currently lack the skill at the NHL level and are not top 6 forwards?
Beyond the imbalance of favoritism shown towards the Twins, Kesler and Burrows, which is both fair and unfair at times, I support Vigneault's style. Work hard, get results and you get promoted.

Opinion #4
Now, look at who is doing the coach bashing...Demitra. The guy who isn't even playing right now because **big fucking surprise** he's injured AGAIN. The guy who kissed the ass of his former agent and now Canucks GM Mike Gillis to play here and play here under his own ideals on how the team should be coached. The guy who I should have punched in the mouth when I ran into him in Vancouver 2 months back, rather than slap him on the shoulder. Where is this media leak going to get Demitra? Is he truly speaking for the rest of the team or out of selfish intent? Is this going to make him a revolutionary? The players have already stated week that it isn't AV, it's them who are to step it up.
This isn't what the team needed right now. Or, maybe I'm blind. Maybe this idiot is going to get Vigneault fired. Maybe he's going to talk his sorry ass out of town. Does Pavol have a no-trade clause?
I don't know anymore.
I work in management. If an employee pulled something like this on me there would be repercussions. I would flog this fucker right now. What is he contributing to this team in it's darkest hour? Lip service. And he's getting paid $4 million for it.
It will be interesting to hear Vigneault's response. It will be even more interesting (or possibly heartbreaking) to see what happens if this team doesn't start winning soon.

Keep in mind though, that upper management has went on record this week saying that Alain Vigneault is not going to be fired. Alain Vigneault then threw out an open challenge to his players yesterday, including saying

“Players have been treated real well by this organization,” Vigneault said. “Since Mike (general manager Mike Gillis) has come in here, he’s gone out of his way to make sure they have everything they need. It’s payback time. It’s time to play here. That’s what we expect from them and that’s what we’re going to get tomorrow.”

Looks like all of management is tight in Vancouver doesn't it?
That would leave Demitra with his ass exposed to the world. That would mean that maybe it is he who needs to be dismissed. You can't start a shit storm without having any backup.

Interestingly enough, these comments from Demitra come on heels of meetings held between Gillis/management and each player individually.

T Tags: Pavol+Demitra+unhappy+with+Alain+Vigneault's+coaching+style coach+killer douchebag

Vigneault and Ohlund on losing

From Canucks.com: Alain Vigneault said after practice today:

“It’s tough to say sometimes why you lose your game, or parts of your game," said Vigneault. "I do think right now the way to get our game back is a simple one, pay attention to the defensive part of our game. Part of our offence was playing good defence, making the right decisions, the right reads and when we did that, instinctively it lead to good offensive chances. As soon as we do that we’ll be on the right track.”

AV had a message for his players after practice:

“At the end of practice today I talked about, sometimes you think too much on the ice," said Vigneault. "When you’re driving your car, instinctively you step on the gas, you step on the brakes, red light, green light, yellow light, car cutting in front, it’s done automatically without thinking. Hockey is the same way. It’s the reads on the ice, it’s like driving your car, you know what you’re doing."

Mattias Ohlund defended the coaching staff today:

“No, it’s not about the coaching staff,” said Mattias Ohlund. “We have a great coaching staff, they don’t play the game. We obviously get instructions on how to play, but it’s up to the guys on the ice to perform. It’s pretty tough to look around the room right now and find a lot of guys that are playing well or playing up to their potential. This league is just way too hard to play in when you don’t have everyone playing at their best.”

More on this here.

T Tags: Canucks Alain+Vigneault Mattias+Ohlund reaction+to+losing+streak January+2009

Mike Gillis on Alain Vigneault and the losing streak

"Listen, everyone is here because I brought them in so the responsibility is mine. We're at the point in this where we can get emotional and we can get angry and we can start pointing fingers," said Gillis. "Instead, my approach is that we're going to be more analytical, we're going to boil it down, and we're going to work hard."

