Article on Sportsnet.ca "Canucks Aren't Good Enough Anymore"

[Specter's Vengeance]

I was going through my twitter feed and saw this. Wasn't sure if it was already posted but I didn't see it. I hate being a pessimist but I have to look at the facts here and agree. No one producing goals. Losing our last 11 of 13 playoff games since 2011 (6 of which are at home) 17 goals in last 13 games. Only 1 time have we scored more than 2 goals in that time. You just canno win a cup if thats the case... Lets face it... Unless the Canucks FINALLY pull the trigger on change and commit then Ill have to agree with the last sentence of this article. If you don't think so based on these subtle facts then Im sorry but youre in denial.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/spector-canucks-arent-good-enough-anymore/

[Duncan325]

That last line really, really hurts to read. I don't think the rebuild officially starts though until the Sedins decide what they're going to do. If they get an extention or they re-sign then the franchise is going to limp along offensively for another few years. If they decide to leave then this team will look much different offensively in 2014-15.

[zejono]

Offer sedins 4-4.5 million. if they dont like it then walk.

[NUCKS4CUP 28]

That article told us everything we already knew.

[Dubai 'Nucklehead]

Sad but true. Ironically the window shuts and we are left without much of a 'draft'.

[canuckistani]

Offer sedins 4-4.5 million. if they dont like it then walk.

[NUCKS4CUP 28]

They are already taking a salary cut with 6.2 mil. IMO with the cap comming down, their next contract, should be in the 5.5-5.75 mil per range.

[Pears]

Offer sedins 4-4.5 million. if they dont like it then walk.

[Noheart]

I was in complete denial until last night

Now I am utterly depressed.

[canuckistani]

That's quite the over payment for glorified 2nd liners.

[Sugar baby watermelon]

Spector is a bum!!!! Period

Just a little biased. Only a little

[wai_lai416]

so we are going to pay 5.5-5.75 for 2 players for regular season scoring? who's going to score for us in the playoff? um no thx... they have proven to be great regular season players.. and even then they are on a decline.. most teams have figured them out.. so i rather the sedin take an early retirement and play for the swedish league. i love the twins.. and rather them not play for another nhl team.. but let's face it.. they ain't built for the playoff.. the sooner we start rebuilding/retooling.. the sooner we can start competing again.

[BigRedMachine]

That's quite the over payment for glorified 2nd liners.

[canuckistani]

so we are going to pay 5.5-5.75 for 2 players for regular season scoring? who's going to score for us in the playoff? um no thx... they have proven to be great regular season players.. and even then they are on a decline.. most teams have figured them out.. so i rather the sedin take an early retirement and play for the swedish league. i love the twins.. and rather them not play for another nhl team.. but let's face it.. they ain't built for the playoff.. the sooner we start rebuilding/retooling.. the sooner we can start competing again.

[canuckistani]

As for the comment 'most teams have figured them out'. What can i say, except that people who actually think that the Sedins have been 'figured out' need to get some dosage of how hockey actually works.

Sedins have been figured out. Yep, they have. Happens to be, their game has been figured out since 5-6 years ago. They've been doing the same thing since they were practically kids, i'd be rather mad at my million dollars coaching staff if they didnt figure out what you fans are figuring out *today*.

On that note, Crosby has been figured out too. So has practically any class player who's been in the league for 200-odd games.

The issue is not being figured out or not, as 'figuring' and 'doing' are two entirely different things. And thats the whole point of hockey. To do. Its not 'game over' when someone figures you out. Its called 'you are no longer a rookie unknown. People know, respect you and pay keen attention to your strengths & weaknesses'. If you think we havn't figured out Marleu's weaknesses, you need to watch the Western Conference final from 2 years ago. Same staff who 'figured him out' 2 years ago didndt happen to just wipe their memories clean or withold info from the players.

'Figured out'. Hah. I wonder if any one of you are reporters and would pose this question to any NHL level coach about who has been figured out and who hasn't.

[wai_lai416]

Non-playoff peformers ? What is your criteria for playoff performers, considering that the Sedins are one of probably ten players in the last 5 years for playoff point production.

Do you guys actually watch any other hockey except Canucks ? Care to tell us how the Sedins are 'not playoff performers' but Thornton,Marleu,Toews,Kane, Hossa,Datsyuk,Zetterberg, etc. are ?!

