Save D-Man Shane O'Brien
 

Shane O'Brien is one of the hardest working, toughest, most consistent players on the Vancouver Canucks.

However, he is in coach Alan Vigneault's doghouse for his role in coming to the defence of Mason Raymond during a team practice, when Raymond was attacked by Willie Mitchell.

Now, O'Brien is going public with the fact that he is being forced to fight by management -- or face more benching.

It's high time for true Canucks fans to rise up against this injustice. O'Brien is a class act who deserves better... much, much better.

Shane who? :D

Seriously, he went public complained about being mistreated by the coaches instead of trying to solve the problem privately, his time with the Canucks is over, done and finished.

Being a high paid professional, he should be able to face the criticism from the management, media and fans. No players want to be benched, but this is the fact of life in the highly competitive sport world, if he can't tolerate his treatment, he is in the wrong profession, that's plain and simple.

I think he's right to air his concerns publicly. What are you, against free speech?

Shane O'Brien has been one of the bright lights for this team, and his defence of Mason Raymond at the hands of Willie Mitchell's unprovoked attack during team practice is nothing short of heroic.

He is class, personified.

Me? against free speech? Just because I've a different view from yours?:koko:

Is there any article about this?

Cry-me-a-river O'Brien

Canucks defenceman says management just want him to fight

By Ben Kuzma, The ProvinceFebruary 2, 2009 11:00 PMComments (1)


Shane O’Brien willingly throws punches at the opposition.

Now he’s even throwing them at the Vancouver Canucks brain trust. Clearly confused after being a healthy scratch Saturday against Minnesota, the brooding blueliner believes he’s in a no-win situation. His apparent lack of physical play and willingness to fight are deemed more detrimental to the club than improving as a player and cutting down on penalties.

The last time O’Brien slugged it out was Dec. 14, when he scored a unanimous decision over Gregory Campbell of Florida to improve to 5-0.

In his next 18 games, the defenceman didn’t scrap, but was a pleasing plus-6.

Even though O’Brien has a penchant for bad minors — especially when he doesn’t move his feet — the league’s former penalty-minute leader is still miffed at being scratched for the first time this NHL season in favour of Rob Davison.

“I’m not happy about it,” O’Brien said Monday. “I’m at the point in my career where I need to play to improve and if they don’t think I’m worth playing to see if I can develop — and they just want me to be a fighter — maybe it’s not the right situation.

“I’m not going to lie. I’m not going to sit here and say all the right things that I’m just happy to be a part of the team. I want to improve as a player and stay in the league as long as I can. You can’t do that from the press box.”

When O’Brien logged just 10:28 of ice time on Jan. 28 against Nashville — instead of his average of 15:40 — he knew something was up. Especially when he was benched for the third period.

“If the coach doesn’t feel comfortable putting you on the ice at all in the third, you know where you stand in his eyes,” said O’Brien.

And when O’Brien was told in a one-on-one meeting last week with general manager Mike Gillis that there were physical flaws in his game, he braced for the worst.

“I saw it coming and wasn’t surprised at all, but this is the first time anybody has talked to me this season,” added O’Brien.

“There you go. You find out how you really feel and how you really stand in the organization. Sometimes you don’t want to hear what they have to say, but at least they said it.

“I don’t want to be considered just a fighter. I want to play for a long time. Fighting can keep you in the league, but I think you really have to turn yourself into a good player as a defenceman to stay and that’s what I want. I don’t know if they feel I can do that. I think they think I have to fight to stay in the league and that’s their opinion.”

O’Brien can cite his plus-7 rating as a reason to remain in the lineup because only Willie Mitchell has better numbers on the back end with a plus-12 ranking.

Then again, O’Brien’s 132 penalty minutes are dotted with hooking and holding minors that drive coach Alain Vigneault crazy.

They’re only magnified with the Canucks in an 0-5-3 funk and on a sorry 0-6-3 slide on home ice, where they’ve surrendered eight power-play goals in the last four games.

Still, all this bugs O’Brien because he has cut down on his minors.

“I’m happy that he’s not happy,” Vigneault said of O’Brien.

“He just needs to get back to playing a good, hard style and stay away from the hooking and other penalties that put the team in trouble. We want him to be physical and play with an edge. You don’t bother anybody with hooking and slashing penalties.”

