Former Angels 3B Troy Glaus | Forum
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Jul 22 '19
VANCOUVER -- While Vancouver Canucks fans demand change, new coach Willie Desjardins is preaching a status-quo approach -- with himself. Gary Trent Jr. Blazers Jersey . After spending more than two decades attempting to become an NHL head coach, and with training camp in Whistler, B.C., two weeks away, he is vowing not to change his style behind the bench. "One thing I learned is, youve gotta be who you are," said Desjardins, 57, the new Canucks coach, after taking part in a Vancouver Board of Trade luncheon Tuesday. "You cant be somebody youre not. (Otherwise), it just falls apart on you." Desjardins reached the NHL this spring after helping the Texas Stars win the AHL title. He has also spent time in the Canadian university and junior ranks, winning championships at both levels, while also serving a two-season stint as a Dallas Stars assistant. Fans want a significant improvement in the standings after the team missed the playoffs for the first time since 2008 last season. Desjardins, who finds it "unbelievable" that his long-held dream of guiding an NHL clubs training camp is about to come true, suggested that chances of a Canucks turnaround are better than many people might think. "You just get to see the quality of people," Desjardins told reporters. "Sometimes, when you get into something, you go: Oh, what I have I gotten into? But thats not the case here." During the luncheon with 400 members of the local business community -- as well as Canucks president of hockey operations Trevor Linden and team GM Jim Benning -- Desjardins shed some light on what fans can expect from the veteran-laden Canucks. In one notable change, contrary to the views of former Vancouver coach John Tortorella, who was fired after one season, Daniel and Henrik Sedin are likely to spend less time killing penalties. "We have to share the workload," said Desjardins. "I dont think were going to make the playoffs with one line being shut down. Theyre good at all aspects of the game. Theyre good at killing penalties and theyre good five-on-five. They can play the power play. I think youre lucky to have players like that. For us, we want to make sure that theyre able to go (and) at the end of the game, theyre still fresh and theyre playing hard. So that may mean managing their minutes a little bit. We want to play with four lines." Henrik and Daniel, both former NHL most valuable players, managed to produce only 50 and 47 points, respectively, last season. Daniel also endured a lengthy goal drought while both battled injuries after seeing their playing time increased. Desjardinss view on the Sedins reflects the desire of the new top brass to have the Canucks rely on their veterans. Key additions include centre Nick Bonino and defenceman Luca Sbisa, who were acquired via trade from Anaheim for Ryan Kesler. Vancouver also added veteran wingers Radim Vrbata and goaltender Ryan Miller, who were signed as free agents. Benning, who replaced former president and GM Mike Gillis, said he, Linden and Desjardins have focused this summer on finding support for the veteran core. "Therell be many challenges for throughout the season, but I think weve tried to do everything that we could at this point to make the team deeper and give them more enthusiasm so they play with more energy," said Benning. The Canucks lack of depth showed last season as the NHL veterans and minor-league callups could not make up sufficiently for declines in offence from the Sedins and others when injuries and poor play took their toll. "We talked about maybe there wasnt the depth that we needed to counter those injuries going into that last stretch of the year," said Benning. "So we tried to add to our depth this summer. Now, we dont have to rush young players, and we can let them develop properly and be ready to come up and play when we call them up to play." During the luncheon, questions focused more on hockey than the clubs business issues. But the Canucks, used to perennial sellouts, are also trying to bolster their bottom line with more on-ice success. Linden told reporters that season ticket sales are "down a few percentage points." But he expects them to pick up as training camp creates more excitement about the team. Clyde Drexler Blazers Jersey .com) - The Grand Slam season will get underway Monday at the Australian Open in Melbourne, where a new champion will be crowned this year. Brandon Roy Jersey . -- Conner Bleackley got it done in regulation time and in the shootout.ANAHEIM, Calif. - Albert Pujols hit a go-ahead, two-run home run, and C.J. Cron and pinch-hitter David Freese also homered against the Houston bullpen in the Angels eight-run seventh inning as Los Angeles beat the Astros 11-5 on Saturday night for their ninth straight home win. Pujols 511th homer tied him with Mel Ott for 23rd place on baseballs career list. Houston starter Scott Feldman left after six innings with a 5-2 lead and was replaced by Anthony Bass (1-1). Cron greeted Bass with a leadoff single before Freese batted for John McDonald and hit his first homer in 124 career at-bats at Angel Stadium and first in the majors as a pinch-hitter. Kole Calhoun followed with a single for his third hit of the game. Bass retired Mike Trout before Pujols drove out the next pitch for his 19th homer. He is one away from tying Ernie Banks and Eddie Mathews on the career list. Tony Sipp, who surrendered Trouts walkoff homer in the ninth inning of the Astros 7-6 loss on Friday, gave up a walk to Josh Hamilton and an RBI double to Erick Aybar. After an intentional walk to Howie Kendrick, Josh Zeid came on and yielded Crons three-run homer. Trout, the 14th Angels batter in the seventh, struck out against Sipp with the bases loaded to end the teams most productive inning of the season after 55 minutes and 74 pitches. Michael Roth (1-0) pitched two perfect innings of relief for the victory after rejoining the Angels from the minors earlier Saturday. Los Angeles is a season-best 14 games over .500 and remains 3 1-2 games behind AL West-leading Oakland. Angeels lefty Hector Santiago gave up five runs, six hits and three walks in five innings of his 11th start of a season in which he has been demoted to the bullpen and to the minors. Zach Collins Jersey. . He is 0-7, and his ERA jumped from 4.08 to 4.50. Feldman allowed two runs on six hits and struck out five without walking a batter. Chris Carter hit a grand slam for Houston. The Astros, who came in with an AL-worst .235 batting average, scored five runs in the third after the Angels took a 1-0 lead in the first on Pujols RBI single. Jason Castro tied it with an RBI double before Santiago hit George Springer on the left leg and gave up a single to Matt Dominguez. That set the stage for Carter, who also homered on Friday. Carter slammed his 15th homer of the season and second career grand slam. NOTES: Pujols hit his 542nd career double in the ninth, overtaking Rogers Hornsby for 30th place. ... The Angels became the fourth team to reach the 50-win mark, joining the As, Brewers and Dodgers. ... Freeses homer was the first by an Angels pinch-hitter since Chris Iannettas solo shot on Sept. 4, 2013. ... Roth was selected to the major league roster to replace LHP Rich Hill, who was designated for assignment. ... Former Angels 3B Troy Glaus, who hit a franchise record 47 home runs in 2000 and was the 2002 World Series MVP, threw a ceremonial first pitch. ... The Angels optioned RHP Cory Rasmus to Triple-A Salt Lake, after obtaining LHP Joe Thatcher and OF Tony Campana from Arizona in a trade that sent OF Zach Borenstein and RHP Joey Krehbiel to the Diamondbacks. ' ' '
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