hatedkid666 Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 Sean McIndoe, ESPN Staff Writer 0Shares Email print comment So ... the Vancouver Canucks are bad. We all agree on that, right? That feels like a question we shouldn't even have to ask about a team that lost its 20th game of the season Sunday night. The Canucks have lost more times than the Toronto Maple Leafs, or the Buffalo Sabres, or theCarolina Hurricanes. They've lost more than the Calgary Flames or theEdmonton Oilers. They've lost as many games as the Columbus Blue Jackets, a team that was losing so much that they went out and hired John Tortorella, and what kind of franchise does that? So yes, the Canucks are bad, just as all of the hockey world's most handsome experts predicted. But someone had better tell the standings page, which has Vancouver sitting in a tie for second place in their division. That's partly because they play in the Pacific, and you and your buddies from your beer league could make the playoffs in this season's Pacific. And it's partly because the team has had the good sense to do a big chunk of its losing in overtime and the shootout, allowing them to rack up a league-leading eight loser points. (Yes, some fans would insist that there's no such thing as a "loser point," and that the Canucks are really just earning a whole bunch of regulation ties and then merely failing to earn a bonus point for winning once the gimmicks kick in. These people are delusional, and if you encounter one you should simply ask them why the extra point column on the standings page has the word "loss" right in it and then run away while they're staring at it in confusion and trying to remember what words mean.) To their credit, the Canucks went into Chicago and played the Blackhawks tough Sunday night; the game was 1-0 midway through the third, and the final looked lopsided only due to two Hawks goals in the final minute. Vancouver very nearly played well enough to pull off the upset, which would have given them consecutive wins over the New York Rangers and Hawks. Bad teams aren't supposed to do that, so I suppose we're lucky that the Canucks didn't make it happen and ruin our whole narrative. Bad teams aren't supposed to make the playoffs either, and it remains to be seen whether the Canucks can pull that one off in the Pacific, which at this point is basically the Los Angeles Kings acting out the NHL's version of that "How many five-year-olds could you take in a fight?" meme. The Canucks woke up today tied with the Arizona Coyotes at 30 points, and while the Coyotes have been a nice story, nobody really expects them to stick around. The San Jose Sharks are right behind them at 29 points, and you have to think that someday this iteration of the Sharks will figure out what they want to be when they grow up, but it might or might not happen this season. The Oilers and Flames are the two hottest teams in the NHL, and just typing that made my laptop slam shut on my fingers repeatedly because it assumed I was making fun of it. And then there are the Anaheim Ducks, who we'll all keep assuming are the division's second best team even as they're handing a jersey to Auston Matthews in June. So the Canucks are bad, but it's quite possible that they'll bad their way right into the postseason -- remember, head coach Willie Desjardins has made it to the playoffs in every full season of his NHL, AHL and WHL coaching career. Vancouver could even win a round, because the league's common-sense playoff format would pair them up against another non-King Pacific team in a matchup that somebody would have to win, unless a frustrated Winnipeg Jets team that had missed the playoffs with more points ran in, WWE-style, and started hitting everyone with steel chairs. Which I would support, by the way. And that's where we are in today's NHL. You can lose nearly two-thirds of your games and still be good enough to make the playoffs, even if you're bad, which the Canucks inarguably are. And if you're Vancouver, you might as well embrace it. You might be old, but you can't really rebuild, not in the traditional "trade your best veterans for blue-chip prospects" way. Not when your best players, as brilliant as they are, are identical twin brothers who insist on playing together and carry a combined cap hit of $14 million. They could trade some of their other veteran stars, but ... well ... you know. Or they could just say "screw it" and keep on being bad and yet somehow good, or at least good enough for the Pacific Division. Could they win a Stanley Cup that way? No, of course not. But they could win a round. And they could earn the right to face the Kings for the division title in round two. And if they did, who knows what would happen? We all do. They'd lose in four straight. And yet, somehow, they'd earn four points in the standings for doing it. That's not bad at all, even though it's not good, and that's just where these Canucks are at. http://espn.go.com/nhl/story/_/id/14364357/nhl-vancouver-canucks-bad-everywhere-pacific-division Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baer. Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 Yep. Canucks are bad. What else is news? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheOgRook Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 Is it only me that wants to wring the neck of this writer? Could he sound any more like a Canuck hater? Yeah we aren't the stacked Blackhawks, but cmon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surtur Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 3 minutes ago, BaerOxHitman said: Yep. Canucks are bad. What else is news? They are bad but good enough you Even read the op....? J/k. We are the team that every other team with more points complain about if we make the playoffs and they don't. Kind of like when the east was such suck that almost all the teams that made the playoffs had less points then the western teams that didn't make it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baer. Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 4 minutes ago, surtur said: They are bad but good enough you Even read the op....? J/k. We are the team that every other team with more points complain about if we make the playoffs and they don't. Kind of like when the east was such suck that almost all the teams that made the playoffs had less points then the western teams that didn't make it. Good enough for what though? Barely making the playoffs only to lose in the first round? Worst possible way to end a season. I'd rather us be bad and get a high pick than be mediocre but still making the playoffs just to pad the owner's pockets. Fans don't understand that to he good you have to be bad for a few years. Honesty some Vancouver fans are as bad as Montreal or LA fans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
