What if everything goes right?

[John_Guest]

I listen to sports radio. I read around. I watch the talking heads on the TV. I get it. Everything sucks. Everything Jim Benning ever did was wrong. Every ounce of good is buried under a pound of bad. There is no hope.

 

But why not? It's easy to hope and the worse that can happen is you'll be wrong.

 

So what if everything goes right?

 

I hear Markstrom only had 3 good months and who can rely on him to carry that into next season for the whole season, right? But what if he does? And what if Demko is everything we always thought he might be. Can he be an ace backup? Maybe he can. In fact what if he starts to look like the starter while Dipietro is rocking Utica like an all-star? Does Markstrom become trade-bait at the TDL and do we maybe get our 2020 first pick back?

 

3 guys on the radio were agreeing today that the Canucks can't make the playoffs. If they're so smart why aren't they rich? Shut it down and move to Vegas then, radio wizards. Use your genius to win bets.

 

Even during these last few, sad years the Canucks have been in the playoff hunt after the first half of the season. Then the second half comes with injuries and lack of depth and we sink down the leaders' list. But why do we have to judge the totality of the past and any future by those second halves. Perhaps those first halves are who we really are. Perhaps there is more depth than we're being to told to consider now? Perhaps these new grittier Canucks don't get injured as much.

 

The Ontario experts figure they're doing us a favour by giving us a condescending pat on the head and telling us maybe the defence has improved a little but what if it's more than a little and what if guys like Chatfield, Sautner, Brisebois, Rafferty and who knows maybe even some dark horse like Utunen turn up to give us depth from below. Then there's Olli Juolevi and Quinn Hughes. What if they turn out to be everything we hoped they'd be. How good are we then? Perhaps Chris Tanev stays healthy and provides another piece of trade bait at the TDL? And if the playoffs do become real don't Tryamkin and others become a possibility for even more defensive depth going in?

 

I hear we need secondary scoring but what if it's there? Baertschi has a history of concussions. Sydney Crosby won Stanley cups with a concussion history. Baertschi is no Crosby but he doesn't have to be. He just has to be the player he was last season before he got injured. JT Miller is a new secondary scoring tool. Pearson looked good for a period last year. We're not supposed to consider it possible but what if he stays consistent? Jake Virtanen has stepped up levels the last couple of years. Is it so outrageous to think he could do it again this year? A 20-25 goal scoring JV would be secondary scoring. Kohl Lind was showing signs of becoming what we hoped he might turn out to be towards the end of last season. What if that improve continues? This one may be too much of a reach but what if Goldy finally decides to take all the advice he's been given and use his natural talent to provide us a 40-50 point guy?

 

And who knows, maybe this new look Canuck lineup pushes Boeser, Pettersson and Horvath to new levels. How many tie games can be broken by Boesser, Pettersson and Hughes 3 on 3 once they get the chemistry working? Do those get us into the playoffs?

 

Now, not even I am enough of a Pollyanna to think all of that is going to happen but how much of it has to happen to shut up the know-it-all, negative-Nancys and insure Jim keeps his job?

 

Whatever...the season starts in a matter of months. Go Canucks.

 

[Johnny Torts]

We win at least 18 Stanley Cups or until Pettersson retires!

[EB43]

Your optimism pleases me,  prepare to be crucified for it. 

But I do agree, there’s a lot of what ifs, and if the injury’s hold off, and everyone keeps progressing, the sky’s the limit.

[Bubble Man]

Do what I do, fully expect and prepare for the worst case scenario. Making the playoffs and losing in the first round. The one draft we aren’t in the lottery is one of the best this decade.

So Canucks.

We are so doing this, so excited. 

[Dr. Crossbar]

I just posted a 900,000 word thesis in one of the Benning threads and not one word of it mattered.

 

Keep up the good fight. The real numbers are on our side. 

[BlueDragon23]

Yes there is a lot of what ifs  and questions with the Canucks roster presently but with the defence upgrade, our young players learning and growing and staying healthy; I’m optimistic about making the playoffs. 

Do NOT pay attention to anyone on the local sports radio, 1040, TSN etc as those idiots couldn’t hit water if they fell out of a boat.

[spook007]

Spot on OP..... Thanks...

The glass doesn't have to be half empty... it could be half full...

 

So sick of all those negative media hacks as well as negative posters on here that fights tooth and nail to find something to moan about. Don't understand why they follow this team as everything about it from the owners to the players seems to be sh!t...so why bother, except hoping to ruin the joy for others.

Luckily we are many, who actually look positively on the road ahead for the Canucks and enjoy what is happening here.

