Boudreau's arrival helped change Canucks culture

VANCOUVER — The Vancouver Canucks fell short of their preseason target to return to the Stanley Cup playoffs but a strong second half under new coach Bruce Boudreau has helped trigger a culture change that does offer promise for the club.

"That's a really good group of guys," defenceman Tyler Myers said Sunday as Canucks players gathered at Rogers Arena for their season-ending exit interviews. "We started to play the way we knew we could in the second half of the year and you can tell it brought us together."

After an 8-15-2 start cost coach Travis Green and GM Jim Benning their jobs in early December, the Canucks went 32-15-10 through their final 57 games under Boudreau. They managed to keep their playoff hopes alive until late in the season, ultimately finishing five points out of a Western Conference wild-card spot with 92 points.

"I think the better part of my game came towards the end when we were obviously playing better and winning games and it seemed like we were coming together as a team," said captain Bo Horvat, who had a personal-best 31 goals despite missing the final seven games after breaking his tibia blocking a shot. "At the end of the day, it wasn't good enough to make the playoffs.

"I think that's disappointing."

This marked the sixth time in seven seasons the Canucks failed to reach the playoffs. It came after an off-season of significant roster changes, including a trade that brought defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson and forward Conor Garland.

Goaltender Thatcher Demko was named the Canucks's most valuable player after posting a 33-22-7 record, 2.72 goal-against average and .915 save percentage with one shutout. But he missed the team's final three regular-season games and said Sunday he suffered an