"To suggest that the same coach that people were saying has changed his style - the team plays great, everyone's happy - a month and a half ago should now be replaced, is nonsense," Gillis added. "It's all of our responsibilities, it isn't just Alain's, and that's how we're going to approach it."

That and more from TSN.
It's tough to think positively right now. I'm not sure what the issue is in the locker room. I can see the issues on the ice. The character of this team is currently in question and who knows, maybe a win on Sunday will change the moral.
It has been a month since the Canucks have been able to win 2 games in a row. Since that point mediocrity and inconsistency has mired the team.

Thinking positively:

- maybe the Canucks need to play away from home, as they have lost their last 4 games at GM Place on the current skid. They hit the road for 1 game next Tuesday and then get a week off for the All Star break. Oh wait, that road game is against the Sharks. Yep, it's hard to be positive right now.

T Tags: Canucks Mike+Gillis+defends+Alain+Vigneault losing+streak

Should Vigneault bench players rather than demote them?

From Tony Gallagher today:

Taylor Pyatt returns to the lineup from injury after going 10 games without a point before getting hurt, and he's promptly given a spot in the top six. Then Pavol Demitra is sent to start the game on the fourth line where he fits like O.J. Simpson's gloves just because like so many of the other forwards he's struggling. As Tom Larscheid put it on the telecast, "It's an insult to a player of his calibre."

"I was kind of surprised to start on that line," Pyatt said after the game.

Kyle Wellwood was another who spent a few games on the fourth line where he doesn't fit, and people wonder why his production has dropped off. If they wanted to send either of these guys a message, sit them out. But putting them where they have virtually no chance to succeed makes very little sense.
Is it any surprise that the players who have come through this Luongo-less stretch the best have been Alex Burrows and Ryan Kesler and the Sedin twins, all of whom have escaped the endless line juggling? Conversely, the Devils -- who have been through a similar goaltending absence -- have kept their top line together for 25 games.

Yeah, there is heat on Vigneault alright. But what do you think of Gallagher's point? Sometimes I like seeing players benched. The line-juggling does get a bit insane after a while and doesn't always help in the chemistry department. On the other hand, Pavol Demitra showed the hustle that was lacking recently in last night's game and was quickly promoted to scoring lines after he started the game on the 4th line.
Whether you start the game on the 4th line or ride the pine it's a "slap in the face." So that isn't really the point.
Chemistry is the point.
In Vigneault's defence, much of the time he does give players a fair shot at succeeding with the Twins or Kesler and Burrows. The 3rd man often isn't excelling there. The Sedins haven't had a stable linemate since Anson Carter was here. It hasn't been easy finding a replacement. That replacement was supposed to be Steve Bernier. Or Taylor Pyatt. Or Jannik Hansen. Oh hell, it's hard to be the 3rd Sedin isn't it?
Bottom line is that we'll see how the players respond when Luongo returns. Maybe all this Vigneault questioning will cease. But that's only if the team starts winning.

Vigneault calls out Wellwood, Raymond and Bernier

From the Province:

Alain Vigneault praised another strong performance by Jason LaBarbera on Friday.

As for the line of Kyle Wellwood, Mason Raymond and Steve Bernier? Not so much.

"The only thing we need more is Wellwood's line," the Vancouver Canucks coach said after the combination was listless and pointless and combined for five shots during a 4-3 shootout loss to the Atlanta Thrashers.

"This has been going on for a while. They were a non-factor and they need to give us more."

Wellwood has one goal in his last seven games, Raymond has two in his last 13 and Bernier no goals in his last 11 outings.

