Jim Rutherford Calls Out His Players and It Looks Like They Got the Message

They had a bad camp. They are banged up. They are getting bad bounces. You name it, odds are we've heard it out of Vancouver so far this season. As unfortunate as their situation has gotten at times, the bottom-line is they need wins.

According to Elliotte Friedman, President Jim Rutherford and the rest of management put the players on notice recently. They assured the players that if anything short of a quick turnaround happens, changes will be made to the roster. We have already seen the Canucks make two trades in the past week; first for Jack Studnicka and then for Ethan Bear.

Since then, the team has won two games, and you get the sense that the team is trending in the right direction. Still, they've lots of work to do yet.

At least two players really grabbed the bull by the horns, in Tanner Pearson and J.T. Miller. They both dropped the gloves early on and set the tone for Vancouver's 5-4 win over the Kraken. The momentum carried over when the Canucks beat the Penguins 5-1. Clearly, the players are heeding management's message.