O’Brien has a hard time understanding that he’s not playing physical enough on a team that’s third in fighting majors with 49.

And because he’s making a conscious effort to stay out of the penalty box, in his mind the healthy scratch rationale doesn’t have a lot of legs. “I’ve fought my whole career and I’m not afraid or scared to fight,” added O’Brien.

“I’ve said it since the day I got traded here — I’m going to play and I want to be a player in this league for a long time. You can ask anyone around the league, they know I’ll fight and if someone wants to fight me, I’m there. Nobody is banging down my door and we’ve got enough toughness to go around.

“I don’t think it’s a problem, but apparently they [management] think it is.”

© Copyright (c) The Province

O'Brien is a mediocre defenseman at best. The fact that this is even newsworthy really only underscores the sad state of affairs the Canucks have become at the moment.

I was actually shocked to hear that he was a plus 6 in the last month; when he's not taking a pointless penalty, he's turning the puck over.

At some point in his career, he'll be forced to accept that his value is primarily in his toughness, not his defensive skill (or lack thereof).

Shane O'Brien is a career 6th or 7th defenseman at best. Instead of going public with his complaints, he should have dealt with it internally with coaches, and managment. His time with the Canucks is probably done, because this kind of thing does not bode well in the locker room, or with the organization as a whole. He's replacable, and I'm sure some teams in the NHL would love to have a hard-nosed defenseman.

I've said before that if the Canucks lose 3 out of 4 on this current home stand, AV will be fired, and the Canucks will probably be sellers, not buyers come the trade deadline. I wouldn't be surprised if the Canucks go towards a full out youth movement. We have some nice pieces in place: Edler, Raymond, Hodgson, Wellwood, Schneider, etc. We also have some nice pieces we can use as trade bait: Luongo (If the Canucks continue to lose, he's not going to stay, so might as well trade him to a team out east), Ohlund, Mitchell, etc (I know they have no-trade clauses, management can talk to them about waiving them to go to a contender), Salo, Shane O'Brien, H. Sedin, D. Sedin, etc.

If we can retain H. Sedin and D. Sedin for decent prices, I'd say resign them. However, I can't see them as captains of this team. Good players, but not great. They produce, but they're not clutch players when the moment calls for them to be just that.

No, you're against free speech because you can't stand the fact that Shane O'Brien is taking his beef to the media -- instead of the usual NHL habit of keeping everything a secret.

I agree, he's probably going to be shipped out, though I won't agree with it.
Pound for pound, he was probably much better than 6th or 7th defenceman on this team, however. His play, night-after-night, exceeded the play of Edler, Bieksa, and Mitchell.

Do you really think dealing "internally" is working for Shane O'Brien? He has been benched for two games for his brave act of coming to the defence of Mason Raymond during practice.

You're against free speech as well because you don't like what I said about your "hero". :D

O'Bie says he's sorry


By Elliott_Pap 02-03-2009

You could see the apology coming as soon as Shane O'Brien stepped into the Canuck dressing following today's morning skate. The burly blueliner didn't even wait for a question before launching into his 'mea culpa'. O'Bie said he was sorry for his Monday outburst, that it was borne of frustration, that he was never told by GM Mike Gillis he had to fight more and that he shouldn't put his personal situation ahead of the team. And so another chapter in the Canuck soap opera was closed, for now anyway. The media should thank O'Brien. He offered up two days worth of stories on a silver platter when everyone was scrambling to find a new angle on the team's depressing losing streak. Maybe the Nucks will give reporters something else to write about tonight -- like a victory.




The Sun

Nice.

Now, this is what I call class..



Not forever a Canuck, classy Ohlund plays on

Defenceman has spent his entire career here, but is prepared to move

By Iain MacIntyre, Vancouver SunFebruary 3, 2009


While a brush fire raged Monday near Vancouver Canuck defenceman Shane O'Brien, who dropped napalm as reporters asked him about being a healthy scratch, across the Vancouver Canucks' dressing room the slow smoulder around Mattias Ohlund continued unnoticed.

Ohlund isn't angry, merely largely resigned to the likelihood that his decade-long stint as the backbone of the Canucks' defence is nearing an end. Any frustration Ohlund harboured about a slightly diminished role in what seems his final National Hockey League season in Vancouver, long ago dissipated. It was never expressed publicly.

