Things are looking up for the Canucks. Oh, I know what you’re thinking:
But but but but BUT they’ll miss Sami Salo’s calming influence on the blueline, and after another off-season surgery the jury’s still out on whether Ryan Kesler will ever reassume his role as a dominant two-way player, and Mike Gillis is shopping the heck out of future Hall of Fame goaltender Roberto Luongo so who knows what we’ll actually see out of that deal, and Zack Kassian is still a long ways from proving he can replace the offensive upside of Cody Hodgson, and we still haven’t answered the departure of Christian Ehrhoff LAST off-season, and it’s unknown whether Daniel Sedin has truly recovered from the concussion that so demolished the squad’s confidence going into the playoffs, and the city of Vancouver is still chock full of fair-weather “fans” who take more pride in slamming the home team than in supporting them through the mini-slumps that have occasionally blotted an otherwise remarkable record the past couple of seasons!
Wow. You worry too much.
In spite of all of these things, things are looking up for the Canucks. How, you ask? Wait. Let me get a few paragraphs in edgewise.
Well, having won consecutive Presidents’ Trophies you’d think they wouldn’t need much help – that they ought to just suck it up and freakin’ win in the playoffs already. Let’s not forget that they came just a game away from a championship two years ago, but let’s also take into account that their lapses – three consecutive losses to Chicago, four losses in five games against both Boston and LA – came largely because they were feeling a little too big for their britches.
The Canucks won three straight against the Blackhawks. How could they lose? BOOM. Team-wide implosion, and suddenly they were in a game 7. They took a two-zip lead in the final, and like 974% of teams who do so win in a sweep. It’s math, for goodness sake, statistical fact! BOOM. Defensive collapse + offensive disappearance = Bruins back in the mix. Vancouver was so heavily favoured against the Kings that Marcel Dionne and Wayne Gretzky themselves couldn’t save LA. Right? BOOM. Vancouver shows zero punch until game three, and by then it was too late.
The fact is, Ryan Suter and Zach Parise signing with the Wild means Vancouver might just have to work to win the Northwest Division this year. The Oilers are still a year or two away from season-long consistency (aren’t they always?), but they’ll be better this year, and better more often. The Flames and Avs are still terrible, but at least there are now three horses where the past two seasons there’s only been one.
It’s hard to prepare for the playoffs when you’re playing against a slew of also-rans all season long. Stiffer competition out of Edmonton and Minnesota gives the boys in blue a more realistic measuring stick, and maybe – just maybe – they’ll be more prepared for the tough task of getting back to the big dance next June.
Y’know, if we even have a season next season. But CBA talk just gets me worried, too. For now, let’s just think about how things are looking up.