This is a fair assessment from AV. The Sedins are flying out there and putting up points. The Kesler-Burrows line is showing lots of hustle even though they are not putting up points. The same applies to the 4th line. Jason Jaffray especially has been terrific, and has never looked better in a Canucks uniform.
Wellwood, I hate to say it, looks nearly useless out there. He gets pushed off the puck easily and is ineffective. Raymond shows a lot of jump, but is not getting any results. Bernier looks more like the 13th forward. He bangs guys around a lot but we needed more scoring from him. That may not happen anytime soon for Bernier.
This is where Mats Sundin will come in handy. If Mats could make Antropov and Ponikarovsky look good, then he can do wonders for any of the 3 "called out" Canucks. People seem to think that a Demitra-Sundin-Wellwood line will be a lock. Don't bank on that. I wouldn't mind seeing Sundin play with Bernier and Raymond. It may just work. I've seen Sundin and Wellwood play together on the Leafs and it was great to watch. But Wellwood's work ethic may soon be his undoing if he doesn't pick it up. You have to admit that Raymond and Bernier are outhustling Wellwood right now.
More than one Nuck is going to get squeezed out of the lineup with the arrival of Sundin and the return of Ryan Johnson and perhaps Taylor Pyatt. The 3 called out players need to realize that and start playing like they deserve to be here, much like Jason Jaffray is.

As for Larbarbera, he is nearly doing everything he can to give us wins in his first 2 starts. One thing you can see about Barbs is his lateral movement from post to post isn't sharp. He tends to over commit to a shot sometimes. Canucks goalie coach Ian Clark will change that, much like he did to Luongo. Barbs is a big guy. If he moves left to right better he is going to succeed even more. I believe he is the same height as Luongo, but he is 20 pounds heavier. The Big Show. Keep up the great work Barbs.

T Tags: Vigneault+praises+Labarbera Calls+out+Wellwood+Raymond+Bernier

A message from Vigneault for the Canucks nay-sayers

The media approached coach Vigneault yesterday and presented to him the Canucks' "weakness" going into this season (as if AV didn't know this already.) However AV stated something that I completely agree with and is a reason for Canucks fans to be a little more optimistic:

"Your reasoning is good," Vigneault said of the assessment. "I do think, if you analyze what's proven, we're almost in the same position as we were.

"[But] this year we have two things we didn't have my first two years: we have kids like Mason Raymond, Jannik Hansen, Kyle Wellwood - guys like that are going to get an opportunity. In the past, we didn't have that young talent that was right there at the door knocking. And we have something we haven't had since I've been here: We've got cap room. We've got 10 million bucks right now.

"Before, we were always right at the cap, no more money to spend. In the past, if something came up - and it probably did come up - we couldn't do it because we had no money. Now we we're going to be able to do something. It might be a month, it might be two months. I don't know."

Amen. We are in better shape this year than last year. The pundits that put us near the bottom of the NHL this season be damned!

More from Canucks training camp here, including why Bernier is not playing with the Sedins yet.

T Tags: Canucks+training+camp+2008 Alain+Vigneault

Vigneault trying to find balance

Alain Vigneault knows he has to get more scoring this season. He has either figured out on his own, or been told to coach a more wide open style. From The Province today:

"This season it is my intention and the intention of our entire coaching staff to find a strong balance between offence, defence and grit or toughness," Vigneault said via e-mail, his day ravaged by a trip to the dentist. "If we can find that balance it should enhance our scoring chances and allow us to be more successful."

This to-be intention was evident when Mike Gillis brought Pavol Demitra here. Especially when Demitra was beaking off about be happy to be out of Minnesota's tight defensive system. Even more pressure mounted on AV when Naslund had mentioned he didn't like Vigneault's style while he was on his way out.
So. for all of you fans who thought the Canucks' play was "boring" over the past couple of years, you are getting your wish. Just don't complain when you see defensive lapses or odd-man rushes against Vancouver leading to more goals against.
Hopefully Vigneault can muster up a healthy recipe without losing the taste. Any team failure will no doubt result in an early firing for the poor guy.
Like I said before, he won the Jack Adams Trophy two seasons ago. Now all of a sudden his style needs to be changed? Huh.

T Tags: Alain+Vigneault coaching more+offence trap