Price is Right: Canucks had unparalleled success when Alain Vigneault was their coach

Alain Vigneault may not have coached the Vancouver Canucks for a decade now, but with his announcement that he’s now done behind the bench, this still does feel like the end of an era in Vancouver. Maybe more for me than others.

By the time I was covering AV’s Canucks, I was well into my career, hitting my stride just as the Canucks were. And it was a heck of a wave to surf on for a number of years.

Vigneault’s Canucks made the playoffs in six of his seven years at the helm, they won the Presidents’ Trophy twice, and they entertained on a number of nights at Rogers Arena making it the place to be, and the hottest ticket in town. They were just that good.

You think of Vigneault, you think of good vibes.

Most of that was the players of course, but some of that was to Vigneault’s credit. He was previously thought to be a defensive coach, but when given offensive talent, he clearly knew what to do with it, and the Canucks were a league leader on the power play and in goals scored.

Vigneault is the winningest coach in Canucks history (hockey-reference.com)

For a few years they rarely struggled, and when they did, it was often explainable outside of the coach’s realm. That point of view, that defence of the coach, earned me the nickname “Baby Dragon” from fellow reporter, the late Jason Botchford. A nod to the Game of Thrones dragons that defended their “Khaleesi”or queen. I just didn’t see much fault in the way AV went about things. The deployment squabbles I would see from the coaches that followed, just weren’t there for Vigneault. He had better decisions, and he also had better players, which made a lot of the decisions for him.

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And even in the 2011 Stanley Cup Final, which has been analyzed beyond belief, there are a lot of things outside the coach’s control. The Sedins inexplicably drying up on offence, and Luongo caving in on the road. The many injuries, the Rome suspension. Not much a coach can do.

Ultimately, Vigneault’s time with the Canucks came to an obvious conclusion, and that’s probably beyond debate. But that time saw unparalleled success for this franchise. Enough so that the coach’s 313 wins became a mark that is likely to stand for years, if not decades to come. Is that a hot take? Maybe. What else do you expect from a Baby Dragon?