Love how every person who has had something negative to say last summer or early on this year feels so happy and vindicated as hockey geniuses sitting in their Arm chair GM jobs.
Where was your genius and your comments when we went undefeated in the month of December. Ohh ya nowhere but there's nothing like piling onto a team going through problems, injuries etc since January. Teams have ebbs and flows.
The canucks are out of the playoffs right now. Is that honestly such a bad thing? Teams need to build loose players, rebuild as their core group gets older. Happens with every team.
Out of the playoffs Last time I checked so were Edmonton , Calgary and Winnipeg. More than likely and hopefully Toronto too.
Our core group has gone through major injuries this year, as well as now being mired in a record slump. All one can hope for is that they settle down start playing for each other and come out of this.
At the very least if they don't make the playoffs it's really no big deal.
A draft placement in the first 10 teams may net them some special player. Next season and beyond Players like Horvat, Shinkaruk, Guance and Jensen will be pressed to make roster spots thats not a bad thing.
This season moving into the Pacific Division this year against great teams like Anaheim, LA Kings and San Jose and playing against them more has affected our standing certainly.
Vancouver was an Elite team in 2010 2011 seasons however they've been on a decline since then. Everybody knew it was going to be a transitional year and we'd see where we would be at the end of it. New Coach, New Systems, New Division against harder opponents.
In the West St Louis has gotten better, the Black hawks have gotten better. Colorado has really stepped it up lately this year in particular, high drafts and focusing on their youth has paid huge dividends, Minnesota added new players and will become stronger.
So there are really 5 top teams in the west, how do the Canucks stand up to those teams. At present and as configured not very well. It's not all Gillis' fault, or torts fault. It's a process that happens to teams. We missed the playoff once since 2005. Yet other teams in the Northwest Division most notably Edmonton and Calgary have missed a lot. Yet even with all the top tiered players they've drafted they are still in the can.
Edmonton has 3 #1 overall picks playing on their roster. 3 Hall, Nugent-Hopkins and Yakupov. How's that going for them all that talent up front with AHL goaltending, Porous ECHL defence and horrible coaching. Just be glad your not an Oilers fan.
When teams like Detroit in the East (it really feels weird saying that ) may not make the playoffs this year after 22 years you can see the problems within this year. Somehow They probably will. beat out Toronto for the last spot on the last day of the regular season.. ohh that would be awesome.
Also have you noticed every time the Canucks seem to get on a run the next season there seems to be labor unrest.
In 1994 cup final we lose in game 7 Then the league loses half the season in 95.
Our club goes through massive retooling and changes that leads to Then terrible seasons with the club in 96,97 and 98. We lose guys like Pavel Bure - face of the franchise trade away a heart and soul captain in Linden. But where does that get us. It Lead to us drafting the Sedins in 99 at #2 and #3 overall. So into the West coast express days from a team built in the late 90's in a strong Northwest division.
Then we lose a year of hockey in 2005. We come back from that in a salary cap era, get an Allstar goalie to backstop us in Luongo. Then we start to go on a terrific run a few years later 2 president trophies, a Stanley cup run in 2011 lose in game 7 and what do you know more labor strife again we loose half a year. we come back from that with a core group that is getting older, we lost a few pieces from the cup run team.
So Now it's repositioning of teams in division. We aren't the elite team we once were. We are on a decline. Are we going to be as bad as we were in the mid 80's or late 90's? Other teams will be in that decline as we start to rise again. Ebbs and Flows.
However we had a good run, for a few years and it's time to retool, rather than blow the whole thing up and rebuild from the bottom like Calgary did.
Going out and getting rental players losing picks hmmm nope won't work won't help. People screaming we should have traded for guys like vanek. Vanek probably won't resign in Montreal. He's already said his intentions are to go to Minnesota for whatever reason. So July 1st look for Vanek in a wild Jersey.
For the Canucks. In the Luongo deal we got younger Mattias was a player the Canucks have been after for a couple of years. And a very good great goalie prospect in Markstrom. Best of all in takes a 35 year old Luongo the best goalie in Canucks history (probably retire #1 here some day and it won't be McLean heading to the rafters THANK GOD!) and ships him where he wants to be after 2 seasons of turmoil in Vancouver. How many more years does Luongo have in him 3 maybe 4 more season's as a starter. don't get me wrong I love luongo been a huge supporter of his for a long time.
For all the people crying about Schneider. did you see the way he played the first half of the season in New Jersey. Arguably a better defensive team than we have playing in the crappy Eastern conference against 2 or 3 super teams in Pittsburgh and Boston..Had he been here people would have been crying about how we should have kept Luongo and we wouldn't have Bo Horvat in our future stable. just a Schnieder that looks like Alex Auld. If you need an American goalie fix on the Canucks look past the Future of goaltending in Sweden . Lack, Markstrom and Eriksson to a guy who set all the top marks at Merrimack college in Joe Cannata.. he's not your ordinary Joe.
Honestly If they truly want to move Kesler or any other players (Edler/ Bieksa) then the summer at the draft is probably the best place to do it.
The greatest thing of all though. Even if not we won't be in the Conner Mc David sweepstakes in 2015. Edmonton still will be though. For They are a truly, truly HORRIBLE TEAM.
