The Truth About the Vancouver Canucks' Worst Coach in Team History Finally Comes Out
The Vancouver Canucks' worst coach in the team's 55-year history has recently been revealed and it shouldn't come as much of a shock to fans as to who was named.
Since entering the National Hockey League back in 1970, the Vancouver Canucks have had a total of 22 Head Coaches, including the newly promoted Adam Foote, who will begin his rookie season as a bench boss on October 9th against the Calgary Flames.
Throughout their history, the Canucks have had their fair share of great coaches, such as Pat Quinn and Alain Vigneault, but have also had some pretty poor ones as well.
Vancouver Canucks' worst-ever Head Coach has been revealed
Last week, Canucks Army polled their followers on social media to see who they believe is the worst Head Coach to ever step behind the bench for the Vancouver Canucks and to no one's surprise, the answer was Mike Keenan.
"Mike Keenan was voted the worst coach in Canucks history!" Canucks Army said.
Keenan's tenure with the Vancouver Canucks began in November 1997 when he was brought in as the replacement for Tom Renney after a 4-13-2 start to the 1997-98 campaign.
Things didn't get much better for the Canucks, especially in the dressing room, as Keenan stripped Trevor Linden of the captaincy after parts of six seasons with the 'C' on his chest and gave it to Mark Messier, who only joined the club four months prior.
Less than three months after having the 'C' removed from his jersey by Keenan, the Vancouver Canucks traded Trevor Linden to the New York Islanders, a move that was very unpopular among the team's fanbase.
Keenan opened up on his decision to strip Linden of the captaincy while making an appearance on Halford and Brough in October 2024, saying that there appeared to be a split among the group with some favouring Messier and others Linden and that to have any success, they couldn't have a break like that in the dressing room.
"Well, obviously Mark Messier was there and Trevor and there appeared to be a split among the group, amongst the team in terms of those two individuals. That's one thing you can not have in a dressing room is a break like that amongst the players, it just doesn't work and you're not gonna ever have success." Keenan said.
He added, "I know it was a very unpopular move, to move Trevor, but as I said, in the end it worked out extremely well for the franchise because Brian Burke was able to acquire the twins [Sedins] because of that trade. Obviously the twins, the Sedin brothers, did amazing things for their franchise. So, the split in the dressing room was difficult and it was called impossible after a while."
He added, "I know it was a very unpopular move, to move Trevor, but as I said, in the end it worked out extremely well for the franchise because Brian Burke was able to acquire the twins [Sedins] because of that trade. Obviously the twins, the Sedin brothers, did amazing things for their franchise. So, the split in the dressing room was difficult and it was called impossible after a while."
The Bowmanville, Ontario native lasted just 14 months at the helm in Vancouver before being fired in January 1999 and replaced by Marc Crawford, who sits second all-time in wins in franchise history.
In 108 games behind the bench for the Vancouver Canucks, Keenan had a record of 36-54-18 and failed to make it to the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 1998, with the club finishing dead-last in the Western Conference standings.
| POLL | ||
AOUT 17 | 1599 ANSWERS The Truth About the Vancouver Canucks' Worst Coach in Team History Finally Comes Out Do you think Mike Keenan is the worst coach the Vancouver Canucks ever had? | ||
| Yes | 975 | 61 % |
| No | 624 | 39 % |
| List of polls | ||