In Saturday's 4-3 loss to the Minnesota Wild, everyone saw that Mats Sundin didn't get off the Canuck bench in the final minute of regulation time and overtime. Maybe you didn't notice Ohlund was sitting at the other end of it.

Ohlund's only contribution was a fragment of broken stick, snapped against the dasher when Marc-Andre Bergeron scored in OT, that skipped across the ice as the Wild celebrated.

"That was just frustration that we got scored on," Ohlund said.

When the Canucks pressed desperately for a tying goal, coach Alain Vigneault used defencemen Sami Salo and Alex Edler in the final minute. And when he changed penalty-killers in overtime, going to two defencemen from one, Vigneault left blueliner Willie Mitchell on the ice and sent Salo out to join him. Ohlund stayed on the bench.

"Without a doubt in my mind, Sami and Alex Edler were our two best Ds as far as moving the puck and trying to get their shots on net," Vigneault explained Monday. "Those two guys, at the end of the game, were our two best defencemen. That's why they were out there."

Fair enough.

It was a far more defensible position than Vigneault's decision to scratch O'Brien and winger Mason Raymond in favour of Rob Davison and Mike Brown, replacing two guys who can handle the puck with two guys who can't. Though admirably competitive, Brown and Davison combined for just 7:34 of ice time, about 221/2 minutes fewer than what Raymond and O'Brien offer.

Partly because of Davison's limitations, Ohlund logged 25:12. But that nudged the 32-year-old's season average to only 21:59, nearly two minutes less than last season and about 31/2 minutes off the Swede's career average.

Small changes, but Ohlund has noticed.

"I'm not trying to analyse it," he said. "They're going to put out whoever they think gives us the best chance to win. When I get tapped on the shoulder, I go out and play. That's all I know. I'd like to be out there. I'm sure other guys would say the same thing."

Overshadowed by the possible free agency of first-liners Daniel and Henrik Sedin, Ohlund's contractual status generated little fanfare when talks on an extension broke off last fall.

Ohlund, eight points shy of becoming the franchise's all-time leading scorer on defence, is probably the first Canuck victim of the global economic crisis. He badly wants to stay in Vancouver and general manager Mike Gillis reiterated Monday he'd like to keep the defenceman who has spent his entire 11-year career with the Canucks.

But no one knows what the NHL salary cap will be next season, except that in the next two years it is likely to plummet. With the Sedins still to sign, goalie Roberto Luongo under contract next season at $7.5 million US and defencemen Kevin Bieksa, Mitchell, Salo and Edler on the books for $14 million, Gillis simply doesn't have enough money to keep Ohlund.

Not for anything close to market value ($5-6 million US over 4-5 years), anyway.

Ohlund understands this. He believes the Canucks have acted in good faith, and accepts there are consequences to the economic uncertainty. He is not bitter. Not even close.

But that doesn't make this season easier for him. It is no accident that he has never played for another team. So content was he to stay -- and willing to give a discount -- none of his previous contracts made it to the final year before Ohlund re-signed.

He lives here more than 10 months a year, spending just July and another week or two back home in Pitea. Vancouver is the only home his children, Viktor, 9, and Hannah, 7, have known. Viktor was born with one leg shorter than the other, and the Ohlunds have strong ties to staff at Children's Hospital.

"My son is pretty interested in hockey, so he knows what's going on," Ohlund said of not knowing where he'll be next season. "But they're kids. They don't think much further than the next minute.

"I'm sort of past that point [of worrying]. We've played most of the year. There were talks last summer that didn't lead anywhere. You get to the point where you're kind of reconciled to it, and then you move on. You go through times where you reflect on it, but now I'm excited about the future."

Gillis said he hasn't given up on trying to sign Ohlund after the season and praised the assistant captain for his professionalism and commitment.

"No one knows what the future is from a salary-cap situation," Ohlund said. "I know this is a business. I've been here 11 years and it has been great. But if I'm not here, I'll move on and be perfectly happy somewhere else."

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:previous: Ohlund has been a great defenseman for the 'Nucks for so many years. I hope that Gillis can work something out so that the defenseman stays for the rest of his career as a Canuck - that would be something special.

My gut feeling tells me that he's gone, but we can all wish, can't we?

