Vancouver Canucks president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford did not offer much of a defence of Bruce Boudreau and the coaching staff after yet another ugly loss in the club’s home opener on Saturday.
Appearing on After Hours with Scott Oake and John Garrett after the Canucks fell to 0-4-2 with a 5-1 loss to the Buffalo Sabres, Rutherford was asked how all the injuries to his team’s defence corps were affecting the team.
“When you have injuries, you’ve got to have next man up and have to be ready to go. I believe if our team has a really strong structure, you can play through those things,” Rutherford said. “When you start talking about injuries, you’re admitting you’re a losing team. I don’t like it. I don’t like using that as an excuse. We all have to be better. We have to use the players we’ve got and we have to play within a stronger structure to make that game easier.”
Fans booed the Canucks off the ice and also threw debris onto the surface.
“I’m the same as the fans and everybody. It’s getting frustrating, it’s hard to watch,” Rutherford said.
Rutherford said problems started in training camp.
“We didn’t have a very good camp and it’s carried over into the season. We have a lot of bad habits,” Rutherford said.
