“You're the whipping boy now”: Kesler talks relationship with former Canucks coaches
What do three former Vancouver Canucks coaches have in common as it relates to Ryan Kesler?
Well, they all yelled and cursed him out at one point in time.
Kesler, a recent guest on the Spittin Chiclets podcast, dropped a number of interesting nuggets about his time in Vancouver. That included stories about three of his former bench bosses during his playing days with the Canucks.
Crawford made Kesler his “whipping boy”
Kesler spent his first two NHL seasons — 2003-04 and 2005-06 — under the tutelage of Marc Crawford, which included his rookie season when he was just 19 years old.
“Crow was super hard on me. I got the… let’s just say, the Sedins put it, ‘thank you for coming.’ And I’m like, why? They were like, ‘because you’re the whipping boy now.’
“And I’m like, ‘oh… okay.'”
Kesler gave an example of his treatment under Crawford by telling a story about playing in Chicago as a youngster. He bought tickets for his family to attend the game, and they were sitting behind the Canucks bench.
In the first period, he made an offensive zone drop pass to linemate Tyler Bouck, who registered a shot on net. Kesler thought that was a good play.
When he got back to the bench, Crawford apparently didn’t share the same enthusiasm.
“I come to the bench and he comes down and he’s like ‘if you ever make a f*cking drop pass in this league again, you will never play another f*cking game in the NHL.'”
“I would tell my parents stories like this and they would be like ‘no way, he’s such a nice guy,’ but then they heard it for the first time and they were like white, jaws dropped, and I was like ‘yep, this is what I deal with.'”
Vigneault threatened to put Kesler “into the sixth row”
There’s no doubt that Kesler had the best success of his NHL career under Alain Vigneault, who coached the Canucks from 2006-2013.
Kesler said as much, but also admitted that their relationship started off on the wrong foot.
“We didn’t have the best start to our relationship with me signing that offer sheet [with the Philadelphia Flyers in 2006].
“I was supposed to have a meeting with him that morning. I grabbed my equipment, I said I had to go to a charity event but I knew I was about to sign an offer sheet and Vigneault wanted to meet with me the next morning, so I’m like alright, I’ll see you the next morning… knowing I’m not going to see him the next morning because I’m going to sign the offer sheet with Philly.
“[The Canucks] had a week [to match it] and they made me wait six days. So, I come back… they make me test the first day at camp so I skate all day, then they make me test after.
“Well, after the skate, Vigneault grabs me and everybody else is off the ice and I’m like ugh… I’m a young guy and I’m like oh, this is gonna be fun.
“And he grabs my jersey and goes ‘if you ever f*cking lie to me again, I will put you into the f*cking sixth row. Get the f*ck out of my face.'”
Kesler spent seven of his 10 seasons in Vancouver playing under Vigneault. He amassed 145 goals and 322 points in 468 regular season games during that time, which was good for an average of 25 goals and 56 points per campaign.
He once thought he was going to fight Tortorella
Although Kesler had nice things to say about all three of his former Canuck coaches, he only used the ‘L’ word with John Tortorella.
“I loved Torts. I absolutely loved the guy. He’s a f*ckin’ beauty.
“He is one of those guys that, it doesn’t matter if it’s Game 1 or Game 80 or any game in between, he comes in, and he’s the best motivational speaker ever.”
However, Kesler admitted that it wasn’t all love between him and Tortorella.
The pair mixed in some hate, too, particularly when Tortorella stripped the letter off Kesler’s chest.
“I have a love/hate relationship with him,” Kesler said. “First, he comes in and he rips the ‘A’ off my chest, and he tells me that my team doesn’t trust me, and, you know, management doesn’t trust me and I don’t work hard enough.
“I think this is all part of his plan, right? Like, just come in and make a big splash and go at me because I think he knew I could take it.”
Kesler then shared arguably his best story of the interview, which occurred between him and Tortorella after the 2014 trade deadline.
“I think I end up getting traded to Pittsburgh. Trade ends up being a hoax or something happened,” Kesler started. “So, we played the next day in Dallas and we played like sh*t. I think we lost 5-0. Come in, and we go over video and every clip is just about me. Like, over and over and he finally stops the clip and he’s like ‘I’m f*cking worried about you Kes, you want out of here.’
“And I said ‘you don’t have to f*cking worry about me.’ Like, ‘f*ck you.’ And he’s like ‘f*ck you.’
“I stand up in my stall, his nose is in my chest and I’m like looking down at him like, ‘you wanna make this about me and you?’ And he’s like, ‘yeah I wanna make this about me and you’ and we just went back and forth.
“Then he throws a tantrum, he throws the remote and he’s like ‘I’m f*cking outta here,’ and he leaves.
“I had a bunch of young guys coming up to me like, ‘oh, that’s the best thing I’ve ever seen’ because no one stands up to the guy… Everybody respects him but they’re all scared of him.
“So, he comes up onto the ice and I’m skating around and he comes up and shoves me, on the ice.
“And I’m like holy s**t, we’re doing this right now. I’m gonna fight a coach. Like, I’m fighting a coach on the ice right now.
“And he pushes me again and I turn to him and he’s like ‘I f*cking love it Kes. That’s why you’re gonna be back. If I’m back here, and you’re back here, you’re gonna get your A back.’
“And I go ‘Torts, I’m not gonna be back, and you know you’re not gonna be back here, so that’s not gonna happen.’
“And he starts laughing and he skates away.”
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