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[Official] Canucks coach talk. Keep all talk here.


MJDDawg

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Tell that to Dallas Eakins. And both Blashill and Eakins had worked as assistant coaches prior to becoming head coaches in the AHL, so there's that.

There's only one Edmonton. Are they looking for another coach?

He won't get a head coaching job this year. I see him spending another year as an assistant before getting the head job.

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I'm not saying Tortorella does this ALL the time, but I think, in certain situations, Tortorella puts on his media persona in order to distract media attention from his own players.

This was how I interpreted his post-game conferences with the media last year, especially in the Devils/Rangers series. When his team played poorly, he acted like a dick. He was short and curt with the media and this resulted in the media playing the same conference over and over again, joking about how long the next one would last, etc. All the while, there was no talk about how players like Gaborik weren't scoring any goals. It seemed to me like it was a distraction technique, and if that was Tortorella's intention, it sure worked.

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I'm not saying Tortorella does this ALL the time, but I think, in certain situations, Tortorella puts on his media persona in order to distract media attention from his own players.

This was how I interpreted his post-game conferences with the media last year, especially in the Devils/Rangers series. When his team played poorly, he acted like a dick. He was short and curt with the media and this resulted in the media playing the same conference over and over again, joking about how long the next one would last, etc. All the while, there was no talk about how players like Gaborik weren't scoring any goals. It seemed to me like it was a distraction technique, and if that was Tortorella's intention, it sure worked.

I agree, and most of his players seemed to have like him.

I think Gillis and co will tell him to try and keep his antics to a minimum here also.

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If Torts takes on the Van sports media all the more power to him. These guys try and set the agenda for what is important in the NHL and the result has been pretty sloppy. I can just imagine how Torts would have dealt with the Burrows/Auger situation and the smear job Ron MacLean of HNIC did on Burrows. MacLean and his useless band of cohorts would have been ran out of town (except Cherry).

A Torts ran team will not see the Twins ran at every opportunity either. I can see a four line team with a 3rd and 4th line that has a very clear idea of what their job is.

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Interesting point. But leaving MG in charge until the turnaround would be a massive black eye.

I wouldn't mind Keanan again as GM. Whether one hates him or hates him, the Linden trade has and continues to pay massive dividend.

Keanan/ Tortorella duo would be fire in and ocean.

I can't believe some one has the same insight as i have.Personally I don't believe Keenan was as bad as some regurgitate.

Really?

During second intermission, as the canucks were losing to St Louis 4-1, Mike Keenan takes it out on Trevor Linden

Linden, in his 1st game back after missing 4 weeks w/groin injury, is talking to the team.

Enter Keenan: "Sit down, you ???? idiot! Shut thefrack up! Just shut the frack up! Who are you anyway? What have you

ever done?"

Really? Torts might be bombastic and not hold back and maybe he'll call out players and maybe he'll go over the line a wee bit from time to time. But he is no Mike Keenan, and no, you don't want Keenan back here.

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Bob Mckenzie doesn't know shat, just like everyone else. When he does get a scoop, it's a matter of seconds until the entire world knows about it anyway. How many times did this guy hane Lu going to Toronto/Philly/Florida onandonandon?

Because being the best insider in hockey means McKenzie doesn't know shat right?

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My only problem with this coaching change is that it should have been done sooner .. I really believe the nucks would have advanced further if the change had been made with a month left in the season .. Im looking greatly forward to seeing our boys buying in to a philosophy ... all torts expects is that you give it your all ..its not all about results , its about effort .. even if you lose, if youve given it all ya got , you earn this coaches respect , and you play .. I personally like that in a coach .. I have bought in , and I hope Im proven right .

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Bob Mckenzie doesn't know shat, just like everyone else. When he does get a scoop, it's a matter of seconds until the entire world knows about it anyway. How many times did this guy hane Lu going to Toronto/Philly/Florida onandonandon?

Fail.

Bob knows most things before most people. He has over 20 years in this game and people tell him stuff for a damn good reason.

Think you have him confused with Samjam

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VANCOUVER — Markus Naslund wants to make one thing perfectly clear: John Tortorella did not chase him from the NHL.

In fact, the former Vancouver Canucks captain says he enjoyed the half-season of hockey he played under Tortorella with the New York Rangers.

But in a telephone interview Sunday from his home in Ornskoldsvik, Sweden, Naslund did acknowledge that Tortorella will bring a very different coaching style to the Canucks than did his predecessor, Alain Vigneault.

"He is more intense, both on the bench throughout the games and between periods and stuff," Naslund said of Tortorella. "But in a good way. In my experience, and that's only half a season, I thought he was honest and straightforward. And as a player I appreciate that, even if sometimes it's stuff you might not like to hear. I appreciate people that bring it to you and are up front."

Tortorella is expected to be named the Canucks' new head coach early this week. To avoid making the announcement on the same day as Game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals, many expect the Canucks to delay formally introducing Tortorella until Tuesday.

After leaving the Canucks as a free agent, Naslund signed a two-year deal with the Rangers in the summer of 2008. He played only one season, walking away from the $3 million he stood to make in the second year of his contract.

