King of the ES Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 The biggest concern is how long the Sedins can keep up their production. Once they decline, it will take some time to replace them. Then we really get to see how good of a GM Gillis is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ice orca Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 I agree that this is the Canucks' biggest concern - more specifically, who the F is going to pick up the offensive slack when their decline, which is inevitable and may have already started last year, starts to become more prominent? When Naslund's decline was evident, we had the Sedin's waiting in the wings, who always had obvious offensive gifts/instincts, though they may have taken quite a while to assert themselves as legitimate NHL All-Stars. Where are these guys now? Where's the next wave of offensive leadership going to be coming from? Ryan Kesler? Not really a natural. David Booth? LOL. Jordan Schroeder is the one draft pick, IMO, with, at least, the potential to develop into a top-line, offense-first, point-per-game guy. This is something that I don't think either Jensen, Gaunce, or Kassian probably have, just by looking at their OHL stats. Schroeder's lack of production in the AHL, though, is a pretty big red-flag. If you're 5'4" and billed as a scorer, you better score. He has not. Cody Hodgson, obviously, was that guy, that clear eventual Sedin replacement... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King of the ES Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 Hodgson is not a 1st line NHL center. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuck nit Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 Hodgson is not a 1st line NHL center. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canuck Surfer Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 On face value; Hank > Kopitar, Burrows = Williams, Danny is better than Brown. Kess (healthy) is = or > Richards but was not healthy and is not healthy, Carter > Booth and Penner > Higgins (certainly in the play off). You could call match ups as draw or a win for us on talent? But there is an awfully BIG but? Physically Kopitar/Brown/Williams > Hank/Danny/Burrows and Penner/Richards/Carter is also > Kesler/Booth/Higgins. For the record line 3 and 4 also can trump the speed and size of our line 3 and 4. If you are catching the point, the speed and size of L.A. creates match up problems for us as we are constructed. And thats when everyone is healthy. MG has identified the need to get bigger, and I can only presume introducing "younger" as is also the pitch will help address young legs / vigour (see Adam Henrique and what he offers) extending our window. C'mon MG, lets get that done! I think ours is good, Penner really didn't do much until the playoffs, so who knows how good he will be, Gagne was injured for the season so who know's how good he will be. I think our top 3 is better than there top 3. Sedins + Kesler > Kopitar + Carter + Richards Burrows is probably equal to Williams, maybe better. Brown is better than Booth, but then we also have Higgins and Hansen who have both been good and could be a good comparison against Penner, Gagne or whoever. There bottom 6 guys stepped up but ours have shown that we can do that too, so it's not like they are a ton better. I think our defense is better too I just think there's stepped up at the right time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tas Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 Basing your predictions off of what happened 6 years ago will get you some very inaccurate results. So what if we were supposed to make the playoffs in 06? There's barely any of the same players anymore, not to mention a new coach. That's like saying "we'll never win a cup because we haven't ever done it before". Our team is much better now than it was in the WCE era, and we won't be blowing it up anytime soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YTP Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 I don't believe the window is closing. I also don't believe the NHL is shifting towards physical play and smothering defence. I believe the NHL is more unpredictable than ever, and the opinions of the NHL, TSN, and all other speculators including the fans don't matter for much. Next year's winner could be another defensive team (ex. Kings). It could be an intimidating, bully-type team (ex. Bruins). It could be a offensive zone domination team (ex. Canucks). Or, it could be something else. The Sedins aren't old (come on, 32?), Kesler's not going to F up his recovery this time, Booth and Kassian know what to expect, Higgins isn't high on drugs / throwing up anymore, Raymond will improve (god knows by how much), Burr is going to be Burr, Garrison will outplay Salo (I loved the old man, but seriously Garrison is a big upgrade). Edler will regain his form. Bieksa and Hamhuis are solid. Tanev is improving. Schneider will only get better (and possibly go head-to-head with Lu). Overall, the team has had a near-full offseason to rest and contemplate. I think we have a great chance this year, key word being chance. I think we'll make it further than last year, but who wins the Cup among the final 8 is as random as a puck being deflected off 2 men and sliding into the net. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VanCityScout Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 Other teams are getting better!! ain't that the truth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VanCityScout Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 no worries gang..the Stanley Cup is in B.C. right now Willie Mitchell flew it in to Port McNeill by helicopter yesterday now if that isn't a dangling carrot..I don't know what is Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riviera82 Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 No need for CDC'ers to get all butt hurt here. It's a fairly balanced analysis. I don't know if the window is closing, but, I do think that the question should instead be are they 1 game better now than 2010-2011? You get 1 game away from the Cup and you shouldn't be focusing on "windows", if you ask me. All I care about is MG putting a squad together that is 1 game better than the 2010-2011 club. Because for as long as he still has that responsibilty, that will and should be the only question on the minds of anyone who cares about the Vancouver Canucks. Any talk of keeping "windows" open is pointless and a step backwards until they actually win that Cup. Talking about keeping their "window" open suggests to me that the focus is on merely remaining competitive rather than specifically being 1 game better than they were against Boston. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-Money Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 At 29 and 30, the Sedins hit their peak. For two years they dominated. Last year, at 31, they took a step back. Logical reasoning says they'll be as-good-or-worse at 32. Maybe they'll have a slight improvement, but to say they'll regain their 2009-10/10-11 form is either ignorance or denial. That said, the recent cups by LA and Boston showed that you don't need any DOMINANT forwards to win - you need stellar goaltending and depth. So our "cup window" over the next couple years will depend on 1) Cory Schneider playing lights-out, and 2) our younger players/prospects stepping up to give us a deeper, stronger bottom-9 forward group. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steviewonder20 Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 Regardless of the source, the comments appear to be fair. We can't win without a few more tweaks and, even then, you need luck, everyone healthy, and the team firing on all cylinders. Our last month of the season we were pretty mediocre with PP, PK, and simply scoring. At present, we're not good enough to win it all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King of the ES Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 That said, the recent cups by LA and Boston showed that you don't need any DOMINANT forwards to win - you need stellar goaltending and depth. So our "cup window" over the next couple years will depend on 1) Cory Schneider playing lights-out, and 2) our younger players/prospects stepping up to give us a deeper, stronger bottom-9 forward group. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winacup Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 building around a soft euro core has never been the way to win a cup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bringhomethecup Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 You People are hallucinating if you think team toughness isnt a major problem....Everyone just beats on the Sedins, and we dont have anyone that will step in Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peaches Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 Any more snipers? We don't have any snipers on this team. cody Hodgson was probably the closest this team had to a sniper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raph Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 Daniel Sedin? Alex Burrows? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmccomb Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 i personally think the window is realistically closed, not closing, even if it doesn't look that way. i view the canucks going into this coming season a lot like the team of 05-06. that team missed its chance in 2002-03 (like this one did losing in 2010-11), was upset the following year (again the same), and came into the 05-06 season as definite contenders, if not favourites to win. that team crapped the bed that year and missed the playoffs. i'm not sure the team will miss the playoffs this year (i'm not sure it's even possible with how terrible the division is), but i think it'll be another first round exit and time to blow things up after. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChuckNORRIS4Cup Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 Why this team hasn't won a cup yet, with this core. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soshified Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 We dont need any more snipers. We need someone who can pass Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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