Canucks were too patient before firing coach, GM, owner says

VANCOUVER --Owner Francesco Aquilini said that he hoped he didn't wait too long to make changes to the Vancouver Canucks.

Coach Travis Green and general manager Jim Benning were fired Sunday, replaced by Bruce Boudreau and Stan Smyl, respectively. The Canucks (9-15-2) are last in the eight-team Pacific Division and were 3-9-1 from Nov. 9 to Dec. 4 before a 4-0 win against the Los Angeles Kings in Boudreau's debut Monday.
Vancouver also fired assistant GM John Weisbrod and assistant coach Nolan Baumgartner, and named Scott Walker an assistant to Boudreau. Aquilini said before the game Monday that changes were "culminating for a couple of weeks."
"To fire everybody at the same time, that's a hard thing to do and maybe I was a little bit too patient," Aquilini said. "I was hoping for a turnaround. We were losing these games by one goal and maybe I was too optimistic."
Smyl, who will handle the GM duties while Vancouver searches for a replacement, has been with the organization as a player, coach and in management for more than 40 seasons; his No. 12 was the first one retired by the Canucks, on Nov. 3, 1991. He said waiting for something to happen led to some blame behind the scenes.
"Things weren't working," Smyl said. "Was it the decision on the GM? Was it the decision on a coach? We didn't have all those answers and players were looking around for answers, and what happens when you get to this point is you start finger pointing. Players point at the coach, and the coach points at the GM, and the GM points at the coach, and the coach points at ownership."
Smyl met with Canucks players Monday. He said the message was the need to rediscover and reestablish an identity.
"What is our identity and where does it start? It starts with your accountability. It starts with your effort," Smyl said. "They've got to come back to being a team and make it hard to play against. I want this organization to be hard to play against. If I'm lined up against you, I'm going to make it as miserable as possible."
The message and the passion behind it struck a chord, goalie Thatcher Demko said.
"He's been here a long time," Demko said. "He's been at all levels of the organization playing and now he's been on this side of it and he's obviously a guy that has a ton of passion for the organization, the city and the players and the team on the ice, and I think his message got through to everyone today.

"It was pretty powerful. We just want to have a ton of pride when we put that jersey on, and what we've done up to this point is obviously not good enough. I think everyone knows that."
Boudreau will lead changes on the ice, hoping for a quick turnaround like he experienced during his first NHL coaching job in 2007-08, when the Washington Capitals finished 37-17-7 after starting 6-14-1 and he won the Jack Adams Award voted as NHL coach of the year. Though these Canucks don't have the same big, physical style, Boudreau said he doesn't think that's necessary to achieve the identity Smyl wants.
"We don't need bone-crunching hits, but we need to be in their face so they can make mistakes and we take the time and space away," Boudreau said.
As for who will lead the front office in the long term, Aquilini said there is no timeline in the search for a GM and potentially a team president, a role vacant since Trevor Linden left the organization July 25, 2018.
"We're looking at everything," Aquilini said. "We want to get the right person."
Until then, Smyl will make decisions as part of an executive group that includes assistant GMs Ryan Johnson and Chris Gear, senior advisers to the GM Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin, and senior adviser Doug Jarvis.
"I know our fans and the media are frustrated and unhappy, but I assure you that no one is more frustrated and unhappy than me and my family," Aquilini said. "I'm also disappointed and surprised. In the offseason, we believed we'd have a much better team than what we've been seeing, that we'd have a better competitive team this year. The status quo is just not acceptable."