Getting rid of the fragile mindset of this team

[EdgarM]

"Not buying your injury theory sorry."

Well of course you're not. That would be too logical for types like you who would far rather slaughter the character of the players than realise how much injuries can affect ability to perform at a high standard.

My advice to you is go get an injury to your hip or break a couple of fingers and then try playing a team like the Bruins and get back to us.

What a waste of time to respond to such a weak comeback but here goes. So you come back with "slaughter the character of the players". Well if you are talking about my comments about Lu and the Twins then tell me where I provided untrue information, Lu played a really bad game(8-1 Loss) and the Twins underachieved in that series( 1 goal each), FACT!

A team is comprised of 20+ players and if a player CANNOT PLAY/PERFORM he sits in the press box. I am assuming if they were on the bench they were fit enough to play. Maybe not 100% but thats where the heart and the desire comes in.

And yes I have played multiple sports with injuries and I am doing it without getting paid but simply for the love of the game. So I say again your theory is still not flying.

[EdgarM]

True but I believe its because we're finally addressing years of frustration and some of us are pretty damn happy about it.

Yes I am one of them too. The other problem which some of us remember is when this team would go up in the game and then let off the gas and lose games they should not have. This included some of the Nazzy years.

[KeslerPlaysLikeACanadian]

God. That was Nazzy to a tee. Terrible captain.

[RonMexico]

Yes I am one of them too. The other problem which some of us remember is when this team would go up in the game and then let off the gas and lose games they should not have. This included some of the Nazzy years.

But in being an athlete, you should know that not every game plays out as you want it to. It's mostly due to in game adjustments by the coaches rather than the player's fragility. As a player, you just go and do what the coaches tell you to do because if you don't, you end up like Zack Kassian.

[GreyHatnDart]

How do you think a team in the playoffs get a rash of injuries? By teams like Boston ramping up the toughness and taking liberties while the soft teams wait for the referees to make the calls that never come. Boston played the final with very few injuries because they were the ones dishing it out, not on the receiving end. That should be pretty apparent to anyone following the game.

I'm not typically one to sound off against referees but anybody who watched that entire playoffs can't tell me the Finals was reffed the same way as the rest of our series were. The 2011 Canucks were built on a cerebral, finesse style game. When the whistles were tucked into pockets it wasn't much of a surprise how it turned out.

[Burnsey]

We definitely heading the right direction. We have guys that play with heart and grit, and add that with a nice mix of veteran guys with some rookies and the next few years will be a lot more exciting and be working towards something.

In the past few years (last few years with Gillis) we were pretty boring and players we added weren't exactly players to get excited for. This year we have Sutter, Prust, Horvat's sophmore season (hoping he picks up where he left off last season) and hopefully Virtanen or Shinkaruk or any other young rookie will added to the line-up.

It will be tougher season to get to the playoffs but no doubt I think it will be another exciting year.

[bigbadcanucks]

We also shut out Boston in 2 games.

Are you going to compare the Vancouver injury list with Boston's? No I didn't think so. You are just one of the butthurt fans I'm talking about.

If Danny was used as a punchbag by Marchand, either the "rat" hits like a p-ssy or Danny is one tough mf.

None of the rest of your post recognises the loss of Hamhuis after game one, or that Sammy (who was integral in their PP) didn't even figure at all.

Rome (a tough body checker) was ejected from the series in the 1st period of game 3.

Manny was playing with effects of an eye injury and even if his vision wasn't affected everyone could see his style of play certainly was.

Raymond's back was broken in game 6.(fractured vertebrae )

Higgins broken foot against Preds.

Erhoff injured against San Jose required shoulder injections before every game after that, both he and Higgins had to have surgery.

Kesler played with a hip injury (received in game 5 of the Western conf finals) and needed surgery in the close season.

Elder broke 2 fingers in game 6 and played 26 mins of game 7 with them taped up.

Alberts injured in game 6.

Sami was being treated for a groin injury.

"They were probably shooting six guys up [for Game 7]," he said. (Tambellini)

Maybe you can produce the Bruins injury list to justify your puerile argument.

You gotta ask yourself, why is it that the Canucks always seem to have so many players injured all the time? Why is it that over the course of a long playoff series, it's the Canuck players that seem to drop like flies? Our guys seem to get hurt when they initiate contact and when they receive contact...wonder why our guys are the ones who are holding the ice bag and shooting up?

An injury prone player is not a valuable player after awhile. If you have to hold your breath hoping that your guy is able to dress, that's a guy you can't really rely on. As good as Salo was when he played, and as much as I liked him, me as a Canucks fan, never really counted on Salo to be there (this is partly out of Salo's control, so it's not a razing criticism on him...just an observation and comment).

