Canucks fire Crawford

The Vancouver Canucks fired head coach Marc Crawford on Tuesday after missing the playoffs for the first time in five seasons.

Crawford was behind the Canucks' bench for seven seasons, leading them to the Northwest Division title in 2003-04.

They entered this season expected to be one of the top teams in the Western Conference, but that didn't pan out. Vancouver finished ninth in the conference with a 42-32-8 record, losing six of the last eight games to fall three points behind the Edmonton Oilers.

-- AP