[spideyv2]

Originally Posted by 7seven

Personally I'm indifferent to AV, leaning more towards not liking him personally but I can't say I think his ego gets in the way of winning as the Canucks have done fairly well under him. AV isn't stupid, he'll use Hodgson in a shootout because he knows Cody is one of the more offensively gifted players on the team.

I do think however his stubborness gets the better of him at times. I've said before from what I have gather, AV has an annoyance for guys like Hodgson, Grabner and Shirokov, offensively hyped guys and how he keeps hearing that these guys should be giving top 6 roles, so he purposely is extra hard on them and keeps them on a short leash, almost in a way making it a point to everyone that this is his team and he'll do things his way.

For example last year, Shirokov gets called up, was the best Canucks' player on the ice, scores a goal in the Colorado game, then gets stapled to the bench the rest of the game, but guys like Desbiens, Glass, Bolduc & Rome can make all the mistakes they want and be given the chance to work through them. Again, as I have gathered, those guys remind AV of himself when he was a player, not particularly talented but grinds away.

Every coach has their preference of players, right or wrong, AV is just harder on young offensive guys. Do I think AV gets in the way of the Canucks winning? No. Do I think the Canucks could be better if AV gave guys like Hodgson the same length leash as Rome, yes.

Definitely seems like AV favours the sandpaper players who don't know how to score. I guess it's cause he wasn't considered a 'skilled' player during his years?

It's annoying to watch, and as a fan i'm getting pretty sick of it. Shirokov looked good in that game vs the Avs too