Keep up the positivity 

Edited July 6, 2019 by spook007

[6string]

Great article, I'm as confident as you are when we are healthy.

 

Especially now with the new core settling in, NHL calibre goaltending and the depth in the lineup.

 

It is still under construction but it's now up to coach Green and his staff to assemble and get results.

Edited July 6, 2019 by 6string
as

[the grinder]

just get rid of loui(  if loui has picked up the phone yet) and we will be golden

[JeremyCuddles]

The downside to being bad is no matter how many things go right people will just be negative. Not to mention everyone thinks there is only one way to be good again. Draft 1st overall every year. This team was competitive last year and was 5 games from the playoffs. Benning improves our top 6 and adds a top 4 d-man and somehow that is terrible for the team. On top of drafting one of the more highly touted prospects in the draft. We are so close to the playoffs and Benning and management can see that. Some fans and media can't seem to get over the fact we never drafted top 3 and are on our way to competing again. Also for some reason we can never trade picks ever cause "rebuild".

[Miss Korea Bob.Loblaw]

Injuries will happen to our team, especially the blue line.  We know Tanev and Edler are likely to go down at some point.  The question is always whether the team can push forward despite injuries.  The teams that survive make the playoffs.  Pretty simple rule to live and die by, without much exception.

 

Everything going right teaches a fanbase or team nothing about perseverance.  It's about things going wrong and still gutting out wins.  That's a team worth rooting for.

[48MPHSlapShot]

If someone tries to tell you there's no reason for optimism, that's a pretty good indicator that their opinion isn't worth $&!#.

[mikeyman109]

Just the added Defensive depth should get the 5 games we needed to get into the playoffs. We may need more than that this year as last season a lot of teams around us floundered.

Biega played half the season as I recall and a lot of minutes as well. For a lot of games our top D pairing was Hutton and Stecher. They played better than expected but they still are not 1-2 D men.

This season with the depth at D we wont have to play Edler and Tanev to death and hope they stay healthy.Between Myers and Benn they can take some of the hard defensive minutes away for CT and AE and allow a more balanced workload for all. This alone should produce a fresher D and perhaps a less injured blue line.

If Marky has it figured out especially with the better D in front of him, we should have a better PK and reduced goals against.

The offense is there when healthy. They put up 8 goals in Boston last year. they can score. they just have to score one more than the other team. I think they will make the playoffs. Probably as a wild card team but who knows. I am sure those same sports guys had Vegas in the Cup finals two years ago. Teams surprise every year

[Bubble Man]

1 hour ago, 48MPHSlapShot said:

If someone tries to tell you there's no reason for optimism, that's a pretty good indicator that their opinion isn't worth $&!#.

In my opinion the best case scenario is a list as follows

1. Win the Stanley cup

2. Win the draft lottery 

3. Win 2nd in draft lottery 

4. Win 3rd in draft lottery 

5. Pick 4th overall. 

 

I have optimism for 2-5. If we make the playoffs 2-5 are not possible and neither is the Stanley cup. So therefore I don’t want to make the playoffs. It’s a deep draft and we have a lot of huge holes to fill. 

[48MPHSlapShot]

10 minutes ago, Bubble Man said:

and neither is the Stanley cup.

St Louis winning the cup and Carolina getting to the conference final proved that if you get in, anything is possible.

[Bubble Man]

4 minutes ago, 48MPHSlapShot said:

St Louis winning the cup and Carolina getting to the conference final proved that if you get in, anything is possible.

I’ve watched 25 years of Canucks hockey. I don’t close my eyes and reminisce about a conference final or even the SCF. I don’t have a 1994 Campbell Conference champions shirt. After all these years 4 straight with no playoffs is nothing. 

[NewbieCanuckFan]

1 hour ago, 48MPHSlapShot said:

St Louis winning the cup and Carolina getting to the conference final proved that if you get in, anything is possible.

Both those teams had always a strong blueline *on paper* at the very least.  Key difference.  Ours is still a work in process.  Better than last year, but then again, it was pretty awful last year. 

[IBatch]

8 hours ago, Bubble Man said:

Do what I do, fully expect and prepare for the worst case scenario. Making the playoffs and losing in the first round. The one draft we aren’t in the lottery is one of the best this decade.

So Canucks.

We are so doing this, so excited. 

Sooo...your saying there’s a chance?  Might be the nicest thing you’ve said.

 

Don’t fret the lottery, we won’t win it anyways and even without adding Myers and Miller we would still be climbing not receding, maybe even make the playoffs.  Like it or not, holes or not, Bennings already created a bubble team.   Three years of rebuilding and five years of fixing the prospect pool despite the re-tool did that.  Did he go all in too early.  Maybe.  He bet his job that he didn’t though, and yes it might cost him.

