The Vancouver Canucks and New York Rangers swapped coaches last month, as former Vancouver bench boss Alain Vigneault packed his bags for the Big Apple while the infamous John Tortorella will head for Vancouver.

These two are known for different coaching styles, as Vigneault's Canucks were a finesse high-scoring team while Tortorella's Rangers grinded out wins by blocking shots and playing smart defense. Now, Tortorella will take his blue collar game to a city that is used to seeing offense run the show.

This kind of style change could be exactly what the Canucks need. 

The Canucks are a team that has been widely successful in the regular season for the past several seasons, but has still failed to hoist Lord Stanley's Cup. The offensive-based game has not worked come playoff time, and the recent goaltending drama did not help. Now that that has been solved, the team can focus more on the more important things.

What could happen to the Canucks under Tortorella could be the same type of thing that happened to the Detroit Red Wings in 1996-97. After seasons of regular season glory and postseason disappointment, Detroit became a more gritty team in 1997 and went on to win two straight Stanley Cups.

Vancouver may not win a Cup, as many say the window is closing fast, but going with Tortorella is a smart move that should give them a different and possibly more successful look on the ice. Expect this team to block more shots and allow less goals. They may not score as many they did under Vigneault, but expect a more balanced game out of the Canucks.

Another thing to watch out for is that Vancouver will play in a tougher division. Gone are Minnesota and Colorado from the old Northwest Division, but new rivals for the Canucks are the Los Angeles Kings, San Jose Sharks, Phoenix Coyotes, and Anaheim Ducks: all playoff-caliber teams.

Should the Canucks make the playoffs, they should be more prepared to go on a long run. They will have played more playoff-caliber teams than before, and they will be more built for the playoffs under a system that has worked in the past.

The Canucks have a lot in common with the 2004 Tampa Bay Lightning squad that Tortorella led to a Stanley Cup title. The Lightning had three prolific scorers in Martin St. Louis, Vincent Lecavalier, and Brad Richards. The Canucks have three big offensive producers in the Sedin twins and Ryan Kesler.

Both of the two teams had scoring as well as smart two-way play engineered by Tortorella. Some Canuck fans may not like the addition of Tortorella, but he is the guy that has the ability to lead them to their first-ever Stanley Cup.