| dbo:abstract
|
- The 2013–14 Vancouver Canucks season was the franchise's 44th season in the National Hockey League (NHL). The Canucks missed the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since the 2007–08 season, ending their five-year playoff streak. In addition, the team recorded its worst regular season since the 1999–2000 season. Head coach John Tortorella, who had been hired in the pre-season, was fired. In addition to hiring Tortorella in the off-season, for financial reasons the decision was made to retain goaltender Roberto Luongo instead of Cory Schneider. As a result, along with a reduced salary cap, the team was unable to pursue top free agents signing a number of restricted and unrestricted free agents instead. The team had won their division five years in a row previously, and had finished first in the entire league twice in the last three seasons. With the addition of a new head coach, and players such as Brad Richardson, both management and fans were optimistic that the team could be a Stanley Cup contender. The team was inconsistent, playing well in October and December, but badly in November. In January the team's situation worsened. Tortorella's bombastic approach began to wear on team members, and top performers like Alex Burrows, Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin were failing to score goals. Things deteriorated as the year progressed. Goaltender Roberto Luongo became disgruntled with a lack of playing time and forced a trade in March, while the team continued to fall in the standings. general manager Mike Gillis was fired in April. Vancouver ended the season finishing sixth last overall out of thirty teams. This finish allowed the team to select sixth overall at the 2014 Entry Draft, the lowest the Canucks had selected since 1999 when the team selected second and third overall. (en)
|
