
Big ups to Brandon for breaking the Davises/Do 3,000,003 day post strike!
After the Canucks bested the Atlanta Thrashers at home last night (thank you NHL On The Fly for the highlights on my DVR this morning) with a nice 4-2 win, I decided it was time to explore where this Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde team are at after 31 games (and with 51 to go). Coach Alain Vigneault has gone out into the media saying that he never knows which Blue & Green team is going to show up on the ice, and the fans have become well aware of that fact as we work toward the midway point of the season. Last night, it was Daniel Sedin showing the rest of the squad that he's still the goal scoring boss that we missed while he was on the DL, scoring a gigantic hat trick (the third of his career). Roberto Luongo was straight up solid between the pipes, with the only two goals coming on rebounds (one he had absolutely no chance of getting). One amazing steal with the glove, a couple of sweet fights (Glass and Ryp), and a tip in goal by Ma$e rounded out a beautiful victory over this Eastern squad.
Orca Nation has become frustrated with the ups and downs this season. For example, on our last roadie, we beat New Jersey and Philly by a combined score of 8-2 before losing to the NHL worst Carolia and a Nashville squad by a combined score of 9-5. The first two teams hold a record of 35-21-1, the last two teams are sitting at 25-29-7. Fans around the Nation were disappointed with the way the trip ended, and a bunch of people started jumping of the bandwagon, bailing after a couple of little bumps. We were able to come home and get things back the way we needed with last night's win, with one Canuck blog going with the headline "We finally have a pulse," but the question I want to answer is: What should we expect from this team as the season goes forward? My answer? Playoffs.
Now it's time to prove all the doubters wrong. As I type, the Canucks are #9 in the West, tied with Columbus, and just 1 point back of playoff basement dwellers, Dallas. Hopefully that means it won't be too hard to make my point. People seem to be low on the Vannies this year, and it is really because of their away record sitting at 6-10-0. However, at the Garage my boys are 11-4-0! The only Western Conference team with a better home record this season are the (blech) Chicago Blackhawks (ranked #2 in the West). We're dominating in the Pacific Northwest, and we don't seem to be letting up, if recent results indicate anything. Meanwhile, the Vannies have a goal differential of +16. Are you ready for the list of top 8 teams that have a worse goal differential? #4 Los Angeles, #5 Colorado, #6 Nashville, #7 Phoenix, and #8 Dallas. We're top 3 material! In terms of players, Henrik Sedin (picking up the slack for his recently returning brother) is #2 in the Western Conference when it comes to points (just -4 of Joe Thorton). Something you don't know is that newbie Canuck (and recently traded for on my NHL2K10 Wii game) Christian Ehrhoff leads the Western Conference in +/- with his +16 rating this year.
Of course, there are a couple of things that make me think twice. The Canucks are ranked #1 in the West for team penalty minutes. This has been a problem I've been talking about all season long. When you are ranked #26 out of 30 teams in killing penalties (which the Canucks are), you really can't afford to be the most penalized team in your entire Conference. Are you kidding me? Show some freaking discipline.
So, you take the good that I talked about, and mix it in with the bad, and what do you think? Here's what I think. The Canucks have been an up and down team all season. The reasons are that the offense is solid, which keeps us in a lot of games, but the special teams have been lacking, which when combined with a ton of penalties, takes us out of a lot of games. In the end, the reason I think we're going to start playing better (meaning, more consistently) pretty soon is because I think we have yet to see the best that Roberto Luongo has to offer here in '09/'10. Our masked captain has a 2.42 GAA this season in his first 24 games. Over every season since he has been with Vancouver (starting in 2006, if you can believe it), he has had a lower GAA. Last year he was 2.34, 2.38 in 2007/2008, and 2.28 in his first season in Vancouver. Even his save percentage is worse this year (.915 vs. .920 last year). He is going to turn things around and bring more consistency to this squad in the games to come. He'll average out to his usual top goalie in the West kind of stuff, and that'll carry this team to a hefty playoff spot. With my thoughts that Colorado will still come crashing down eventually, I'm going with the 'Nucks finishing at least 5th in the West this year. Mark it down.
So, Canucks fans, stay faithful as we march forward. While we'll continue to have ups and downs here in the season, we are overall on a path forward and to the playoffs. Have confidence, have faith, and enjoy the puck.




