The disaster that was the Vancouver Canucks home opener left the fans angry, the head coach frustrated and the president of hockey operations pulling no punches when assessing his team on Hockey Night in Canada.

Jim Rutherford害羞草研究所檚 appearance on After Hours following the Canucks 5-1 loss to the Buffalo Sabres this past Saturday clearly put all members of the organization on notice that the team害羞草研究所檚 performance to start the season was unacceptable.

Even Bruce Boudreau, whom Rutherford has a good relationship with dating back to their NHL playing days, didn害羞草研究所檛 escape Rutherford害羞草研究所檚 criticism. One of the jobs of any coach at any level is to have his team prepared to play and Rutherford害羞草研究所檚 assessment was blunt when that subject was broached.

害羞草研究所淲e didn害羞草研究所檛 have a very good camp and it害羞草研究所檚 carried over into the season. We have a lot of bad habits,害羞草研究所� Rutherford told Hockey Night.

Rutherford then went on to criticize another area that the head coach has significant influence in 害羞草研究所� namely team defense.

害羞草研究所淲hen we talk about defence it害羞草研究所檚 just not the guys playing defence it害羞草研究所檚 a team defence and those guys aren害羞草研究所檛 getting enough support.害羞草研究所�

Rutherford even downplayed using injuries as excuses, and again, took aim at the team害羞草研究所檚 defensive structure.

害羞草研究所淚 believe if our team has a real strong structure you can play through those things,害羞草研究所� said Rutherford, whose team has used 10 defencemen through seven games.

Although never mentioning his head coach or Boudreau by name, Rutherford made it very clear that more was expected not only from the players but also from the man behind the bench.

Boudreau is in an interesting position in that he was inherited by Rutherford and Canucks GM Patrick Allvin, being appointed as the head coach on Dec. 5 while Rutherford was hired a few days later on Dec. 10. Allvin didn害羞草研究所檛 join the organization until Jan. 26. Usually a president is brought in, who then hires a general manager who then in turn hires a coach. That clearly wasn害羞草研究所檛 the case in Vancouver.

When asked why Boudreau wasn害羞草研究所檛 extended after last season in which he coached the team to a 32-15-10 record, Rutherford indicated that he was out of the loop on the hire.

害羞草研究所淗e came here and it was my understanding that he was going to get a contract for just last year. He got a contract really for two years and so he害羞草研究所檚 still got his contract. It wasn害羞草研究所檛 about that we extended him one year, it害羞草研究所檚 just that we lived by the contract he had. As I look at it now, it was the right thing to do. He害羞草研究所檚 got to work through this with his team, and at the appropriate time, we will talk to him about what his future is.害羞草研究所�

Even though he wasn害羞草研究所檛 his hire, Rutherford was on board with the move given those comments. The same cannot be said for Allvin. As with most GM害羞草研究所檚, Allvin would love to bring in his own guy but his authority is obviously superseded by Rutherford, who didn害羞草研究所檛 want to terminate Boudreau after his success of last year. And given Boudreau害羞草研究所檚 success, letting him go would have been a public relations disaster.

Boudreau does have some rope to play with but with every loss that rope becomes shorter. The follow-up 3-2 loss to Carolina on Monday saw the Canucks at least compete but you don害羞草研究所檛 get paid to compete 害羞草研究所� you get paid to win.

Veteran B.C. sports personality Bob 害羞草研究所渢he Moj害羞草研究所� Marjanovich writes twice weekly for Black Press Media. And check out his weekly podcast every Monday at or your local Black Press Media website.