[PGT] Canucks Lose 2-1

[Cap Space]

Chicago is in the midst of a 6 game road trip and playing without Bickell and Hossa and the most we can manage is one goal? And a 5 on 3 goal to boot? That's just unacceptable! The flow of the game seemed to be ok but with the Hawks playing shorthanded the Canucks really should have gotten the 2 points.

[Angry Goose]

call me sentimental but even when this team is losing I like this team

[5minutesinthebox]

No coincidence at all.

94 pts in two Canucks seasons.

+55

The guy was horrible.

Yeah.

+ 55 in a 2 seasons where he put up 90 + points in 159 games, on the leagues best offense.

Since leaving the Canucks?

- 4 , 136 games played 59 pts. 10 year 53 mill...see you in 2021 at 4 mill cap bump. Yeah, great signing.

[nuck nit]

Ehrhoff was offered the same amount as our highest paid dman and turned it down to find pay dirt on the open market.

Good riddance.

Ehrhoff was given the choice of accepting Bieksa's contract and nothing else.

Ehrhoff outscored Bieksa by 28 points that year. Ehrhoff had eight more assists than Bieksa's total points tally.

There was no negotiation and he was forced out.

[nuck nit]

+ 55 in a 2 seasons where he put up 90 + points in 159 games, on the leagues best offense.

Yeah, great signing.

The highest scoring Canucks d man in the league anchoring the best PP in the league and history of the Vancouver Canucks franchise and you find it in your best interests to diss him.

[Brick Tamland]

I love CDC. Trade for Crosby and Weber. Fire Torts. Fire MG. Waive Booth.

Maybe, just maybe, in this cap year it's difficult to trade anyone for anything.

[Bear57]

More of the same... Lou keeps the team in games where most of the rest are simply floating, flying by and completely oblivious. Then when the old saw of 'we don't score enough' comes out, the truth is that you can't score when defending 3 on 1 and 3 on 2's. It has been a while since I have seen this many odd man rushes against in a Canucks game and the REALLY sad part is most are due to brain farts on the part of our more expensive players (Edler, Hamhuis and Garrison for sure). Kassian is a roster space waster - ditch him for someone who wants to play (why he is not getting any real minutes these days) and send Booth packing at the same time for the same reasons.

For whatever reason the team has taken flakiness to a whole new level this year and REALLY needs to find another Ryp or Volpatti or someone who makes teams look over their shoulder every time they head into the corner after a puck.

[73 Percent]

Daniel Sedin pisses me off when he stays at the blue line in the offensive zone when our D are already there passing back and forth. For god sakes get your ass in front of the net for a deflection or a rebound. I have noticed this few times, understand he is trying to circle and get open but once he reaches the blue line he just stays there expecting a pass from our D.

ugh ffs. I seen that too man. we're down 2-1 and this guy is hanging out ar the blue line in between our dman. WTF IS THAT GO SCORE A GOAL NOB

[73 Percent]

I was at a bar for about half the game so I didn't have the luxury of sound. what happened with kassian? did he get hurt or did torts bench him and why?

[Heretic]

The Canucks held the highest scoring team in the league to 2 goals.

Too bad we couldn't score more than 1.

The effort was there, and I know everyone is frustrated, but I believe the Canucks will get through this.

[ahf149]

I didnt realize that the playoffs were set in NOVEMBER LOL. Wow, all this panic for NOTHING.

Its not like we are 12 points out of the division lead haha

[Ride the red Pony]

Thought that after the first the guys settled in and played better. Kesler, Edler, Burrows, Santo were all very good. Fourth line looked very good as well.

Again I really like Kass. but he was tough to watch when he did play. He definitely deserved to be benched.

The boys worked hard, but didn't get the result. Thought it was a very good game. Love the work ethic of the team under Torts. We make the opposition work a lot harder for their wins.

Patience grasshopper.

[Darth Kane]

What a close game, I knew this would be a tight one.

