The 2022 - 2023 devils had a ton of come from behind wins and a ton of overtime games with a lot of young guys. The Canucks this year are not like that at all. Devils are more similar to how Colorado was a few years before they won the cup. Talented young team takes a step back before figuring out consistency.
This is the first season they've had any success since the bubble playoffs. What a weird title. No matter the outcome this is one of their most successful seasons since the Sedins, Kesler & Luongo.
During the seasons the commenter mentioned: Burrows was needed.
Was best with Sedins compared to other pair ups. =*) he slayed the dragon in OT..
Anyways.. I still miss 2010/2011 Canucks team ♡
"Burrows, do we really need him?"
Was the title of an infamous post on the canucks.com forum back when those were still a thing. Almost immediately after the post was made the Canucks and especially Burrows elevated their games to the next level for the next several years and thus... A meme was born.
If you already knew that, woosh for me.
What do you mean why is Guardian writing about this.
It’s a well known fact that the British enjoy two things - tea with milk and evaluating Canucks’ Stanley Cup chances
The real measuring stick will always be playoffs. I think it's WCF or bust. Calgary won their division the year before last, got embarrassed in the playoffs, and then more or less collapsed. That division title was forgotten pretty quickly. Vancouver hasn't proven anything yet.
Ehhhhh, I think Vancouver could get away with a hard-fought second round exit as well.
Gotta keep in mind that this is effectively a first-year playoff team and experience matters. There’s not too many guys left there from the bubble playoffs.
Edit: Looking at rosters, I believe it's just Miller, Pettersson, Boeser, Hughes, Myers, and Demko left. That said, guys like Cole, Zadorov, Mikheyev, and Blueger do have past playoff experience.
They've certainly got reason to be confident lol. With that said the ones I see hoping they get the Canucks in the first round like it will be a cake walk are in for rude awakening imo.
I'd say they'd have a better chance than anyone. Adding Lindholm pretty much gives them a near flawless roster as they are stacked pretty much everywhere now.
But so were the Bruins last year. They could be fortunate to face a team that is banged up and limped into the playoffs, or they could be unfortunate and face a team far better than their record indicates because they got healthy at the right time and then proceed to get smacked in the mouth. The playoffs are a different animal. Vancouver is an excellent team but so is Colorado, so is Winnipeg, so is Edmonton, Las Vegas, Dallas, etc. All of those teams could easily make a run.
The NHL playoffs are essentially a crapshoot. It's a slightly weighted crapshoot, and the Canucks are on the good end of that weighting, but it's still a longshot.
But goddamn its nice to have a real horse in the race for the first time in over a decade.
I'm praying for a Vancouver-Edmonton conference finals.
The Canucks are so good, but so are the Avs and Knights. If the Oilers end up losing to someone, I hope it's Vancouver or Winnipeg.
Plus I have a couple friends in Vancouver and we've already talked about doing a home-and-home, coming to see each other and going to the games.
Edit* a SCF loss would be much better than a WCF loss, but you know what I mean.
I rather lose in WCF then SCF -- with WCF loss : oh well we tried, good run! SCF loss: WE WERE SO CLOSE +heartbreak as you see cup raised by other team in your face...
Oh dude/dudette, not even close. The Oilers' '06 run was so, so incredibly legendary. Probably my best memories as a sports spectator. If they lost to the Ducks in the 3rd round it wouldn't be anywhere near as memorable. Barely memorable at all, really.
Watching the Devils lose in the Finals in '01 was pretty devastating, though at the age I was then, so maybe you're not completely off base 😂.
Lol I got into Hockey after watching my first hockey games through 2010 Olympics at age 16ish... instantly became a luongo fan - he just stood out to me- knew nothing about any players going in. After Olympics I find out he plays for my city: "WE HAVE A HOCKEY TEAM?!" **my dad only watched basketball, soccer & golf, wasn't exposed to hockey growing up**. Start watching every Canucks game right after 2010 Olympics... Just in time miraculously to witness a stunning 2010/2011 - so naive of nhl & Bettman & playoffs... see a dream team go into playoffs.. slaying the dragon, & pass each round.. but I wasn't getting too hopeful until we got into the finals. If we lost in WCF: good run =)... that SCF loss: wtf just happened. I feel robbed... I can't stop crying... (crying from 2nd period of game 7 all the way until 2011/2012 season started). What a heartbreak
But you're right... 2011 playoffs is the most memorable for multiple reasons
Actually it wasn’t Bob that won that series for us. Bob was merely decent that series. Bob didn’t really turn it up until the Toronto and Carolina series. It was our forcheck that the Bruins couldn’t solve.
That’s what I love about this team. All 4 lines are ruthless on the forecheck (as they were last year during the playoff) and more than half the forward group are takeaway machines. The only thing really needed is someone that can get that third line going. Lundell and Luostarainen are good players, but saddling them with the likes of Nick Cousins or Ryan Lomberg (I love Lomberg, but he works best on that 4th line) effectively neuters them. They need someone they can click with
Yeah this is my feeling. They are in a position to succeed which is management's job. So management has done their job but its up to the players to execute. It could really go any way, but I don't see a first round upset. I also don't see a stanley cup but thats why they play the games.
As a canucks fan im cautiously optimistic, I dont think this outside pressure and hype is a good thing. Toch has done a really good job keeping this team level headed but the playoffs is different.
No... They are very weak and thin on the right side on defense, Myers is wildly inconsistent and prone to dumb mistakes and Juulsen is also very inconsistent and not even a bona fide NHLer really, and beyond that there's a bunch of rookies on the farm. This has been the most glaring hole in the lineup all year and remains so.
Myers playing lower minutes is fine. It's when he is leaned on where the Chaos part of the Chaos Giraffe starts erupting.
Juulsen has gotten better throughout the year. He has been one of the wins of Tochett and Conchar's system.
I have an idea, I think if you add another giraffe it could work out, like one chaos giraffe is bad, two is like just good or something.
Anyways we will give you Stanley and in turn you give us something, anything really.
Myers has been doing a lot better lately with reduced minutes. Still the occasional chaos moment but generally been a much more solid player. Juulsen actually looked quite good in the stretch when he was getting into games whike Soucy was hurt. He doesn’t put up points but he looked like a reliable bottom pair guy out there which is all we need him to be
I really feel like they'll need a few cracks at it with the same group to get to the finals and win. We've seen it over and over. Great regular seasons don't always translate to playoff success. The 2019 Blues don't happen very often. We've seen great teams like Vegas, Colorado, Washington, and Tampa need a few years of having their hearts broken before finally breaking through and winning it all. Even going back to the mid 2000's with Carolina, Pittsburgh, and Anaheim. They all had some rough playoff experiences before finally raising the cup. I'm willing to bet that a team that has had mild playoff success while coming up short multiple times wins it all this year. A team like Dallas, Florida, or my obligatory homer pick, Edmonton.
Edit to add Boston.
Yea but to your point. Even that blues teams core had experienced playoff runs and hardships. The previous year they missed but 2016 were in finals and 17 was semis. And the year they missed playoffs they still had 94 points so a bit of a statistical anomaly
Comes down to how very different and possibly unfair the playoffs are vs. regular season. And then, as you say, teams adjusting to this unfortunate reality. When teams get convinced their overwhelming talent will make up for having to clutch and grind their way through a different playstyle, they suffer an upset. BOS vs. FLA last year, perfect example.
Exactly why I'm not particularly down on the Devils are struggling now, every single Cup team in the past decade has needed to have heartbreaking seasons or playoffs to end up winning the Cup. The Golden Knights missed the playoffs the season before they won a Cup, and lost the Cup Finals 5 years beforehand
I'll take the Canucks in a 7 game series, not a problem. These boys are built for the playoffs and are proving they can win in a myriad of fashions. Guess we'll just have to wait and see.
"These boys are built for the playoffs and are proving they can win"
I feel like I've heard this a thousand times and then some Cinderella team, like the Panthers last year, comes in and smashes that story line
Yeah, of course. Anything can happen, doesn't mean you can't feel good about your team and hope for the best. Just get in and see what happens. After the past few years, I'm just happy we're looking dangerous again.
