Canucks officially out of playoff contention

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VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – They’re done, and so are your pub nights cheering on the local team. For the first time in six years, the Vancouver Canucks will miss the NHL playoffs.

News1130 Sports Director Ann Schmaltz witnessed the whole season, including last night’s lethargic 3-0 loss to Anaheim. Schmaltz says there are a lot of questions about what’s next.

“What significant changes will the owners make to really initiate a new direction before next season starts? Is GM Mike Gillis fired? Is Coach Tortorella and his staff let go? Which player, if any, will be bought out? Does Ryan Kesler still demand a trade?”

Schmaltz says Coach John Tortorella didn’t have much to say after last night’s loss; he only said the team didn’t play well when they needed to the most.

“He didn’t want to dissect what went wrong for the club immediately following the game,” explains Schmaltz. “Tortorella said as a group, they will go through the process of having internal meetings and will decide what to share publicly, at another time.”

Canucks players not impressed

The players themselves weren’t pleased with what happened on the ice. But they were also a little annoyed with the goings-on off the ice too.

Kevin Bieksa is known from being hard-nosed at the best of times, but considering last night’s loss and the dagger it put in the team’s playoff chances, he was extra-bristly.

Adding on the fact fans were booing and calling on ownership to fire GM Mike Gillis, Bieska was unimpressed.

“Personally, I don’t think it’s the right thing to do. But at the end of the day, the fans come and they can do whatever they want,” he said after the game.

As for what happened on the ice this season, Bieksa said, “Put it this way: We’re all going to take the blame for this. It’s not just one or two guys; it’s the whole team.”

“It’s not a good feeling,” adds Ryan Kesler. “You don’t want to be standing here in April with meaningless games left and being out of a playoff spot. It’s not fun.”

The Canucks still have three games left; they take on the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday.

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