Are you sure that's why O'Brien's been benched the last two games? I would think it was because of his play? Raymond I know exactly why the guy has been benched, he has been underachieving so badly this year, I bet the guy wants this season to be over with, and start afresh. Management would be foolish to trade Raymond, in my opinion, I think the kids' a sleeper, and a keeper. Sure he may be underachieving currently, but he's still young, at age 23, he's still got some upside. I say, give him another year or two, after that, if he doesn't produce then, he won't produce ever.

The Canucks are a business, they are a organization, their in the entertainment industry and in the entertainment industry image is everything. Obrien is a employee, a highly paid one at that, makes just shy of a million dollars a year. He has about as much right to talk negatively about the organization while employed by them as a burger king employee does to customers while working behind the till. he should be traded, just like that burger king employee would be fired, because he would be damaging the businesses image and on top of it ruining morale.

with raymond you have to wait atleast till he gains another 20-25lbs of muscle and keeps it from the start of a season to the end. 20-25lbs of muscle makes a world of a difference for a player.

If Raymond works hard this off-season, he can put on the 20-25 lbs. But that's if he really works at it this offseason. I think he can, and he'll have a better year next year. His confidence, obviously, this year has plummeted, and Vigneault's benching doesn't do any good for a young player like Raymond. I agree that he has underproduced, for a player that's supposed to have a top six role on the team, he's massively underachieved. I still believe that Raymond can be a top 6 player on the Canucks, he just needs time. Let's be realistic here, he was a 2nd round draft pick - he's going to be a decent player, but not a great player. I say eventually, he's going to be a 20-25 goal scorer, no more. I've seen him play on tv, and he's not really a creative player with the puck, he's more of a dump and chase type of player, although, I think he can be more creative when he has the puck. He's going to be a good player in the future (1-2 years) after putting some pounds on his frame.

Edler, surprisingly, has had difficulties this year, shortly after he's signed his new contract. I think he's going to be a great player for the Canucks organization for many years to come. It's just hard to watch him struggle so much this year.

I can't wait to see what Michael Grabner can do in the NHL. He's got wheels, and he can definitely score, but his defensive game suffers. Hope that he's not a bust :(

You guys've probably known that Mike Brown had been traded to Anaheim for Nathan McIver.

It's not looking good for Shane O'Brien. What a shame -- his plus/minus is one of the best on the team, and he's the kind of gritty competitor you want during the punishing playoffs.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: SAVE SHANE O-BRIEN!!!

Sounding off from defensive depths

Deadline Deals? O'Brien wary of Wednesday as team pads back end in advance

Ben Kuzma
The Province

Tuesday, March 03, 2009


CREDIT: Jeff Vinnick file
Shane O'Brien
Shane O'Brien wanted to sound optimistic. He wanted to sound like his postal code isn't about to change and that he can plant firmer roots in Vancouver.

However, the Canucks defenceman sounded solemn prior to the NHL trade deadline Wednesday.

Maybe it's because he was a healthy scratch four times this season after figuring management wanted him to fight more. Maybe it's because he's emotional. Maybe it's because the club is still carrying eight defencemen after placing Lawrence Nycholat on waivers Monday and everybody knows something has to give.

"It's been a roller-coaster year," admitted O'Brien. "Hopefully, I can look back at it and in two or three years I'm still in this league and a top-four defenceman somewhere and playing on a good team. Maybe this was one of those things that helps you realize what kind of player you are and what you need to do -- to be mentally tough.

"It's just hard to play when you're on a short leash," added O'Brien. "It's a fast game and there are bad bounces and things are going to happen. You can't play perfect. But it's tougher when you know they have no problem taking you out of the lineup."

The Canucks are expected to move a blueliner before the deadline and have options.

Rob Davison, 28, hasn't played in nine games and has logged just 23 this season. He could be dangled for a late-round draft pick, but may not have as much market value as O'Brien.

With Ossi Vaananen, 28, claimed off waivers Friday from Philadelphia, the Canucks could land a higher pick in exchange for O'Brien, 25, who has a bigger upside and is a restricted free agent next season.

Two years ago, Tampa Bay traded Gerald Coleman and a first-round draft pick to Anaheim for O'Brien and a third-round draft pick. The Canucks could also package O'Brien with Mason Raymond in pursuit of a more name player. Then again, the Canucks could keep O'Brien, who has nine assists in 55 games, is a plus-10 and leads the club with 162 penalty minutes.

"Anybody say we're giving up on him?" asked coach Alain Vigneault. "He's trying to be a little more physical, which we need him to be. He's working on his gap control and with the puck, he's doing more [high] percentage plays."