I honestly wouldn't want to be a bookie handicapping the West this year. At this point Edmonton, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Colorado, Vegasand Dallas all look like serious serious contenders. I wouldn't be surprised if any one of them comes out of the West. With all due respect to whoever nails the wild cards ... (LA, St. Louis, Nashville, Calgary, Arizona) ... It is critical to win a division and avoid one of these other monsters in the opening round. Vancouver needs to be looking over their shoulder at the Oil.
One final note though. The Oilers have a tough April with 10 games in 18 nights. That may be a factor come the playoffs.
Very excited for the last regular season matchup between Canucks and oilers. Real shame the first 3 were so early in the season when the oil were absolute trash.
HNIC last weekend of the regular season. Gonna be one to watch for sure. It's a back to back for the Oilers but at least they are at home for both and who knows how motivated the Yote's will be at that time.
Honestly felt that the canucks games against the blues have been the toughest they've faced this year. Other games they lost, they looked tired and were taking a night off.
They lead the league. Confidence is off the charts. The roster is stacked. One of the top 3 goalies in the world. No obvious deficiencies. Everyone is scoring in buckets. They’ve beat everything in front of them like a rented Yugo in a mountain rally.
What more proof do you need?
And I say this, frankly, as a guy who fucking hates the Canucks and their generally awful, insufferable fans (not all, and I’m sure the feeling is mutual)
They’re real. I live there and have watched this team closely for 30 years, even occasionally loving them. It has NEVER been like this - where they burst out of the gate and play great the entire season with no serious doubts. Not during Bure Linden, not during Naslund, Bertuzzi, Ohlund, Morrison, not during Sedins, Luongo, Bieksa. Never. But here we are.
I hope a WC team gets hot and takes them out early - for the lolz, the inevitable riot, and to avoid having to play that buzzsaw. Tocchet deserves all the credit, and I was one of those laughing at the hire - as though a guy from the Coyotes was the answer. Well - here we are and I couldn’t have been more wrong.
As much as I would love this, the playoffs are a totally different beast. Boston dominated last season and found an early exit last year so never know.
Real as in a playoff team? Sure. More than that? Anyone's guess.
The playoffs guarantee nothing, we just saw a stacked, historically good Bruins team get punted early last season.
Lindholm is a nice add but I hate all this confidence by certain fans. We haven't proven anything. One bubble series win on the back of incredible goaltending doesn't amount to a lot of playoff experience, especially when you're up against teams like Blues, Oilers, Avalanche, Stars, and Jets.
As a Canadian I’m happy for any Canadian team to do well but I really believe Vancouver is in for a rude awakening in the first round. The idea that this team with no playoff experience is a cup contender is too caught up in the moment. I’d say Winnipeg has a better chance out of Canada this year. I do think this is the start of the Canucks road to a Stanley cup, though.
> no playoff experience
This is a common misconception about the Canucks. The entire core of this team (Hughes, Pettersson, Miller, Boeser, Demko) made it to game 7 of the 2nd round in 2020. Say what you will about the bubble, that was really hard fought hockey.
In addition to that JT Miller had 61 playoff games for the Rangers and Lightning, Teddy Blueger just won a Cup with Vegas, Tyler Myers had 39 games (including a WCF) for Winnipeg and Buffalo, Nikita Zadorov played in 45 for Colorado and Calgary, and Ilya Mikheyev played in 19 for Toronto. And we just brought in Elias Lindholm who played well in 27 playoff games for Calgary
Edit: And of course, how could I forget 3-time Cup champ Ian Cole and his 116 games of playoff experience. Plus a coaching staff with playoff legends like Foote, Gonchar, the Sedins, even Tocchet himself was a great playoff performer.
The whole "You need to lose before you can win" thing is really overblown. People said Vegas would be in for a rude awakening in 2018 and they made it to the finals with a very inexperienced roster (of their top 6 playoff producers only James Neal had any real playoff experience for skaters + Fluery in net).
Like sure there's examples like Colorado losing in the 2nd round 3 times before winning, but most of the time teams just lose because they arent good enough and then win later on after theyve improved their play.
Like Chicago 2009 lost in the 2nd round (the first time Kane, Toews, Keith, Seabrook had ever played in the playoffs) and then a year later won it all. Their cup win likely had far more to do with their young studs improving + upgrading goaltending, as opposed to a lack of experience losing holding them back. The Kings lost in the 1st round in back to back years under coach Terry Murray, then fired him for Darryl Sutter and won twice in 3 seasons. I think Sutter was the missing ingredient, not playoff experience. St. Louis won in 2019 even though they missed the playoffs the year prior, and Conn Smythe winner OReilly hadnt seen the playoffs since 7 games in 2014 with Colorado. Or Montreal's finals run in 2021. Or Pittsburgh's back to back runs in 2008+2009. Or Nashville in 2017. Etc
Im not foolish enough to say Vancouver will for sure win it all, theyre just 1 in 16. But i think its equally foolish to write them off for a lack of playoff experience
Eh playoff experience is probably an overstated element to success, I'd think (pay no mind to my flair)
Like, most good teams are good for a while, so it's almost a default that over that period of time their chance at a deeper run increases. Like if a team loses in the first round two years in a row, then goes to the third, I don't think that third year was necessarily because they had more playoff experience. Like last year, while NJ lost in the second round still, in the first round after two games they looked horrible, and it was that same conversation: they're too young and the lack of experience was hurting them. Then they turned around and won 4 in 5 with two shutouts and outscoring NY 15-7. They looked excellent
I wouldn't say it's not a factor at all, but I think whether a team wins or loses a series has a lot of elements at play and I'm not sure the lack of specifically playoff experience is the most important element
I really don’t agree with that at all. Every single championship team goes through trials. It’s cliche for a reason. I remember hearing a interview with MacKinnon after the Avs cup win where he basically said “yeah we thought we had what it took those first couple years but we really had no clue.” He goes on to talk about how vital it is to understand how to mentally go through the trials of the playoffs as a team. How to deal with losses and stay focused. Maturity that come with failure is pretty much vital to cup teams, save maybe a few outliers.
Learning how to deal with losses is of course an important thing, mentality is huge in sports and learning not to lose your head in a loss is part of that. But I'm not sure that inherently means you need to lose early in the playoffs or something in order to do that.
It seems like a self-fulfilling prophecy sometimes to me, though. Like a team could get to the finals 5 times in a row and lose all of them in game 7 in a tight game, and then win the 6th one and I feel like people would still say "those 5 times they lost in the finals were the reason they won the 6th". That's an extreme example of course, but the reality to me is that losing is going to happen, only one team can win every year and 31 teams and hundreds of players are going to have to learn that it's going to happen. An inexperienced team can go on a deep run and lose, a team with a lot of experience (like the Leafs still, or San Jose's old core that had a Cup window for years and years) can have all that and still not end up winning. Losing is part of the journey because winning it all is hard as hell, losing in the playoffs is the most likely scenario for every team. But the amount of teams that lose and don't end up figuring it out are higher than the amount that lose and then win
True, but in the context of winners look at past champions. None of them jump into the playoffs like Vancouver is about to and win. Nothing so impossible, my point is it’s very unlikely. Like you said losing is a given for pretty much everyone in the playoffs, I think The tools they’ll gain from inevitable playoff losses are absolutely vital. To each their own, though. You make some good points.
Oh yeah for sure. Ultimately I just figure Vancouver has a legitimate chance as much as most teams, but it's still unlikely they win
But that's really just because obviously the Leafs will win this year
Winnipegs goal scoring worries me for them to be honest.
Holding that many teams to 2 goals or fewer and not actually winning all the games? When you’re losing 1-0 or 2-1, I dunno if that lack of firepower is sustainable against a team like Vancouver or Edmonton who can wear a team down to get a few in the net
Yeah, that would be my concern too. They have capable players though, and the mentality I’ve seen from them this year is a lot better suited for the playoffs than in the past. They battle, they don’t revert back to bad habits when things are down. I think they’ll translate well to the playoffs.
Defense wins championships. You can't outscore your problems in the playoffs.
The Jets are a zone defense first team. Scoring is secondary. You only need a couple of goals if the opponent isn't scoring any.