Same goes for Brad Richardson -- he was beauty when he was in the line up, but he wasn't in the line up often enough. Then you have guys like Bieksa who probably played a bunch of games he shouldn't have, and because of it, he was not effective and looked like a has-been. Same with Hamhuis when he came back from his groin injury this past March. He shouldn't have been playing because he was brutal and the only good reason I can think of was that he wasn't ready to go. Why is it that Kelser who missed games for maintenance and for recovering from his shoulder surgery and broken foot over his last three seasons with the Canucks all of sudden able to play a solid 81 games and a full playoffs averaging 19m30s to 22m as a Duck this past season?

Tell ya, it must be nothing but a wild string of bad luck that the Canucks are as infirmed as they are...especially in the playoffs where a guy like Ferkland beat the daylights out of the Canucks and then all of sudden became a cuddly teddy bear vs. the Ducks.

So, all this is to say is that I'd love to see a Canucks roster filled with big, durable, skilled, nasty and angry guys who will put the hurt on the opposition whether it's through initiating contact, incidental contact or receiving contact, as opposed to having a bunch of guys hunched over skating slowly to the bench getting a bench minor for too many men as they struggle to get off the ice.

Like old man Conn Smythe said when Smithers Joe was still a kid, you gotta beat 'em in the alley before you beat 'em on the ice.

[Crabcakes]

They don't call the Stanley Cup the toughest trophy to win in sport for nothing. I've heard stories of other teams in similar condition in the finals (83 Islanders if I've got the year right for example).

It's a war of attrition. The team with the most depth and luck often wins.

I'd rather see fewer games. We'd see better quality games throughout the entire playoffs. There's a reason why they say round 1 is the best and it's because the players start getting beat up the more playoff hockey they play. They'll never go back to 68 games in the regular season or best of 3 or 5 in the early playoff rounds.

[EdgarM]

But in being an athlete, you should know that not every game plays out as you want it to. It's mostly due to in game adjustments by the coaches rather than the player's fragility. As a player, you just go and do what the coaches tell you to do because if you don't, you end up like Zack Kassian.

Unless you are marquee players like Nazzy and the Twins. I hardly think any team would end up treating them like "Zack Kassian". I watched these games and individual players would stop skating and let their checks go in the offensive zone. I watched them stop checking on the boards and stop being physical and tried checking with their sticks instead. Then they ended up getting "hooking" or "tripping" penalties which are generally called "lazy" penalties. If any coach instructed their players to play like this when they had the lead I would be shocked.

[EdgarM]

God. That was Nazzy to a tee. Terrible captain.

I loved him as a player but I felt he was a little too soft to be a Captain when you had guys like Jovo and Bert around. He had good teams in his time too but just could not make that extra push out of the first round of the playoffs. The westcoast express was the best line in the NHL at one time but just like the Sedin Era, did not have a lot of playoff success. Sadly.

[CrashNBash]

Yes I am one of them too. The other problem which some of us remember is when this team would go up in the game and then let off the gas and lose games they should not have. This included some of the Nazzy years.

Oh man, as much as I loved a nice wrist shot in the top corner, his lack of emotion and slumping desire drove me mental.I used to go to games in the 80's when they had a constant underdog team lacking in talent but with Steamer as Captain they Always came to play. It's the heart and determination that a lot of fans especially the stat boys just cant understand.

[Riviera82]

I like the new direction of the franchise but I there is a good chance there will be more frustrations to follow. This is a market where even if you are winning, there is apathy towards the style of winning (IE: last season).

If we win a Stanley Cup there will be no apathy. I can almost guarantee that.

[Riviera82]

It's not the Twins, who are a problem. We needed, and still need, a tough SOB, who can play top minutes with them. Lucic would be the perfect fit, and resolve this fragile issue. Mental and physical toughness both increase, when you have a guy like Milan's support.

The twins might not be the problem, but they're definitely not the solution either. Everybody needs to think about this, Alex Burrows has been their most effective linemate throughout the twins entire career. You could put a tough talented bastard on the Sedin line and there's no guarantee that he'd be successful. The Sedins work well together and the third guy on their line will always be a wildcard, Burrows is the only one who's ever been proven with them and he is far from a guy who can protect them. The Sedins need a certain type of chemistry with their linemate and that seems to be like finding a needle in a haystack.

[Ghostsof1915]

It all leads back to the same problem. Lack of elite talent on defence. We've never had a Norris calibre d-man on the back end.

