The Tide Has Turned in Vancouver: A Prediction

[King of the ES]

Yeah, he tried that one the other day too. I watch a tonne of NFL. There is no comparison. That's like comparing Riemer and Scrivens. Neither one of them deserve to play and they know it.

[ice orca]

I doubt if the Canucks will make the playoffs this year. If they have a bad start, and I expect they will, it will be almost impossible to recover from. MG has made too many disastrous trades, and has gutted the team's future. When we need young players to step into the lineup there are none.

- MG had seven months to get a center and he's done nothing.

[canuck_trevor16]

King of the ES is a Flames fan who is jealous of how good the Canucks are and the Flames are going nowhere with no hope of a future! BAN this troll NOW

[D-Money]

And what's your version of how these two feel about everything?

Do they hold hands together en route to games? Tie eachother's skates?

Come on. If you think they're happy with this, you're simply drinkin' the kool-aid.

[Tortorella's Rant]

In a sentence, I am officially predicting that the Vancouver Canucks will MISS the playoffs in 2013.

Here's why:

-Goaltending fiasco. Don't care about PC responses from the players or the GM, this will be a major distraction that will have an adverse effect on team morale. Awkward locker room. Poor allocation of cap dollars. I've said for a long time that the Canucks really missed the boat by not trading Schneider for something that could've seriously helped up in a Cup run last year, and it will for a long time be a regret of ours, IMO. Whatever we get for Luongo will be unexciting and we'll still have a relatively unproven goalie backstopping an alleged "team built to win now". Not a good combination.

-Complacency. Why didn't anybody go to Europe? Practicing with the UBC team is hardly an adequate preparation for the season. Makes me think that this bunch has largely lost their hunger. A 5-game post-season exit last year adds credence to this thought. By not going to Europe/Russia, the message in essence is that they'd rather stay in their posh Vancouver homes than be bothered to go try and compete to help stay sharp. Not a good sign. Of course, this doesn't include everybody, but the vast majority of the team chose to not play hockey in the downtime. I expect it to cost them.

-Calgary has gotten better. Added good scoring depth in Hudler, and late-season acquisition Cammalleri. Got rid of Jokinen, which is addition by subtraction. Got a proven PP QB in Wideman. Most importantly, a new coach. Would not surprise me at all to see the Flames win the division, somewhat like the Canucks did in '06-'07, out of nowhere and under AV's rookie year behind the bench.

-Edmonton has gotten better. Justin Schultz is going to be a star. I like the Fistric acquisition a lot. Dubnyk was very good at the Spengler Cup. Heavy momentum going into the year. Key guys are already in mid-season form.

-Minnesota has gotten better. Granlund, Parise, & Suter should all have an immediate and material impact.

David Booth's injury announcement yesterday just makes me more confident that this is one of those years where essentially everything's going to go wrong for the Canucks. The Jason Garrison signing is also one that I was/am vehemently against. Don't expect it to turn out good. Sami Salo's presence on the back end will be sorely missed.

And no, I am not "hating", so please don't suggest that I am. This is an opinion of mine that I am fully entitled to. Feel free to debate and/or include your own prediction.

[Dogbyte]

You're missing the point.

The point is that it was a huge distraction for both of those guys, who both had terrible seasons and who's careers are now on life support. Prior to this year, Sanchez was not elite, but I believe he had led the Jets to the playoffs in each of his years as starter, including winning games on the road, which is not easy for a young QB. Tebow did what he did with Denver last year.

When you have two starters, you sometimes have none. It will have an adverse effect on both goalies, IMO.

[drdeath]

You all are seriously too easily trolled, but I will say this, the tide certainly hasn't changed in Calgary.

[Nas19]

Jesus this guy is annoying. Reasons I believe that we will make the playoffs. And not just make the playoffs but finish either 1st or 2nd in the conference:

• All of our depth is at 100%

• Malhotra had a full off season where he could work out and get back to game shape

• Lapierre put on 15 pounds of muscle this off season which is going to help immensely

• Our top line is at 100% (including those guys who won Art-Ross trophies)

• We have two of the best goalies in the league (and no King, no matter how much you want it to be true they are not at odds with each other)

• Our defense has been upgraded. I love Salo but... Garrison > Salo. Both have amazing shots but Garrison doesn't get hurt. And by all accounts it looks like Garrison is amazing defensively.

• Kesler is recovering quicker than expected. He will be back before you know it

Honestly before the lockout happened and Kesler had his two surgeries I thought this was going to be the best Canuck team ever. Yes that's including the 2011 team. I figured that with Malhotra having a healthy off season where he could work out and regain form, Booth being able to adjust to his new life in Vancouver, Garrison being awesome both defensively (his +5 with Florida shows that) and offensively, Tanev being a year older and being ready for the NHL, Kassian having an off season where he could get into shape and work on his game, and Kesler being able to do the same that this team would soar to new heights. Obviously Kesler wasn't able to do this but I still believe that, when healthy, this will be the best Canuck team ever.

