Shane O’Brien trashes Canucks coach Alain Vigneault after being traded

Vancouver Canucks’ Shane O’Brien and Los Angeles Kings’ Alexander Frolov fight for control of the puck during the first period of a first round NHL western conference playoff hockey game at GM Place in Vancouver, Canada, on Saturday, April 17, 2010. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Jonathan Hayward)

AP

While yesterday’s trade involving Vancouver and Nashville sending defenseman Shane O’Brien to the Predators may not have made waves around the league, Shane O’Brien would not go quietly away from Vancouver just yet. O’Brien, while being quizzed by reporters following the trade got a chance to open up about Canucks head coach Alain Vigneault. Iain MacIntyre of the Vancouver Sun made sure to get O’Brien’s take on things in Vancouver on his way out the door.

O’Brien, whose contract rights the Canucks retained in July with a qualifying offer of $1.6 million US, said he knew before training camp was a week old that Vigneault wasn’t going to have him on the team.

“I knew I was in trouble,” he said. “I wish I got a little fairer shake in camp. I only played three exhibition games, all on the road, and we flew the day of the game on two of them. And -no disrespect to the players we had in those games -but the three games I played we were nowhere near an NHL-calibre roster. It was the icing on the cake for my career here in Vancouver.

“Last year, I stepped up when we had some injuries and helped our team win the division, and I thought I played with a lot of heart in the playoffs. Every time there was an injury, I’d play well. And when [the injured player] came back, I’d go right back to the bottom of the barrel. It’s tough to play in this league when you know if you have a bad night, you’re going to the press box. After two years, it was still the same thing. No matter what I did, I didn’t seem to stand a chance with that guy.”

If O’Brien tooted his own horn any more here he’d be ready to be part of an orchestra. While O’Brien makes good points about how he played while the Canucks dealt with injury issues last year. O’Brien might need to look at things a little closer though. Let’s face it if you’re getting prime minutes when guys get hurt, when they return from injury you’re not likely going to get the same amount of time on the ice or even on the ice at all. That’s just how the business goes.

That said, giving him a fairer look in camp couldn’t hurt the Canucks. Of course, having a $1.6 million cap hit on a team with major cap issues didn’t help matters at all and with the defensive depth the Canucks have, he was obviously expendable. O’Brien’s ability to take bad penalties on the ice could be proof that he’s not exactly in a team-centric mindset on the ice and these statements certainly don’t point towards being in a team-centric state of mind off it either. Of course, if O’Brien flourishes in Nashville, Vigneault will certainly be hearing about it.