VAN has fired Willie Desjardins as head coach.
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Canucks fire Desjardins
Photo credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
By Zach Laing
Apr 10, 2017, 12:09 EDTUpdated: Apr 10, 2017, 12:29 EDT
According to TSN’s Bob McKenzie, Willie Desjardins has been fired as the Canucks head coach.
The move comes one day after the Canucks finished with a lowly 30-43-9 record, which landed them as the second worst team in the NHL.
A native of Climax, Saskatchewan, Desjardins never seemed to be able to get his team to peak after a successful first season.
Desjardins was hired as the teams head coach on June 23rd, 2014 replacing John Tortorella after his one season behind the Canucks bench.
In his first season with the Canucks, Desjardins helped carry the team to a 2nd place finish in the division, a birth in the playoffs and a 100 point season. His squad lost in six games, and it went downhill from there.
While he didn’t have much to work with, Desjardins often made odd usage with the players he did have.
Following a first season that saw him win 48 games, he only was able to muster 61 wins in the following two seasons.
Following last night’s 5-2 loss to the Edmonton Oilers, here is what Desjardins had to say when asked if he had any regrets:
“You always do when you lose. After a game you lose, you always think I could have done this, I could have done that but I wouldn’t do anything differently with the information I had at the time. At the time I made the decision, I believed in what I did.” – The Province
Vancouver now joins the likes of the Flordia Panthers, Dallas Stars and Vegas Golden Knights as teams looking for a head coach.
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