Canucks president Jim Rutherford opens up about J.T. Miller’s month-long absence, calls rumors of his leave as “disrespectful” following forward’s return

J.T. Miller went on a month-long absence in November for "personal reasons" and returned to the Canucks recently against the Panthers.

Canucks president Jim Rutherford opens up about J.T. Miller’s month-long absence, calls rumors of his leave as “disrespectful” following forward’s return

Jim Rutherford and J.T. Miller [Image via CBC/Washington Hockey Now]

On Thursday night, Vancouver Canucks star J.T. Miller returned to the team after a month-long absence. The forward star remained silent about his leave. Canucks president Jim Rutherford later opened up about this and called the rumors of him leaving the team “disrespectful.”

Almost a month ago, Miller left the team for “personal reasons.” His wife Natalie would later deactivate her social media account, which raised concerns among the fans.

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Following his absence from the team, several rumors regarding this came up. General Manager Patrik Allvin would later urge people to respect his privacy. The organization declined to make any further comments.

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Before his return to the team, the alternate captain of the Canucks met with the media. During that, he claimed that he would not provide a reason for his absence and admitted he was “excited” to be back. While speaking on this matter on CBC, Rutherford expressed that it was unfortunate to see some wild rumors come up regarding J.T. Miller‘s absence.

He requested the time, and it was for personal reasons… When a player is in a situation where he’s taken a leave for personal reasons, it’s very disrespectful for people, without any information, to go off of to start, start some of these rumors. It’s really unfortunate.

Jim Rutherford said on CBC

In his return against the Florida Panthers, Miller assisted two goals. Prior to his leave, he had 16 points in 17 games. He would pick up another assist in his team’s 5-1 loss against the Boston Bruins on Saturday.

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Jim Rutherford comments on Canucks’ playoff chances following loss against Bruins

The Vancouver Canucks are having a mixed season so far. Though the team has won 15 games, they have also dropped 14 of them. This has left them currently in the fourth position in their division standings. President Jim Rutherford would make comments regarding his team’s playoff chances.

Jim Rutherford
Jim Rutherford (Image via Daily Hive)

The 75-year-old spoke on the home record of the Canucks. Out of their 14 losses, 11 of them have come in front of their fans at the Rogers Arena. Rutherford claimed that with such a poor home record, his team will not make the playoffs.

We don’t play with the same urgency at home. On the road, we seem to be more comfortable. We have some adjustments to make, obviously, but they’re fixable, but we better fix them quick ’cause you can’t be a playoff team with a record like we have at home.

Jim Rutherford said on After Hours
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Last season, Canucks had a 27-9-5 record at home. At the moment, they have a 5-7-4 record, a worrying sign for the team. Their next game is against the Colorado Avalanche at home. Following that, they will two road games and come back for a 3-game homestand.