Vancouver Canucks coach calls out team for lingering ‘defeated feeling’

VANCOUVER – Adam Foote has seen enough. 

The Vancouver Canucks head coach is tired of his players getting frustrated and letting their play slip.

Yes, the team is mired in an extended losing skid, but the Stanley Cup-winning defenceman knows a defeatist attitude won’t help things. 

“I’ve been watching this for too long,” Foote said Monday after the Canucks fell 4-3 to the New York Islanders.

“We’ve got to stop burning ourselves by getting frustrated. We’ve got to stay within the plan. The plan’s working. And it’s our vets. They’ve got to hang in there.”

The problem has plagued the team for years, he said — even before he came to Vancouver as an assistant coach to Rick Tocchet. 

There’s a bad call — or the opponent scores first — and players begin slamming the gate to the bench, making bad changes or overcomplicating their game.

“It’s something we’ve got to get out of our culture,” Foote said. 

“It just gets us off our game … and allows other teams to get just a little bit of energy and come back in the game. It’s something we’ve got to stop.” 

Monday’s loss extended Vancouver’s winless streak to 11 games (0-9-2) and marked the team’s ninth-straight defeat in regulation. 

It’s been a difficult season for the Canucks (16-28-5) as they linger at the very bottom of the NHL standings.

“We’re fighting hard. It’s a tough go,” said defenceman Marcus Pettersson. “When you go through a losing streak, you kind of find ways to lose, right? But I think we can’t stop up and feel sorry for ourselves.

“I think our effort was there tonight. And, yeah, unfortunate result.”

There was a glimmer of hope against the Islanders, starting with Max Sasson’s goal 2:49 into the first period, which gave the home side an early 1-0 lead.

Evander Kane put the team up 2-1 with his eighth goal of the season before the end of the opening frame.

Vancouver then floundered in the second, giving up two goals over 88 seconds, and couldn’t recover in the third, despite a late goal from Drew O’Connor. 

“In my opinion, our game plan worked so well. We had a ton of energy,” Foote said.

“If a call doesn’t go our way or if they get the first goal or the second, we cannot go rogue. We cannot get the defeated feeling and get frustrated. That lingers here. If they want to win and get more consistent, they’ve got to get it out. And that starts with our vets.” 

Asked how he solves the problem, the coach had a simple answer — tell his players to cut it out. 

They’ve already had ample talks, Foote said, but the problem persists.

“We didn’t do it a lot at the start of the season and it’s lingering back. And we’re going to stop it,” he said. “We can’t do it to ourselves.”

VOTE OF CONFIDENCE

Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin affirmed his trust in Foote and the coaching staff Monday. 

“I am satisfied with the way they’re working. And I think it’s hard to really evaluate how we’re playing,” he said. 

“I know one thing — the players in there, the coaches, they really care. I don’t think they’re happy winning four home games. They want to provide winning hockey for our fans.”

ROOKIE ON A RUN

Defenceman Matthew Schaefer contributed a pair of assists for New York, earning his 33rd and 34th points of the season. 

The No. 1 pick in last summer’s draft has 13 goals and 21 assists in 49 games, and is tied with Tim Connolly for the most points in a single season by an 18-year-old in Islanders history. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 20, 2026.

This is a corrected story. An earlier version contained an error in Matthew Schaefer’s statistics.

Note to readers:This is a corrected story. An earlier version contained an error in Matthew Schaefer’s statistics.