There are a few flaws the Canucks need to tend to if they want to be back in the final eight this spring.
First off, their wins have come against a young, inexperienced Oilers team (one of those games could have been a loss without Roberto Luongo) and the Flames -- who weren't exactly firing on all cylinders at the time (and still could have won).
Defensively the Canucks have been less than stellar, giving up 3.5 goals per game. That’s a goal per more than they need to, a goal more than they were last season, and a goal more than they should be with their goalie and D-corps.
Defensive lapses are also a concern. It’s one thing to give up a goal -- it’s another to give up another 13 seconds later like in the Philly game. Or how about three goals in 3:20 versus the Sharks.
Hey I’m not saying things are beyond repair, but there are a few flaws the Canucks need to tend to if they want to be back in the final eight this spring.
Well at least you have a good goalie in NHL
Speed is the killer look at the Leafs when they play Buffalo or Ottawa they cannot handle their speed , if Vancouver can address that issue they will be fine
Hey Murph:
Your point is good, but let's wait until Salo gets back and D-men 1-6 are playing in their appropriate slots rather than one spot up their depth chart.
They did look slower on the puck against the Sharks.
Wow, stellar insight there Dan. Come on man, if you're gonna put in the time to write a blog entry at least use more than 3% effort...
murph, what are the actual flaws? what are they doing wrong?
use that pretty head of yours. are they allowing too many good shots? too many odd-man rushes because of blueline turnovers?
yaaa dw once salo is back and luongo finds his form we'll be fine and has anyone noticed tht naslund and morrison are playing way better maybe a return of the early 2000's??????
GO CANUCKS GO!!!
Gotta agree with the majority of the bloggers, they outplayed the sharks hands down in the first two then, well, I actually had be with my daughter in the third so I didn't see the shlacking in the third, but the 1st and 2nd lines are doing great, just miss-fired on multiple chances.
Luongo might be a lost cause for the season though, his mind might be on the birth of his first kid. I know, not likely, he always starts slow.
Luongo has been a disappointment to me in the first few games, being out played by Nabokov and Kiprusoff.
And then he goes on record saying "If my D-men do their job, it makes mine a lot easier"
If this starts into a habit of blame shifting, we may as well bring back Cloutier, as we'll have a goalie that can't take responsibility and can't get his act together.
Isn't Luongo supposed to stop 4 pucks from passing him in one period without D-men in front of him? Or what was the myth exactly?
We've seen an ordinary Luongo in comparison to other goalies this season, at least the ones- or some- we've played against.
I'm just saying (to summarise) that Vancouver will absolutely be the goalie graveyard it's dying (pun unintended) to be if Luongo loses form.
Cut them some slack...They got off to a very similar start last season and then took off and never looked back...I see no reason why they can't do the same this year...As far as the flaws go, scoring was our worst...For the time being, it looks to be back on track...If they keep that up and play the defensively sound game we know they can, look out...
Luongo is right on with his comment on the D-men doing there job, how many blocked shots have the D-men made compared to last year at the same time?
And as I see the play of Naslund its time to do something about him (like trade)everyone is wishing and hoping for a good game out of him, and when you start hoping and wishing its time to make a move on that player,the Canucks need a full time leader, not a part time one.....
The Canucks cannot to expect to have a 2nd half like they did last year. They need to figure it out NOW!
Defensively they look horrible! Luongo has been average! Look at how well Nabokov played in the first period the other night. When it was Luongo's turn to turn it up San Jose scored 3 goals within 2 1/2 minutes. That is not good enough for the best goalie in the league. St Louis has 8 goals against & Chicago has 9. Vancouver has 21. What is wrong with that picture?
Scoring doesn't look so bad this so far - Naslund has 6 points in 6 games, Morrison has 5 in 6, Henrik & Daniel both have 8 points.
