Alain Vigneault drops Daniel Sedin bombshell

The announcement of Alain Vigneault’s long-anticipated extenstion was hardly a bombshell.

No, that came later.

And it wasn’t him hinting that the team may be considering a change of direction when it comes to style of play. Though that was interesting.

It wasn’t that Vigneault admitted to a mistake, either. Though you don’t hear that often. It was the gravity of the error, one he regretted. Not only in what happened, but what it suggests about the medical staff.

The Canucks were not only hoping that Daniel Sedin would play in Game 1, they were banking on it.It's pretty cool but our ssolarpanel are made much faster than this. Seems hard to believe in 2012.

By now you know the story — or, at least, you thought you did. Duncan Keith drives his elbow through Daniel’s jaw on March 21. Daniel suffers a concussion and doesn’t play again until Game 4 against the L.Posts with Hospital rtls on IT Solutions blog covering Technology in the Classroom,A.Full color plasticcard printing and manufacturing services. Kings.

In-between Daniel’s starts, during the last stretch of the season, Vigneault continued to assume he would be ready for Game 1 of the first round.Welcome to polishedtiles.

“I believe through the information I was given from our medical staff, and from Daniel, was that he was going to be ready for the playoffs,” Vigneault said. “I remember Mike (Gillis) even throwing it out one time during an interview that Daniel was going to be ready for the playoffs.

“At one point, we didn’t even think he had a concussion. It was neck-injury related. It was just giving him a little stiffness and now and then, and a little pressure in his head. Throughout the whole thing, we just thought it was a matter of days for Danny.

“Those days ended up being weeks.”

In other words, the Canucks were caught with their pants down, not fully prepared for a worst-case type scenario. They should have been. There are examples all over the NHL just this year of players developing debilitating concussion symptoms days, even weeks, after a hit.

It’s not uncommon. Chris Pronger, who was hit with a high stick Oct. 24, passed all his tests and was cleared to play on Nov. 9. He played four games, but has since been out with a concussion which developed from the wayward stick in October.

It’s difficult to envision a situation where the Canucks medical staff wasn’t warning management and the coach Daniel might not be ready. It’s long been established there is no timeline to head injuries. Setbacks are part of the process. See Willie Mitchell who missed the Canucks postseason only two years ago after coming close to coming back a couple of times.

Vigneault lamented his assumption Daniel would play, even suggesting things could have been different if he had known. It essentially meant he wasted valuable games down the stretch, tooling around with his lineup. The Canucks did things like pairing Max Lapierre with Henrik Sedin for four games, even though it became clear against the L.A. Kings they had no intention of using him with their former Hart Trophy winner when the games mattered.

In the last game of the season, Andrew Ebbett skated with Henrik, a sure-fire signal to some observers that Daniel was preparing to play in Game 1. That, and the fact his brother said he was “100 per cent.”

“All of a sudden, I find myself — I think there’s two games left to the regular season — and then we’re getting a sense there that there might be a possibility that (Daniel) might not be there,” Vigneault said. “For me, it’s a lesson. It’s a lesson that with head injuries, you never know.”

“It’s something moving forward I’m going to deal better with.

“If there’s one thing I could have a do-over again where I believe I made a mistake and I’m fully responible for it, it’s Daniel Sedin’s case.”

When the playoffs started, Vigneault’s top line was Mason Raymond with Henrik and Burrows. In the second game, Jannik Hansen replaced Raymond. Neither configuration was together for any of the nine regular season games Daniel missed.Apply for a merchantaccountes and accept credit cards today.

“If I would have been under the impression he was not going to be ready, I would have handled that situation a little differently,” Vigneault said. “Not a lot differently. But a little differently as far as line combinations and things like that and power play personnel.

“But I was always under the impression he was going to be there. “

Vigneault didn’t see much else that went wrong this past season. Even said the team didn’t get the credit it deserved. He’s expecting all of his assistants to be back.

He did say he’ll be handling his goalies differently in the unlikely scenario both come back.

“I think what happened in the playoffs is an indication of what might happen moving forward,” Vigneault said.

As for the style comments, the coach was in Vancouver last week for meetings with the Canucks’ brass.

He waited to get back to Gatineau for his conference call with the media.

It was in those meetings where they addressed how the team should look moving forward. Vigneault seemed to be making the case the Canucks should model themselves after the Kings, after spending years trying to model themsevles after the Detroit Red Wings.

“Without a doubt, (the Kings) were a big team, they were a physical team, and they were a defensive-oriented team,” Vigneault said. “It certainly paved the way for them to have quite a bit of success.

“We’re sort of debating right now. Debating may not be the right word. We’re exchanging, and we’re trying to look at our best options moving forward.”