menace Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 As long as the effort is there until real help arrives I'm good. When I mean help it's a couple of reliable D men. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shift-4 Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 49 minutes ago, hatedkid666 said: Sean McIndoe, ESPN Staff Writer 0Shares Email print comment (Yes, some fans would insist that there's no such thing as a "loser point," and that the Canucks are really just earning a whole bunch of regulation ties and then merely failing to earn a bonus point for winning once the gimmicks kick in. These people are delusional, and if you encounter one you should simply ask them why the extra point column on the standings page has the word "loss" right in it and then run away while they're staring at it in confusion and trying to remember what words mean.) Love this part! The rest just seems like someone taking his shots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TOMapleLaughs Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 The NHL as a league appears to be downgrading. The so-called NHL's best player Sidney Crosby is struggling. The cap has made teams soft and full of AHL-type project players. Points system-driven parity is the only thing that makes bad teams look decent. And the league's highest scorer had offseason rape allegation controversy. Good thing Dallas is back though, thanks to various 'help' moves by other teams. Canadian fans should be appeased that guys like Sedin, Hall, Gaudreau and Karlsson are scoring buckets of meaningless points, but ratings in Canada are down. Probably because we're smart. We know what looks legit. Right now this league, these teams, these standings don't look legit. Hell, I don't even believe the Canadiens are legit. With a lower and lower Canadian dollar, we, meaning Canadian NHL fans, might be in for some rough waters ahead. Good enough? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canucks Prophet Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 1 hour ago, TheOgRook said: Is it only me that wants to wring the neck of this writer? Could he sound any more like a Canuck hater? Yeah we aren't the stacked Blackhawks, but cmon! But everything he's said is true. This team is playing bad, no other way around this glaring fact. It's not about hating this or that, it's just a summary of the team, wrapped in some unnecessarily mean-spirited words. Did you happen to watch the Chicago game, when they posted all the Canucks players on lengthy goal droughts? It's shocking, and no team can make the playoffs with that much lack of production. We'll see if they can turn it around soon, but I'm doubtful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davydgoliath Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 2 hours ago, TheOgRook said: Is it only me that wants to wring the neck of this writer? Could he sound any more like a Canuck hater? Yeah we aren't the stacked Blackhawks, but cmon! I totally agree. I could have done without his patronizing of anyone who disagrees with him about the so called "loser point". To be fair most ESPN hockey "experts" know about as much about hockey as they do about cricket. Grain of salt required for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RonMexico Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 1 hour ago, TOMapleLaughs said: The NHL as a league appears to be downgrading. The so-called NHL's best player Sidney Crosby is struggling. The cap has made teams soft and full of AHL-type project players. Points system-driven parity is the only thing that makes bad teams look decent. I think Crosby's scoring woes are due to the team having to play more defensive because of the cap. We'll find out now since they just fired everyone if it was coaching related or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean Monahan Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 3 hours ago, hatedkid666 said: basically the Los Angeles Kings acting out the NHL's version of that "How many five-year-olds could you take in a fight?" meme. I lol'd at that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmilyM Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 Will have a very close eye on Edmonton game tonight. A win for them tonight bumps us right out of playoff position with equal number of games played. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Honky Cat Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 2 hours ago, EmilyM said: Will have a very close eye on Edmonton game tonight. A win for them tonight bumps us right out of playoff position with equal number of games played. It's just a matter of time before they overtake the Canucks...The Oilers have a skilled group of players entering their prime...I fully expect the Canucks to be near to the bottom of the Western Conference by the end of this road trip (not through lack of effort,but a glaring lack of depth at key positions). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbdoubleu Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 I don't see us keeping pace in the Pacific right now. LA Calgary San Jose/Edmonton/Arizona Anaheim Canucks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alfstonker Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 We have too many good players to be bad. At what point does he acknowledge the key personnel injuries or the rookies who are still finding their way? Sorry, we ARE a good team imo and I will continue to believe that until we get all our injured players back after that no one will even doubt it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alfstonker Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 8 minutes ago, Honky Cat said: It's just a matter of time before they overtake the Canucks...The Oilers have a skilled group of players entering their prime...I fully expect the Canucks to be near to the bottom of the Western Conference by the end of this road trip (not through lack of effort,but a glaring lack of depth at key positions). If you "fully expect" that, why do you rip on them at every opportunity? That's like thrashing a horse with 3 legs because it doesn't win and that's what we are just now until we start getting injured players back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheOgRook Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 3 hours ago, Canucks Prophet said: But everything he's said is true. This team is playing bad, no other way around this glaring fact. It's not about hating this or that, it's just a summary of the team, wrapped in some unnecessarily mean-spirited words. Did you happen to watch the Chicago game, when they posted all the Canucks players on lengthy goal droughts? It's shocking, and no team can make the playoffs with that much lack of production. We'll see if they can turn it around soon, but I'm doubtful. Don't get me wrong. I'm not denying our "badness". I was pointing out that the writer clearly has an axe to grind. We are what we are. A middle of the road team retooling for the future. My question.. Did he write this same article when all the east teams were floating into the playoffs due to the mediocrity of their respective division? And did he go out of the way to trash the team? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bagofcats Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 31 minutes ago, alfstonker said: We have too many good players to be bad. At what point does he acknowledge the key personnel injuries or the rookies who are still finding their way? Sorry, we ARE a good team imo and I will continue to believe that until we get all our injured players back after that no one will even doubt it. What good players? Aside from the Sedins and Hansen, nobody has been playing well. If you're implying we have a skilled top-six and a solid top-four then imo, you're mistaken sir. If they're not playing well, they aren't good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Lock Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 lol This article's like reading a random CDC thread. I only got through the first sentence to see how poorly written it already was. Rule #1: don't assume everyone agrees with you. I stopped reading after he did that as, to me, that lost any creditability as a journalist he might have had. I didn't agree with him so why should I read further? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.