Vancouver Canucks owner Francesco Aquilini says he may have been “too patient” in waiting for the struggling NHL team to turn its season around.
His patience ran out Sunday as the team cleaned house, firing general manager Jim Benning, assistant manager Jim Weisbrod, head coach Travis Green and assistant coach Nolan Baumgartner.
“These are difficult decisions. These are not easy. I mean, to fire everybody at the same time, that’s a hard thing to do and maybe I was a little bit too patient,” Aquilini told reporters Monday. “I was hoping for a turnaround. We were losing these games by one goal and maybe I was too optimistic, and so we made the change when we made the change.”
The changes followed a dismal start to the season. Vancouver sits last in the Pacific Division with an 8-15-2 record.
WATCH l Canucks owner Aquilini speaks to media about firing Green, Benning:
Canucks owner Aquilini explains why ‘it’s time to go in a different direction’
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Vancouver Canucks owner Francesco Aquilini speaks to the media about parting ways with head coach Travis Green and general manager Jim Benning. 1:32
Stan Smyl, a former Canucks right-winger who was promoted from senior adviser to interim general manager on Sunday, said the moves send the right message to a locker room that was waiting for something to happen.
“Things weren’t working. Was it the decision on the GM? Was it the decision on a coach? We didn’t have all those answers and the players were looking around for answers, and what happens when you get to this point is you start finger pointing,” he said.
“Bottom line, our performance this season hasn’t been good enough. We do have some talented young players and a good core to build around, but we need to be better.”
The search for new hockey operations leadership is underway, Aquilini said, and “everything is on the table,” including potentially hiring both a GM and a president.
Right now, though, he wants to see his team get back in the win column.
‘We believed we’d have a much better team’
“I know our fans and the media are frustrated and unhappy. But I assure you that no one is more frustrated and unhappy than me and my family,” Aquilini said. “I’m also disappointed and surprised. In the off-season, we believed we’d have a much better team than what we’ve been seeing, that we’d have a better competitive team this year.”
The Canucks replaced Green with Bruce Boudreau, signing the veteran NHL coach to a deal through the 2022-23 season.
The 66-year-old Toronto native has served as head coach for the Washington Capitals, Anaheim Ducks and Minnesota Wild. He won the Jack Adams Award as the league’s top coach in 2008 when he took over the floundering Capitals and guided them through a bounce back season.
Boudreau smiles as he addresses the media at an introductory press conference in Vancouver on Monday. (Jonathan Hayward/The Canadian Press)
Aquilini said Smyl suggested Boudreau as a replacement and after some discussions, Aquilini made the coach an offer.
“Bruce is a veteran coach, he’s very experienced, his record speaks for itself. He’s had a lot of success in these situations and we just felt that it was the right time,” Aquilini said. “I think we want to get back to being a competitive team again. That’s what we’re hoping for.”
Fired by the Wild in February 2020, Boudreau said he’s been dying to get back behind an NHL bench.
“When approached [by Vancouver], I thought `This is perfect,”‘ he said. “I’ve always wanted to coach in Canada and so this was going to be a great opportunity and I jumped at it.”
The coach said he wants the Canucks to be an aggressive offensive team, but one that’s responsible in its own zone, too.
He recognizes that Vancouver has areas where it needs to improve, but he sees promise in the team’s young stars — even those who have underperformed so far this season.
“As far as I’m concerned, all of these guys have opportunities right now to start over,” he said. “I’m not going to look at somebody and say `Geez, you weren’t very good for the first 15 games so you’re not going to get a chance to play.’ It’s `This is what you’re supposed to be. Let’s see what you’ve got.”‘
A fresh voice
Boudreau got on the ice with his new group Monday morning. Canucks captain Bo Horvat said he brought “a lot of positive energy” and some new ideas, including changes the team looked to implement Monday night when they hosted the L.A. Kings.
“Our team needed a spark,” Horvat said. “It brings us new life. But at the same time, we have to go out there and prove it now.”
A fresh voice can always help out in the locker room, said left-winger Tanner Pearson.
“Hopefully getting [Boudreau] in here, we can take a deep breath and maybe start from scratch, maybe not worry about the last 25 games,” he said. “Yeah, we’re in the hole a bit but we can get ourselves out by being positive.”
While Boudreau’s excited about the new challenge, he isn’t looking too far into the future just yet. Instead, he said he’s set small goals for the team, starting with collecting more wins than losses in this week’s homestand.
“You’d really like to make it a winning team from here on in. And to get the guys happy, to get the fan base happy again with them winning,” he said.
“Wherever that leads, that leads. We just don’t want things to continue what they’re doing what they’re doing. If it ends up getting into a playoff spot, fine and dandy. That’s our ultimate goal for everybody.”
NEW YORK – Toronto Blue Jays reliever Chad Green and Canadian slugger Tyler O’Neill of the Boston Red Sox were named finalists for the Major League Baseball Players’ Association’s American League comeback player award on Monday.
Chicago White Sox left-hander Garrett Crochet was the other nominee.
New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge, Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani and Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. were named player of the year finalists.
