There’s no way Willie Desjardins won’t be back as Canucks coach, not after so many votes of confidence
After president Trevor Linden painted himself into a corner, Canucks have no choice except to keep their coach
By the time you read this, it’s conceivable that Travis Green will have already been snapped up and named head coach of an NHL team. That’s how hot a commodity the coach of the Canucks’ farm team in Utica, N.Y., seems to be these days. With openings in Calgary, Anaheim, Ottawa and Minnesota, it’s believed it is a matter of when — not if — that Green gets his first shot to run a big-league bench.
In fact, it’s not a stretch to suggest he could have his choice of jobs.
Now, there’s a line of thinking in these parts that the Canucks have to act quickly to promote Green before he packs his bags and departs for another organization. Social media has been filled with the howls of fans urging the Canucks to put an end to the Green sweepstakes by promoting him and making him the head coach here. And you can certainly make the case, based on the job Green has done in the minors, that he deserves the opportunity.
The problem with that, of course, is that the Canucks already have a head coach, and if you take Trevor Linden, the president of hockey operations, at his word, then it’s been made abundantly clear that, despite the many struggles of a 75-point campaign, Willie Desjardins will be back for a third season in the fall.
Linden first went to bat for his coach before a March 5 game in San Jose, when he declared Desjardins wasn’t going anywhere — then or in the offseason. He echoed his statements a month later when he met the media just days after the team’s disappointing season had come to a close.
“He was given a challenge, I think he worked hard at it, I think he did a good job at it and he’ll definitely be back next year,” Linden told reporters in the hallway outside the Canucks’ locker-room when pressed on Desjardins’ job security on April 12.
A month has passed since then, and there has been no indication that the Canucks are planning to alter their course. So it seems Desjardins will return, likely on a shortened leash, and be given the opportunity to start the season presumably with a healthier lineup than he had at any point during the past year.
Really, Linden has no other choice at this point. Plenty of executives in all pro sports have given a coach a vote of confidence, only to turn around and force him to walk the plank.
Had the Canucks circled back at the end of the season and decided that change was needed — considering the Canucks had just four wins in their final 15 games — they likely could have justified a coaching change. But with that second backing of Desjardins, Linden painted himself into a corner and brought his credibility — and really the credibility of the organization — into play.
Management is already working to recapture the trust of the market after the season hit the ditch in mid-February, leaving fans to witness one of the darkest patches in Canucks history. There’s simply no way the man at the top of that pyramid could twice make public declarations that Desjardins was his guy, only to kick him to the curb and somehow maintain his own integrity.
If the Canucks decide a change is in order at this point, not only would it leave Linden with some serious explaining to do, it’s sure to fire up another round of questions about who’s ultimately calling the shots with the hockey club.
At some point, a man’s word is his worth, and Linden didn’t reach the lofty status he has in this city by talking out of both sides of his mouth. And he doesn’t seem like he’s about to start now. So as much as some believe Green may be a better fit for the Canucks than Desjardins, it’s hard to imagine how the team could pull it off and save face.
Green may coach at Rogers Arena next season, but it’s almost certainly going to be as the guy running the visitor’s bench. It just doesn’t seem it can be any other way.