Nobody was surprised when the Vancouver Canucks announced the departure of former head coach Willie Desjardins.
Even Willie himself admitted that he saw it coming as early as two months before, and I wrote last month that Desjardins had alienated fans with his restrictive use of exciting young players like forward Nikolay Goldobin and the generous ice time he gave to mediocre players like Jayson Megna.
But now that the coach has been fired, a more difficult question arises. With one of the NHL’s weakest rosters, can the Canucks improve on Desjardins?