Let's all take a step back and look how far the team has come along.

[6string]

I posted my preseason expectations here and that was a healthy Canuck team are a playoff team.

 

The opening losses to the 2 smelly Albertan teams along with two blown leads to Washington and Pittsburg are my low points.

 

Benning ( aside from Erikkson ) has done his part with more to come.

 

 

[Fanuck]

15 hours ago, TheNewGM said:

 The power play still does the same ridiculous pass back to enter the O-zone almost every single time. 

We have the 4th best ranked PP in the league right now. 

[smokes]

After yesterday, I'll keep my faith as long as Markstrom is re-signed and Demko is allowed to ride the pine for at least a couple more seasons.

[xereau]

7 hours ago, NUCKER67 said:

Hughes does provide quite a bit of offence, but his D-game suffers at times. He needs to be paired with a very steady defensive Dman IMO. When they had that 6-3 lead in the 3rd, they continued to take chances with the offence and didn't shut 'er down with good defence. Imagine if Crosby was healthy. This team has a ways to go, to figure out how to close games. I watch Malkin dominating, willing goals left and right when it counts. I'm not sure we have that type of player yet. Pettersson is real good, but he can also improve. The stars expected to win games for the Canucks are still young, they'll need time to learn, develop their game.

 

What happened with Goldobin? I thought he was one of the better Canucks in the 1st (PIT), when the rest of the team did nothing. They couldn't even muster a shot on net. But Goldobin was trying, he was battling along boards and forechecking, he was doing some good things. And then I notice he's on the 4th line with Schaller and Graovac. Going to be tough for Goldobin to make this team with Green as coach. 

 

Imagine if Green had rolled four lines and not exhausted 2 of those 3 before the collapse? Imagine. Shortening the bench was silly.

[theo5789]

3 hours ago, TheNewGM said:

Yes its fast paced. I play Goal, have played hundreds of games, with far less skilled players, and I have NEVER had any of my D-men crash into me.. Never.. a Defensemans job is to clear the zone OUTSIDE OF MY CREASE, because thats where I cannot do anything to clear rebounds or bodies..

 

If our D-men just stood outside the crease and swung their stick instead of trying to play my position stopping the puck with their feet or whatever it would work out alot better. Thats coaching.. or something FFS!@

Well I guess the league you play in must be better than the NHL because I've seen it happen many times over many teams. The dmen are not stationary and have to keep mobile to contain the movement of the forwards and sometimes the opposition simply does a good job pulling you out of position (something likely the far less skilled players are capable of doing). I'm positive coaches don't tell the players to bump into their goaltenders. The play that you speaking of though, even had Myers not bumped into Demko, it was going to be a hard stop to make regardless.

[theo5789]

2 minutes ago, xereau said:

Imagine if Green had rolled four lines and not exhausted 2 of those 3 before the collapse? Imagine. Shortening the bench was silly.

I don't think Schaller - Graovac - Goldobin would've done much to contain the Malkin line and had we rolled 4 lines, you can bet that Pittsburgh would be all over trying the get the Malkin line against them at any chance they could get. This is where being out 5 regulars is always going to hurt a team and especially hard to play against players like Ferland, Motte and Roussel and also Sutter and Beagle for possession off draws.

[xereau]

13 minutes ago, theo5789 said:

I don't think Schaller - Graovac - Goldobin would've done much to contain the Malkin line and had we rolled 4 lines, you can bet that Pittsburgh would be all over trying the get the Malkin line against them at any chance they could get. This is where being out 5 regulars is always going to hurt a team and especially hard to play against players like Ferland, Motte and Roussel and also Sutter and Beagle for possession off draws.

They never would have, and those who did, would have been less tired.

[theo5789]

4 minutes ago, xereau said:

They never would have, and those who did, would have been less tired.

It's a road game. They had the matchup advantage. It is very unlikely that they would've never faced them unless we swap them on on the fly and pulled them right back off as soon as they put that line back on. That's not really rolling 4 lines still then.

[Nucksfollower1983]

 

[Bertuzzi44ever]

2 hours ago, NUCKER67 said:

It's a long season, it's only just over a quarter into it. The Canucks have been holding a playoff or wildcard spot basically since the season started. They've also done this without Roussel at all, and having Ferland, Sutter, Motte and  Beagle injured. Yet, they're still clinging to that playoff or wildcard spot. Things will get better, I feel they'll start winning a lot more games in the New Year, once everyone or most guys return. When this team is on, they're very tough to beat. They better turn it on in the second half though, if they want to see playoffs.  

Don’t you realize that all teams are without players all the time.

