The postseason shortcomings of the Vancouver Canucks have been well documented. Minus the fact that the Bruins beat Vancouver in the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals in seven games, the Canucks have a history of being eliminated prematurely from the playoffs under the direction of head coach Alain Vigneault. 

On Wednesday, it is being reported first by Louis Jean of TVA Sports (and later by TSN) that the Canucks have fired Vigneault and assistants Rick Bowness and Newell Browne. This has yet to be confirmed by the Canucks organization, but it seems that change has been coming since their latest playoff elimination at the hands of the San Jose Sharks. Jean has also reported that general manager Mike Gillis met with Vancouver ownership before informing the coaching staff of his decision. 

We've all seen Field of Dreams, or at least heard the line "if you build it, they will come." In the movie's case, it was referring to a baseball diamond in the middle of a corn field. In this example's case, it involves a winning hockey team in the middle of Ohio. Same difference.

The Columbus Blue Jackets fought for a playoff position through the last half of the season and missed it by a heartbreakingly slim margin, losing the tiebreaker with the Minnesota Wild on the last day of the regular season. That being said, their goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky turned in a Vezina caliber performance that actually did get him nominated for that award. Good job with the recognition, professional hockey writers everywhere!

The LA Kings had a guy named Kevin Ryder run their Twitter account during the second period of Game 4 against the San Jose Sharks. Ryder is on a show called "Kevin & Bean" on KROQ 106.7 FM. The show falls directly into the category of shock humor. Once Ryder took over mostly weak attempts at humor followed, but the controversy here is all about one Tweet that refers to Anze Kopitar being sexually assaulted. The Kings quickly removed the Tweet, but Sean Gentille took a screenshot. 

The offseason brings about changes to all teams. These changes could be large or small, and could mean new players, coaches, and even hockey operations personnel. On Tuesday, the Dallas Stars announced that they will be unveiling a new uniform and logo on June 4th at the AT&T Performing Arts Center. 

This news isn't exactly new or surprising as we first discussed this topic back in January. However, we now know exactly when fans will first be exposed to the new uniforms in Big D. 

The wait is over. PDL is proud to present our countdown of the best hockey fights from the 2013 regular season. It took quite some time to compile this list as we combed through our Hockey Fights of the Week series, hunting for the most brutal and most entertaining bouts from the season that was. 

Did your favorite fight make our list? Let us know in the comments if we missed a gem from this season or if you think we did a poor job of ranking these bouts. These types of things are purely subjective, so feel free to tell us where we went wrong. 

Now, on to the 15 best hockey fights from the 2013 regular season.

UPDATE:

According to Adrian Dater of the Denver Post, Patrick Roy's brother, Stephane, has confirmed that Roy will be the next coach of the Colorado Avalanche.

Stephane Roy, who played briefly in the NHL, posted on his Facebook page Monday night, "For all my friends I'd like you to know before the official news spreads that my older brother will be the new coach of the Colorado Avalanch(sic)."

Oh to be a fly on the wall of that dressing room next year.

*****

It's almost a tradition: the Avalanche fire a coach, the Avalanche's media and fans wonder if Patrick Roy will take that guy's place. Roy, you may remember, won two Stanley Cups with the Avs after leaving the Montreal Canadiens. He's a beloved, if slightly revered character around the team, much like St. Pat is with the Montreal Canadiens. The Avalanche just brought Joe Sakic in to be executive vice president of the team, solidifying a link with their successful past that - let's face it - the current team needs desperately. The Avs finished with just 39 points, second worst in the league, and will be picking first at this year's draft. Sakic has a very unenviable job ahead of him, but one that's completely do-able. In the previously linked article, the Boston Globe's Keven Paul DuPont compares Sakic's situation to that of Cam Neely's. Sea Bass fixed things in Boston; can Joe do it in Colorado?

Want to hear one of the worst attempts at the Star-Spangled Banner you'll ever hear? Of course you do. As the Portland Winterhawks and Halifax Mooseheads (don't you love CHL team names?) waited to drop the puck for the 2013 Memorial Cup, fans and players were treated to arguably the most uncomfortable, most awkward and most hilarious attempt at the U.S. National Anthem in sports history. Canadian singer Alexis Normand successfully sang "O Canada" before trying her hand at the anthem of the United States.

The IIHF World Championship is a major tournament that takes place during the spring, yet is eclipsed here in North America due to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Many players who either fail to qualify for the playoffs or get eliminated in the first round make their way onto their respective national rosters for a chance to win international gold. During a quarterfinal match on Thursday between Canada and Sweden, a scary hit took place between Eric Staal of the Carolina Hurricanes and Alexander Edler of the Vancouver Canucks. 

Whenever the Pittsburgh Penguins score a goal in the playoffs the 44-story Gulf Tower in downtown Pittsburgh will transform into a massive goal light. That's right, the idea that's been talked about for ages in a variety of cities has finally taken hold. As seen in the short video below, a rotating red light illuminates the top of the building, mimicking a goal lamp. 

Pittsburgh Penguins on WhoSay

Normally the lights on the top of the building serve as a fancy, yet awesome way to see exactly what's going on with the weather. However, this isn't the first time the building's lights have been connected to sports as the lights have been flashed when the Pittsburgh Pirates hit a home run. 

This entire concept is awesome. Well played Pittsburgh. 

(H/T CBS Sports)

It's rare that a playoff series gets more intense after the series has been completed and one team has advanced to the next round. Such has been the case between the New York Rangers and the Washington Capitals, two teams which battled in the first round and continue to argue despite New York moving on and Washington hitting the golf course. New York emerged victorious after seven games, but that fact hasn't prevented the two sides from exchanging some heated comments through various media interviews. 

Earlier this week, Rangers coach John Tortorella revealed that he believed the Washington Capitals were whining and that this mindset might have cost them the series. As you might expect, the Washington Capitals weren't very pleased with these comments. Washington coach Adam Oates responded and his comments only added more fuel to the fire.