Look, its the bloody playoffs. Anyone producing point per game or nearabouts (as low as 0.8per game IMO) cannot be faulted for not scoring in the playoffs. Except for Crosby, i cannot think of a single player who hasn't had an off playoff year or been on the scoresheets practically every night.

Apparently last playoff series the Sedins were 'non performers' but still got point per game. This series, they both have 2 from 3 each. If that is your definition of 'non production' in the playoffs, i say you need to start watching some more hockey, to find out how the so-called 'other first liners' do over the long term.

Yes, they are not Crosby or Ovechkin. But they are 3 mil cheaper and far fitter than 99% of the forward corps in the league.

To top it off, the Sedins have never actually played with a bonafide first liner. Never! Every single player who's played on the Sedin line has far higher numbers than when they dont play on the Sedin line.

Yes, keep railing on the Sedins. I suppose your idea is 'get Crosby or get Ovechkin' or some sort of 'pie in the sky' plan of 'get a once-in-a-lifetime player or nobody is good enough'.

[canuckistani]

Yes, the sedins are having an off series. They are allowed to. Even your 'Great God Sidney Crosby' had 3 or so points in the stanley cup finals.

But not playoff performers ? What the Sedins are, are by far amongst most consistent playoff performers.

Your so-called superior playoff perofrmers , aka Toews, Zetterberg,Datsyuk, Kane etc. look better because they have scoring depth.

Our problem are not the Sedins. Say all you want that 'stats dont matter' but reality is, they do. Naslund was never consistently near the top of the league in playoff points/game. The Sedins are. When a player is averaging near the top 5 percentile in the league for playoff production, clearly, offence is not the problem for this player.

Our problem is that we have no secondary scoring. Kesler, who is a beast defensively, is still only a 'medicore' offensive threat by league standards. Everyone else is either an overglorified 2nd liner bumped to the top ( Burrows) or way below average 2nd line scoring standard. If he were any other bonafide 2nd line center (ie, does not get 1st PP minutes because of a Vigneault 'experiment') he'd be averaging 0.5 point per game in the playoffs.

Toews and Kane happen to play in a team that has Hossa and Sharp as 2ndary scoring ! Hossa and Sharpe alone are better scoring options than our entire 2nd and 3rd lines put together.

Datsyuk and Zetterberg are scoring depths for each other and if you happen to see Detroit games where they've 'overloaded' Datsyuk and Zetterberg together, they havnt done so well either.

And hey guess what ? The Sedins are a much safer bet to perform in a given playoff series on the simple basis that they miss so few games ! Your Datsyuks and Zetterbergs are not going to perform if they are not playing in the first place, which is one of *THE* most underappreciated facet of the Sedins. how many first line skaters have played 500 games consecutively like Hank ? How many have put together 300+ consecutive games like Daniel ?

When your entire team averages like 1.5 goals per game or something ridiculously low like that, the guys who are actually scoring almost point per game are clearly not the 'non performers' in the playoffs.

Seriously, get off the Sedin's backs. Vancouver fans seriously have to learn to appreciate the good players in our team instead of blaming everyone willy nilly when we lose.

Your beef with the Sedins is that they dont 'look' dangerous till they score their goals. Duh. Their game is based on cycling and finding open players to make saucer passes to. Not 'skate in at a blinding speed and look super-impressive while skating around the entire offensive zone, then throw it blindly into the middle' ala Kane or ' snap a quick release from the hashmarks all day long' like Marleau. Dangerous or not, they happen to consistently, year in and year out outperform players who are 1 to 2 million more expensive than them and a damn sight more fragile. In the playoffs, in the regular season. Yes, they will have the occasional mediocre series (Boston) and the occasional bad ones. That happens to every one of them, including your so-called better players.

If you wish to convince me that the Sedins are not amongst the top 10 playoff performing forwards over the last 3-4 years, you might as well re-evaluate your entire understanding of hockey.

[Specter's Vengeance]

[tas]

the window was slammed shut in 2011, and not realizing that is a failing that should cost gillis his job. it's been obvious since the first game of last season that this team doesn't have it anymore. they caugh lightning in a bottle for a couple years but they're nowhere near talented enough.

[beast1u]

Sedin's are not playoff performers. They're too 1-dimensional: they don't hit, they don't fight, they don't PK. Their only job is to score and if they're not doing that then they're just skating pylons. Pansy ones at that.

Sorry, lost faith and patience in them.