Tom Lupton's Blog

Nice to have a true fan out there! We need some puck luck as well.

Dedication to the club is welcome by the players. Unfortunately, over the years fan support and dedication hasn't got the job done. This task has to be left in the hands of the players. Call it 'bad luck' 'raw deal' 'wrong timing' or whatever, but only a couple times the team has gelled and went ahead in the playoffs rewarding the dedicated and the supporter. What went wrong? There are as many theories as the number of years we have missed the cup. As an observer since Day one, I can only say: it's the West Coast Disease. LaLa land down south of us has it and so do we. Incoming players seem to shine and then fade just as quick once they get wrapped up in the West Coast lifestyle. "Laid back" applys. They accomplish just enough to look respectable. Not enough to win the 'cup' task. The good players come here. They excell. They are given rewarding lucrative contracts and then they settle in to a notch above mediocracy.

Yes, once in awhile they treat us to moments of brilliance...but not on a regular basis. Vancouver has skilled players. They could go all the way but they lack HEART and TEAM PRIDE. I hate to refer back to the original six teams, but very few players today (our millionaires) would play three periods with a broken leg, smashed ankle, or even worse would they. Somehow Montreal has been infused by PRIDE once again and it shows....PRIDE carried the Oilers, Montreal and even years ago Toronto, Philadelphia etc. to great heights. Linden slacked off somewhat when he signed to his first big contract, but since returning to the Canucks he has tried to invigorate himself and play with passion...too bad he is over the hill...he did show last season what PRIDE and determination could accomplish. I hate to ramble on, but my prediction for what it is worth, is that Canucks will make the playoffs, but, they will be eliminated by the first or second round......Case in point: Luongo has slipped from being one of the top three goalies to just one of the 'better ones' in a company of several. PRIDE can only come when the team has accomplished something to crow about....After all these years, the Canucks have accomplished very little of an outstanding nature thus no real true earned pride. Sorry....that's it.

Dedication to the club is welcome by the players. Unfortunately, over the years fan support and dedication hasn't got the job done. This task has to be left in the hands of the players. Call it 'bad luck' 'raw deal' 'wrong timing' or whatever, but only a couple times the team has gelled and went ahead in the playoffs rewarding the dedicated and the supporter. What went wrong? There are as many theories as the number of years we have missed the cup. As an observer since Day one, I can only say: it's the West Coast Disease. LaLa land down south of us has it and so do we. Incoming players seem to shine and then fade just as quick once they get wrapped up in the West Coast lifestyle. "Laid back" applys. They accomplish just enough to look respectable. Not enough to win the 'cup' task. The good players come here. They excell. They are given rewarding lucrative contracts and then they settle in to a notch above mediocracy.

Yes, once in awhile they treat us to moments of brilliance...but not on a regular basis. Vancouver has skilled players. They could go all the way but they lack HEART and TEAM PRIDE. I hate to refer back to the original six teams, but very few players today (our millionaires) would play three periods with a broken leg, smashed ankle, or even worse would they. Somehow Montreal has been infused by PRIDE once again and it shows....PRIDE carried the Oilers, Montreal and even years ago Toronto, Philadelphia etc. to great heights. Linden slacked off somewhat when he signed to his first big contract, but since returning to the Canucks he has tried to invigorate himself and play with passion...too bad he is over the hill...he did show last season what PRIDE and determination could accomplish. I hate to ramble on, but my prediction for what it is worth, is that Canucks will make the playoffs, but, they will be eliminated by the first or second round......Case in point: Luongo has slipped from being one of the top three goalies to just one of the 'better ones' in a company of several. PRIDE can only come when the team has accomplished something to crow about....After all these years, the Canucks have accomplished very little of an outstanding nature thus no real true earned pride. Sorry....that's it.

Pride is tying Dallas with the Manitoba Moose as your defense. Pride is not accepting the point, as Luongo did, because it is not as good as a win. This team has pride. This might be the first team with real pride since '94. When they make the playoffs, no team will want to play us because of that pride.

Great Blog

we are so badly hurt at D but once everyone returns from ther injuries and if we can land a proven goal scorer at the deadline we are going to be a scary team to play in the playoffs

Loved this blog yes with all the holes due to injuries id say a truly inspiring time to watch as how many clubs would even be in games with 4-5 top d men out not many so not only have they played with pride it shows all fans a glimpse of what we have as afuture as well and it looks very good

agreed a goal scorer would be the one thing thats missing otherwise im lookin foreward to playoff time

long time fan who remembers walking to the rink on renfrew