Former Canucks coach Travis Green has rough return to coaching
Travis Green is still in search of his first win since being fired by the Vancouver Canucks more than one year ago.
It was a less-than-ideal return to coaching for the 52-year-old bench boss, who was tasked with leading Canada at the Spengler Cup in Switzerland. Team Canada had won four of the previous five Spengler Cups but left this year’s tournament without a single win.
Canada is the only national team, comprised primarily of Canadians playing in Europe, that competes against European club teams at the annual tournament.
Team Canada struggled to score goals, despite a relatively good group of offensive-minded forwards on their roster. They also struggled with staying out of the penalty box.
Canada's roster for the Spengler Cup is here.
Some notable names like Tyler Ennis, David Desharnais, Brett Connolly, Cody Eakin and goaltenders Michael Hutchinson and Michael DiPietro. #SpenglerCup pic.twitter.com/X1Ak0sOIrP
— Steven Ellis (@SEllisHockey) December 22, 2022
Canada went 0-3 in its three games, losing 3-2 to HC Sparta Praha and 2-1 to Davos in the round-robin. It lost 3-1 to Ćrebro HK in the quarter-finals today.
āItās disheartening. Going into the tournament and looking at our roster, I didnāt think scoring was going to be a problem and ultimately it was,” Green said after his team was eliminated.
“We scored two goals, one goal, and one goal and itās hard to win. The guys battled back hard tonight; I felt like in the last two periods we had control of the game, but we just couldnāt score and that seemed to be the issue every night. Looking at all three games, we could have won all three. Itās a fine line between winning and losing and it never feels good when you lose.ā
The 99-year-old tournament, held annually in the Swiss alpine resort town of Davos, is being played for the first time since the pandemic this year.
Green is without a full-time coaching gig but is still being paid by the Canucks this season. He signed a two-year contract extension with the Canucks in May 21, 2021, but was fired just 25 games later, after his team began last season with an 8-15-2 record.
The Castlegar, BC, native coached the Canucks for parts of five seasons, following a four-year stint with their AHL team in Utica. Green took over a rebuilding Canucks team in 2017 and compiled a 133-147-34 record before being replaced by Bruce Boudreau during the 2021-22 season.
In 2020, he coached the Canucks to their first playoff appearance since 2015, which saw the franchise win its first playoff series since 2011.
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