Benning gives Green vote of confidence

Jim Benning gave a vote of confidence to Travis Green on Friday.

The Vancouver Canucks general manager said that the team was not considering a change behind the bench.

“I’m not looking to make a coaching change,” Benning said during his media availability (via Thomas Drance of The Athletic).

Green is now in his fourth season as Canucks coach.

Despite a 3-1 win over the North Division-leading Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night, the Canucks are languishing near the bottom of the division on 22 points in sixth place and trail the Montreal Canadiens for the final playoff spot by four points, having played five more games than the Habs.

Benning blames his team’s start to the season on the circumstances surrounding a season unlike any other due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

“We started the season, had the week[-long] training camp, no exhibition games…I think part of our problems early on were we played 16 games in 25 nights,” Benning said.

Despite looking to be a longshot to make the postseason, Benning was noncommittal when it came to the team’s plans for the Apr. 12 trade deadline.

“We’ll see where we’re at at the deadline and make the appropriate decisions at that time,” Benning said.

The Canucks return to action on Saturday night, once again hosting the Maple Leafs.