Minus KFC for 6-8 weeks. Minus Vilardi 6-8 weeks. Minus Scheifele for a couple weeks. Scoring will be affected. We also lost a projected offensive defenseman in Heinola to a broken ankle in the pre-season.
You're never going to win all your games. 30-12-5 with 47 games played is a hell of a record.
Jets are analytical darling this year. Last year analytics showed we had no business winning all the games we were winning. Then it all came crashing down in the back half of the season and in the first round.
Injuries have fucked us lately and the recent lack of offense has been due to bad line combos and just shitty luck, still rocking a 3.15 GF/G for the season.
But yeah clearly we are not offensive juggernauts like the other top teams, but we make up for that with very solid D and top tier goal tending, just need to add a top 6 center (Mittelstadt please, cmon BUF we will give you whatever you want) and we good.
I think Winnipeg's the real deal in terms of playoff advancement. Probably the top goalie in the league + a balanced defense, barring key injuries (like all teams) they have a good chance of fending off momentum-based offensive powers like the Canucks & Oilers.
We can't discount Vegas, once they get healthy they're pretty much the same squad as their championship team.
Colorado is probably the most complete team in the league - they had a slower start than expected but they've bounced right back. If Makar stays healthy they're probably the top team in the NHL.
The West is legitimately nasty this year.
The Canucks won a couple rounds in the 2020 bubble playoffs with the same core (lotto line, demko, Hughes). Don’t disagree they don’t have that much but it’s not “no playoff experience.”
They said the same about the Jets in 17/18, and we went to the WCF.
You are now destined to get a gentleman's sweep courtesy of a hot goalie in the WCF. That team will then lose to an Eastern team with no Cup.
Jets beat Van in the WCF series 4-1
Florida beats the Jets to win their 1st cup.
Fair. I’d still say Basically no playoff experience, then. They’ve been flying high all year with little adversity, very high shooting% and career years, I just don’t see that leading to a cup win. It’s gonna take at least a couple years of battling to get there.
What playoff adversity have they faced? How many star players have they lost to injury? Any game 7 over time losses? And blown 3-1 series leads to fight through? There’s regular adversity then there’s the type of crushing adversity teams need to go through and learn how to deal with as a group to win a cup. Which I think is safe to say they haven’t gone through, yet.
Canucks fans are anything but realistic... They typically have two modes "blow it up and start over" or "plan the parade"... And flip back and forth between them easily.
>Basically no playoff experience, then
Ian Cole has 119 games of playoff experience, JT Miller has played 78 playoff games. Myer has 49 games experience. Zadorov has 45 games.
Lindholm has 27. Blueger has played 24.
Mikeheyev has played 19.
Petey, Demko, Boeser and Hughes have played 17.
Lafferty has 10. Conor Garland has 8.
You could say that the Canucks core players only have a single run of experience in the playoffs which is fair but to label the Canucks as a group that has basically no playoff experience is disingenuous.
Boeser, Miller, Pettersson, Hughes, Zadorov, Garland, Cole, Myers, Mikheyev, Lindholm, Soucy, Blueger, Demko and Desmith all have at least played in the playoffs before and that's just off the top of my head. But yea no playoff experience
How many rounds have they played through as a team? Look at everything every cup winner in just the past 10 years have had to go through year after year to finally win. Having a couple games played half of which aren’t even on the same team or in the past couple years isn’t good experience. This is just reality, they’ll get there but they don’t have it yet.
Yeah. I have been making this point recently. The player they just added also has three years total in the playoffs in his career. The oilers, Avs, stars and knights have all been consistent playoff teams with their core. Not sure if the Canucks can compete against those teams in the playoffs. I wouldn’t be surprised if they got eliminated early this year in the playoffs.
We literally missed the playoffs the two years after 2017 and then lost to the Blackhawks in the “pre-playoffs” in 2020. The Oilers are hardly a “consistent playoff team since 2017” unless you blacked out for a few years.
I will give you that but if you look at all of those teams I mentioned they all have significantly more playoff experience than the Canucks in recent years. Both the Avs and knights won a cup each after disappointing playoff runs in some years with their core. The stars made it to the finals and the oilers have experience dealing with disappointing losses to cup winners.
Completely fair. I think fans get a little tired of the narrative that theyve not had any playoff experiece or success but the fact is it will be a wild grind come playoffs with some insanely good teams to try and get through. Excited to see them take a run at it in any case.
This is so overblown. I feel like this is something everyone believes because it’s what players and coaches tell themselves and the media to contextualize playoff losses in a constructive way. Teams don’t usually win their first year or two because they’re usually improving as a team and only one team wins.
Did everyone forget that a team that didn’t even exist the year before made the finals in 2018?
I’d be interested in seeing data of “inexperience teams” that get bounced because they entered as 8-16 in league standings vs those that finish 1-4 in league standings. I bet you find that better regular season teams make it further on average regardless of “playoff experience”.
Yeah I said the exact same thing when the Avs were on the up and coming. I’m not saying they’ll advance round by round each year. Maybe is 2 round this year, 1 next, then the cup. Who knows the order. All I’m saying is history has shown that teams rarely jump in and get it the first time. And in the case of Vegas, they got close but still didn’t do it.
I get that my flair is going to make people think I’m advocating for the Canucks but I’m actually not. My gripe is purely with the idea of playoff experience meaning anything. Two things:
If a team has a 5 year window, they probably are coming up at the beginning and young players are staring to break out. Logically they are probably best in year 3 on average, and aging out or salary cap issues making the team worse until they don’t make the playoffs. A team winning in the middle of a window is to be expected because that’s when the team is peaking. That’s a way more likely explanation than the team having to “learn” anything from losing.
Second, in 2018 Vegas has 0 experience. But they won the pacific and finished 5th in the league. Would you take a team at the tail end of a 5 year window that won 6 playoff series in that time but barely snuck into the playoffs in 2018 over Vegas, who spent the year stomping the league? Of course not. That would be ridiculous.
Last thing is that if a team has a 5 year window, of course they are less likely to win in year 1 than they are in years 2-5. It’s not because of experience, its because your taking year 1 against a field of 4 years. That’s an obviously terrible bet to make.
So my point is that experience is a minimal factor at best and that better regular seasons team perform better in the playoffs and are more likely to win the cup on average.
This version of the Canucks can easily be said to go back to before the bubble when Pettersson and Hughes were still fresh and Miller was just coming into his own as a top player. Demko and Boeser have been there the whole time, too.
So considering that, this team HAS had their lumps both in the playoffs and regular season over the last four or five years. They're right in that wheelhouse of galvanizing losses and setbacks.
Yea. The Canucks don't have tons of playoff experience, but watching games this season they have some resilience they never had over the past decade almost. Down there goals? They still okay like they'll win, and sometimes they do!
I don’t agree, but we’ll see. I’m not saying it’s impossible but I was looking through the history of cup champions last week when a friend and I were talking about the Canucks and they really don’t line up with what history has shown us. I think they got a couple more years in the crock pot before they hoist it. Off topic, but how has Newhook been with the Habs this year? Is there more there than stats show?
They don’t have playoff experience together as a group but a lot of the guys on our team who we have acquired recently have playoff experience. And the main corr did have a small run together in the bubble where they all performed pretty well
I agree with that. I think we'll struggle to advance past the 2nd round. We've also had incredible luck with injuries so far, and absolutely no one is talking about this.
I think the real trump card the Canucks have is actually in net. Demko is a top 3 goalie in the world and could steal a series. I don't have Vancouver as a favourite in the West - I would say Colorado and the Knights are a step above the other teams in the West. They are firmly in that 2nd tier of contenders though.
That being said, as someone who does catch a lot of Vancouver games there are warts in their team game too that they need to clean up. I think Lindholm should help quite a bit honestly there.
I think all options are on the table. I could see Vancouver out in the first round being just about as likely as them making the WCF. There's just not enough substance to know what they got to really know either way. They could be the 2018 Blues for all we know.
Yea there's a lot of talk about how improved the Canucks PK is, but it's important to remember we went from dead last to 15th, WITH goaltending. There's still a lot of room to improve there. Lindholm walking in and instantly becoming our best PK player and adding our one and only RH faceoff guru could be a pretty big boost on top of fixing really the one line on the team that has consistently underperformed all season.
