Green: Canucks need to develop winning culture

Travis Green is ready to go.

Named the 19th head coach of the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday, the 46-year-old British Columbia native is excited by the opportunity to get his home team back on the map.

"I want to develop a culture that will breed winning. That's a process and that will take time but it starts today," Green said at his introductory press conference. "To our fans, we share the same goal: to have a winning team that's exciting to watch. It's not an overnight process, but it begins now."

Green has spent the past four seasons with the organization as head coach of the Utica Comets, the Canucks' AHL affiliate. The Comets advanced to the Calder Cup Finals in 2015.

That familiarity with the organization paid off Wednesday, as the Canucks president of hockey operations, Trevor Linden, noted the club was focused on Green and did not interview other candidates for the head coaching position.

"Travis checked the boxes. We wanted to act quickly," Linden said. "There's no better interview process than the one we had for the last three years."

Green replaces Willie Desjardins as head coach, who was fired after missing the playoffs in two of three seasons in Vancouver.

Green skated 970 games in the NHL, splitting his last season in 2006-07 between the Anaheim Ducks and Toronto Maple Leafs.

He noted Wednesday that he expects to add Nolan Baumgartner to his coaching staff. A former NHL defenseman, Baumgartner spent part of four seasons on the Vancouver blue line. He has been an assistant coach to Green in Utica the past four seasons.