Canucks: Lessons from the past, and Whitecaps how to set a culture

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Sustaining a winning record doesn’t happen without a united, winning culture. The Whitecaps have this. The Canucks will need this.

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Published Apr 04, 2026 • Last updated 11 minutes ago • 3 minute read

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Vancouver Whitecaps forward Brian White, top right. The Whitecaps were one of the best in North American soccer not only because of their talent but because of the strength of their unity of purpose. Photo by Amanda Loman /APArticle content

Between the noise around Mike Gillis being a candidate to be the next president of the Toronto Maple Leafs with the associated remembrances of what made his Canucks teams tick, to Quinn Hughes lamenting what was lost from the Vancouver Canucks after the 2024 Stanley Cup playoff run and debating what Canada’s men’s FIFA World Cup squad will look like, the idea of culture seems to be everywhere I look this week.

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Gillis’ Canucks were a powerful unit on the ice because of the strength of their unity off-ice. They challenged each other, they set achievable standards of excellence and it was all possible, they’ll all tell you, because of the productive relationship that existed not just between the players, but also between players and coaches. Everyone trusted that everyone else involved had the collective interest at heart, that true leadership is empowering everyone in the squad, no matter their role.

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In 2011 Vancouver Canucks’ general manager Mike Gillis arrives at Vancouver International Airport for the flight to Boston after taking a 3-2 series lead against the Bruins in the Stanley Cup final. Photo by NICK PROCAYLO /PNG

That’s an ethos that was very true of the Canucks in the 2023-24 season, which Hughes touched on in an interview with The Athletic. And covering the team at the time, I can tell you that group, while not all friends as well now know, still had a strong culture that drove everything forward. The players had expectations for each other and also kept each other in check.

Where a strong culture comes from can be elusive, but there’s no doubt that at its core is the players recognize what everyone is after, that even the most crusty players among them are on the same course.

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Brian White of the Vancouver Whitecaps FC celebrates with teammate Emmanuel Sabbi after scoring a goal as Devin Padelford of the Minnesota United reacts a game at B.C. Place in March. Photo by Rich Lam /Getty Images

I spoke with some of the Vancouver Whitecaps about this recently. They were one of the best in North American soccer because of their talent but also because of the strength of their unity of purpose. If you’ve ever been on a team with a truly strong culture you’ve just known it. Everyone is dialed in. The egos are there but they’re focused on the target, not distracted by whatever could distract them.

“It is buddy-buddy but it’s not just buddy-buddy, you know?” Whitecaps strike Brian White told me about how his team’s culture works. “But we also get on each other, if things aren’t going well, if someone’s not doing their job.”

As a coach, you play a role too, Jesper Sorensen noted. You have to show the players respect by recognizing their efforts, be that in handing a depth player a deserved start or finding ways for your more experienced players to get bigger opportunities than they’re already getting. The balance is obviously tricky, but a strong team culture will recognize what the coach is doing and that the player in question is getting a deserved reward.

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“I also have to to acknowledge that and put him on the pitch,” Sorensen said of when a player has been performing in practice. “Otherwise we kill what we do out here on the training ground.”

That’s a lesson we probably don’t think about enough: to be build resilience in your squad is to offer the ultimate reward and then actually provide it.

That’s something to consider as we watch the young Canucks build to what they hope is future success: how are they building good habits in practice and how are those habits being recognized by the coaching staff?

The young guys

Let’s close with a stat that deserves some though from Sportsnet: 15.7 per cent of the Canucks’ points this season has come from rookies.

That the younger players have been putting up points is obviously a good thing, but also let’s not overstate the percentage here. A percentage of very little can look impressive and the truth is the Canucks stumbled into this rebuild because they had to trade their best player and because they also weren’t scoring enough and they were giving up too many goals.

If they’d scored more goals they would have been from more experienced players, not rookies. The rookies are getting opportunity here because there are so few veterans left!

pjohnston@postmedia.com

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Canucks: Lessons from the past, and Whitecaps how to set a culture

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