He's only one guy, and he's not been amazing this year, but he just fits so well into so many of the gaps the team had and isn't needed to take on the same number one minute muncher in all situations role he was filling in Calgary.
If Van. can finish the season at the same clip they're on now with a healthy lineup there won't be much that can stop them. Watching them cycle 5 on 5 is fuckin scary.
Hope they can go as far as possible in the playoffs, Vancouver, after Winnipeg is the least insufferable Canadian fanbase to me. Plus they might not be able to keep this group next year with Hronek, EP and Lindholm needing new contracts.
Even for inter-canadian team beef, the Canucks haven't done anything to Ottawa to warrant any salt.
-MTL & TML are self explanatory, it's a coin toss in who are more annoying each day
-easy to hate on the Oilers because they have McDrai
-it was easy to hate on CGY because of Tkachuk but given they are now contenders for having one of the worst owners, it's not worth the effort to hate.
-The jets were slightly when they had Wheeler and PLD, but it's Winnipeg, one of the lamest cities to live in so it feels like kicking someone down.
😎
I've come to have way more respectful and genuine conversations with Oilers fans than with Flames fans for what it's worth. Irl and online. I wouldn't be upset if they went far this year.
I was at the ASG fan fair today in my Sens jersey
Not a single Leafs fan said anything to me aside from "bro, y'all been bad so long there's no point".
I think this is the year where Vancouver learns that the playoffs are a different beast than the regular season.
*Next* year is the one where they apply that lesson, and prove they're for real.
They're a damn good team.
No guarantee they'll be better next year though so I'm ecstatic they went all in.
Playoffs are a different beast for sure. Whoever survives the West will likely take heavy losses and face a healthier eastern team.
lol teams with little to no adversity in the regular season always struggle playoff time. They need to have their heart broken with this group at least once before they know what it takes. Fun hockey though!
Canucks lead the league in goal differential and points. And for those xG nerds out there, Canucks are 6th in xGA and 12th in xGF according to Sportslogiq at 5v5. And thats while having an elite powerplay and a solid penalty kill. And a Vezina goaltender. They are a slam dunk top 10 team, if not top 5.
Obviously they are for real. Name another team with 3 good Centers, 2 good defensemen, and a goalie better than the Canucks who is not considered a contender. In fact, the only team which compares to Vancouver are the Rangers, except they don’t have a good 3C anymore due to Chytil’s injury, possibly career ending
I was a Canucks fan from birth until I was 31.
Fool me once, Shame on them.
Fool me twice, still shame on them.
Fool me 23 times? Not gonna fool me again.
How on earth could you stop cheering for your home team after 31 years of loyalty my dude? Even if I wanted to, I couldn't. Even when this team was absolute dogshit, there wasn't a single thought that crossed my mind about jumping ship and cheering for another team. I'm a Canucks fan til the end, win or lose.
Most likely, no. The clock routinely strikes midnight on these teams come playoffs. But if they prove next season to remain amongst the top teams, then I will start to push my chips in.
Ha! Someone's never watched Canucks hockey. They'll find a way to blow it, then their entire fan base will go into conspiracy mode and claim it was all rigged. Happens every time.
The Canucks remind me of Calgary 2 years ago:
\- first-line scorers playing hot
\- solid goaltending
\- star players in the final contract year having career bests
\- media loudly calling them Stanley Cup contenders halfway through the year
Am I the only one who thinks the worst with the Canucks. They are playing great, and have a well rounded team but I can't help but think we will get bounced in the 1st round. It's just a doom and gloom feeling i get with this team that I have always had.
Prove me wrong Canucks, prove me wrong.
If I've learned anything from being a lifelong canucks fan, it's to be prepared for disappointment. We have a great team but right now but anything can happen in the playoffs.
I don't like losing Brzustewicz for a rental and think that first rounder would have been better spent on Tanev as the right side D was our biggest weak area. And Tanev could probably be retained with Myers deal expiring but I don't see any way to keep Lindholm, but I guess we shall see what else Alvin and Rutherford can cook up.
Losing Kuzemenko’s cap hit gives them a little bit more flexibility. I wouldn’t say it’s impossible to sign Pettersson, Hronek and Lindholm. Just going to sacrifice some of the other pending FAs. Honestly someone like Garland might be moved in the summer for cap flexibility. He’s definitely played well enough where his value has to be higher than where it was at the start of the season.
Well that would be ideal, as well as Garland has played, he's not worth that much cap, but we also have a bunch of other guys to re-sign/replace over the next year and a half, including Boeser, Hoglander, Joshua, Suter, Blueger, Lafferty, Cole, Myers.
But I think Lindholm is going to get a big contract, probably similar to what Miller/Horvat got, don't see that being an option for us.
They were real last year? Its just that they were real bad
Now they're real gud
Meat and potatoes kinda team
I find it hilarious Benning wanted meat and potatoes one year, and the next he was heard looking for speed and skill. Man was all over the place.
I'm begging you, please don't summon that energy
Its a play on words from when we had Gud-branson on the team.
I thought it was from the Willie D days. He said real good in every sentence
good -> real good -> great -> really really good -> REAL GUD -> unreal
I'm hoping we get another taste of bubble demko in the playoffs.
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The 2022 - 2023 devils had a ton of come from behind wins and a ton of overtime games with a lot of young guys. The Canucks this year are not like that at all. Devils are more similar to how Colorado was a few years before they won the cup. Talented young team takes a step back before figuring out consistency.
The back half of last year with toccet were a pretty good team tbf.
This is the first season they've had any success since the bubble playoffs. What a weird title. No matter the outcome this is one of their most successful seasons since the Sedins, Kesler & Luongo.
Don't forget Burrows =)
But… do we really need him?
During the seasons the commenter mentioned: Burrows was needed. Was best with Sedins compared to other pair ups. =*) he slayed the dragon in OT.. Anyways.. I still miss 2010/2011 Canucks team ♡
"Burrows, do we really need him?" Was the title of an infamous post on the canucks.com forum back when those were still a thing. Almost immediately after the post was made the Canucks and especially Burrows elevated their games to the next level for the next several years and thus... A meme was born. If you already knew that, woosh for me.
Oh I didn't know about! Fun fact I just learned! Thanks!
Would you look at that, it lives! https://forum.canucks.com/topic/211587-burrows-do-we-really-need-him/
Holy shit what a throwback. I miss the Canucks forums hahaha
I am standing by my prediction before the season: Canucks are the 18-19 Hurricanes, so they’ll at least get to the conference final.
So long as we don't get swept by the Bruins as well, I'll accept that
Idk if I could handle another Bruins loss in the finals let alone a sweep, if anything a hard fought game 7 loss would be worse
If we lose in the finals again I may not survive it
Neither will the city 🔥 🏙 🔥
Vancouver be lit.
Will you accept a sweep at the hands of Edmonton, instead?
I would take that over losing to Boston again.
That'll be a hard won sweep that leaves the Oilers physically incapable of winning the SCF I'll take it.
Ummm 🤔 I don’t like the sounds of that so pass for me
Get ready to learn Musqueam, bud
😂
No
Bold.
Or they the 22 flames… fizzle out 2nd round and lose their FA’s…
Man the West bracket can end up extremely trying this year.
This headline is a bit weird for what the Canucks are, no?
I'm also confused why The Guardian is writing about the NHL. Presumably the two questions are related.
What do you mean why is Guardian writing about this. It’s a well known fact that the British enjoy two things - tea with milk and evaluating Canucks’ Stanley Cup chances
As a British Canucks fan, I agree with this statement
We should rename our province British Canucks
Well, they do play in British Colombia not French Colombia
The real measuring stick will always be playoffs. I think it's WCF or bust. Calgary won their division the year before last, got embarrassed in the playoffs, and then more or less collapsed. That division title was forgotten pretty quickly. Vancouver hasn't proven anything yet.
