After Alain Vigneault was fired in May, there was a lot of speculation as to who was to be the next coach of the Vancouver Canucks. The pickings were pretty lean then as the Rangers were still battling the Boston Bruins to get out of the Division Finals. When the Bruins defeated the Rangers, the Rangers GM Glen Sather put John Tortorella out to pasture (read that as kind way of saying "FIRED!" Unfortunately, I don't believe that the Rangers who turned around and hired ex-Canucks head coach Alain Vigneault made the right choice in their choice as head coach. With the Canucks having choices between the unseasoned Dallas Eakins (who eventually went to Edmonton - you do not have an unseasoned coach try to lead a group of veteran NHLrs.), the taciturn but rather quiet John Stevens, the Sabres' former coach Lindy Ruff. (was there ever an year that Lindy wasn't coaching the Sabres? Oh yeah, prior to September 1997.) and former Dallas Stars coach Glen Gulutzan. Out of all the coaches, John Tortorella seemed to be the best choice of the coaches available.
I've always believed that the Canucks have had a too relaxed atmosphere in the dressing room with Alain Vigneault's "hands off" approach to coaching. They were never held accountable for their lacklustre play and oftentimes showed it with a "who cares" attitude. Fortunately for fans and unfortunately for the players, this type of approach will cease with Tortorella's arrival as Canucks head coach (to probably be announced on Tuesday, June 25th, 2013. The Canucks will be expected to perform to what expectations they were hired to perform to and it will be a very unpleasant experience for some of them.
The Canucks have needed a wakeup call for a long time now.
The 1994 Rangers-Canucks playoff series was coached by a fiery Irishman: Pat Quinn. The 2011 was coached by sleepy Alain. There is a distinct difference in play. The coach has to know when to start stepping in and "firing up" his players. The 1994 team played all the way to the end of the series. The score reflected it with the final game score of 3-2 favoring the Rangers. The 2011 Canucks rolled over in Games 6 and 7. Frankly, the 2011 Canucks were an embarrassment to be compared to the 1994 Canucks who played their hearts and souls out for the Stanley Cup. The 2011 Canucks expected to be "handed" the Cup and were surprised when the Bruins turned around and stole it from them with their better play.
Too many Canuck fans appear to think that the Tortorella hiring is the second coming of Mike Keenan. Unfortunately too many Canuck fans have been satisfied with the status quo of 2 Presidents Trophys and have lost sight of the main reason why the Canucks are playing in the NHL. It requires "fire in the belly" of everyone on the team from the players all the way through to the coaching staff and AV didn't have that in him.
John Tortorella comes with an impressive coaching resume. Having won at every major coaching level that he has coached at; He has a Stanley Cup ring with the 2004 Tampa Bay Lightning. Which is one more trophy than Alain Vigneault has. Alain Vigneault had his chance with the Canucks but fell short because he wasn't sure of how to get the Canucks past the final hurdle which was not the Stanley Cup but when the Bruins started playing the way that they had to in order to win and succeed against the Canucks. Vigneault fell short because he couldn't find an answer to the Bruins' aggressive play.
John Tortorella has that fire in his belly. I'm sure that his one bite at the Stanley Cup in 2004 wasn't enough. I'm also sure that he wants to win again and will find a way to. My sincerest hope is that he will win with the Canucks. After 43 years of watching this team, it's the least that the Canucks could do.
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