Davison was moved from San Jose to the Islanders at the trade deadline last year for a seventh-round draft pick.

He's hopeful the Canucks will conclude you can't have enough depth and that winning 10 of the last 12 games will mean a minor move or two. Or none.

"I don't know if much is going to happen," said Davison. "We're happy with the team we have and we're a confident group. But if they're going to make a move, they're going to make a move."

Kevin Bieksa's name regularly surfaces in trade rumours because of his ability and age (27), and the cost certainty of a contract that has a salary cap hit of $3.75 million US the next two seasons. He was even rumoured in an Erik Cole swap last summer.

"I've had my name swirling around, so I've kind of learned to deal with it," said Bieksa. "As long as we keep winning in here, there shouldn't be much reason for major change. When we're on top of our game, we can play with anybody in the league."

Maybe Vigneault put it best when trying to keep the silly season in perspective. One report Monday had the Canucks supposedly chasing Ryan Smyth of Colorado, who has a $6.25 million cap hit the next three seasons.

"I like our team," said Vigneault. "But there's tons of speculation and who knows what is true and what isn't. And who knows what truth is a stretch."

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#55 was the only guy who shot his mouth off during the big slump. Maybe he learned his lesson for next time...

I like him, but if any D has to go, I'd pick him.

Someone had to say something -- to me O'Brien was a hero for standing up to bullies during practice, and then standing up to the culture of violence that is prevalent in the NHL.

O'Brien had a great game last night -- a big hit and a bigger assist.

Are you O'Brien bashers sure you want to depart with him so quickly?

---
Vancouver's abundance of defencemen has O'Brien on tenterhooks
MATTHEW SEKERES
March 4, 2009
VANCOUVER -- Shane O'Brien is asked if he is happy being a Vancouver Canuck, and he pauses just long enough to make you wonder.

"Obviously, when you're winning and things are going well, that's the important thing," O'Brien said yesterday.

When it is mentioned to the Canucks' defenceman that he didn't answer the first-person part of the question, O'Brien smiled and said: "As long as we're winning, everything is fine."

The Canucks had won 10 of 12 games heading into a home game against the Minnesota Wild last night, and had grabbed hold of fifth place in the Western Conference.

General manager Mike Gillis is not expected to be a major shaker by the NHL's 3 p.m. ET deadline today because he has consistently said he doesn't want to surrender young players and draft picks. The Canucks need to rebuild a thin farm system and don't have an arsenal of assets.

Yesterday, the Canucks announced that forward Alex Burrows agreed to terms on a four-year contract extension through the 2012-13 season.

But the Canucks have defencemen.

They lost one - journeyman Lawrence Nycholat - on waivers yesterday to the Calgary Flames, but with veteran Ossi Vaananen, claimed on waivers last weekend, Vancouver has eight NHL-calibre defencemen on the roster.

That has O'Brien wondering about where he stands in management's plans.

"The uncertainty. It's started already," he said yesterday morning. "It's the bad part of the business."

O'Brien played in Tampa Bay's top four last season, averaging more than 21 minutes a game. This after beginning his career in Anaheim, behind the likes of Chris Pronger and Scott Niedermayer.

But in Vancouver, on a deep blueline, O'Brien is playing just 15 minutes a game. He never gets power-play time, and he barely kill penalties. And when the going gets tight late in the third period, O'Brien's shifts are infrequent.

"You want to be a guy they can trust," he said, "and judging by the way things have gone of late, they're still not sure."

One source said the Canucks are looking to move O'Brien by today's deadline, saying that Vancouver doesn't want outspoken players in the dressing room.

Unquestionably, O'Brien has been outspoken.

"He's a young defenceman, and we'll see how it ends up," Gillis said when asked about whether O'Brien is a trade candidate.

Seeking a physical upgrade over No. 6 defenceman Lukas Krajicek, the Canucks acquired O'Brien from the Lightning on the eve of the regular season. The deal required Vancouver to take on the $1.3-million contract of forward Michel Ouellet, who has played three NHL games but has spent the rest of the season with the AHL's Manitoba Moose.

Management saw O'Brien as a hulking defenceman with upside, and was eager to experiment with its player development model. If he channelled his physical play and improved his skating and conditioning, the Canucks thought they had a long-term contributor.

