Alain Vigneault: The New Canucks Coach

Thank you for coming.

I feel really honored and privileged to be the new coach of the Vancouver Canucks. I'd like to thank Dave and Steve for the vote of confidence that they're showing me. I don't intend to let them down. I don't intend to let ownership down and I don't intend to let the fans down.

I have a memory last year when we were at training camp. We were in Whistler and we went out - the staff, the management, the trainers, the scouts and the support staff - and we walked into this restaurant. Obviously, we were a big group and people were staring and by the time we got to our table, people had realized who had walked in. And all of a sudden, throughout the restaurant, people started chanting "Go Canucks Go, Go Canucks Go!" And you know, right then and there, not wishing any bad things to happen to anybody, but I said to myself internally, "I'd love to coach here. I'd love to coach in a place where hockey means something and I'm getting that opportunity."

I'm a career coach and except for my family, my friends and my two daughters, Adrienne and Genny, hockey is my life and now the Vancouver Canucks are my life, and I'm going to do everything I can to make sure this team is as successful as it can be in achieving their goals and the ultimate goal, the Stanley Cup.

I really believe that all players want to be successful and if you give them a way to be successful, they'll follow that path. You know, some guys say that I'm a disciplinarian. Some other guys say that I'm a players' coach. I frankly believe that I'm a business-type coach.

You know there's a job that needs to be done and when you're in charge of the business you have to make sure that it is done. And you create the right environment for your personnel to do it. Sometimes it's making sure that the reins are a little bit tighter and sometimes it's loosening it up so guys can go out and play. It's a matter of reading your team, reading your players, getting a feel for when they perform the best.

The Canucks said they saw a different Crawford this year, one who had mellowed during the lockout, one who was trying a new, more hands-off approach.

"He wasn't as hard on guys as he was in the past," Morrison said. "I think that was part of his plan -- to put the onus on guys in the room to take over the team and hold each other accountable."

There were only a handful of times during games, practices and postgame interviews when Crawford showcased his fiery, emotional side.

Other than Morrison, he didn't publicly call out a player during the season, something he often did in past years.

"There is no question that, at times, he was more lenient than he had been in the past," Morrison said.