Canucks coach Rick Tocchet apologizes to fans after awful Islanders loss

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The usual routine is he steps up to a podium and the assorted reporters in attendance take turns asking him questions, a variety of queries that range from particular plays in the game, the performance of particular players or general observations about how the game fits into the narrative of the season.

Things like that.

But Thursday after his team put in a dispiriting effort in a 5-2 loss to the New York Islanders, Tocchet took the initiative and shared a few comments — and an apology to the team’s fans — before taking any questions.

“Don’t ask about individual players today, OK? No offence,” he began.

“I apologize to the fans. We’re not playing good enough at home. It’s on me. Guys played light tonight. I thought we were ready to go; we weren’t. It’s on me. I’ve got to get this team to play harder in the first period. Spurts here and there, but not enough from a lot of guys. So got to go practise tomorrow and go right back to the drawing board.”

Later, at the end of an answer to a question about how the Islanders defended the Canucks’ efforts to build energy on the rush, he apologized again.

“It’s a frustrating situation because the fans are paying, what is it? Two, three, four five hundred bucks? And we’re throwing some duds at them. So I apologize to the fans again. We’ve got to correct this,” he added.

pjohnston@postmedia.com

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