Desjardins removes filter on Canucks ‘kids’
VANCOUVER — In the final days of John Tortorella in Vancouver there were moments of clarity that came off more like a brick to the back of the head than a veil slowly lifting.
It culminated with his now infamous “the core is stale” scorcher, which was about as tough as tough love gets in the National Hockey League.
No one yet can be sure what’s going to happen to Canucks bench boss Willie Desjardins, though countless people have the same educated guess.
But what is obvious is this head coach is increasingly honest, raw and unquestionably unburdened. You know, like Tortorella.
That’s who he sounded like Friday when he went full 1970s, answering a question about Nikita Tryamkin.
“If he would have stepped up like he did against [Jamie] Benn [Thursday], if he would have stepped up like that against [Brad] Marchand, I think we win that Boston game,” Desjardins said.
Tryamkin did have a chance to inflict some post-whistle damage on Marchand during one Monday night scrum at Rogers Arena, when the smaller Boston forward was cradled to safety by a linesman.
But knowing Desjardins for three seasons, he’s talking about Tryamkin being physical on Marchand, hitting him, and not injuring him in a fight.
And to be fair, this market has been waiting for someone to man up on Marchand for six years. We’re all still waiting, by the way.
It was not the best phrasing by the coach — or, in my opinion, accurate. The Canucks were outshot 43-29 and were let down by three of their top veterans, the Sedins and Alex Edler, who were roasted in the third.
A big hit on Marchand wasn’t beating Boston. Even if you captured Marchand before puck drop and chained him to a Mustang in the parking garage, the Canucks weren’t winning.
There’s also this point: Tryamkin did step up on Benn, and the Dallas Stars beat the Canucks easily anyway. It made zero difference in the outcome.
What Desjardins is really trying to do is extract what many here want, more edge and meanness out of Tryamkin, the 6-7 Friendly Giant oozing with potential.
Desjardins has been trying to get more of that from him behind the scenes for most of the season. With the media this week, he isn’t sending a message, he’s just being honest, and seemingly unburdened.
Desjardins was asked if Tryamkin could be a No. 4 defenceman in the future.
“He’s got work to do to get to that spot,” Desjardins said. “But I think he has lots of upside in lots of different ways.
“But upside doesn’t matter if you don’t get to it and to get to it, you have to work hard. I think he developed a lot and then I think he plateaued a little.”
He said similar things following the 4-2 loss to Dallas Thursday, pointing out Tryamkin had hit a wall recently and was lacking energy.
I’m not sure if that’s quantifiable. I’m sure if Tryamkin hit a wall, he’s not alone. In fact, if you’re making a list you could put every veteran on it, even Ryan Miller.
But the focus is on the socalled “kids” these days, even if Vancouver is the only city in the NHL where players drafted in 2010 and 2011 are still labelled “kids.”
Remember, it was Desjardins who recently made a passionate statement that this organization has had its biggest success developing young players by making them earn ice time, only to read GM Jim Benning’s comment this week which essentially came off as “just play the kids anyway.”
Think of the spot that puts the coach in. He believes in his coaching soul that just handing ice time to young players actually hurts their development, and here he is in a world where everyone seems to want him to just give the ice time away.
He meant his post-game comments about Reid Boucher Thursday to be taken as rebuttal to those who want the so-called kids to play big minutes, so lets just leave it here. Desjardins said:
“It’s a lot easier when you play 12 minutes a night in lots of ways. When you start getting up in minutes, you’re not near as fresh when you go on the ice. It’s tougher to play bigger minutes.”