Jannik Hansen blasts Vancouver Canucks for lack of accountability
The Vancouver Canucks are in a spiral right now, and Jannik Hansen believes it comes from a lack of accountability.
Hansen, who scratched and clawed his way through 565 games with the Canucks, sounds as though he is as fed up as everybody else is with this team. They’ve been in headlines for all the wrong reasons in 2024-25, in large part due to an ongoing rift between J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson.
In a recent interview on Sportsnet 650, Hansen, who was with the Canucks from 2008 to 2017, didn’t hold back on what he believes is wrong with this group.
“I think they missed the beat there in Vancouver, in the sense of how they deal with the media,” Hansen said. “[It] shouldn’t be like that. That team should be open, it should be open to everybody. They [should] face the music, there’s no question about that. You play in a market [where] fans want to hear from Petey. They’re paying a lot of money to see him pay, and now you’re not feeling like you want to talk. And especially after losses like that. It doesn’t fall on [Conor] Garland, it doesn’t fall on any of the other players. This lands on the highest paid players, it lands on the leaders.”
Hansen’s comments came following the Canucks’ recent 5-1 loss to the LA Kings. Only Quinn Hughes and Phil Di Giuseppe were made available to speak with reporters afterward.
Hansen also explained how different facing the media is now compared to when he was a member of the Canucks.
“Don’t leave [the room] until they’re ready, until you’ve seen that nobody is [waiting] to talk to you,” Hansen said. “I’ve heard that they changed the rules down there in how the media have access and stuff like that. I don’t appreciate it, I don’t like the way they’re handling it. I think the players are being babied a little bit, being protected a little bit to much. Right or wrong about that, they’re not going to have any problems talking after they scored a hat trick, but you don’t want to talk when things go south. I don’t think that’s ok.”
Jannik Hansen thinks the Canucks stars need to take a lesson from the Sedins' book and face the music more after losses.
Hansen joined #Canucks Central with @danriccio_ and @SatiarShah to talk about that, the team's recent play, and more.
— Sportsnet 650 (@Sportsnet650) January 18, 2025
This is a rant that many Canucks fans will get behind, as they are becoming more and more frustrated with the lack of answers they’re getting from players like Miller and Pettersson. Despite the two being talked about each and every day, they often have nothing to say on days they are selected to participate in scrums.
Perhaps hearing this opinion from a former player will hold some more weight for this group.
- You might also like:
- Miller to New Jersey? Vancouver Canucks trade rumour picks up steam