We've had a competent defence, and/or a group that works together. But we don't have the kind of two way D that can score on the power play, and help the goalie stop the puck, or turn quality scoring chances from the opposition into low quality chance.

Until we get our own Duncan Keith/ Brent Seabrook type pairing, we will not win a cup.

[ice orca]

But in being an athlete, you should know that not every game plays out as you want it to. It's mostly due to in game adjustments by the coaches rather than the player's fragility. As a player, you just go and do what the coaches tell you to do because if you don't, you end up like Zack Kassian.

Or Tyler Seguin.

[IBatch]

it's obvious, that you've been an nhl gm and have changed the team into cup champs over night....you should be talking to ownership about a job...it is rare to find people who can transform a team at the drop of a hat...maybe, you could outline your strategy and moves that would have us on top...i'ld love to see how you would do it...please enlighten us...

First of get Shattenkirk.....just teasing - inside joke for those who get it (you do and I want him too, listed him on my favourite possibly available UFAs next year).

Thanks for calling him out.

[Baggins]

Absolutely right, the league wasnt going to let Bruins fans complain they lost because of bad calls and the refs put their whistles away. The Canucks had no push back against a far tougher team, they depended on a pp and hoped Boston would take lots of cheap penalties.

It's easy to blame the big bad Bruins and they did get away with a lot. But, Malhotra's eye injury happened long before, Ehrhoff was injured against the Sharks, Kesler against the Preds, Samuelsson against Chicago, Henriks back injury was from Chicago Higgins broken foot was from blocking a shot, and Hamhuis' groin injury was from hip checking the great white ape. A lot of the key injuries had nothing to do with the Bruins antics.

[Fred65]

It's easy to blame the big bad Bruins and they did get away with a lot. But, Malhotra's eye injury happened long before, Ehrhoff was injured against the Sharks, Kesler against the Preds, Samuelsson against Chicago, Henriks back injury was from Chicago Higgins broken foot was from blocking a shot, and Hamhuis' groin injury was from hip checking the great white ape. A lot of the key injuries had nothing to do with the Bruins antics.

And if that wasn't enough the Suspension of Rome by Mr Jacobs

[Alflives]

The twins might not be the problem, but they're definitely not the solution either. Everybody needs to think about this, Alex Burrows has been their most effective linemate throughout the twins entire career. You could put a tough talented bastard on the Sedin line and there's no guarantee that he'd be successful. The Sedins work well together and the third guy on their line will always be a wildcard, Burrows is the only one who's ever been proven with them and he is far from a guy who can protect them. The Sedins need a certain type of chemistry with their linemate and that seems to be like finding a needle in a haystack.

I think the Twin's history with players is they make that winger a better player: Klatt, Carter, and Burrows are examples of players the sedans made better. God, they were even able to improve Kassian!

Lucic is a proven top line guy, who is also a tough SOB. IMO the twins would make Milan even better than he currently is.

[HK Phooey]

I think the Twin's history with players is they make that winger a better player: Klatt, Carter, and Burrows are examples of players the sedans made better. God, they were even able to improve Kassian!

Lucic is a proven top line guy, who is also a tough SOB. IMO the twins would make Milan even better than he currently is.

A little trip down memory lane...the only time Kassian had the opportunity to play with the Sedins for an extended period was in the lock out shortened season.

Kassian had the benefit of playing half a season in the AHL while the rest of the Canucks vets (including the Sedins) were doing their dryland training and on-ice scrimmages at UBC while the lock out created the lock down.

The first few games at the start of the 2012-2013 season that Kassian played with the Sedins, Kassian actually carried the play, only because he was in game shape and the Sedins weren't. You could see that once Sedins got their game legs, Kassian couldn't keep up with them mentally or physically. So, though I agree the Sedins made guys like Klatt and Carter better, IMHO the Sedins did very little to make Kassian a better player. But that's not on the Sedins...that's on Kassian.

I think Lucic could work well with the Sedins, except the one thing he's missing is the speed that Burrows provided (past tense -- he's lost half a step and as a result the Sedin line with Burrows on it is 75% to 80% of what it was since 2012). IMO, Lucic would create more space for the Sedins' puck possession game. To make a Sedins-Lucic line truly successful, they would need an offensive minded trigger man from the point who can blast and get the puck through to the net (i.e., a d-man acting as a fourth forward). And no, that guy isn't Yannick Weber. If I'm JB, I'd be targeting Ryan Ellis of Nashville, who looks like he's getting pushed down on the Preds' depth chart (though his 26 minutes of TOI in the playoffs this past spring may suggest otherwise).