From buyout to key component
Burrows set to play a big role as the Canucks continue to build for the future
For so many, the bitterness of 2011 remains inescapable.
Just this week, on TSN 1040, former assistant GM Laurence Gilman admitted he still thinks about losing the Stanley Cup Final every day.
Tanner Glass, who now lives in Vancouver, said he often visualizes the series, even his infamous whiff in Game 5, and Vancouver won that game.
“It’s going to be right there until you win it,” Glass said.
Two years ago, John Tortorella, who was taking broad swipes at a sagging organization, said the team was still too focused on 2011. Maybe that’s why he recommended then the front office buy out Alex Burrows’ contract. They did not. Good thing. In the years since, the roster has been reshaped, dramatically. There are now only five core players from 2011 — Burrows, Alex Edler, Jannik Hansen and the Sedin twins. Chris Tanev is a sixth leftover, but played just 29 games that season.
Burrows has gone from buyout candidate to a critical component of the Canucks’ future.
Speaking at the TeamSnap Hockey Coaches Conference in Burnaby this week, Canucks assistant coach Perry Pearn presented a varied look at Vancouver’s “team-building” strategies.
He showed clips of the team playing basketball, dodge ball and “minefield walking,” all of which included blindfolded players.
There was a tug of war with a bus and groups of players trying to balance buckets of water with their bare feet.
And there was Burrows, through many of the clips, analyzing, talking and leading.
“That’s part of the whole package he brings to the table, and has always brought to the table, long before I was here,” Pearn said. “When you talk about situational leadership, there is a really good example of a guy who is very much a situational leader. I don’t think he’s always been an alternate captain, but he’s always been a leader.”
Coaching in the NHL now for 20 years, Pearn brought his non-traditional team-building exercises to the Canucks two seasons ago, something head coach Willie Desjardins embraced.
Pearn is certain the activities can have a lasting impact, and bring a team together. That’s because he’s seen it. When Pearn was in Ottawa, for eight years starting in 1996-97, the Senators would allocate four full days every fall to team building, then drive home the lessons with monthly player meetings with sports psychologist John Phelan.
Pearn said those were the tightest teams he’s ever been a part of, and it was a group which had continuity, again something Burrows is going to help provide as the Canucks try to make the playoffs in 2016-17.
“I’ve seen it where (continuity) works,” Pearn said. “The teams I coached in Ottawa were the closest-knit teams that I’ve worked with in my career in the NHL.
“We were there for eight years, so we had a chance to build. Not just stuff on the ice, but this stuff off the ice. It takes time. It doesn’t happen overnight.”
Those Senators made the playoffs in seven of the eight years.
In a decade, however, much has changed. Training camps are shorter. The collective bargaining agreement has more mandated days off.
“It’s a different league now,” Pearn said. “Year after year, it’s become harder to find the time.
“You have seasons like this (upcoming one) where there is the (World) Cup. Everything is going to be more condensed.
“What’s become more obvious over the years, is the number of pre-season games. The revenue generated by exhibition games is significant part of the year.
“In Ottawa, as an organization, they believed if we had one less exhibition game, that was all right. And sometimes, that’s what freed up the time for (team building).”
Of course, the team building won’t just be for the players this fall. The Canucks coaching staff has been overhauled. Rollie Melanson has been replaced on the team’s staff by Dan Cloutier and Doug Jarvis is coming in with Glen Gulutzan leaving to be the head coach in Calgary.
Jarvis has experience with both penalty-killing units and the power play.
“I know what he is as a coach,” Pearn said. “I really like him. I think he’ll be very good.
“I don’t think anything has been decided (on roles). He’s been a short time since we hired him. We did have some meetings at development camp.
“But Willie will take the summer to sort out what he’s got. The same way you would with the team on the ice.”