3. Willie Desjardins will remain head coach for now, but how secure do you think his job is at this point?
Sarah Laug
As with any head coaching job when your team is stuck in a rut or tough stretch, there is no security.
Do I think Willie Desjardins will be back next season? Yes. Do I think he has the ability to be the coach that many fans and media are currently doubting? Yes. But more than that, next season is a big opportunity for him to show his critics and his players that he is committed to helping this team take the next step forward. He instills in his players a will to believe in themselves and each other, an attitude that can go a long way towards helping turn a team around.
Gerald Morton
I’d love to know what happens among the cabal of Trevor Linden and the Aquilini family. I’d also like to attend a Bohemian Grove gathering. I suspect both are filled with a lot of rich people proving you don’t need to be incredibly smart or capable to be rich.
In other words, I have no idea if he’s safe. Too many decisions with this team are not made by hockey savvy minds. My guess: probably. He is a good fatherly coach for the youngsters as they develop. And, as Edmonton is showing us, it’s a bad idea to cycle through coaches too quickly.
Jeff Godley
Honestly, I think Willie Desjardins has been blamed for too much. Question his line combinations if you will — I certainly have — but given the injuries and other personnel issues he had this past season, it’s a stretch to think that changing coaches would have changed the Canucks’ fortunes.
I also think Willie has a great approach to the young players; namely, they must earn their ice time. They need to maintain a high work ethic for the coach to continue to play them. This is a good message for young players. Ultimately, the players, the GM and the president have all expressed confidence in Desjardins, and I see no reason to doubt them.
David Joun
Bruce Boudreau has been eliminated from the first round. Daryl Sutter’s contract is up with the Kings. Marc Crawford is up for grabs. Not sure if any of these names will be available come November, but if the Canucks are not playing with life — regardless of how bad a record that they may have a month into the season — with all the healthy bodies back… you would have to think that the Canucks are going to talk to Willie about his job.
Steve Boddy
I’m not a huge fan of Willie. I find some of his line combinations and deployment utterly bizarre. His obsession with Linden Vey was getting out of hand, too. I do think he’s creating the right competitive, be responsible environment for the Canucks to develop guys in though. And that’s important. Ultimately though, I think his job should probably be as secure as Travis Green‘s likelihood to leave the organization. That guy should be the succession plan, he’s earned it.
Janik Beichler
A coach never looks good when his team is that bad. But was that really Desjardins fault? Sure, he did seem quite obsessed with Vey and made some other odd decisions like putting Prust in as the extra attacker in the final minutes of play. But that’s not the reason the Canucks were as bad as they were.
Give him another chance and see where it goes. Premature decisions are never a good idea.
Next: 4. Playoffs 2017?