stanleycanucks

This game shows the Canucks to be a team that will win more games than it loses this season, so missing the playoffs is very unlikely. As we all know, offense and flash is not the key ingredient come playoff time (see Canucks last 2 playoffs), so it's great to see this grit that will be so needed come the post season.

The Canucks best game of the season. Impressive "stiffness", to use a Tortorella word, and bad luck that they couldn't pull it off. They had more shots, better chances and as we've seen with the Leafs season this year, those stats will eventually catch up with you. Play this game against the Kings over 7 times and the Canucks win most of them. The players were pumped by this game. Hopefully they can parlay it into more Ws and get on a roll. IF MG can get a bona fide top 6, that could be a big deal. With that and Burrows back in the fold, and a lineup playing like tonight, they're sure to be tough to beat.

Kassian has been put in a tight spot. If he gets sent down, MG admits he did not get a good trade for Hodgson. So he keeps him up in the bigs to keep his ego stroked, but Kassian suffers as a result of being on 3rd line and tryingt o develop that way. Problem is, Kassian is the kind of player who needs to develop with time through the AHL. Until that changes, Kassian will remain a big disappointment on the 3rd line. The only thing that could save him up here in the bigs is if he has more smarts than we're giving him credit for, and he figures it out soon. It seems like he doesn't have strong hockey sense, but that could just be a mis-read. Could. Maybe. We'll see.

Negativity is a state of mind. This article clearly shows the spiral that some people can create with their negative listening, before they've even begun speaking. Negativity can sometimes be portrayed by fans with rose coloured glasses who refuse to acknowledge the realities and facts of the situation. Bashing TO for negativity is simply a distraction. TO is not responsible for any negativity and blaming them is a sign of insecurity. Let them do what they do - for cyring out loud, they're over 3,000kms away! What does it matter? If you are a fan who truly believes, this will all be water off a duck's back. If you don't truly believe, perhaps there's the first place to look at when considering who is actually being negative.