The 6-foot-2 defenceman reported to Vancouver weighing roughly 240 pounds, but by adhering to the team's workout and nutrition regimens, he was hovering closer to 230 six weeks into the season. He is still on the club's meal plan.

In January, the Canucks lost eight successive games, and several more heralded defencemen were struggling more than O'Brien. Still, O'Brien was benched for four games, which he was not happy about.

The anti-O'Brien conspiracy is still on.

From today's Globe and Mail, by Matthew Sekeres...

Canucks bench O'Brien for three more games

Shane O’Brien has been punished by the Vancouver Canucks after what head coach Alain Vigneault said was a series of incidents.

O’Brien, who showed up late to Monday’s practice and was kept off the ice, will not practice or play with the team until next week. He will not make the trip to California later this week, and head coach Alain Vigneault said the defenceman’s place in the organization will be re-evaluated on Sunday.

“Obviously, there’s more to this than just yesterday’s incident,” Vigneault said Tuesday before a home game against the Phoenix Coyotes. “I’m not a rookie at this.”

Vigneault said he was not “sending any messages,” but refused to answer most questions about O’Brien’s banishment. He said O’Brien status for road games in Los Angeles and Anaheim later this week could change if the team loses defencemen to injury.

On Monday, O’Brien skated on his own well before his teammates took the ice for pre-game preparations. Cryptically, teammates suggested it was not a leisurely glide across the ice.

“He’s got a few extra pounds to lose,” forward Alex Burrows quipped.

O’Brien was not made available to the media by the Canucks, but teammates Kyle Wellwood and Darcy Hordichuk said hockey players are often late to practice. But as Hordichuk so eloquently put it, there’s a difference between being late and getting caught.

“Everybody is late once in a while, and players cover for them,” said Wellwood, adding that bathroom breaks and interviews are often cited when a coach can’t find a player at a prescribed time. “We couldn’t cover this one up.”

Canucks players are expected to arrive at GM Place one hour before practice begins. Wellwood described the team’s atmosphere as “casual” when the tardiness is measured in minutes, but said that arriving less than one hour before practice is “playing with danger.”

O’Brien showed up roughly five minutes before the Canucks hit the ice on Monday.

“It’s a fairly serious offence – missing practice – we only have to be here a few hours a day,” Wellwood added. “You don’t want it, but at the end of the day, it could be something that motivates him.”

Vigneault said O’Brien, 26, was not being suspended, suggesting that his situation is more along the lines of a healthy scratch for multiple games, and being left at home for a road trip. A message to O’Brien’s agent, Ottawa-based Larry Kelly, was not immediately returned.

O’Brien’s teammates spoke before Vigneault revealed his disciplinary measures, and most treated it as a light subject, fair game for teasing a well-liked member of the dressing room.

Hordichuk told a story from his junior days with the Western Hockey League’s Saskatoon Blades, when he ignored a midnight curfew and went deer-hunting at 3 a.m. He shot his first deer, came back to the dressing room as a conquering hero, and was immediately informed by his head coach that he was being suspended for a game.

“I think I’ve been late before, but I don’t think I’ve ever been caught,” Hordichuk said. “There’s a difference between being late and being caught.”

Hey Vancity, Phesto, and Hong Kongese - time to stop hiding and face the music. Shane O'Brien had a great series against LA, and his emotional display in Game 4 marked the turning point of the series. SOB Rocks, baby... :righton:

You hold this Shane O'Brien grudge for a very long time.

Mark my words - the Canucks will live to regret this day. Shame on you Alain Vigneault.

O'Brien fires parting shot at Vigneault

BY IAIN MACINTYRE, VANCOUVER SUN

And in a related transaction, Tootsie's Orchid Lounge in Nashville sent the Roxy Night Club Jack Daniels, Jim Beam and a banjo player to be named later as compensation for the loss of Shane O'Brien.

The Vancouver Canucks traded O'Brien earlier Tuesday for Nashville Predator defenceman Ryan Parent. So ended O'Brien's two-year adventure in Vancouver, and so began another round of Roxy jokes involving the player.

That is how O'Brien is going to be remembered here and it's both funny and sad.

Rarely is a player publicly outed by his team for lifestyle issues and subjected to humiliation as O'Brien was last season by the Canucks.

And it's not often, also, that a capable defenceman with O'Brien's considerable upside is discarded for the benefit of both team and player.

