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VANCOUVER -- The man charged with the job of revitalizing the Vancouver Canucks made his first major move toward erasing the memory of one of the teams worst seasons in recent history. Trevor Linden, the former Vancouver captain who has taken over as the teams president, put his stamp on the Canucks by firing head coach John Tortorella on Thursday. Linden said the action was the first step in moving on from a frustrating season that saw the Canucks miss the playoffs for the first time since 2008. "Today is about the future of this team and the goal of getting it back to the Stanley Cup playoffs," Linden told a news conference. Tortorellas firing was expected, but Linden said he didnt want to rush the decision. "I tried to come in from a neutral place," he said. "At the end of the day I kept coming back to a lot of things I didnt like that I saw trending. I just felt to move forward and kind of put a new perspective and new direction, it was the right thing to do." Besides Tortorella, assistant coach Mike Sullivan was also relieved of his duties. They join fired president and general manager Mike Gillis as those paying the price for a dismal year that saw the Canucks finish 25th overall. Assistant coaches Glen Gulutzan and Darryl Williams and goaltender coach Roland Melanson will keep their jobs. Linden hopes to have a new general manager hired by the end of the month. The search for a coach could coincide with looking for a GM. "I have a real strong (GM) candidate list that I will be starting the interview process next week," said Linden. "I think the two processes can move along together for a certain period of time. "Its important the manager have a great deal of input on the coaching direction. That would be the ideal situation." One of the names most frequently mentioned for the Vancouver GMs job is Jim Benning, Bostons assistant general manager and a former teammate of Linden. The Bruins have the potential to play deep into the Stanley Cup playoff. Linden refused to be specific about any candidates but indicated playoff teams may be willing to let him talk to their staff. "I have not got any pushback on timing from a playoff standpoint," he said. Linden wants a coach with experience at "many levels." The person must be a teacher and be able to communicate with his players. One of the most popular Canucks of all time, Linden is trying to repair the teams image and its relationship with fans left disillusioned by Vancouvers drop from the ranks of the NHLs elite. "This is a fresh start for our team and youll see us make some other changes this summer," he said in a letter to season ticket holders. "It starts with how we shape our management and coaching staffs and the roster improvements were able to make." The Canucks had a good start under Tortorella but finished the year with a 36-35-11 record for 83 points. The Canucks had just 13 wins in the 41 games since Jan. 1. Vancouver also struggled to score, managing just 196 goals on the season, leaving the Canucks tied for second least in the league. At an April 14 season-ending news conference Tortorella was blunt when he said the Canucks are getting old and the core needed revitalizing. Linden was asked about the comments. "We talked about that," he said. "I dont totally agree with everything he said." Tortorella, who won a Stanley Cup coaching Tampa Bay in 2004, was hired as the Canucks 17th head coach last June to replace the fired Alain Vigneault. Vigneault took over Tortorellas old team, the New York Rangers, and has led them into the second round of this seasons playoffs. Tortorella has four years remaining on a contact which is estimated at US$2 million a season. Its estimated the Canucks owe Gillis $4 million for the remaining four years left on his contract. Tortorella could be cantankerous, even rude, when dealing with the media during his five seasons with the Rangers. He kept his promise to be different in Vancouver, where he was cordial and often humorous when talking to reporters. On the ice Tortorella preached defence and shot blocking. He used star players Daniel and Henrik Sedin on the penalty kill. He also faced criticism for the amount of ice time he heaped on front-line players like the Sedins and centre Ryan Kesler, who averaged 21 minutes 48 seconds of ice time a night. Tortorellas decision to start rookie goaltender Eddie Lack in the outdoor Heritage Classic game frustrated veteran Roberto Luongo. That decision eventually resulted in Luongo being traded to Florida. A rash of injuries took their toll, Both Sedins, Alex Burrows and defenceman Chris Tanev all missed a significant number of games with injuries. Noted for his fiery manner behind the bench Tortorella shocked management and the teams owners when he tried to get into the Calgary Flames locker-room following a line brawl in a Jan. 18 game in Vancouver. Tortorella was prevented from getting at Flames coach Bob Hartley and was suspended for six games. The Canucks were 2-4-0 during that period, then 2-7-1 when Tortorella returned. Linden said that incident did not factor in Tortorellas firing. Canuck players said they played a role in the fate of both Gillis and Tortorella. "The bottom line is if we win more games, then guys dont lose their jobs," said defenceman Kevin Bieksa. Among the available coaches is Barry Trotz, who was fired from Nashville last month after 15 seasons with the Predators. Other candidates include L.A. assistant coach John Stevens and former Tampa Bay coach Guy Boucher. "We will do everything we can to make this team as good as it can be and get back to the Stanley Cup playoffs," Linden said. "We have ideas of how we can do that. "Going down that path you need things and puzzles to fit together." . So he and his Toronto FC teammates say they will have no problem getting up for their Amway Canadian Championship final against rival Montreal Impact, even if the result doesnt count toward Major League Soccer