Iain MacIntyre
Vigneault an idiot? The silly season begins
I’m not sure what is more absurd: the idea that Alain Vigneault is a buffoon and the biggest obstacle to the Canucks winning the Stanley Cup,
or that evidence of this is that the pre-season-opening deployment of Cody Hodgson reflects the coach’s determination to see his top prospect fail – even at the expense of the team’s success.
You can see my dilemma. Which theory is less sensible?
Vigneault is easily the winningest coach in franchise history, a three-time (in eight seasons) NHL coach-of-year finalist who has pushed every significant Canuck player to his best season and whose winning percentage makes Pat Quinn look like Tom Watt. (No offence to the big Irishman, although I doubt he’s surfing the web to read hockey blogs).
And Hodgson is one exhibition game into his third full training camp and, at age 21, remains an excellent NHL prospect. The thing that has hindered Hodgson nearly as much as injuries is the constant stream of gossipy stories – real and imagined – about his relationship to the Canucks, his teammates, the GM and the coach.
Please, for once, can we just let Cody Hodgson play? If he’s good enough to be in the NHL this season, he’ll prove it and be on the Canucks. Vigneault’s only agenda is to win.
Canucks, coach, Vigneaullt, cody hodgson | Vancouver Sun Blogs