 

On next years draft.  I follow prospects and the ones coming up way too much, thinking it might help my hockey pool (which it does) and next years draft is way overhyped on the CDC, a few posted it’s going to be great and the rest have parroted it.  Not once have I read in the Future Watch that it’s going to be one of the best in the last decade, or even more ridiculous (I’ve read this on this site) one of the best ever. 

 

Outside of Lafrenierre not much has been talked about in North America about Hotlz, yes in Sweden they gush over him.  Byfield got some press as going first overall in the OHL here in ONT but haven’t seen much anywhere else...of the top ten I’m sure nobody here knows much of anything about them (yet).  If it’s supposedly so good then why hasn’t it received any more press then this years, or last years?  Hughes and Dahlin were just as hyped as Lafreniere, Mathews more so, and of course lord McDavid.  A year before the draft.   Temper expectations a bit.  And don’t stress too much over missing out, a good draft I’m sure it will be, but a great draft?  We won’t really know for five plus years..

Edited July 6, 2019 by IBatch

[IBatch]

1 hour ago, Bubble Man said:

I’ve watched 25 years of Canucks hockey. I don’t close my eyes and reminisce about a conference final or even the SCF. I don’t have a 1994 Campbell Conference champions shirt. After all these years 4 straight with no playoffs is nothing. 

You’ve been watching that long and haven’t figured out yet that us winning a cup is not going to be a regular thing, there is a lot of hockey in between even final appearances (of which we actually have more then most of the clubs since we came in), and for us a lot of losing too.   I own a shirt although it was given to me and way too small.  I like it because the logo rocks and because it reminds me of that team.   As fans their is a lot more to enjoy then just winning a cup, if you don’t and you’ve followed this team long enough you will end up in an institution or have ulcerative colitis waiting for one as the only thing that matters. 

 

I get that maybe Benning pulled the plug a bit early but I also get why he did it.  OJ not working out so far is the biggest failure and it’s pushing him to move forward.   The entire core will be in their early prime and some members possibly on their way out already before any defenseman he drafts come in from this year or future drafts.   And he’s already drafted the magic number(s) of guys he can afford to keep once they are all RFAs.    Sure more will never hurt, now he has to focus on hitting on them with later picks for the future of the team five years down the road.  Like it or not the tanking phase is over.   

 

Hes done better then I expected anyone to do coming in,  maybe that’s because I’ve watched them too long or I’m just a realist (no top team gets away without paying the piper...well Detroit did but only kind of, they still had a half dozen guys from their old core helping Zettberg and Datsyuk) ... the Keenan days seemed a lot darker then these even if it ended up a short turn around thanks to Naslund and the Linden haul, something Benning was never going to get with MG clauses.  

 

Enjoy the process Bubbles.  And EP, Boeser, Horvat, Miller, Podz, Hughes, Demko etc.

[Gaudette Celly]

Good post, OP, and know that you're not alone.  The silent majority are not only fans but positive about the team and its future.  They can see where things are going, and the haze is clearing even for those who haven't understood the plan these past few years.  The media still chirps and will always have their mockingbirds in the "fanbase" but they're only becoming more irrelevant.

 

38 minutes ago, NewbieCanuckFan said:

Both those teams had always a strong blueline *on paper* at the very least.  Key difference.  Ours is still a work in process.  Better than last year, but then again, it was pretty awful last year. 

Speaking of key differences, this will be the first year of the Benning regime where we do not have any placeholders in the starting D.  Yes Hughes is a rookie, but the best one at least offensively we've had back there since... basically ever.

 

"Who's going to score the goals?" - Ray Ferraro

 

Comments like that are just asinine, and he's said it multiple times on different shows.  Not only did we add Pearson late in the season and Miller in the off-season, but our two top scorers are 20 and 22 -- they aren't going to improve?  Not to mention finally having a couple puck-movers on the back end.

 

As has been pointed out, one of the simplest and main indicators of being a playoff team is goal differential -- it pretty much has to be positive if you want a chance at making it to the post-season.  Ours was -29 last year, so if we score 15 more and allow 15 less, we are right there.  We added 15+ in Miller alone, and should not the terrible powerplay be better with him, Hughes, and Myers on it?  Can the adds on defence (and purging of the placeholders) not prevent another 15?  How much better could Marky be with a more-solid D in front of him?  Can we finally have a season without mass injuries to key players decimating the roster?  Bet against all these things if one wishes, but we are going to be in there and right until the end.