Fan In Van

So Much For The Brabarian

TEAM 1040: There was a big blowup between Jeff Cowan and Alain Vigneault tonight. The camera caught the two walking down the hall in 2nd intermission, exchanging heated words. Vigneault turned off into a room, Cowan takes step back and swings stick at the door frame.

This is what I caught from last night’s post-game show. And can you blame Alain Vigneault for being frustrated with Jeff Cowan? He’s done little to improve this team and has taken plenty of penalties to boot. He’s amassed one assist in the eighteen contests he’s played in this year, while being beaten for a roster spot by Mike Brown, who has clearly taken his place as the team middleweight.

Jeff Cowan took a needless penalty last night in his fracas with Ed Jovanovski. It was foolish, and it was dumb. As opposed to taking Jovocop with him, he went to the box himself and set his team up for a 5-on-3 penalty kill which lasted the full two minutes and gave the Coyotes a 3-1 lead going into the 2nd intermission, sucking the proverbial air right out of GM Place.

Even if you look beyond last night, what else has Cowan done? Off the opening faceoff against Edmonton in October, Cowan injures himself in a scrap with Zach Stortini and missed a handful of games. Then, when Pittsburgh arrives in December, Cowan gets his shoulder dislocated by the more physical Georges Laraque. He’s missed a ton of games and in that span Mike Brown has proven himself a far more capable fighter and a more healthier, speedier forward.

I think if you look at what the Canucks have right now, they don’t have any more room for Jeff Cowan. He’s earning $750K this season, which is a lot considering what Cowan has brought to the table (basically a bunch of fights where he’s won few). He no longer has that mean demeanor and there’s too many bottom six forwards who have earned a place on this team more than Cowan.

So much for the Brabarian.