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[Article] On Spec: Are the Canucks still contenders?


Angry Goose

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I look at a healthy Kesler (all summer long) making an impact on his line that trickles both up and down the lineup........you want to blanket the sedins ...fine let the second line loose....blanket the kesler line fine the sedins go to town....

Now if Torts can allow some stabilty to lines and pairings without constintly switching up lines...

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I was just going to say almost exactly this.

I feel much like the rest of you, that coaching can make a big difference. Whether that difference is positive or negative in nature remains to be seen. Remember, AV won the Jack Adams with the Canucks. Did he fool literally everyone into thinking he was a good coach? Often a deft touch is more effective than profanity-laced rants. When I first became a teacher, I quickly learned that pushing my students to succeed with positive energy always worked better than pushing them with negative energy. They are still being pushed, but they respect me more when I keep my emotions in check. Why wouldn't the same be true for hockey players? I do think that Tortorella's approach to systems and line combinations are more intuitive than AV's, but I just hope that any progress isn't overshadowed by dark clouds hanging over the dressing room. Nobody wants to play for a coach they don't respect. I know this point isn't really new either, but seeing how quickly the Tortorella bandwagon has filled up, I think it's important to temper excessive optimism with some real-life reasoning.

All that being said, I am giving him the benefit of the doubt and and can't wait to see how this all unfolds.

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I think to go on another run, this team needs a few more players to take giant steps in their development this season. Kassian being focus number 1! Jensen and Schroeder being another couple that need to come into their own. The lines that aren't the Sedins need to be able to produce in the playoffs. Flat out!

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Spec is a moron.

Are we contenders, yes. Are we cup favorites, no.

A lot of factors on this team that are still unknown right now. The biggest being, how much impact can Torts have on a game? Last few years lots of us wanted AV to impact the game by calling a time out, motivating the team between periods, pressuring with the lead in the third or brining in youth. I think Torts will be a big reason we succeed or fail this year

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I have no idea. The team isn't set yet and there hasn't ever been a team that won the cup before the season started. How the team plays all 82 games will help a little in determining how good they are...but then again, teams have risen and teams have disappeared in playoffs.

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Sportsnet

Not anything new really. It's the same old story. What interested me though was that in the comments section one of the interesting critiques was that behind the Sedins and Kesler, the Canucks lack one more impact player. I thought "there is some truth to that" given that once the Sedins are shutdown or Kesler is injured, the secondary scoring the Canucks have had in the playoffs has been spotty at best.

What do you think? Can the Canucks under Torts step up their game so the 'balanced' scoring approach proves the doubters wrong? Or, should MG push to aquire that "impact" player? With that said, how exactly would you expect MG to do that? He has said himself that those types of trades are not easy to make, and for once the Canucks have a solid prospect pool that shouldn't be traded away (IMO).

I like to think that teams like DET always have a fighting chance. They may not look the strongest on paper like PIT or BOS but with strong performances and a bit of luck great success can be had. For example, the 94 Canucks were far from favorites, but played their asses off to get to the final. I am happy to take my chances with that while building long term success with prospect development.

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No we're not contenders this year, missing several key pieces from our cup run notably Raymond, Lappy, Torres and Malhotra. Oh and we are prolly useless without Ehrhoff and Schneider to back us up.

Reality: all this contender BS is just media content they keep bringing up when there ain't crap to talk about. Chicago was not a serious contender when the year began last year, and esp at the deadline and we all know what happened there. The Boston Red Sox were supposed to be last in their division this year, but instead they're the best team in baseball.

Boston SWEPT Pits, who were good enough to throw Jarome Iginla on their third line. Enough said?

The coaching change and the overall chemistry of the team is what's going to determine how they do.

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