Canucks go to bat for their coach on the hot seat.

Players come out in defense of their coach.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 8 years ago
Canucks go to bat for their coach on the hot seat.

The Vancouver Canucks have struggled down the stretch, and while injuries have played a large part in those struggles, there has been pressure mounting on head coach Willie Desjardins, perhaps unfairly.

Dejardins has not shied away from that pressure in the least, and has addressed the media head on at every oppurtunity and has indicated that he takes full responsibility for the struggles of the team, placing the blame squarely on his own shoulders. Well his players are having none of it, and today they spoke out publicly deflecting blame away from their head coach.

“The coach shouldn’t have to come in and get you ready for a game,” winger Daniel Sedin said as per the Vancouver Sun. “His worry should be about (tactics). It’s up to each and every guy to be mentally ready. When it looks like it did the other night, it’s on the players. There’s no excuse for that.

“For me, there’s no excuse not to be ready. A coach can come in and yell and scream, a player can come in and yell and scream, but it’s up to each guy. In the end, if guys are prepared to go out and play their best, they’ll go out and play their best. You know there will be games when you’re off, but you can at least put your best effort in.”

Goaltender Ryan Miller also went to bat for his head coach.

“I think you kind of dictate how you bring yourself to the rink, how you step on the ice, how you conduct yourself in public,” Miller said. “That’s all up to you. You can’t have someone pulling your strings at all times."

One things is clear from all of this, despite the Canucks struggles, it seems like the coach, and the players, are all on the same page.

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