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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Vigneault handed two-year extension
Darryl Dyck / the canadian press archives Alain Vigneault now has time to figure out what went wrong with the Canucks. (CP)
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VANCOUVER -- Alain Vigneault has resolved his future in Vancouver. Now, he wants to help the Canucks figure out what went wrong this season.
The veteran coach signed a contract extension with the Canucks on Wednesday, ending any speculation on whether he would be back behind the NHL team's bench next season.
"We're looking for some solutions -- and we're going to find those solutions," said Vigneault from his off-season home in Gatineau, Que., during a conference call.
The Canucks did not disclose terms, but Vigneault said it was a two-year extension.
The Canucks have posted the league's best regular-season record for the last two seasons under Vigneault, but his job status was unclear after Vancouver was bounced from the first round of the playoffs by the eighth-place Los Angeles Kings.
Analyzing the season publicly for the first time since the team was eliminated, Vigneault said the Canucks were not able to play "in the moment" to the same extent that they did while advancing to the 2010-11 Stanley Cup final.
The long playoffs a year ago took their toll mentally and physically, and the club was never able to repeat its early-January win over the Boston Bruins, when all players had their "best game" against the team that denied the Canucks the Cup.
Vigneault said the Canucks suffered from the same woes that befell the Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings when they made long runs to the finals. He and general manager Mike Gillis plan to dissect the problem more thoroughly to avoid a repeat in the future.
"We're trying to see if, maybe through a bit more scientific approach to different elements, we will be able to get our team in a better situation to have success here as we move forward," Vigneault said.
If Vigneault could have a "do-over," he said he would respond differently to Daniel Sedin's concussion. Sedin missed eight games after taking an elbow to the head from Chicago Blackhawks defenceman Duncan Keith in March.
Vigneault said he discovered only two days before the start of the playoffs that Sedin would not be available for Game 1. Had he known differently, he would have made earlier adjustments to the struggling power play and line combinations that generated little production.
Vigneault and Gillis want all of the team's assistant coaches to return.
-- The Canadian Press
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition May 24, 2012 C3
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