The award winners, selected via player voting, will be named Saturday before Game 2 of the World Series.
Green, who missed most of the 2022 and ’23 seasons after undergoing Tommy John surgery, was a high-leverage option for the Blue Jays this past season and filled in at closer over the second half of the campaign.
The right-hander converted his first 16 save opportunities and finished the year with a 4-6 record, 17 saves and a 3.21 earned-run average over 53 appearances.
O’Neill, a native of Burnaby, B.C., also endured back-to-back injury-plagued seasons in ’22 and ’23.
After being traded to the Red Sox in the off-season, O’Neill set an MLB record by hitting a homer in his fifth straight Opening Day. He finished with 31 homers on the year and had an OPS of .847.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
NEW YORK – Florida Panthers centre Sam Reinhart was named NHL first star of the week on Monday after leading all players with nine points over four games last week.
Reinhart had four goals, five assists and a plus-seven rating to help the Stanley Cup champions post a 3-0-1 record on the week and move into first place in the Atlantic Division.
New York Rangers left-winger Artemi Panarin took the second star and Minnesota Wild goaltenderFilip Gustavsson was the third star.
Panarin had eight points (4-4) over three games.
Gustavsson became the 15th goalie in NHL history to score a goal and had a 1.00 goals-against average and .962 save percentage over a pair of victories.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Deshaun Watson won’t finish the season as Cleveland’s starting quarterback for the second straight year.
He’s injured again, and the Browns have new problems.
Watson ruptured his right Achilles tendon in the first half of Sunday’s loss to Cincinnati, collapsing as he began to run and leading some Browns fans to cheer while the divisive QB laid on the ground writhing in pain.
The team feared Watson’s year was over and tests done Monday confirmed the rupture. The Browns said Watson will have surgery and miss the rest of the season but “a full recovery is expected.”
It’s the second significant injury in two seasons for Watson, who broke the glenoid (socket) bone in his throwing shoulder last year after just six starts.
The 29-year-old went down Sunday without being touched on a draw play late in the first half. His right leg buckled and Watson crumpled to the turf. TV replays showed his calf rippling, consistent with an Achilles injury.
He immediately put his hands on his helmet, clearly aware of the severity of an injury similar to the one Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers sustained last year.
As he was being assisted by the team’s medical staff and backup Dorian Thompson-Robinson grabbed a ball to begin warming up, there was some derisive cheers and boos from the stands in Huntington Bank Field.
Cleveland fans have been split over Watson, who has been accused of being sexually inappropriate with women.
The reaction didn’t sit well with several Watson’s teammates, including star end Myles Garrett, the NFL’s reigning Defensive Player of the Year, who was appalled by the fans’ behavior.
“We should be ashamed of ourselves as Browns and as fans to boo anyone and their downfall. To be season-altering, career-altering injury,” Garrett said. “Man’s not perfect. He doesn’t need to be. None of us are expected to be perfect. Can’t judge him for what he does off the field or on the field because I can’t throw stones for my glass house.
“Ultimately everyone’s human and they’re disappointed just like we are, but we have to be better than that as people. There’s levels to this. At the end of the day, it’s just a game and you don’t boo anybody being injured and you don’t celebrate anyone’s downfall.”
Backup quarterback Jameis Winston also admonished the uncomfortable celebration.
“I am very upset with the reaction to a man that has had the world against him for the past four years, and he put his body and life on the line for this city every single day,” he said. “The way I was raised, I will never pull on a man when he’s down, but I will be the person to lift him up.
“I know you love this game. When I first got here, I knew these were some amazing fans, but Deshaun was treated badly and now he has to overcome another obstacle. So I’m going to support him, I’m going to lift him up and I’m going to be there for him.”
The injury is yet another twist in Watson’s tumultuous time with the Browns.
Cleveland traded three first-round draft picks and five overall to Houston in 2022 to get him, with owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam approving the team giving Watson a fully guaranteed, five-year $230 million contract.
With a solid roster, the Browns were desperate to find a QB who could help them compete against the top AFC teams.
The Browns had moved on from Baker Mayfield despite drafting him No. 1 overall in 2018 and making the playoffs two seasons later.
But Watson has not played up to expectations — fans have been pushing for him to be benched this season — and Cleveland’s move to get him has been labeled an abject failure with the team still on the hook to pay him $46 million in each of the next two seasons.
Watson’s arrival in Cleveland also came amid accusations by more than two dozen women of sexual assault and harassment during massage therapy sessions while he played for the Texans. Two grand juries declined to indict him and he has settled civil lawsuits in all but one of the cases.
Watson was suspended by the NFL for his first 11 games and fined $5 million for violating the league’s personal conduct policy before he took his first snap with the Browns. The long layoff — he sat out the 2021 season in a contract dispute — led to struggles once he got on the field, and Watson made just six starts last season before hurting his shoulder.
Cleveland signed veteran Joe Flacco, who went 4-1 as a starter and led the Browns to the playoffs.
Before Watson got hurt this year, he didn’t play much better. He was one of the league’s lowest-rated passers for a Cleveland team that hasn’t scored 20 points in a game and is back in search of a franchise QB.