For those who forget, the Canucks got off to a slow start last year as well. They also are missing Sami Salo, who is out with a wrist injury - he's huge on defense for us. They just need to tighten up defensively and get some pucks into the opponent's net - they'll be fine.
i really wouldn't start paniking quite yet till we've reached the 10 15 game mark. when we get salo bak our defense will get just that much better. Luongo i'm not too worried about, yes he has been less then stellar but he'll come around into a great grove yet again. And arcada don't know what games u've been watching but nasuland has been playing great so far so go watch whatever other team cause i'm quite sure its not the canucks
You Canuck fans sound like Sami Salo is the second coming of Bobby Orr; or someone better like Paul Coffey!!! last I checked Salo isn't quite that good.
yeah, I wouldn't start panicking just yet...like the guy says, wait until the 15 game mark and as you notice they're still playing like the mediocre team that they are, THEN you can panic, he, he...
I should add, to continue my previous comment, that Luongo has become a leader on this team- whether he wanted to or not, and some have said his involvement in the community and work ethic etc., have indicated that he did indeed want a leadership role.
If that's true, in my opinion, he has to step up before his D, and inspire them to play to his level.
Besides, if heès the puck-stopping God everyone says he is (and yeah absolutely he's good), how hard can stepping up and setting the example be?
Now, no, it's not 15 games in, but Nonis is starting to look... ahem... goofy to say the least, for essentially changing nothing roster-wise, over the post season.
It's time for the Canucks to just find a way. This is taking all the previous seasons into account as well. I like how we're sending people east to the Moose. If the Canucks have to play the ugliest, but most tenacious, disciplined, and passionate style in hockey, I'm all for that too.
And if Nonis makes good on his hint and trades one of his currently non-functioning defensemen whom he has hoarded up for a nice, big, skilled forward to smash other defensive ranks... need I go on with the possible wishful thinking?
While I agree that it's always wrong to panic this early in the year, I am skeptical of those who point to Vancouver's slow start last year as support for there being no reason the same can't happen this year. The Canucks fans I talked to (although I try to associate with them as little as possible) blamed the slow start last year on having to adjust to a new coach, new system, a lot of new/young guys coming in, etc. This year however, there are none of those factors to explain the Canucks poor play. Vancouver fans continually go on about how they have the best D in the league, but when it is doing horribly they blame it all on missing Sami Salo. If losing one guy causes that much chaos, perhaps the D is not as deep as Canucks fans like to think.
My explanation for the slow start is that Vancouver just isn't that good. Second half last year was a result of an unusually potent hot streak combined with teams underestimating a team that looked weak early in the season. This year, people will show up to play the division champions, and getting on a roll like they did last year just doesn't happen that often.
Some astonishingly good points put forth by not only Canucks fans, but also the opposition. Diobrain, I'm proud you could keep it civil.
I agree with many comments on here, however I think I'll do best to reiterate what Shorty and Tom (radio) were talking about after the game against San Jose. Naslund is playing well, but he is NOT a 6 million dollar player anymore. I don't agree with all the nuck fans that bash him to bits; he has done a great service to this team for quite a long time now, and the hundreds of goals he has scored for the club has not been a detriment. Having said that, his contract is up next year, and with that comes a huge! chunk of salary cap room to better improve the offence that so badly needs it.
The point of my ramblings? We aren't going to win the cup this year. Ok, we MOST LIKELY will not win the cup this year. This is a year to learn what it is we would like to use our extra 6 million + for. I add the + because there are several players of whom should not be making the money in the future that they are this year . I don't know what contracts end when, but I hope some come up soon. I have faith, this is a good team, and it will become SO much better in the next coming years (with the solid foundation it has i.e. Luongo).
Oh and just a personal opinion, I think Salo and Ohlund should be gone. Salo will be injured game on game off for the rest of his life, and Ohlund just isn't a power back there anymore (for 3.5M). Build around Bieksa and Mitchell for solid, big defense, develop Edler and Krajicek for offensive defense, and get a good third pairing to back em up, and the defense starts to sound pretty good to me.
But then again, I aint a GM.
P.S. Outplayed by Kiprusoff? What game were you watching?