Tortorella replaced Tom Renney as head coach of the Rangers during Naslund's one year in the Big Apple. Naslund insisted Tortorella's intense and sometimes abrasive coaching style did not factor into his decision to take early retirement and head home to Sweden, where he is now general manager of his hometown team, Modo, in the Swedish League.

"No, not at all, it was just that I had found that it was my time to walk away," Naslund said. "I enjoyed playing under John.

"He was demanding, but I thought he was a good coach. He did a good job for us coming in and changing a little bit of the structure and how we approached the game. I think he's a good hockey mind."

Tortorella managed to get the Rangers into the playoffs that season.

"But we lost in seven games to Washington in the first round," Naslund recalled.

Naslund expects the Canuck veterans, many of them his former teammates, will have an adjustment to make playing under Tortorella.

"Yeah, any time you make a coaching change there definitely will be changes," he said. "A lot of those guys have only had Alain as their coach in the NHL. I am sure it will be an adjustment."

But players will always know where they stand with Tortorella.

"I think he's a coach that doesn't want his guys guessing and like I said he'll tell you good or bad," Naslund said. "It keeps the guessing game away. He had a good dialogue with the players when I was there. But again, that was only for half a season. I don't know if things changed after he was there for three or four years. I can only speak to the time I was there and my experience."

There have been reports suggesting that some of the Rangers expressed their displeasure with Tortorella during their end-of-season exit interviews with general manager Glen Sather and that played a factor in his firing. Vigneault was announced as his replacement this past Friday.

Naslund, who as a former Canuck captain understands the intense media scrutiny the team faces better than most, also said Tortorella will have to commit to having a more positive relationship with reporters in Vancouver.

"I know he's had a couple of run-ins with (New York Post reporter) Larry Brooks," Naslund said. "He has to have a working relationship for it to work and I would think he understands that, too.

"I didn't find any comparison in the media scrutiny in New York compared to Vancouver. There is so much focus on the hockey team in Vancouver. It's something that comes with the territory and you need to be able to handle it if you are the coach. Coming from Tampa to New York was probably a big step media-wise for John. Now it's another step."

Another former Canuck, Dixon Ward, thinks Tortorella will handle the media just fine in Vancouver. Ward, who is now vice president of the Okanagan Hockey Academy in Penticton, played one season (1995-96) for the Rochester Americans when Tortorella was the head coach. The team won the AHL's Calder Cup that season.

"He is very intense, he is very passionate, but from my experience everything he did was based around what was going to help the team win," Ward said Sunday. "Anything he does in the media is usually to try and deflect attention from his group. He is a very smart guy, he doesn't do anything without thinking about it first."

Ward said the Canuck players can expect a more hands-on coach. He remembers Tortorella as being a coach who was constantly communicating with his players.

"He will be a contrast (to Vigneault)," Ward said. "He's a hands-on guy. He is very communicative and he'll have that communication and those conversations will happen on a daily basis. The one thing he does very well is set expectations for each and every player very early on so there's no confusion about what is expected of them."

Ward, who played two seasons for the Canucks in the early 1990s, thinks Tortorella just might turn out to be a good hire for the Canucks.

"Obviously, when you change a coach you're looking to change some sort of a culture," he said. "Alain did a heck of a job, but every team needs a culture change after seven or eight years. That's just the way it is and if you are going to do that you are going to have to find someone that is entirely different than what you had and that's John."

bziemer@vancouversun.com; twitter.com/bradziemer

© Copyright © The Vancouver Sun

Read more: http://www.vancouver...l#ixzz2X65YzUFK

When I read this I feel like he just might be the right guy for this team at this point in time. Seeing what a player has to say who understands the Vancouver hockey market AND has played for both Torts and AV tells me all I need to know about giving him the benefit of the doubt.

The issue with this team appears to have been a lack of direct leadership, honest communication, and accountability throughout the locker room. AV lost his job over it but it was not all his fault. The players need to realize that too. That is not to say the Sedins are not good leaders, I think they are in their own way. I just don't think they are the type to point a finger at others all that easily. That is a good quality but teams need someone who can do that.

I am willing to bet that the Sedins also called Naslund to get his take on Tortorella.

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My only problem with this coaching change is that it should have been done sooner .. I really believe the nucks would have advanced further if the change had been made with a month left in the season .. Im looking greatly forward to seeing our boys buying in to a philosophy ... all torts expects is that you give it your all ..its not all about results , its about effort .. even if you lose, if youve given it all ya got , you earn this coaches respect , and you play .. I personally like that in a coach .. I have bought in , and I hope Im proven right .

Pretty sure Torts wasn't available at that point. Just sayin'....

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Really?

During second intermission, as the canucks were losing to St Louis 4-1, Mike Keenan takes it out on Trevor Linden

Linden, in his 1st game back after missing 4 weeks w/groin injury, is talking to the team.

Enter Keenan: "Sit down, you ???? idiot! Shut thefrack up! Just shut the frack up! Who are you anyway? What have you

ever done?"

Really? Torts might be bombastic and not hold back and maybe he'll call out players and maybe he'll go over the line a wee bit from time to time. But he is no Mike Keenan, and no, you don't want Keenan back here.

Agreed....can't believe people are suggesting that pycho come back here. If Keenan was so good, why isn't he coaching anymore?

I can't stand looking at the guy when he is on a hockey panel.

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