Lowered expectations
Pragmatic Poll
6 members have voted
I implore you to temporarily muck all that media and message board hype out of that skull and take an honest look at this edition of the Canucks. Done now? Okay.
Exactly why were folks so bloody high on this team to start the season? Was it just me or were even the most bitter, yellowed Canucks haters calling this the best team this franchise has seen? Even Tony G – that bastion of searing Canucks vitriol - was calling Mike Gillis team a legitimate playoff contender.
No way.
Ehrhoff, yeah, he's good. Better than Ohlund? Yeah, probably. But what else changed on the back end? Willie is no faster and no less likely to fire a puck up the boards in the dying moments of a crucial playoff game. Bieksa is no bigger, nor any more able to clear the front of his crease. Edler meaner? No.
Up front this team has only gotten smaller and less skilled. Granted, they don't have to deal with Demitra's messes, but they also have zero semblance of a second line. Kesler, Raymond and whatever else AV has inked in beside them simply isn't good enough. The Flames have more offensive upside than this team and that's solely because they have Renee Bourque.
And the Twins – oh god the poor Twins – they still don't have a winger. And I'm beginning to think they never will. John Leclair? Cam Neely? Dan f-ing Heatley for chistsakes. Anyone with some size, smarts and finish. Anson – I heart Europe – Carter was able to pop 30+ for the twins and was out of the league two years later. What does that tell you? Stay with me here… They can turn poop into gold. Imagine what they could do with some lead; lead that planted itself in the crease and kept its stick on the ice.
And then there's Lui. What of Luongo? He's not a bad goalie. He's a very good goalie even. Certainly capable of getting hot at the right time just like anyone else. BUT, can any team really afford to spend $7 + million a year between the pipes when guys like Cam Ward and Chris Osgood can carry a team further for a fraction of the cost? I would say not.
Too small. Too soft. Not skilled enough to play an offensive game and not gritty enough to play a grinding defensive game. And too expensive in the crease to fix what ails them.
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