May 22 2008
Vigneault “Rewarded”
The Vancouver Canucks have extended head coach Alain Vigneault’s contract for the next two seasons. More after the jump.
In what has been a month of strange NHL coaching decisions, Vigneault’s may be the strangest of all. For those wondering, Minnesota’s re-upping of Jacques Lemaire, and the Avalanche promoting Tony Granato, who was fired resigned from that position two years ago, are the other two. Anyway, in case you’re wondering what kind of “progress” Vigneault has made to earn this extension, here’s my best effort. Two years ago the Canucks finished first in their division and third in the west. They barely got by Dallas in the first round in what I’ve often referred to as the “most boring seven game series in the history of hockey.” They then got beat by the eventual champs, the Ducks, in round two. This year, they followed up that promising effort by missing the playoffs altogether, while finishing 11th in the conference. All this by a team that was picked by some to win the conference, and almost everyone to win their division. Oh yeah, and on March 20th, the team was in 7th place with 86 points, but only 3 points behind Minnesota for the division lead and 3rd seed. What happened next? Vigneault managed to motivate the team into losing 8 of their last 9 to finish with 88 points, 10 points behind Minnesota and 3 points out of a playoff spot. Hats of to you Alain!
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