Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

Fired Vancouver Canucks assistant coach Newell Brown was responsible for the team’s power play under Alain Vigneault. He says the Canucks power play was not as successful in the last two seasons because they had too many left-handed shots.

From the Vancouver Sun:

“When you’re trying to run a power play with five left shots, which we were forced to do a lot this year, you’re really swimming upstream. Seventy-seven per cent of the power-play goals are scored with at least two right shots, so that tells you a lot right there. Not to say there are exceptions to the rule, but when you have five left shots, or even four, your chances of scoring are diminished.

“Teams are so fast to get into the shot lanes these days,” Brown continued, “that if you can’t take one-timers, if you aren’t in position to take one-touch passes and move the puck quickly to shooters and shoot off the pass, you’re at a big disadvantage. That was something we were dealing with this year.”

Brown continued by saying the team’s power play was clicking at 22% when they centre Ryan Kesler, who is a right-handed shot, in the lineup. The Canucks power play finished 22nd in the league with a success rate of 15.8%. The top team in the league, Washington, converted on 26.8% of their power play opportunities.

The Vancouver Sun notes when Canucks power play was first in the league in the 2010-11 season, the Canucks had right-handed shots Sami Salo, Mikael Samuelsson, and Kesler. This season, Daniel and Henrik Sedin, Alexandre Burrows, Mason Raymond, Chris Higgins, Jannik Hansen, Alexander Edler, Jason Garrison, Dan Hamhuis, and Kevin Bieksa were the players predominantly used on the power play. Only Hansen and Bieksa were right-handed shots. The team also had Jordan Schroeder on the power play at one point.

In other words, Brown is saying, “It’s not that I can’t coach, but I wasn’t given the right personnel by the general manager.”

Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

Vancouver Canucks owner Francesco Aquilini wants current Phoenix Coyotes head coach Dave Tippett to become the new Canucks head coach, according to the Winnipeg Free Press.

The word from sources within the Canucks organization is that Aquilini wants Phoenix Coyotes head coach Dave Tippett. Tippett is regarded as one of the best coaches in the NHL but his track record doesn’t equal that of Vigneault.

Tippett ‘s contract with the Coyotes expire on June 30 and with the team’s future uncertain in Phoenix, he may decide to move on for some stability. He is known for his defensive style of hockey that has turned average teams into good teams and average goaltenders into good and great goaltenders.

Goaltender Mike Smith struggled mightily after being traded to Tampa Bay Lighting from the Dallas Stars. He did not regain his form until he was reunited with Tippett in Phoenix. Ilya Bryzgalov excelled in Phoenix and became an overpaid, average in goaltender with the Philadelphia Flyers without Tippett’s system.

Canucks general manager Mike Gillis appearing on the Team 1040 told listeners he likes a defensively responsible system and an “upbeat, fast style of play with quick transition.” Tippett would not fit into this mold based on the the style of play he has utilized in Dallas and Phoenix, but that may have been a case of personnel. Alain Vigneault was called a defensive coach during his first two seasons as the Canucks head coach, but later showed he could play offensively as well if given the correct players.

Credit: Russell LaBounty-USA TODAY Sports

Vancouver Canucks general manager Mike Gillis says Scott Arniel will be a candidate to become the next head coach of the franchise.

Nux GM MIke Gillis on radio re coach search: “Scott Arniel will be considered absolutely.” Arniel: “Definitely I’m interested.” #canucks

— Elliott Pap (@ElliottPap) May 23, 2013

Arniel, 50, spent last season coaching to the Canucks affiliate, the Chicago Wolves. Prior to that, he spent a season-and-a-half coaching the Columbus Blue Jackets between 2010 and 2012. He was the head coach of the Manitoba Moose between 2006 and 2010, leading the team to playoff berths in each of the four seasons and  to the Calder Cup Finals.

During his time as the Moose head coach, Alexander Edler, Jannik Hansen, and Michael Grabner all developed under his watch to become NHL players. He has also been credited with getting Canucks goaltender Cory Schneider‘s career back on track after he struggled with the transition from college to professional hockey.

“The big thing with Cory is he had great success at the college level and obviously was a first round draft pick and had lots of hype, lots of talk about him being the next up-and-coming top-end goalie,” Arniel said recently. “He came to us in the AHL and I think he kind of had disrespect for the league. I think he looked at it like everything would come easy.”

Arniel said Schneider wasn’t taking practice seriously enough and wasn’t competing for pucks during games – a worrying development at the time. To turn around the bad start to his career, Schneider got a little bit of luck and a lot of good coaching.

If Arniel is hired as the new head coach, what style of play can we expect from him? After he was hired as head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets, he said he would be playing an up-tempo brand of hockey.

From The Hockey Writers:

Players who have served time under Arniel have had good things to say about their coach.  Jason Krog noted that Arniel was “very innovative with his coaching and the systems we play,” and also said, “He doesn’t limit creativity.  I think guys respect that.” Nolan Baumgartner said, “He knows his stuff and his biggest strength is how he can teach the systems that he puts in place.”