Why the Canucks Need a Dustin Brown Type of Player
Entry posted by stetty2
1,510 views
Ryan Kesler, the Sedins. Our "game changers." The ones who are supposed to win the game for us on a few nights.
Right now they just aren't good enough. Plain and simple. The Canucks are 0-3 vs. playoff seeded teams in this current part of the schedule, where they face tough competition each night including the next 5 games. Anahiem on a back-to-back from the loss to L.A., Pittsburgh, St. Louis, L.A., Anaheim.
The L.A. Kings are a team that look confident beating the Canucks. They were losers of 5 games in a row before this contest. Something about Vancouver brings out the best in them. They also have Olympics bound game changers on their roster.
The Vancouver Canucks need one more game changer added to their roster. One more piece that can bring their confidence to the next level.
Someone like Dustin Brown.
He crashed into Luongo early in the game where the goalie lay motionless for a few minutes. A good player who hasn't had the best year in L.A.
Brown is currently relegated to the 3rd line under coach Darryl Sutter, who has been disappointed with Brown's play.
According to the L.A. Times, stats don’t always tell the full story, but Brown's hit total means something to Coach Darryl Sutter.
“Yeah, it does, because he’s got to play a certain way to be effective and that’s important,” Sutter said.
Brown, however, said he’s not concerned with the numbers.
“I don’t really look at my hit totals. I would say generally, just based on how the season goes, I probably get more physical as the year goes on,” he said.
That explanation didn’t sit well with Sutter.
“The season’s going on. Twelve games in,” Sutter said.
It's not just speculation either that Brown is unhappy with his role. Again, according to the L.A. Times, Brown also said the team’s game has changed.
“As a team, we’re much more puck possession now,” he said. “So when you have the puck, it’s a lot harder to hit. There’s games I think when I’m more physical, it’s because we’re chasing the puck more. And then there’s also times just reading the play. I’ve always said my game has evolved from when I was younger, running around a lot more, to trying to read the play a little bit more.”
Center Anze Kopitar, Brown’s frequent linemate in the past, said he believes Brown is lacking some confidence now.
“But he’s our captain. He leads us out there,” Kopitar said. “We do have all the confidence in him to make plays. That’s obviously important for him, that he knows we’ve got his back. That’s always how it’s been around here. We’ve got each other’s back. We play for each other.
“You’re going to go through a little bit of struggles. I’ve certainly been there many times. Everybody had my back so there’s a little bit of comfort there. I’m sure he's going to break through. It's just a matter of time and hopefully tonight.”
Brown is tenth in scoring for the Kings. He has 8 goals and 6 assists this year. He would sit eighth in scoring if he was with the Canucks.
Brown would be a nice part of an emotionally lacking team.
As John Shorthouse said at the end of the game versus L.A. on the team 1040, "what a wasted effort, by an excellent goaltending performance." Luongo had 46 saves in the loss.
Something's got to give.
They won't be very successful in the playoffs if they can't beat the playoff bound teams during the regular season.
6 Comments
Recommended Comments
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now