standings. . - Tom Brady and the Patriots routed the Bengals and quieted the doubters. http://www.wholesalechinajerseysforcheap.com/. The Cubs made the moves before Thursdays game against Arizona. They promoted left-hander Zac Rosscup and right-hander Neil Ramirez from Triple-A Iowa and optioned righty Blake Parker to their top minor league team. . Toronto dropped a 7-2 decision to the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday afternoon, with only a pair of late runs preventing a second straight shutout loss. Josh Willingham belted a two-run homer in the first inning and Kendrys Morales hit a bases-clearing double in the seventh as the Twins took the rubber game of the three-game series. . -- Conner Bleackley got it done in regulation time and in the shootout.I spent time on Wednesday reviewing and adding some things to my protections pages in my playbook and I thought it would be a good education about how involved protections are. It is, I believe, one area that the fans have no idea how much communication goes on and how much the offensive line, backs and quarterback have to be on the same page. Lets start with a team running a drop back protection from a one back set. From a base coverage look, there will be usually six defenders that are "threats" to the QB. We also have secondary defenders, or threats, that are covering the receivers that may rush the QB from coverage look. Lets start with four defensive lineman and two linebackers in the box area, which is the area just outside the tackles and everything inside the tackles. The centre will make a call and identify the front, or where the defensive players are aligned as pertaining to the offensive players. A term like "UNDER" means that the two defensive tackles have moved or shifted to the boundary, "OVER" means that the Noseguard has aligned over the centre and the field guard is covered. "EVEN" is a term that the centre will say when he is uncovered by a defensive lineman and the guards are covered by a defensive lineman. "ODD" usually means the centre is covered and the guards are not covered by defensive lineman. "TRIPLE, DOUBLE EAGLE, SOLID" are terms that the centre will use when the centre and both guards are all covered by defensive lineman. Once the front is set, the centre will determine which defenders they will be blocking. There is five offensive lineman, so that would leave one threat in the 4-2 (four DL and two LB) six man box. The sixth defender is the running backs responsibility. The front four DL is handled by the OL and the centre will point to the LB and say his number that they are going to be responsible for. The back will then block the next closest threat and if he doesnt come, look for anything from the secondary (the guys covering the receivers). It is crucial that the RB and the offensive lineman see the point by the centre because if not, you could block the wrong people or leave a rusher unblocked. Usually the back will be taking the LB on the side that he is aligned. Sometimes the centre will identify the front and make a call and a signal like "SOLID" and that would tell the back that the OL is going to take the LB to the backs side and that the back must now adjust and find the sixth threat wherever he is aligned. A lot of times, a mistake in protection is when the RRB does not get the call from the OL and he and the line block the same LB.dddddddddddd After the centre IDs the front and sets the protectors, the QB then understands where the unblocked players are that the QB has to throw HOT off of. Hot means that he must throw before that defender can run and hit the QB. A lot of times the OL is reading the most inside threat of three defenders. For example, the guard and tackle look to see if the inside LB threat comes with a defensive lineman and if he doesnt they can work to an outside threat that is coming. They will always handle the inside two most threats if three come, the QB will have to throw HOT off of the third threat to that side. Some terms that offensive lineman will use to communicate with each other: Dog - A linebacker that blitzes the QB Stunt - Twists and gap exchanges between two adjacent defensive linemen Blitz - A secondary player that is rushing the QB Fan - Guard and tackle fan out and block the two defenders outside them Pop - When an uncovered lineman gets away from the line of scrimmage to look to his threat and any other threats from the outside. Roger - Three offensive lineman slide to the right Louie - Three offensive lineman slide to the left Squeeze - Call by the offensive guard or tackle where they both step inside and take the defenders inside of them. It is made when they are blocking by themselves and they have three threats. They will leave the most outside threat for the QB to throw HOT off of. Ronnie -The line blocks a full slide protection to the right, protecting their play side gap. Lonnie -The line blocks a full slide protection to the Left, protecting their play side gap. MDM or Trollie - When a tackle is blocking a down lineman and a defender not accounted for rushes inside of the down lineman. The tackle will take the inside threat and let the QB throw HOT off of the outside threat. Each team has their own calls and have many different calls which tell how to block rushers and who will block rushers. Zone protections with 2, 3, 4, 5 offensive linemen all have their own terms and calls -- calls to tell the back that he will block a gap and not a man. It is an amazing process that the offensive line and backs do on every single pass play. Each protection also has their own set of calls. For example, there is a different set of calls when there is no backs in the backfield or when the offensive line is using a sprint out protection. As you can see, the OL have to be an intelligent crew and they all have to be on the same page. Want to learn more about offensive football? Start with the offensive line! ' ' '

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