For those blaming Luongo for this loss, give it a rest. When your team can only score one goal (on a 5 on 3 I might add) your goalie has to be absolutely perfect. That's just not a relalisic expectation.

I think it's just a matter of time before the Canucks turn things around. It will happy, I know it.

[chrisbanks]

the skill on our team has disappeared .. even our top guys just play like grinders now and need a 5 on 3 to get a goal... chi made a ton of skilled plays as a team and individuals throughout the game i cant think of 1 for the nucks.

[Ride the red Pony]

Just watched the post game interviews. I like the way they are handling the media, they are concerned but know the bottom line is DON'T PANIC.

Game of mistakes, they capitalized on one more than we did. Game could have gone either way IMO, wish we could play Chi every week. I think we match up well against them.

[-DLC-]

the skill on our team has disappeared .. even our top guys just play like grinders now and need a 5 on 3 to get a goal... chi made a ton of skilled plays as a team and individuals throughout the game i cant think of 1 for the nucks.

It's a conflict though....when we play with skill, use the Sedins to cycle/pass/make pretty plays we're getting too fancy and should be crashing and getting to the front of the net. We're perimeter players. When we do that crash and bang stuff, and throw in greasy goals, we're unskilled.

You've just demonstrated that you need to simply adjust and do whatever is necessary in any given game. Some games, you'll get a better flow going if you're using skill and trying to dance and move the puck around guys. Other games will be physical and you'll have to crash and bang out there.

There is no simple formula that guarantees success every game - which is why I have faith in Torts. He gets that and is willing to change things up in response.

What I find annoying is, even though it is a discussion board, many dissect and try to provide "surefire" answers. We can't do that - the team has to figure out the whys and hows. So why are we arguing? How will that change things? Discussion doesn't mean calling each other out/names, so stop it.

I liked Torts' response: "we made mistakes, they made mistakes...you won't get mistake free hockey". I did feel it was a fairly well played/even game. We came out the losers and, yes, a goal that likely should have been stopped wasn't in making the difference. But that happens...Lu's been playing some pretty great hockey when the team has struggled so don't expect him to be perfect. That's the problem and how the goaltender graveyard works here...gaffs are made into monumental historical events. People criticize Lu for laughing it off on afterhours...they HAVE to be able to do that to some degree. If you carry it with you some of your focus is there, on games gone past, vs in the moment.

Homer Deb does panic at times....but when we hit a skid as Spring approaches. People who calculate (at this point) how many points we're behind, etc. aren't understanding that nothing's a given. If we're playing absolute crap hockey, ok. But we're not.

I don't ignore that we could use some additional parts and scoring help. But obviously, that doesn't come easy in this day and age of hockey. And you have to give up to get something.

It all seems redundant at this point...sure - discussion. But people talk like they have the easy answer...there isn't one. Just keep working hard and hope the results come.

As for "the skill is gone and our skilled players play like grinders"? We yelled at them to after the Boston series. They had to be tougher/grittier. People want their cake and to eat it too. So which one is it? I'll tell you - it's a mixture of both and I feel they're grittier, playing through things that would have them stop and look in the past and watching each others' backs. I like the team I see...some misfiring, bad puck luck and, yes, breakdowns at times. But if you find it so painful, don't scream cry yell and whine...fix your end of things so you don't have to be subjected to the torture. That's all that's within your control.

[TheAce]

Must have been Booth again....... He is the problem to everything

[Knucklehd]

What a close game, I knew this would be a tight one.

For those blaming Luongo for this loss, give it a rest. When your team can only score one goal (on a 5 on 3 I might add) your goalie has to be absolutely perfect. That's just not a relalisic expectation.

I think it's just a matter of time before the Canucks turn things around. It will happy, I know it.

I've noticed your posts for your hawks and our nucks always seem to be objective, it's refreshing.

[Salacious Crumb]

I love CDC. Trade for Crosby and Weber. Fire Torts. Fire MG. Waive Booth.