 

why are people always pretending we’re he only team without star players. Those guys aren’t even stars. They’re integral parts of the team but Marner dahlin Bergeron Crosby those are just some names out right now would you rather have horvat and Petterson our or the ones we have now? Glass half full....but yeah we’re in a playoff spot but it’s only because of our division. We’ve lost more then we’ve won! We actually only have a combined 9 wins in overtime and regulation in 26 games and for of those 9 were to the two worst teams in each conference. La and Detroit. We beat the caps and blues which were the best teams in shootouts (old times) and those teams beat us as well this year the second time.

 

 

to me I will cheer and have faith that some day it will change. 

 

I just dont think his defense will do the trick. Again I ask the question How many great dmen do we have? Honestly.

 

we can hope Juolevi figures it out, woo excels and tryamkin comes back 

[Bertuzzi44ever]

5 hours ago, JayDangles said:

You're right, every team has injuries... But remember, injuries are a double sided coin... it's 1 side to lose a player, the other side is "who is replacing them"

Yes, Pens lost Crosby, but they have some strong guys able to step in and fill his roll, sort of.

 

Who is stepping in to fill Ferlands aggressive roll? No one

Who is stepping in to fill Beagles Pk shut down roll? No one

Who is stepping in to fill Sutters pk shut down roll? Gaudette, but lacking defensive prowess and faceoffs

Who is stepping in to fill Roussels agitator roll? No one

Who is stepping in to fill Motte's energy roll? Give you a hint, it's not Erickson.... its no one

 

So yes, other teams have injuries, but the Canucks injuries are felt double hard because (Warning sweet rhyme coming) we only have bodies to fill holes... not rolls. 

 

You make a valid point but then where does the blame go? At the end of your point you point to depth, or lack thereof rather then Luck due to injuries. Personally I don’t think the penguins are that deep at forward last night, outside makkin and guentzel.

 

i mean every team has a group of great forwards, your suggesting that our bottton 6 forwArds are a bigger loss then Sidney Crosby who is a hart trophy winner? Come on. 

[Crabcakes]

On 11/28/2019 at 7:52 AM, Warhippy said:

I've said it for the last 3 ish years.

 

This team won't be a playoff threat until 2020-2021and I have and will stand by that.

 

A bubble team this year with a lottery chance.  But next year is where we leave excuses at the door.

Absolutely, this is a learning curve year.  Just to remind people, the Canucks blew an even bigger lead v St Louis Washington earlier this season.  Consistent play, holding on to leads, how to win when they don't have their good stuff and other things are part of a learning process.  This is normal.  Please, nobody start jumping off any bridges.

Edited November 30, 2019 by Crabcakes

[Bure2Win]

12 hours ago, Duodenum said:

People are losing faith again this year due to a run of really poor play over pretty much the entire month of November minus a couple games. Injuries mounted up once again as well and have exposed our poor winger depth. 

 

It's been the same storybook for years. The same rah rah posts have been made every year the past 4 years around this time when the team starts to free-fall down the standings. 

 

If the Canucks want to show how much they've changed, then do it on the ice. The way they've been manhandled recently, I'm starting to lose faith myself. 

 

Haha this is a really controversial post apparently 

 

 

This pretty much sums it up, thanks for saving me the time to post....lol

[fanfor42]

18 hours ago, ruilin96 said:

There have been a significant amount of negativity among the Canucks fanbase all across the internet recently. Not going to lie, the Canucks are not good lately. They have trouble winning games and lately, they seem to find ways to lose games. However, in this post, let's take a step back and see how far this team has come over the past few seasons.

 

Let's go back to the dreadful 2016-17 season. For the Canucks, that was a miserable season. The Canucks finished the year with a record of 30-43-9 by a total of 69 points. It was a terrible season for many reasons. Personally, I remember watching the Canucks got shut-out in 3 straight games; watching depth players/AHL regular players such as Megna, Chaput, Skille, Cramarossa etc. taking up regular roster spots. The team as a whole generated very little value in terms of entertainment. Bo Horvat was the only bright spot on the roster that season (although Boeser join the team very late in the season, but at that point he is still more of an unknown at the NHL level). In comparison to many other teams top-star young players, Bo wasn't quite at their level (this is to no disrespect of Bo). There were also some younger players on the bubble such Sven Baertchi, Markus Granlund and Troy Stecher etc. that were on our roster, and the fanbase really hope atleast 1 or 2 of these players will be able to take that next step and be a consistent top 6 forward or top 4 defenceman at the NHL level. That season, the Canucks finished 2nd last in the NHL. If it wasn't for a historically bad season from an extremely underachieved Colorado Avalanche, the Canucks, likely finished last overall. The narrative at the end of the season was, the Canucks need to rebuild. The Canucks need to "play the kids." Many fans wanted players such as Goldobin, Gaudette, Demko etc. to be given a roster spot as soon as next season, because we want to "play the kids."