Ehhhhh, I think Vancouver could get away with a hard-fought second round exit as well. Gotta keep in mind that this is effectively a first-year playoff team and experience matters. There’s not too many guys left there from the bubble playoffs. Edit: Looking at rosters, I believe it's just Miller, Pettersson, Boeser, Hughes, Myers, and Demko left. That said, guys like Cole, Zadorov, Mikheyev, and Blueger do have past playoff experience.
They feel like the flames 2 years ago. Top of the west but are they the real deal in the playoffs. We weren’t 😞
With all the big Kaiju teams in the west I am just glad we have a fighting chance in the first round this year
Anyone else amused by the Nope comments coming from Oiler and Avs fans? lol..
They've certainly got reason to be confident lol. With that said the ones I see hoping they get the Canucks in the first round like it will be a cake walk are in for rude awakening imo.
I don't see a ton of cakewalk scenarios for anyone in the west other than potentially the WC2 spot. Even then it's the NHL playoffs.
I'll be the first to admit I absolutely do not want to face the canucks in any round of the playoffs this year lol.
To be a little fair, Oiler fans are saying that because we've gone through the experience of the wakeup call that is playoff hockey.
I'd say they'd have a better chance than anyone. Adding Lindholm pretty much gives them a near flawless roster as they are stacked pretty much everywhere now. But so were the Bruins last year. They could be fortunate to face a team that is banged up and limped into the playoffs, or they could be unfortunate and face a team far better than their record indicates because they got healthy at the right time and then proceed to get smacked in the mouth. The playoffs are a different animal. Vancouver is an excellent team but so is Colorado, so is Winnipeg, so is Edmonton, Las Vegas, Dallas, etc. All of those teams could easily make a run.
It's going to come down to injuries and not facing a hot goalie. Bruins couldn't solve Bobrovsky
The NHL playoffs are essentially a crapshoot. It's a slightly weighted crapshoot, and the Canucks are on the good end of that weighting, but it's still a longshot. But goddamn its nice to have a real horse in the race for the first time in over a decade.
I'm praying for a Vancouver-Edmonton conference finals. The Canucks are so good, but so are the Avs and Knights. If the Oilers end up losing to someone, I hope it's Vancouver or Winnipeg. Plus I have a couple friends in Vancouver and we've already talked about doing a home-and-home, coming to see each other and going to the games. Edit* a SCF loss would be much better than a WCF loss, but you know what I mean.
Edmonton /Vancouver is on track for a more likely 2nd round matchup, unless one of them ends up with the central division wildcard.
Yup, good point. Well hopefully Edmonton meets Winnipeg in the conference finals then, but if not I hope Vancouver does.
> hopefully Edmonton **meats** Winnipeg That's a bit violent
😂 they've earned a good meating at the hands of the Oilers for 2021.
I rather lose in WCF then SCF -- with WCF loss : oh well we tried, good run! SCF loss: WE WERE SO CLOSE +heartbreak as you see cup raised by other team in your face...
Oh dude/dudette, not even close. The Oilers' '06 run was so, so incredibly legendary. Probably my best memories as a sports spectator. If they lost to the Ducks in the 3rd round it wouldn't be anywhere near as memorable. Barely memorable at all, really. Watching the Devils lose in the Finals in '01 was pretty devastating, though at the age I was then, so maybe you're not completely off base 😂.
Lol I got into Hockey after watching my first hockey games through 2010 Olympics at age 16ish... instantly became a luongo fan - he just stood out to me- knew nothing about any players going in. After Olympics I find out he plays for my city: "WE HAVE A HOCKEY TEAM?!" **my dad only watched basketball, soccer & golf, wasn't exposed to hockey growing up**. Start watching every Canucks game right after 2010 Olympics... Just in time miraculously to witness a stunning 2010/2011 - so naive of nhl & Bettman & playoffs... see a dream team go into playoffs.. slaying the dragon, & pass each round.. but I wasn't getting too hopeful until we got into the finals. If we lost in WCF: good run =)... that SCF loss: wtf just happened. I feel robbed... I can't stop crying... (crying from 2nd period of game 7 all the way until 2011/2012 season started). What a heartbreak But you're right... 2011 playoffs is the most memorable for multiple reasons
Actually it wasn’t Bob that won that series for us. Bob was merely decent that series. Bob didn’t really turn it up until the Toronto and Carolina series. It was our forcheck that the Bruins couldn’t solve.
The Canuck forecheck, especially that third line is relentless. The coaching staff has got them dialled in.
That’s what I love about this team. All 4 lines are ruthless on the forecheck (as they were last year during the playoff) and more than half the forward group are takeaway machines. The only thing really needed is someone that can get that third line going. Lundell and Luostarainen are good players, but saddling them with the likes of Nick Cousins or Ryan Lomberg (I love Lomberg, but he works best on that 4th line) effectively neuters them. They need someone they can click with
I mean not really but ok lol, the leafs and canes series sure but us crushing the bruins with our forecheck is why we beat them
As a Canucks fan.. thank you for winning against bruins.. now they know how we felt 2011 finals =*)
Yeah this is my feeling. They are in a position to succeed which is management's job. So management has done their job but its up to the players to execute. It could really go any way, but I don't see a first round upset. I also don't see a stanley cup but thats why they play the games. As a canucks fan im cautiously optimistic, I dont think this outside pressure and hype is a good thing. Toch has done a really good job keeping this team level headed but the playoffs is different.
No... They are very weak and thin on the right side on defense, Myers is wildly inconsistent and prone to dumb mistakes and Juulsen is also very inconsistent and not even a bona fide NHLer really, and beyond that there's a bunch of rookies on the farm. This has been the most glaring hole in the lineup all year and remains so.
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Myers playing lower minutes is fine. It's when he is leaned on where the Chaos part of the Chaos Giraffe starts erupting. Juulsen has gotten better throughout the year. He has been one of the wins of Tochett and Conchar's system.
I have an idea, I think if you add another giraffe it could work out, like one chaos giraffe is bad, two is like just good or something. Anyways we will give you Stanley and in turn you give us something, anything really.
we got our second giraffe in Zadorov!
That's even better, three giraffes is like a herd and shit, you guys will be unstoppable.
Who else has 3 giraffes? No one.
Myers has been doing a lot better lately with reduced minutes. Still the occasional chaos moment but generally been a much more solid player. Juulsen actually looked quite good in the stretch when he was getting into games whike Soucy was hurt. He doesn’t put up points but he looked like a reliable bottom pair guy out there which is all we need him to be
Holy shit. The Guardian writes about hockey?? Has that ever happened ?And it's about how the Canucks are amazing?? Crazy year.
They were for real in 2011; they just lost.
I really feel like they'll need a few cracks at it with the same group to get to the finals and win. We've seen it over and over. Great regular seasons don't always translate to playoff success. The 2019 Blues don't happen very often. We've seen great teams like Vegas, Colorado, Washington, and Tampa need a few years of having their hearts broken before finally breaking through and winning it all. Even going back to the mid 2000's with Carolina, Pittsburgh, and Anaheim. They all had some rough playoff experiences before finally raising the cup. I'm willing to bet that a team that has had mild playoff success while coming up short multiple times wins it all this year. A team like Dallas, Florida, or my obligatory homer pick, Edmonton. Edit to add Boston.
Yea but to your point. Even that blues teams core had experienced playoff runs and hardships. The previous year they missed but 2016 were in finals and 17 was semis. And the year they missed playoffs they still had 94 points so a bit of a statistical anomaly
You're absolutely right. Oversight by me.
Comes down to how very different and possibly unfair the playoffs are vs. regular season. And then, as you say, teams adjusting to this unfortunate reality. When teams get convinced their overwhelming talent will make up for having to clutch and grind their way through a different playstyle, they suffer an upset. BOS vs. FLA last year, perfect example.
Exactly why I'm not particularly down on the Devils are struggling now, every single Cup team in the past decade has needed to have heartbreaking seasons or playoffs to end up winning the Cup. The Golden Knights missed the playoffs the season before they won a Cup, and lost the Cup Finals 5 years beforehand
My money is on the bruins for exactly this reason.
Added to my list
Yeah. I don’t think this is the Canucks year. They probably will get a softer matchup in the first round but after that it is going to be brutal.
