Marc Crawford paid the price for failing to meet the high expectations he helped set with the Vancouver Canucks.
Touted as Stanley Cup contenders in September, the Canucks fired Crawford as coach Tuesday after missing the playoffs for the first time in five seasons.
“We need some new energy, some new juice,” general manager Dave Nonis said. “We felt our team needs a kick-start, that we haven’t played with the fire we had been known for in the past. A change behind the bench was the first place to start.”
Crawford was behind the Vancouver bench for seven seasons, leading the Canucks to the Northwest Division title in 2003-04. They entered this season expected to be one of the top teams in the Western Conference, but that didn’t pan out.
The Canucks finished ninth with a 42-32-8 record, losing six of their last eight games to fall three points behind the Edmonton Oilers for the final playoff spot.
Nonis was quick to point out that not all the blame should fall on Crawford, calling him “a great coach” and hinting player changes might follow.
“I want to make it clear this does not absolve the players for their part in this season,” Nonis said. “In no way does this mean there will be no further changes. No way. The fact is there is a lot of blame to be spread around and a lot of it falls on the shoulders of people that were in that locker room.”
Crawford, who led the Avalanche to a Stanley Cup in 1996, finished with a 246-197-70 record in Vancouver, but only won one series in four trips to the playoffs. The Canucks twice lost a Game 7 on home ice under his leadership.
With a playoff berth on the line this year, the Canucks struggled defensively, blowing leads in back-to-back games against the San Jose Sharks to seal their fate. And there were too many nights earlier in the season when they were simply outworked.
“If you want to use the words tuned out or didn’t buy in, use whatever phrase you want, the fact is there were too many nights it happened,” Nonis said. “It wasn’t because the message wasn’t correct. It was because in some cases certain players weren’t listening to that message.”
Crawford, who had one year left on his contract, has 411 career NHL wins and became the third-youngest coach to win 400 career games Feb. 3 – 10 days before his 45th birthday. Only Hall of Fame coaches Scotty Bowman and Glen Sather were younger when they hit that mark.
Crawford played every game of his nine-year pro career in the Canucks’ organization, finishing with 19 goals and 31 assists in 176 NHL games. He began his NHL coaching career in Quebec in 1994-95, becoming the youngest to win the Jack Adams Award as coach of the year that season.
He took over a Vancouver team midway through the 1998-99 season that had missed the playoffs three consecutive seasons. They went from 58 to 83 points the following season, just missing the postseason before breaking through 2000-2001, the start of four consecutive playoff appearances.
“His legacy is one of resurrection,” Nonis said. “He gave us credibility when we didn’t have any. He’ll go down as one of the best coaches who ever coached here.”
Rangers: Jaromir Jagr cradled a coffee cup in his right hand. Doing much of anything with his left arm just hurts too much.
He moved his injured arm here and there, but nothing to suggest he’s close to returning to help his Rangers for their biggest games in nine years.
“It would have to be a miracle,” the forward said. “But, hey, I believe in miracles.”
Jagr carried the Rangers into their first postseason since 1997, playing every game and breaking team records for goals and assists in his first full season on Broadway.
The Rangers are two losses away from a quick exit at the hands of the New Jersey Devils. Jagr already has missed one game and probably won’t play in Game 3 tonight, either.
Jagr acknowledges coming back could be risky, but he would take that risk if he felt well enough to rejoin the lineup.
“Have to pray a lot,” Jagr said. “If the pain lets me play a little bit, I’ll be on the ice the first chance I have.”