 

The 2017-18 season was a slight improvement record wise in comparison to the 2016-17 season. The Canucks finished the season with a record of 31-40-11, improving by only 4 points (only 1 more win) in comparison to the pervious season, the overall sentiment among the fanbase is very different. That year, we saw a young rookie by the name of Brock Boeser coming into the league, took the NHL by surprise, scoring 29 goals in 62 games and finished 2nd place in the Calder Trophy voting; on top of that, it was fun watching Boeser being named to the NHL All-Stars, winning the accuracy shooting contest among the best shooters in the league and adding an All-Star MVP title to his belt. Although the Canucks finished with a very similar overall record than the previous year and only winning 1 more game, it did felt like the Canucks have won more than just that. In fact, as I was suprised to find that the Canucks only won 1 more game than they did in 2016-17 because it felt like we won atleast 5 more. Again at the end of the season, knowing that the Sedins will retire, the fanbase once again wanted to inject more youth into the line-up. More younger players in the line up the better. And I have read posts stating roster spots should be "given" to the kids as soon as next season.

 

The 2018-19 season was the first season since 1999-2000 season we will not see a pair of familiar and identical faces on our roster. Most sources projected the Canucks to be one of the teams to finish absolute last in the league. Where will the goals come from without the Sedins? What was Jim Benning doing signing players like Jay Beagle and Antoine Roussel? And last season, we witness the debut of our very own and very special player, Elias Pettersson. Pettersson stormed out of the gates with 10 goals in his first 10 career games and carried onto have a signifcant rookie campaign. Pettersson brought in something the fanbase desperately needed argubly since 2011 - that is hope. The Canucks were fighting for a wildcard spot for the majority of the season until the wheels finally fell off near the end of the year. The team was playing meaningful games and took a major step forward. We start to see the development of a new core group of players.

 

Here we are today, almost 2 months into the 2019-2020 season, the Canucks are still currently sitting in a playoff spot. They have played some games where they look absolutely amazing, dominating the opponent from start to finish and we also have seen some very terrible efforts like the ones we have seen recently. However, there is one thing we have to realize is we have got our wish. We are playing the kids in the line-up. The current top 5 scorers on the Canucks are: Pettersson (31 pts in 26 GP), Miller (26 pts in 26 GP), Boeser (24 pts in 26 GP), Hughes (21 pts in 25 GP) and Horvat (20 pts in 26 GP). Four of the top 5 scorers on the team are young players drafted and developed by the club and they are the ones leading the charge. We have finally got what we wished for line-up wise: a team consist of a core made up of Pettersson, Boeser, Horvat and Hughes with Thatcher Demko getting some quality back-up goaltender games in net. This has been the type of line-up we have all been hoping for in years. The torched has been passed, Bo is now the new captain of the team (another thing the fans wanted for a long time). This team is now at the hands of these "kids" we have always hoped to see in the line-up. And they are the best players on the team, and they are leading the charge.

 

However, we have to remember, these players are still young and with young players, it comes with excitement, and with young players, it also comes with inconsistencies. We have to understand that just because they are in the line-up now and they are putting up good numbers statistically, it doesn't mean they do not have deficiencies in their games.  We will have to understand that there will be stretches (like the one we currently have right now) where the team is not very good. And we will also have stretches when the team is very dominant (like what we had in October). Regardless, this team is now at the hands of the young players. We either sink or swim with them, and whereever this team finish in the standings, it depends on them. For this very reason, I think the Canucks have made a giant leap forward this season. The young players have shown what they are capable of when they are on their game, and they give us glimpses what it could be for years to come. We just have to be patient and show support and tolerence when the team does not perform well in stretches.

 

Our best players are still under-25, which means there are still room for them to improve. It took Mackinnon 4 full seasons in the NHL before he broke out in his 5th season and become the player he is now; it took Leon Draisaitl the same number of seasons before he is who he is today. What is very encouraging is that Pettersson seems to be well-ahead of Mackinnon was when he was at the same age and I can't wait to see what Pettersson can be in 2 years time. Brock Boeser is getting a lot of flack from the fanbase right now (yet he is still scoring at 24 pts in 26 GP rate), however, who is to say isn't a more complete player and dynamite goal scorer in 2 years? Bo Horvat is the new captain and put a lot on his shoulders and has been improving every year. Quinn Huges is an absolute suprise as if one were to tell me that Hughes gets 21 points in his first 25 games before the start of the season, I would not have believed them and here we are, his career just got started. Wonder how much he better he can be by the time he is 25? Demko had a fantastic start but had 2 rough games lately, but he had shown many signs of a future #1 goalie and he will learn from the bad games he played.