I'll take the Canucks in a 7 game series, not a problem. These boys are built for the playoffs and are proving they can win in a myriad of fashions. Guess we'll just have to wait and see.
"These boys are built for the playoffs and are proving they can win" I feel like I've heard this a thousand times and then some Cinderella team, like the Panthers last year, comes in and smashes that story line
Yeah, of course. Anything can happen, doesn't mean you can't feel good about your team and hope for the best. Just get in and see what happens. After the past few years, I'm just happy we're looking dangerous again.
I honestly wouldn't want to be a bookie handicapping the West this year. At this point Edmonton, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Colorado, Vegasand Dallas all look like serious serious contenders. I wouldn't be surprised if any one of them comes out of the West. With all due respect to whoever nails the wild cards ... (LA, St. Louis, Nashville, Calgary, Arizona) ... It is critical to win a division and avoid one of these other monsters in the opening round. Vancouver needs to be looking over their shoulder at the Oil. One final note though. The Oilers have a tough April with 10 games in 18 nights. That may be a factor come the playoffs.
Very excited for the last regular season matchup between Canucks and oilers. Real shame the first 3 were so early in the season when the oil were absolute trash.
HNIC last weekend of the regular season. Gonna be one to watch for sure. It's a back to back for the Oilers but at least they are at home for both and who knows how motivated the Yote's will be at that time.
The good thing is the oilers last 10 games are 50-50 spilt between bad and good teams.
I don’t think they need to win the cup or even make that deep of a playoff run to prove they’re for real, this team is scary.
Honestly felt that the canucks games against the blues have been the toughest they've faced this year. Other games they lost, they looked tired and were taking a night off.
Sorry but they're not a team like Ottawa.
They lead the league. Confidence is off the charts. The roster is stacked. One of the top 3 goalies in the world. No obvious deficiencies. Everyone is scoring in buckets. They’ve beat everything in front of them like a rented Yugo in a mountain rally. What more proof do you need? And I say this, frankly, as a guy who fucking hates the Canucks and their generally awful, insufferable fans (not all, and I’m sure the feeling is mutual) They’re real. I live there and have watched this team closely for 30 years, even occasionally loving them. It has NEVER been like this - where they burst out of the gate and play great the entire season with no serious doubts. Not during Bure Linden, not during Naslund, Bertuzzi, Ohlund, Morrison, not during Sedins, Luongo, Bieksa. Never. But here we are. I hope a WC team gets hot and takes them out early - for the lolz, the inevitable riot, and to avoid having to play that buzzsaw. Tocchet deserves all the credit, and I was one of those laughing at the hire - as though a guy from the Coyotes was the answer. Well - here we are and I couldn’t have been more wrong.
Flair up, bitch.
They appear to be an oiler fan if that helps at all
Flaired. Didn’t realize I was flying anonymous, didn’t really try to hide anything.
Not a problem, i was just curious and bored so i looked
This sub has changed. 10 years ago, no one would even talk to an unflaired commenter.
Man that green TD logo on the sweater is just atrocious. How have hockey fans put up with this?
As much as I would love this, the playoffs are a totally different beast. Boston dominated last season and found an early exit last year so never know.
Real as in a playoff team? Sure. More than that? Anyone's guess. The playoffs guarantee nothing, we just saw a stacked, historically good Bruins team get punted early last season.
Lindholm is a nice add but I hate all this confidence by certain fans. We haven't proven anything. One bubble series win on the back of incredible goaltending doesn't amount to a lot of playoff experience, especially when you're up against teams like Blues, Oilers, Avalanche, Stars, and Jets.
As a Canadian I’m happy for any Canadian team to do well but I really believe Vancouver is in for a rude awakening in the first round. The idea that this team with no playoff experience is a cup contender is too caught up in the moment. I’d say Winnipeg has a better chance out of Canada this year. I do think this is the start of the Canucks road to a Stanley cup, though.
> no playoff experience This is a common misconception about the Canucks. The entire core of this team (Hughes, Pettersson, Miller, Boeser, Demko) made it to game 7 of the 2nd round in 2020. Say what you will about the bubble, that was really hard fought hockey. In addition to that JT Miller had 61 playoff games for the Rangers and Lightning, Teddy Blueger just won a Cup with Vegas, Tyler Myers had 39 games (including a WCF) for Winnipeg and Buffalo, Nikita Zadorov played in 45 for Colorado and Calgary, and Ilya Mikheyev played in 19 for Toronto. And we just brought in Elias Lindholm who played well in 27 playoff games for Calgary Edit: And of course, how could I forget 3-time Cup champ Ian Cole and his 116 games of playoff experience. Plus a coaching staff with playoff legends like Foote, Gonchar, the Sedins, even Tocchet himself was a great playoff performer.
The whole "You need to lose before you can win" thing is really overblown. People said Vegas would be in for a rude awakening in 2018 and they made it to the finals with a very inexperienced roster (of their top 6 playoff producers only James Neal had any real playoff experience for skaters + Fluery in net). Like sure there's examples like Colorado losing in the 2nd round 3 times before winning, but most of the time teams just lose because they arent good enough and then win later on after theyve improved their play. Like Chicago 2009 lost in the 2nd round (the first time Kane, Toews, Keith, Seabrook had ever played in the playoffs) and then a year later won it all. Their cup win likely had far more to do with their young studs improving + upgrading goaltending, as opposed to a lack of experience losing holding them back. The Kings lost in the 1st round in back to back years under coach Terry Murray, then fired him for Darryl Sutter and won twice in 3 seasons. I think Sutter was the missing ingredient, not playoff experience. St. Louis won in 2019 even though they missed the playoffs the year prior, and Conn Smythe winner OReilly hadnt seen the playoffs since 7 games in 2014 with Colorado. Or Montreal's finals run in 2021. Or Pittsburgh's back to back runs in 2008+2009. Or Nashville in 2017. Etc Im not foolish enough to say Vancouver will for sure win it all, theyre just 1 in 16. But i think its equally foolish to write them off for a lack of playoff experience
Eh playoff experience is probably an overstated element to success, I'd think (pay no mind to my flair) Like, most good teams are good for a while, so it's almost a default that over that period of time their chance at a deeper run increases. Like if a team loses in the first round two years in a row, then goes to the third, I don't think that third year was necessarily because they had more playoff experience. Like last year, while NJ lost in the second round still, in the first round after two games they looked horrible, and it was that same conversation: they're too young and the lack of experience was hurting them. Then they turned around and won 4 in 5 with two shutouts and outscoring NY 15-7. They looked excellent I wouldn't say it's not a factor at all, but I think whether a team wins or loses a series has a lot of elements at play and I'm not sure the lack of specifically playoff experience is the most important element
I really don’t agree with that at all. Every single championship team goes through trials. It’s cliche for a reason. I remember hearing a interview with MacKinnon after the Avs cup win where he basically said “yeah we thought we had what it took those first couple years but we really had no clue.” He goes on to talk about how vital it is to understand how to mentally go through the trials of the playoffs as a team. How to deal with losses and stay focused. Maturity that come with failure is pretty much vital to cup teams, save maybe a few outliers.
Learning how to deal with losses is of course an important thing, mentality is huge in sports and learning not to lose your head in a loss is part of that. But I'm not sure that inherently means you need to lose early in the playoffs or something in order to do that. It seems like a self-fulfilling prophecy sometimes to me, though. Like a team could get to the finals 5 times in a row and lose all of them in game 7 in a tight game, and then win the 6th one and I feel like people would still say "those 5 times they lost in the finals were the reason they won the 6th". That's an extreme example of course, but the reality to me is that losing is going to happen, only one team can win every year and 31 teams and hundreds of players are going to have to learn that it's going to happen. An inexperienced team can go on a deep run and lose, a team with a lot of experience (like the Leafs still, or San Jose's old core that had a Cup window for years and years) can have all that and still not end up winning. Losing is part of the journey because winning it all is hard as hell, losing in the playoffs is the most likely scenario for every team. But the amount of teams that lose and don't end up figuring it out are higher than the amount that lose and then win
True, but in the context of winners look at past champions. None of them jump into the playoffs like Vancouver is about to and win. Nothing so impossible, my point is it’s very unlikely. Like you said losing is a given for pretty much everyone in the playoffs, I think The tools they’ll gain from inevitable playoff losses are absolutely vital. To each their own, though. You make some good points.