Maybe, just maybe, in this cap year it's difficult to trade anyone for anything.

Brick, best post ever. I was starting to wonder if CDC stands for Canucks Drama Camp

It's a conflict though....when we play with skill, use the Sedins to cycle/pass/make pretty plays we're getting too fancy and should be crashing and getting to the front of the net. We're perimeter players. When we do that crash and bang stuff, and throw in greasy goals, we're unskilled.

You've just demonstrated that you need to simply adjust and do whatever is necessary in any given game. Some games, you'll get a better flow going if you're using skill and trying to dance and move the puck around guys. Other games will be physical and you'll have to crash and bang out there.

There is no simple formula that guarantees success every game - which is why I have faith in Torts. He gets that and is willing to change things up in response.

What I find annoying is, even though it is a discussion board, many dissect and try to provide "surefire" answers. We can't do that - the team has to figure out the whys and hows. So why are we arguing? How will that change thing? Discussion doesn't mean calling each other out/names, so stop it.

I liked Torts' response: "we made mistakes, they made mistakes...you won't get mistake free hockey". I did feel it was a fairly well played/even game. We came out the losers and, yes, a goal that likely should have been stopped wasn't in making the difference. But that happens...Lu's been playing some pretty great hockey when the team has struggled so don't expect him to be perfect. That's the problem and how the goaltender graveyard works here...gaffs are made into monumental historical events. People criticize Lu for laughing it off on afterhours...they HAVE to be able to do that to some degree. If you carry it with you some of your focus is there, on games gone past, vs in the moment.

Homer Deb does panic at times....but when we hit a skid as Spring approaches. People who calculate (at this point) how many points we're behind, etc. aren't understanding that nothing's a given. If we're playing absolute crap hockey, ok. But we're not.

I don't ignore that we could use some additional parts and scoring help. But obviously, that doesn't come easy in this day and age of hockey. And you have to give up to get something.

It all seems redundant at this point...sure - discussion. But people talk like they have the easy answer...there isn't one. Just keep working hard and hope the results come.

As for "the skill is gone and our skilled players play like grinders"? We yelled at them to after the Boston series. They had to be tougher/grittier. People want their cake and to eat it too. So which one is it? I'll tell you - it's a mixture of both and I feel they're grittier, playing through things that would have them stop and look in the past and watching each others' backs. I like the team I see this this...some misfiring, bad puck luck and, yes, breakdowns at times. But if you find it so painful, don't scream cry yell and whine...fix your end of things so you don't have to be subjected to the torture. That's all that's within your control.

It feels like we are playing better than the last couple of years and a more playoff ready style. I like the mix of skill and will (Grit). in the playoffs we will probably not see Sestito or Schroeder and hopefully more of Archibald. In a perfect world MG would be able to add a top six scorer before this years trade deadline. However adding a versatile big banger would be fine with me too. When Kassian learns/decides to backcheck hard he could be a playoff beast.

I'm sure I'll get blasted by those that don't think we'll make the playoffs...flame away. There is no shame in losing 2-1 to a team that has won the cup twice recently.

[yes we can nucks]

Thanks for being the voice of reason around here, Deb.

My feeling is what you see is what you get with this team. It's a hardworking team that's struggling to score goals (even on the pp) because its top guys are underachieving and its depth guys simply aren't finishers. We win when we do get goal support from the depth guys and the defensemen... but that has been rare.

We just haven't got the talent to go anywhere in the playoffs. Lack of depth has been the team's downfall the last two seasons, and it wasn't addressed prior to this season. Santorelli and Richardson have played a big part in the team's success so far. But it remains to be seen if they can sustain that over the rest of the season.

Barring any impactful upgrade to the roster through trade, the Canucks are destined to eke their way into the playoffs. Then to go anywhere, everything will have to come together: the Sedins and Kesler will have to score and the depth guys will have to play out of their minds. And of course Lu will have to stand on his head.