The Canadian Press
VANCOUVER–A chat towards the end of his playing career planted a seed in Travis Green’s mind.
The veteran centre already had thought about staying in hockey after retirement when a conversation with Paul Maurice, then his head coach with the Toronto Maple Leafs, really got him thinking.
“We were just talking one day and he gave me the advice: ‘You should be a coach,'” recalled Green.
“It stuck with me.”
Some 10 years later, Green was introduced yesterday as the 19th head coach in Vancouver Canucks’ history–tasked with injecting youth and increasing scoring for a franchise that has fallen on hard times.
The native of Castlegar, B.C. inherits a team that just finished 29th in the NHL and was near the bottom in several offensive categories, including setting a club record for futility with just 178 goals that led to the dismissal of Willie Desjardins after three seasons in charge.
“I know we have to create more offence,” said Green. “Our special teams have to get better.
“I think there’s a way you can create offence nowadays with the way the game is played, but that’s definitely an area where we’ll have to improve.”
Green spent the last four seasons coaching Vancouver’s top farm team, the Utica Comets of the AHL.
After retiring as a player, he joined the Portland Winterhawks as an assistant in 2009 before leading the club to the 2012-13 WHL title and an appearance in the Memorial Cup final as interim head coach.
Flanked by Canucks’ president Trevor Linden and general manager Jim Benning, Green’s first press conference at Rogers Arena saw him field a number of questions about his style and approach, especially with young players, for a team that seems a long way from respectability.
“I’m not sitting up here saying: ‘Hey, we’re going to win the Stanley Cup next year,'” said the 46-year-old. “But I will tell you we’re going to get better.
“We’re going to start the process of building the right culture,” he vowed.