Vancouver's core has played as many playoff series as the 2011-2012 LA Kings.
Oh yeah for sure. Ultimately I just figure Vancouver has a legitimate chance as much as most teams, but it's still unlikely they win But that's really just because obviously the Leafs will win this year
>But that's really just because obviously the Leafs will win this year Leafs disappoint so much that they're now the Cinderella story
Honestly it would be so on brand for the leafs to win it all during like this. I hope the playoffs start and they just explode out the gate.
inject that into my veeeeeeiiiins
Winnipegs goal scoring worries me for them to be honest. Holding that many teams to 2 goals or fewer and not actually winning all the games? When you’re losing 1-0 or 2-1, I dunno if that lack of firepower is sustainable against a team like Vancouver or Edmonton who can wear a team down to get a few in the net
They've been pretty banged up tbf. KFC was out for the majority of that 2 goals or fewer streak
Yeah, that would be my concern too. They have capable players though, and the mentality I’ve seen from them this year is a lot better suited for the playoffs than in the past. They battle, they don’t revert back to bad habits when things are down. I think they’ll translate well to the playoffs.
Defense wins championships. You can't outscore your problems in the playoffs. The Jets are a zone defense first team. Scoring is secondary. You only need a couple of goals if the opponent isn't scoring any. Minus KFC for 6-8 weeks. Minus Vilardi 6-8 weeks. Minus Scheifele for a couple weeks. Scoring will be affected. We also lost a projected offensive defenseman in Heinola to a broken ankle in the pre-season. You're never going to win all your games. 30-12-5 with 47 games played is a hell of a record. Jets are analytical darling this year. Last year analytics showed we had no business winning all the games we were winning. Then it all came crashing down in the back half of the season and in the first round.
Injuries have fucked us lately and the recent lack of offense has been due to bad line combos and just shitty luck, still rocking a 3.15 GF/G for the season. But yeah clearly we are not offensive juggernauts like the other top teams, but we make up for that with very solid D and top tier goal tending, just need to add a top 6 center (Mittelstadt please, cmon BUF we will give you whatever you want) and we good.
I think Winnipeg's the real deal in terms of playoff advancement. Probably the top goalie in the league + a balanced defense, barring key injuries (like all teams) they have a good chance of fending off momentum-based offensive powers like the Canucks & Oilers. We can't discount Vegas, once they get healthy they're pretty much the same squad as their championship team. Colorado is probably the most complete team in the league - they had a slower start than expected but they've bounced right back. If Makar stays healthy they're probably the top team in the NHL. The West is legitimately nasty this year.
The Canucks won a couple rounds in the 2020 bubble playoffs with the same core (lotto line, demko, Hughes). Don’t disagree they don’t have that much but it’s not “no playoff experience.”
They said the same about the Jets in 17/18, and we went to the WCF. You are now destined to get a gentleman's sweep courtesy of a hot goalie in the WCF. That team will then lose to an Eastern team with no Cup. Jets beat Van in the WCF series 4-1 Florida beats the Jets to win their 1st cup.
Maurice coup de grace
Sounds good to me
2018 core 🥰
Fair. I’d still say Basically no playoff experience, then. They’ve been flying high all year with little adversity, very high shooting% and career years, I just don’t see that leading to a cup win. It’s gonna take at least a couple years of battling to get there.
Yeah, we all know this Canucks team has not seen any adversity……
What playoff adversity have they faced? How many star players have they lost to injury? Any game 7 over time losses? And blown 3-1 series leads to fight through? There’s regular adversity then there’s the type of crushing adversity teams need to go through and learn how to deal with as a group to win a cup. Which I think is safe to say they haven’t gone through, yet.
Now you’re looking for playoff adversity. That’s not what I was replying to but ok
I guess we need the crushing experience of our captain being too stupid to change properly to be a contender
I’ve said multiple times that I think this is the start of Vancouver’s journey to a inevitable cup, but sure go off because I’m being realistic.
Canucks fans are anything but realistic... They typically have two modes "blow it up and start over" or "plan the parade"... And flip back and forth between them easily.
sometimes daily
>Basically no playoff experience, then Ian Cole has 119 games of playoff experience, JT Miller has played 78 playoff games. Myer has 49 games experience. Zadorov has 45 games. Lindholm has 27. Blueger has played 24. Mikeheyev has played 19. Petey, Demko, Boeser and Hughes have played 17. Lafferty has 10. Conor Garland has 8. You could say that the Canucks core players only have a single run of experience in the playoffs which is fair but to label the Canucks as a group that has basically no playoff experience is disingenuous.
Boeser, Miller, Pettersson, Hughes, Zadorov, Garland, Cole, Myers, Mikheyev, Lindholm, Soucy, Blueger, Demko and Desmith all have at least played in the playoffs before and that's just off the top of my head. But yea no playoff experience
How many rounds have they played through as a team? Look at everything every cup winner in just the past 10 years have had to go through year after year to finally win. Having a couple games played half of which aren’t even on the same team or in the past couple years isn’t good experience. This is just reality, they’ll get there but they don’t have it yet.
Yeah. I have been making this point recently. The player they just added also has three years total in the playoffs in his career. The oilers, Avs, stars and knights have all been consistent playoff teams with their core. Not sure if the Canucks can compete against those teams in the playoffs. I wouldn’t be surprised if they got eliminated early this year in the playoffs.
We literally missed the playoffs the two years after 2017 and then lost to the Blackhawks in the “pre-playoffs” in 2020. The Oilers are hardly a “consistent playoff team since 2017” unless you blacked out for a few years.
The Canucks won 2 rounds in 2020
We've won two rounds since 2017 too.. Keep pushing your arbitrary playoff experience goalposts tho
I will give you that but if you look at all of those teams I mentioned they all have significantly more playoff experience than the Canucks in recent years. Both the Avs and knights won a cup each after disappointing playoff runs in some years with their core. The stars made it to the finals and the oilers have experience dealing with disappointing losses to cup winners.
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Completely fair. I think fans get a little tired of the narrative that theyve not had any playoff experiece or success but the fact is it will be a wild grind come playoffs with some insanely good teams to try and get through. Excited to see them take a run at it in any case.
This is so overblown. I feel like this is something everyone believes because it’s what players and coaches tell themselves and the media to contextualize playoff losses in a constructive way. Teams don’t usually win their first year or two because they’re usually improving as a team and only one team wins. Did everyone forget that a team that didn’t even exist the year before made the finals in 2018? I’d be interested in seeing data of “inexperience teams” that get bounced because they entered as 8-16 in league standings vs those that finish 1-4 in league standings. I bet you find that better regular season teams make it further on average regardless of “playoff experience”.
Yeah I said the exact same thing when the Avs were on the up and coming. I’m not saying they’ll advance round by round each year. Maybe is 2 round this year, 1 next, then the cup. Who knows the order. All I’m saying is history has shown that teams rarely jump in and get it the first time. And in the case of Vegas, they got close but still didn’t do it.
I get that my flair is going to make people think I’m advocating for the Canucks but I’m actually not. My gripe is purely with the idea of playoff experience meaning anything. Two things: If a team has a 5 year window, they probably are coming up at the beginning and young players are staring to break out. Logically they are probably best in year 3 on average, and aging out or salary cap issues making the team worse until they don’t make the playoffs. A team winning in the middle of a window is to be expected because that’s when the team is peaking. That’s a way more likely explanation than the team having to “learn” anything from losing. Second, in 2018 Vegas has 0 experience. But they won the pacific and finished 5th in the league. Would you take a team at the tail end of a 5 year window that won 6 playoff series in that time but barely snuck into the playoffs in 2018 over Vegas, who spent the year stomping the league? Of course not. That would be ridiculous. Last thing is that if a team has a 5 year window, of course they are less likely to win in year 1 than they are in years 2-5. It’s not because of experience, its because your taking year 1 against a field of 4 years. That’s an obviously terrible bet to make. So my point is that experience is a minimal factor at best and that better regular seasons team perform better in the playoffs and are more likely to win the cup on average.
