Willie Desjardins explains Canucks’ short defence, Rodin benching

One of Canucks head coach Willie Desjardins’ longest chats with the media this season was mostly spent talking about what didn’t happen over the weekend. Like, why did Vancouver not recall a defenceman from the minors for insurance heading into Saturday’s second game of a back-to-back against the Flames in Calgary, forcing the team to ultimately go with a skeleton crew of five blue liners? And how was it that Anton Rodin – dressed as the 13th forward – stayed stapled to the bench the whole night, not seeing a single second of ice time? “It was unusual,” Desjardins said Monday of his short-handed defence in that 3-1 loss to Calgary.