Injuries helped Canucks get better, says coach

Vancouver Canucks coach Willie Desjardins usually keeps his emotions in check, but could not hide his frustration before Saturday’s season finale against the Edmonton Oilers.

“It’s frustrating for everybody,” said Desjardins after Vancouver’s morning skate. “It’s frustrating for the fans. It’s frustrating for management and everybody’s frustrated with it.”

The Canucks were officially eliminated from the playoffs in March, but had little hope of reaching the post-season much earlier.

"Losing is tough, losing is hard, it’s hard on everybody, but if you just lose and you’re not upset by it, then that’s not a very good sign," he added.

But Desjardins, who has management’s blessing to return next season, believes that the Canucks have plenty of talent in their dressing room. Injuries killed Vancouver’s playoffs hopes, along with inconsistency. Desjardins said the injuries, which resulted in the loss of key veterans Brandon Sutter and Chris Higgins among others, actually ended up helping the club, because young players received extensive playing time.

“We’re a different team without injuries. I think the injuries have made us better down the road,” said Desjardins. “We don’t want the injuries, but I think they’ve made us better for the future. There (are) lots of cases throughout the team. You look at (goaltender Jacob) Markstrom. Injuries to (Ryan) Miller have helped Markstrom, and you look at Tryamkin coming in. They are so many of them. (Jake Virtanen) and (Sven) Baertschi. Lots of guys are better because of that. So that’s the positive part out of it. But that doesn’t change how we feel every night when we play.”

Vancouver players could not hide their disappointment with the way things have gone, either.

“It’s disappointing, it’s frustrating, we wanted to get in the playoffs, we wanted to be a good team – and look where we are right now,” said winger Alex Burrows.

With a possible contract looming, Burrows realized that he might have suited up for his final game as a Canuck. Burrows became a star after going undrafted and beginning his career in the East Coast Hockey League before advancing to the AHL and then the NHL. But he was in no mood to reflect on his tenure in Vancouver before the game.

“I’m sure, once I’ve had time to reflect after the season, once I’ve had my year-end meetings with management and coaching staff, then you can reflect on the bigger picture,” he said.