‘After three seasons in charge of the Vancouver Canucks, Willie Desjardins was dismissed earlier today.
Vancouver Canucks Fire Willie Desjardins
Desjardins was relieved of his coaching duties Monday morning, hours after the NHL regular season came to a close.
VAN has fired Willie Desjardins as head coach.
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) April 10, 2017
Desjardins joined took charge of the Canucks in 2014, replacing current Columbus Blue Jackets head coach, John Tortorella. In the next three seasons the Canucks managed to make the playoffs once, while missing the playoffs twice under Desjardins’ lead. Desjardins time with the Canucks was generally a confusing one, as the team was in decline, but the organization seemed unwilling to face a forthcoming rebuild. That realization finally came this season as the team let go of long time Canucks, Alexandre Burrows and Jannik Hansen in exchange for young prospects Jonathan Dahlén and Nikolay Goldobin. With a core lead by the twins Henrik Sedin and Daniel Sedin, who will be 37 before the start of next season the decision to move forward with the rebuild seems to be the right choice.
In his three seasons in British Columbia, Desjardins amassed a record of 109-110-27. The season started on a good note for the Canucks as the team blasted out to a four-game win streak. The hot start didn’t last long though, as the team dropped the next nine games. Despite some hot streaks, the team was never able to fight their way into true playoff contention. The season as a whole was also a result of the play from the team’s core. As such, these were the worst seasons by both Sedin twins in more than a decade. Ageing goalie Ryan Miller, while not a liability, also couldn’t do much to raise the team to another level.
Whether Desjardins’ dismissal was a result of poor performance or a wish to start fresh as the team begins to rebuild is unclear.
Assistant coaches Doug Lidster and Perry Pearn were also fired alongside Desjardins.
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