Canucks continue road trip in Detroit
Posted February 3, 2014 12:37 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
DETROIT (NEWS1130) – The Canucks hope to kick off the month on a bright note tonight against Detroit. It is game two of a five-game road trip that takes the team in to the Olympic break. Vancouver struggled in January and they are in a stretch that has seen them lose 12 of 16 games.
The Canucks will have Head Coach John Tortorella back behind the bench, as he is done serving his 15-day suspension. This morning, he apologized for his January 18th outburst towards the Calgary Flames.
“I apologize first and foremost to the players for the situation I put them in. To the organization, with my stupidity. To the league, it has been embarrassing not just for me, but for everybody around me because of the situation that occurred.”
Tortorella says it has been a long two weeks waiting to rejoin the team.
“I hope it makes me a better coach, but it certainly doesn’t stop the situations I’ve put a lot of people in. It hasn’t been a great two weeks. It has been very embarrassing for my family, myself and more importantly everybody else around me who I am supposed to represent.”
As for the Canucks’ recent poor play, Tortorella is looking forward to working out the kinks. “We have some things to work on. A lot of it is not just on the ice. A lot of it is mental. It is not the famous word confidence. We need to develop more constantly a mental toughness about a lot of things we do.”
Vancouver enters tonight’s game down Dale Weise. The fourth line forward was traded to the Montreal Canadians this morning for Raphael Diaz. The Swiss defenseman had 11 assists in 46 games for the Canadiens this season.
Weise had three goals and nine assists for the Canucks this season and admits the trade did catch him off guard.
“It comes as a little bit of a shock to me. I think anytime you hear rumours going around you think about it, but there are so many that go around that you just never know. I didn’t really put too much thought in to it and to be honest, I was shocked when I heard about it today.”
The 25-year-old says he enjoyed his time in Vancouver.
“I thought I had some good stretches where I played real well. I think I had my most success when I had those seven games on the third line. It was easier for me to get in to the action and contribute a little more. I was happy with my role in Vancouver and I thought I did it to the best of my ability.”
Diaz is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. The 28-year old is earning $1.25-million this season. He won’t play tonight, but will join the team in time for their game against the Boston Bruins later this week.
Eddie Lack gets the start in net tonight against the Red Wings.
Puck drop is at 4:30 p.m. and the game can be seen on Sportsnet Pacific.
