Vancouver Canucks send a clear message by hiring Adam Foote

Regardless of whether they would or should ever admit it, the Vancouver Canucks are in crisis mode.

They just went through a drama-filled season so fraught that they traded one of their best forwards, spent a ton of time criticizing another one of their best forwards, might not be able to rely on their longtime No. 1 goaltender, had their coach leave the team despite an offer that might have made him one of the highest-paid bench bosses in league history, and are now facing an uncertain future with their All-World No. 1 defenseman.

And while there's no controlling the traded forward, the healthy and reliability of the goalie, or the coach who just signed with another NHL team for similar money, the Canucks are doing all in their power to get their arms around the looming problem with that No