Vancouver Canucks Season Preview
If you listen to the supposed “experts”, the Vancouver Canucks have no lines, are a train wreck in the making and have virtually no way this season to improve.
Mind you, these people also said the same thing about Vancouver back in 2006 when they, you know, won their division and got to the second round of the playoffs.
And therein lies the reality for Canuck fans because, if we’re used to anything, it’s that this team is anything but consistent. Doesn’t matter who the players, coach or GM are the mantra often comes down to “Count them out and they’ll surprise you; count on them and you’ll regret it every second.” It’s a wonder any of us are still sane (the jury’s still out on me).
Here’s what will be happening this season: Vancouver will ice one of the best goalies on the planet (and the only goalie captain to boot). In front of him is a deep defensive core who hope to skip the curse of losing a league-high 164 man games due to injury like they did last year. Alongside the defense is a new offense molded around the Sedin brothers; Steve Bernier was yanked out of Buffalo specifically to be their new Anson Carter while Pavol Demitra (who has already likened linemates Mason Raymond and Taylor Pyatt to Marian Gaborik and Keith Tkachuk respectively) was lured away from Lemaire land to help bolster a legitimate second line. You have a shutdown line with Ryan Kesler and Alexandre Burrows, two more agitating hockey players you’d be hard pressed to find. Rounding them out are new comers Darcy Hordichuk (Darcy Tucker is a dead man walking) and PK-extraordinaire Ryan Johnson. Sprinkled liberally into this mix are bubble guys like Kyle Wellwood and Matt Pettinger as well as a number of next generation Canucks like Jannik Hansen, Mike Brown and maybe the 2008 1st round pick Cody Hodgson.
Lastly, they have a new sheriff in town in Mike Gillis, a guy who is doing things a bit unorthodox in a typically conservative hockey management world. We don’t know yet what his true stamp on the team will be (other then making us care about Mats Sundin for the entire month of July) but he has money to play with and an impatient audience.
No one is going to confuse the Canucks with the 1976-77 Canadians, but no one should confuse them with the 1974-75 Capitals either. As long as this team can stay healthy, coach Alain Vigneault can light a fire under his offense and Mike Gillis stays active in the market for another top six guy, then the safety net that is Roberto Luongo should keep them in every single game (more on that can be read here).
Every single team in the Northwest has their question marks; if the Canucks can find a rhythm and consistent play then it’ll be 2006 all over again. However, their margin for error is slim and prolonged losing streaks or, dare I say, injuries to anyone with the words ‘Sedin’ or ‘Luongo’ on their jerseys will render them dead in the water. Boom or bust: that’s Vancouver hockey.
Let the rest of the league count the Canucks out. As Wade Redden once said, “Some days, the sun even shines on a dog’s butt.”
Author Bio
An east coast American fanatic of Canada's west coast team. (Sure it makes little sense but go with it anyway).
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