The 27-year-old cleared waivers on Monday. The next day he cleared the air after he was traded to the Predators as the centrepiece of a four-player deal that did little for the Canucks except provide a prospect and potential salary-cap lever.

O'Brien admitted he made mistakes in Vancouver and said it was entirely his fault that he slept in and was late for practice last March after a night out. But he said his transgressions were made worse by coach Alain Vigneault.

"This whole Roxy myth - my first year in Vancouver I did hang out there a little too much," O'Brien said. "Obviously, there's a lot of things I would have done differently.

"But the thing that really made me upset is you look around an organization and there's always stuff that goes on during the year, and they try to keep it behind closed doors. With me, AV just went right to the press and buried me and that made it worse. Everything else that happens on that team, they try to keep internal. But when he had a chance to bury me in the media, he did. He never seemed to have my back. I'd by lying if I said I thought I had a chance with him from Day 1."

O'Brien, whose contract rights the Canucks retained in July with a qualifying offer of $1.6 million US, said he knew before training camp was a week old that Vigneault wasn't going to have him on the team.

"I knew I was in trouble," he said. "I wish I got a little fairer shake in camp. I only played three exhibition games, all on the road, and we flew the day of the game on two of them. And - no disrespect to the players we had in those games - but the three games I played we were nowhere near an NHL-calibre roster. It was the icing on the cake for my career here in Vancouver.

"Last year, I stepped up when we had some injuries and helped our team win the division, and I thought I played with a lot of heart in the playoffs. Every time there was an injury, I'd play well. And when [the injured player] came back, I'd go right back to the bottom of the barrel. It's tough to play in this league when you know if you have a bad night, you're going to the press box. After two years, it was still the same thing. No matter what I did, I didn't seem to stand a chance with that guy."

Almost from the beginning - he was acquired from Tampa Bay for defenceman Lukas Krajicek at the start of the 2008-09 season - O'Brien clashed with Vigneault.

He complained about being a healthy scratch his first season here, claiming Vigneault wanted him to fight more. General manager Mike Gillis forced O'Brien to publicly apologize.

Last season, Vigneault forced O'Brien into a crash conditioning program when the defenceman returned from the Olympic break eight pounds heavier, then essentially suspended him with pay a month later after his night at The Roxy.

O'Brien leaves Vancouver no more accomplished than when he arrived. He skates well for someone 6-3 and 230 pounds, willingly fights for teammates and can pass the puck. Yet, he always seemed to be clinging to his lineup spot and was a healthy scratch 16 times last season.

He goes to Nashville with minor-league forward Dan Gendur in exchange for Parent and 29-year-old Swedish rookie Jonas Andersson. The Canucks immediately waived Parent, who has two years and $1.85 million left on his contract, and are expected to assign him to minor-league Manitoba. Andersson is on a one-way $675,000 contract, but does not require waivers to go between the NHL and American League. That could make him useful to the Canucks.

General manager Mike Gillis said O'Brien was given the chance to improve and earn playing time in Vancouver.

"He had his opportunity to come here and make the team and other players played better than him," Gillis told reporters. "We didn't go into this with any predetermined ideas.

"We thought there was a lot of upside with Shane. But we can only do so much in trying to develop players and do the best we can, and at certain points I think Shane needed to try and mature a little bit and get better."

Gillis said the team worked to find another NHL opportunity for O'Brien, who said he was grateful.

"That dressing room is full of great guys," O'Brien said. "The organization is first class all the way. Fans in Vancouver were great to me. But if you're being realistic, there was never any chance I was going to move up [the depth chart] as long as the coaching staff stayed intact. I think it was time for a change."

O'Brien is awaiting documentation required to work in the U.S. and hopes to travel to Nashville Thursday or Friday. The Predators open their season Saturday.

Vigneault won't miss O'Brien. Trading him is better for Vigneault than quitting smoking. The Canucks, however, may miss O'Brien's toughness. The Roxy will miss the publicity.

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Sad...he was absolutely stellar last playoffs, and he seemed like the only guy on D who actually wanted to win against the Hawks. It looks like the Canucks will have a much stronger defense this time around, so maybe we won't miss him much...

Ah, but Rusty Gull will miss him.

I liked SOB, but its a salary cap league, and with the canucks situation he made too much.

Hopefully he does well in Nashville!