Report: Canucks interviewing former NHLer for coaching job

When Vancouver Canucks president Trevor Linden and general manager Jim Benning relieved former head coach Willie Desjardins and his coaching staff of their duties earlier this spring, they created a lot of work for themselves this offseason. And while they’ve made the biggest decision in promoting Travis Green from the AHL to the NHL as their next head coach, the group still has to fill out Green’sstaff and hire a new regime for the AHL’s Utica Comets, as well.

One confirmed candidate for either an assistant job or the head job in Utica is former NHL tough guy Rocky Thompson. The 39 year-old Calgary native is currently head coach with the Memorial Cup host Windsor Spitfires of the OHL and  has spent time behind the bench at the NHL level as an assistant coach with the Edmonton Oilers.

In 136 games over two seasons with the Spitfires, Thompson has compiled a 81-40-15 record. Pretty impressive. More importantly, Thompson is only ten years removed from a lengthy pro career that saw him go back and forth between the NHL and AHL almost every season for nearly ten years. He’s a tough customer, but understands the mentality of a hockey player and how to motivate them in the right way. Might he be the right man for the job in Vancouver?