NS Vancouver Canucks The coach was fired Travis Green on Sunday, a source told ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski, confirming an earlier report.
With the team stuck in last place, Bruce Boudreau was hired to replace Green as the 20th Canucks coach.
Green was put on the Vancouver bench on April 26, 2017, after coaching the club’s American Hockey League team, the Utica Comets. Despite an impressive record in the 2020 NHL playoffs, he was eliminated in 289 games, finishing with a 125-132-32 record.
Vancouver has only done post-season once during Green’s tenure, during the shortened 2019-20 coronavirus pandemic, but that run holds promise. The Canucks advanced to the second round in Edmonton that summer, eventually falling Vegas Golden Knights.
This season has been terrible for Vancouver, and Green is the first victim. Canucks is 8-15-2, the second-worst record in the Western Conference.
Last month, Green deflected the question of sitting in the hot seat amid a growing number of disgruntled fans calling for change.
“I don’t hear the noise,” Green told reporters. “I’m just worried about coaching the team. I understand when people get upset. But… that doesn’t affect me one way or another.”
Shortly after Green made those comments, Canucks general manager Jim Benning met with the media and denied Green a vote of confidence.
“We’re looking at everything,” Benning said. “We’re trying to find solutions to our problems, and Travis and his staff are working hard. Losing the game is haunting them, like it’s haunting all of us. Here It’s something that I didn’t expect to happen after our moves. made this summer. But it’s happening, and we have to deal with it.”
After a headline spring surrounding his future, Green has reached an agreement to extend his contract with the Canucks on May 21, adding two more years to his deal. But there have been a number of problems for the Canucks this season, the most obvious of which is their lack of stars, and Green’s inability to find the right combination.
Star Center Elias Pettersson, who signed a three-year, $22 million deal in October, is virtually invisible with just four goals in his first 25 games. Brock Boeser led Vancouver in points last season but with only 10 of 22 games so far. Even the captain Bo Horvat struggled, only getting 13 points.
By the end of November, even Canucks players couldn’t hide their disappointment anymore. After a 4-1 loss to Pittsburgh, which marked Vancouver’s seventh loss in eight games, JT Miller was asked if everyone in the dressing room was still buying.
“I don’t know,” Miller said, sparking another wave of criticism of the Canucks’ underperformance.
Coincidentally, it was a 4-1 loss to the Penguins on Saturday that appeared to be the final nail in Green’s coffin. Currently, Benning is still in Vancouver. But the pressure to turn the tide under Boudreau will be enormous.
This opportunity with the Canucks will be Boudreau’s fourth stop as an NHL coach, after working in Washington, Anaheim and Minnesota. He is working as an analyst for NHL Network this season.
Boudreau was sacked by Wild in February 2020, following the start of the 2019-20 season July 27-23. In total, Boudreau coached 984 NHL games, with a record of 567-302-115.
Sportsnet first reported on the Canucks decision on Sunday night.
