JIM LANG ON SPORTS

BY: JIM LANG
FOR RODPEDERSEN.COM

• THE VANCOUVER CANUCKS

What has happened to the Vancouver Canucks this season is both sad, and slightly predictable.

In the spring of 2011 the Vancouver Canucks made it all the way to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final before finally falling to the Boston Bruins.

Little did the rioting hordes of Canucks fans know at the time that it would all go downhill from there?

Since then General Manager Mike Gillis has traded away goalie Cory Schneider and Roberto Luongo with not a whole lot to show for it.

He made Alain Vigneault the fall-guy for the problems in Vancouver and brought in Mister Personality, John Tortorella.

Ryan Kesler is not happy and has made no secret about his desire to be traded.

Now Vancouver Canucks ownership has a dilemma on their hands. Now the Canucks are facing the reality that they might need to blow the whole thing up and start over.

The 2014 Canucks hit absolute rock bottom Monday night in Vancouver. The Canucks went into the third period with a seemingly comfortable 3-0 lead. Canucks fans watched in horror as the Islanders pumped seven goals by poor Eddie Lack in an embarrassing 7-4 defeat on home ice.

A loss like that sucks the life out of a hockey team. Instead of planning for a playoff run the Canucks players are planning their off-season golf trips. The players aren’t stupid. They know that barring a miracle that they have little hope of making the playoffs.

Here is the biggest reason that the Canucks have fallen so far; John Tortorella. You just can’t treat players the way he does anymore.

The yelling and the screaming at players in the NHL to make them do what you want just won’t work. Now over the course of an 82 game regular season a coach is going to lose it now and then.

But the constant berating of the players gets tired in a real hurry. Players in the NHL will tune out a coach that treats them that way. If the team is winning, they might tolerate it.

But when the team is losing, there is little chance the players care what a coach like Torts has to say. Most players have far more financial job security than any coach. So a smart coach treats the players like professionals. A bag skate is an acceptable form of punishment for a poor effort.

Getting yelled at in the dressing room in front of the rest of your teammates is not.

• THE BOSTON BRUINS

Where the Canucks are wondering how they’re going to fix all of their issues, the Bruins are sitting comfortably in first place in the Atlantic Division.

Consider what the Bruins have done the past few seasons:

2011 – Won the Stanley Cup.
2012 – Lost a seven game series to the Capitals in the opening round.
2013 – Lost the Stanley Cup Final to the Blackhawks in six games.
2014 – Sit in first place in the Atlantic Division.

The key to the Bruins success is relatively simple; it is stability.

Other than the change from Tim Thomas to Tuukka Rask as their starting goalie what makes the Bruins tick doesn’t change. Peter Chiarelli is the GM, Claude Julien is the Head Coach, Zdeno Chara is the captain and Patrice Bergeron is still an absolute stud at centre.

It is amazing to me why more teams in pro sports refuse to copy this simple, yet effective, formula.

Hire good people, give them the resources to do their job, then get the heck out of their way and let them go to work.

• GEORGE STROMBOULOUPOLOS

For the remainder of this blog I will refer to him as “Strombo”, it makes it easier for everyone involved.

Now I fully admit I am a little biased here. I first met Strombo when we worked together during the early days of the Fan 590 in Toronto back in 1995. Yes, Strombo has worked in sports before. He was a sports radio producer and he has worked as both an NHL and NBA radio reporter.

I wanted to point this out for all those people who only know Strombo from his work on the CBC and Much Music.

Strombo’s abilities as an interviewer are second to none. Anyone and everyone in sports, music, politics and entertainment have all talked to Strombo.

All I ask is that you give him a chance.

Is Strombo going to remind you of Ron MacLean?

Oh boy, not at all. Not even close.

Don’t get me wrong. I am a big fan of Ron. He is a great broadcaster and I am thrilled to see that he will still be a big part of Hockey Night in Canada.

But Ron has been on the job for nearly 30 years. The man has had a great run and set a standard that Strombo, or anyone else would find very difficult to match. But change happens in all walks of life and Hockey Night in Canada is no different. New owners of the franchise want to make some changes. That is certainly their prerogative after dropping that kind of coin to buy the national NHL rights in Canada.

All that I ask is that you give Strombo some time to settle into his new role. Replacing a legend isn’t easy. But if there is anyone with the skill and the work ethic to pull it off, it is my man Strombo.

• THE BLUE JAYS

What a difference a year makes. This time last year Blue Jays fans in Toronto and Southern Ontario were swept up in the euphoria of all of all of their off-season moves. Why even some respected U.S. baseball writers had even picked the Jays to be a legit, contending team in the American League.

At the risk of re-living last year’s nightmare, 2013 was not one of the Jays finest moments. Yes, injuries played a part in their dismal 74 win season. But tepid managing from re-tread John Gibbons and gawd awful starting pitching is what really sealed the Jays fate.

Well the manager hasn’t changed and thanks to an off-season of little activity the players haven’t changed either.

On Wednesday the Jays front office and the beleaguered fan base had their hearts broken when pitcher Ervin Santana turned down the Jays offer to sign with the Atlanta Braves.

Watching Santana sign with the Braves was another kick in the teeth of the Jays fan base. I don’t hear much hype surrounding this team this season. I hear a lot of predictions of doom and gloom; but I don’t hear much hype.

Last season was supposed to be a return to the glory years of the Jays. Back to being a contending team in the American League and back to host playoff games at Rogers Centre. Only the most optimistic person in Canada or a fool thinks the Jays are going to the post-season in 2014.

(Follow Jim on Twitter @JimLangSports)