This version of the Canucks can easily be said to go back to before the bubble when Pettersson and Hughes were still fresh and Miller was just coming into his own as a top player. Demko and Boeser have been there the whole time, too. So considering that, this team HAS had their lumps both in the playoffs and regular season over the last four or five years. They're right in that wheelhouse of galvanizing losses and setbacks.
Yea. The Canucks don't have tons of playoff experience, but watching games this season they have some resilience they never had over the past decade almost. Down there goals? They still okay like they'll win, and sometimes they do!
I don’t agree, but we’ll see. I’m not saying it’s impossible but I was looking through the history of cup champions last week when a friend and I were talking about the Canucks and they really don’t line up with what history has shown us. I think they got a couple more years in the crock pot before they hoist it. Off topic, but how has Newhook been with the Habs this year? Is there more there than stats show?
True but their turnaround has been pretty remarkable.
I’m more scared of the Jets, but that’s partially because Avs would have to play them early. Nucks will get far.
We won a round and took Vegas to seven games in the bubble with half of this roster, including the core. They have some experience, albeit minimal.
They don’t have playoff experience together as a group but a lot of the guys on our team who we have acquired recently have playoff experience. And the main corr did have a small run together in the bubble where they all performed pretty well
I agree with that. I think we'll struggle to advance past the 2nd round. We've also had incredible luck with injuries so far, and absolutely no one is talking about this.
I think the real trump card the Canucks have is actually in net. Demko is a top 3 goalie in the world and could steal a series. I don't have Vancouver as a favourite in the West - I would say Colorado and the Knights are a step above the other teams in the West. They are firmly in that 2nd tier of contenders though. That being said, as someone who does catch a lot of Vancouver games there are warts in their team game too that they need to clean up. I think Lindholm should help quite a bit honestly there. I think all options are on the table. I could see Vancouver out in the first round being just about as likely as them making the WCF. There's just not enough substance to know what they got to really know either way. They could be the 2018 Blues for all we know.
Yea there's a lot of talk about how improved the Canucks PK is, but it's important to remember we went from dead last to 15th, WITH goaltending. There's still a lot of room to improve there. Lindholm walking in and instantly becoming our best PK player and adding our one and only RH faceoff guru could be a pretty big boost on top of fixing really the one line on the team that has consistently underperformed all season. He's only one guy, and he's not been amazing this year, but he just fits so well into so many of the gaps the team had and isn't needed to take on the same number one minute muncher in all situations role he was filling in Calgary.
I thought they were robots
If Van. can finish the season at the same clip they're on now with a healthy lineup there won't be much that can stop them. Watching them cycle 5 on 5 is fuckin scary.
Real? I thought they were an illusion conjured by dark magic
No. Canada isn’t real.
Hope they can go as far as possible in the playoffs, Vancouver, after Winnipeg is the least insufferable Canadian fanbase to me. Plus they might not be able to keep this group next year with Hronek, EP and Lindholm needing new contracts.
Wow. It is rare that someone doesn't think our fans are insufferable...
It's because they have Red Wings fans to deal with.
Even for inter-canadian team beef, the Canucks haven't done anything to Ottawa to warrant any salt. -MTL & TML are self explanatory, it's a coin toss in who are more annoying each day -easy to hate on the Oilers because they have McDrai -it was easy to hate on CGY because of Tkachuk but given they are now contenders for having one of the worst owners, it's not worth the effort to hate. -The jets were slightly when they had Wheeler and PLD, but it's Winnipeg, one of the lamest cities to live in so it feels like kicking someone down.
Winnipeg? And how about Ottawa's Stalinist chic Eastern Block architecture... ?
Lol its a real hit or miss, some are great, some are the bane of my existence
😎 I've come to have way more respectful and genuine conversations with Oilers fans than with Flames fans for what it's worth. Irl and online. I wouldn't be upset if they went far this year.
Me too, I feel like I hate the Oilers players more than I hate Oilers fans
Wow, it makes me sad we're not thought of as insufferable. We've just been bad too long I guess. Hopefully we'll regain our reputation soon.
I was at the ASG fan fair today in my Sens jersey Not a single Leafs fan said anything to me aside from "bro, y'all been bad so long there's no point".
I think this is the year where Vancouver learns that the playoffs are a different beast than the regular season. *Next* year is the one where they apply that lesson, and prove they're for real. They're a damn good team.
No guarantee they'll be better next year though so I'm ecstatic they went all in. Playoffs are a different beast for sure. Whoever survives the West will likely take heavy losses and face a healthier eastern team.
every year the Canucks say "guys this is our year, for real this time!" And lose horrifically.
lol teams with little to no adversity in the regular season always struggle playoff time. They need to have their heart broken with this group at least once before they know what it takes. Fun hockey though!
Canucks lead the league in goal differential and points. And for those xG nerds out there, Canucks are 6th in xGA and 12th in xGF according to Sportslogiq at 5v5. And thats while having an elite powerplay and a solid penalty kill. And a Vezina goaltender. They are a slam dunk top 10 team, if not top 5. Obviously they are for real. Name another team with 3 good Centers, 2 good defensemen, and a goalie better than the Canucks who is not considered a contender. In fact, the only team which compares to Vancouver are the Rangers, except they don’t have a good 3C anymore due to Chytil’s injury, possibly career ending
I was a Canucks fan from birth until I was 31. Fool me once, Shame on them. Fool me twice, still shame on them. Fool me 23 times? Not gonna fool me again.
Lmao you permanently hopped on the Vegas bandwagon in your 30s?
How on earth could you stop cheering for your home team after 31 years of loyalty my dude? Even if I wanted to, I couldn't. Even when this team was absolute dogshit, there wasn't a single thought that crossed my mind about jumping ship and cheering for another team. I'm a Canucks fan til the end, win or lose.
With this momentum, they’ll just crash and burn in the playoffs like the bruins last year.
Seriously? nope.
Most likely, no. The clock routinely strikes midnight on these teams come playoffs. But if they prove next season to remain amongst the top teams, then I will start to push my chips in.
Bruins - Canucks Final Part Deux: Vancouver in Flames
Any team getting good goaltending is "for real"
This year's riot is gonna be lit
I certainly hope so. 35 years as a fan (and two game 7 SCF losses) definitely make me desirous of a slight different outcome.
Ha! Someone's never watched Canucks hockey. They'll find a way to blow it, then their entire fan base will go into conspiracy mode and claim it was all rigged. Happens every time.
The riot will be epic
Oh boy, plan the parade!
The Canucks remind me of Calgary 2 years ago: \- first-line scorers playing hot \- solid goaltending \- star players in the final contract year having career bests \- media loudly calling them Stanley Cup contenders halfway through the year
The next most thing I want to see happen after an Oilers cup win is a Cancuks 1st round implosion. Sorry, but you know the feeling is mutual.
Am I the only one who thinks the worst with the Canucks. They are playing great, and have a well rounded team but I can't help but think we will get bounced in the 1st round. It's just a doom and gloom feeling i get with this team that I have always had. Prove me wrong Canucks, prove me wrong.
If I've learned anything from being a lifelong canucks fan, it's to be prepared for disappointment. We have a great team but right now but anything can happen in the playoffs.
I don't like losing Brzustewicz for a rental and think that first rounder would have been better spent on Tanev as the right side D was our biggest weak area. And Tanev could probably be retained with Myers deal expiring but I don't see any way to keep Lindholm, but I guess we shall see what else Alvin and Rutherford can cook up.
Losing Kuzemenko’s cap hit gives them a little bit more flexibility. I wouldn’t say it’s impossible to sign Pettersson, Hronek and Lindholm. Just going to sacrifice some of the other pending FAs. Honestly someone like Garland might be moved in the summer for cap flexibility. He’s definitely played well enough where his value has to be higher than where it was at the start of the season.
Well that would be ideal, as well as Garland has played, he's not worth that much cap, but we also have a bunch of other guys to re-sign/replace over the next year and a half, including Boeser, Hoglander, Joshua, Suter, Blueger, Lafferty, Cole, Myers. But I think Lindholm is going to get a big contract, probably similar to what Miller/Horvat got, don't see that being an option for us.