Former Canucks coach Desjardins: I let Vancouver down

Willie Desjardins put the blame squarely on himself while facing the Vancouver media for the last time.

Three days after being fired from his role as head coach of the Vancouver Canucks, Desjardins expressed his regret by drawing on a conversation he had with Alex Burrows before the veteran forward was traded to the Ottawa Senators at the deadline.

"When he was going to leave, (Burrows said,) 'I was just really disappointed that I couldn't win a Cup in this market. I felt I let the market down,'" Desjardins told reporters Thursday, via TSN 1040.

"And that's what I think. It's the same thing. (Burrows) gave everything he had ... I did the same."

Desjardins spent the first few minutes of Thursday's presser thanking members of the organization, and he later explained that his motivation for addressing the media one more time was gratitude, not any ill will about his dismissal.

"I'm not bitter about it. I am disappointed," he said. "It's such a great game. There's just lots of people I owe thanks to."

The 60-year-old said he had a feeling for months that he wouldn't be back.

"You just get a sense sometimes," Desjardins said. "When you've been around the game a little bit you get a feeling when things are coming to an end."

The Canucks dropped their final eight games of the season and won only two of the final 17 contests.

"It's a tough situation when you get to this point," Desjardins said. "There's casualties sometimes."

Vancouver finished second-last overall with only 30 wins in 82 games, missing the playoffs for the second straight season.

The Canucks got worse in each of Desjardins' three campaigns at the helm, going from 101 points in his first NHL campaign to only 69 in 2016-17.