 

Our fantastic October had led to us to believe that the Canucks has "arrived." November is more of a reality check and market correction of where the team is at overall. We are not contenders, atleast, not yet. We can't expect the team to go in and dominate every game like an elite cup contender would. Hopefully, we will get there one day. The Canucks are still a work in progress, but we have came a long way since the end of the 2016-17 season. No more are we watching Michael Chaput, Jayson Megna, Jack Skille and Philip Larsen etc. Instead we get to see Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser, JT Miller and Quinn Hughes on a nightly bases. We have came a long way. This team is much more entertaining to watch than the team we had 3 seasons ago, and over the course of the last 3 seasons, the team is icing a more exciting team to watch each year. I will always get behind this team and cheer them on.

 

 

The future is here, let's enjoy the ride from peaks and valleys together, Go Canucks Go! 

What a bunch of clap trap. (That's an old timey term meaning garbage or nonsense).

 

The only way this team is ever going to get over the hump and win a cup is if the fan base demands it. In the 70s the fans were delighted just to have a team.

 

In the 80s there was the lucky 82 run and that was enough.  94 was enough in the 90's.  

 

2011 was close again. But no cigar.

 

Ok to get over the hump and win,  the fans need to demand it of their team,  their coaches and their management and ownership.  Enough is enough.  50 years of losing give me a break. I will not support anyone who says hey we are pretty good let's be happy and hold hands together and sing.  Nonsense!

 

I've had season tickets for too many years to accept crap any more. I demand a cup out of this team. Dammit.  I deserve it as a fan for 50 years and so does everyone else on this forum!!

[Guest]

11 hours ago, Duodenum said:

We just gonna keep using the same excuse every year? Somebody should've reminded Pittsburgh yesterday they were missing Bjugstad, Schultz, and Sidney freaking Crosby. 

 

Pittsburgh is a much much better and deeper team then the Canucks.  

They've made the playoffs in 13 straight years, and we've missed them 4 years in a row.  

You can spin it anyway you want to blame the coach though. 

[Master 112]

12 hours ago, Warhippy said:

I've said it for the last 3 ish years.

 

This team won't be a playoff threat until 2020-2021and I have and will stand by that.

 

A bubble team this year with a lottery chance.  But next year is where we leave excuses at the door.

This is pretty much where I was during the off-season in terms of my expectations- possible play-off berth this year followed by an opening window to contention through next season and into the one after it. I won't be upset if we miss this year and don't think it quite effects where I consider the team to be at much. The improvements we've made/are undergoing are palpable regardless.

 

Do I think we're a good team right now? No. But I haven't been under that impression for years. We're not far off where I thought we would be right now. And I definitely think we're on a clear upswing when thinking in seasons instead of in individual months.

Edited November 29, 2019 by 112

[PetterssonOrPeterson]

I think the early periods of success kind of spoiled the fanbase on expectations this year.

In reality, before the season started, this type of record is exactly what was predicted; a fringe playoff team.

This isn't a team capable of being a top 3 seed in the west. Yet.

 

This fanbase needs to realize how lucky they are to have players like Bo, Petey, Boes and Hughes leading the team.

Imagine being a Minnesota fan or even a Detroit fan for that matter. Our young core is miles ahead of those teams.

 

Petey is no Crosby where at age 21 he would lead us to the cup. 

Hughes is barely 20 and Brock is only 22. 

 

Good things will happen soon. 

 

 

 

[canuck2288]

We have the roster now. JB built a solid roster with depth. the roster has improved but Green hasn’t 

 

we do not have NHL caliber coaches 
 

we are wasting a potential start of a playoff window under Green, a guy that has done zip in his coaching career to support the arrogance he speaks with 

 

he can’t manage the roster, he can’t manage in game, he plays favourites

 

please fire him JB or he he will cost you your job 

 

 

[Jetliner]

It's ok. We win 2 games in a row and ppl will be happy and forget everything

[CanadianRugby]

14 hours ago, Me_ said:

Beagle

Roussel

Sutter

Ferland

 

Thats why. Lots of speed and nasty out of the lineup right now (no I’m not calling Sutter nasty).

 

Horrible excuse, 3 guys were in the lineup when we blew a 4 goal lead to Washington.