Sedin - Sedin - Burrows

Booth - Kesler - Kassian

Raymond - Malhotra - Higgins

Volpatti - Lapierre - Hansen

Hamhuis - Bieksa

Garrison - Edler

Ballard - Tanev

Schneider

Luongo

But god forbid I be optimistic right King? I should just assume that because of TWO injuries and an imaginary goalie controversy this team is doomed to miss the playoffs. Apparently TWO injuries and a bunch of other made up BS are enough to turn this back to back President Trophy winning team into a team that won't even make the playoffs.

GO HOME KING OF THE ES

YOU

ARE

DRUNK

or just really stupid

[drdeath]

^ The fact you took the time to write that out is another point for King. He's clearly trolling and you clearly just took the bait.

[Nas19]

^ The fact you took the time to write that out is another point for King. He's clearly trolling and you clearly just took the bait.

[Dildo Faggins]

I dont support such an extreme negative view, but I dont feel satisfied that the Canucks have learnt from their past mistakes. We still see that yapping and the chirping crap from Burrows and Lapierre, which distracts from their game, and all that diving crap which irritates the refs and turns them against the team and gives an officiating advantage to the opposing team. And they focus way too much on getting the presidents trophey and being the number one team in the reg season and then they run out of energy come the post season. They need to address these issues and acquire the right tools for play-off success rather than just reg season success.

[Shift-4]

Good troll, 5 pages of replies in 8 hours. You get an 8/10.

[Noheart]

Shawn Rocker 2.0

[Barry_Wilkins]

Hmm .. two President's trophies in a row. But all of a sudden we're in 9th place or worse, says King of the BS. I won't even mention in any detail the immediate improvement with a pending Luongo trade. Too bad this trollishness was (of course) composed on teh interwebz. I'd go for a $10,000 bet straight up.

[Tortorella's Rant]

What ever happened to Shawn, I still think he was the "Gretzky" of pissing everyone off, the guy could write, you gotta admit.

[Jägermeister]

I laughed.

[Buckeye Fruit]

Goalie situation is a blessing.

Team has a lot of rising talent fully capable of another level - Hansen, Weise, Lappy could easily far exceed expectations. MayRay also can (and likely will) return to form. Higgins will be great as usual. Kas...well, who knows. He is motivated.

D-corps looking quite good!

Kes and Booth will be back and when they are, they will beast it up just in time for the run up into the playoffs.

22, 33, 14!!!!!

No way in hell this team misses the playoffs. In fact...PLAN THE DAMN PARADE!!

[Karlsson`s Flo]

Ask Rick Nash if going to Europe was a good idea.

[JustNazzy]

In a sentence, I am officially predicting that the Vancouver Canucks will MISS the playoffs in 2013.

Here's why:

-Goaltending fiasco. Don't care about PC responses from the players or the GM, this will be a major distraction that will have an adverse effect on team morale. Awkward locker room. Poor allocation of cap dollars. I've said for a long time that the Canucks really missed the boat by not trading Schneider for something that could've seriously helped up in a Cup run last year, and it will for a long time be a regret of ours, IMO. Whatever we get for Luongo will be unexciting and we'll still have a relatively unproven goalie backstopping an alleged "team built to win now". Not a good combination.

-Complacency. Why didn't anybody go to Europe? Practicing with the UBC team is hardly an adequate preparation for the season. Makes me think that this bunch has largely lost their hunger. A 5-game post-season exit last year adds credence to this thought. By not going to Europe/Russia, the message in essence is that they'd rather stay in their posh Vancouver homes than be bothered to go try and compete to help stay sharp. Not a good sign. Of course, this doesn't include everybody, but the vast majority of the team chose to not play hockey in the downtime. I expect it to cost them.

-Calgary has gotten better. Added good scoring depth in Hudler, and late-season acquisition Cammalleri. Got rid of Jokinen, which is addition by subtraction. Got a proven PP QB in Wideman. Most importantly, a new coach. Would not surprise me at all to see the Flames win the division, somewhat like the Canucks did in '06-'07, out of nowhere and under AV's rookie year behind the bench.

-Edmonton has gotten better. Justin Schultz is going to be a star. I like the Fistric acquisition a lot. Dubnyk was very good at the Spengler Cup. Heavy momentum going into the year. Key guys are already in mid-season form.

-Minnesota has gotten better. Granlund, Parise, & Suter should all have an immediate and material impact.

David Booth's injury announcement yesterday just makes me more confident that this is one of those years where essentially everything's going to go wrong for the Canucks. The Jason Garrison signing is also one that I was/am vehemently against. Don't expect it to turn out good. Sami Salo's presence on the back end will be sorely missed.

And no, I am not "hating", so please don't suggest that I am. This is an opinion of mine that I am fully entitled to. Feel free to debate and/or include your own prediction.

[AFrame14]

lol at flames winning the division.. your argument fell apart for me after that point..