Gurn Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 Just wondering: Are the Canucks' play off chances better if a couple of North teams really stink this year and sink to the bottom; or if the teams are relatively even throughout the year? It seems apparent that Ottawa is going to be terrible this year so everyone should win at least their season series against them. But this leads to a lot of points, for a lot of teams. If you count Ottawa out, then 6 teams are fighting for 4 spots. If you figure Toronto to be the best team, that leaves 5 teams fighting for 3 spots. Would you rather have the remaining 5 teams be very close all year or hope for a bit of separation and have 2 teams at the top, one at the bottom and now 4 teams fighting for 2 spots or 5 teams fighting for 3 spots? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
higgyfan Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 Like the past year, it will be up to Covid-19 to decide. Right now, the players are in much larger bubbles than what they faced during the P/Os. Whichever team(s) get through this season unscathed will be the most successful. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BCNate Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 We have played everyone other than the leafs so far. We are better than ottawa for sure. The jets and oilers don’t scare me at all, I think we are a better team than both of them. I think Calgary is on a similar level, and Montreal is a bit better than us. I see us as the 3rd or 4th best team in the division. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ImConfused Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 Canucks win North Division Canucks defeat everyone in playoffs Canucks hoist Stanley Cup This. IS. Our. Year!!! 1 1 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostsof1915 Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 Let's take it one game at a time. And just improve each game if possible. There's going to be games where everything just goes wrong. On those games. Don't dwell on it, learn from it. I'm not looking a percentages, or any statistics. I just look at the next game. BTW, the playoffs don't happen until May. It might be a short season, but there's still a lots of hockey to be played. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-AJ- Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 I think the North has a pretty weak chance of going deep. While I think the bottom of the North (5th/6th, not 7th) is one of the strongest of all four divisions, I think the top two are probably the weakest top two. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rindiculous Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 (edited) I’d much rather have the Canucks pull away at the top and then who the &^@# cares what else goes on. This road trip however could really change the tide of this season. If we win all 5 games against Toronto and Montreal, not likely, but still very possible, we’d likely be 7 points clear of second in the division. That is a pretty ridiculous lead this far into the season. Edited January 31, 2021 by Rindiculous 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IBatch Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 4 minutes ago, Rindiculous said: I’d much rather have the Canucks pull away at the top and then who the &^@# cares what else goes on. This road trip however could really change the tide of this season. If we win all 5 games against Toronto and Montreal, not likely, but still very possible, we’d likely be 7 points clear of second in the division. That is a pretty ridiculous lead this far into the season. So kind of like last season .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dm_ranger Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 Great question. Do we want the top 1-2 teams (assuming we are not one of them) to run away with it and suppress the competition allowing us to grab 3rd? Hard to hope for Habs or Leafs to actually win games, but as a strategy it makes sense. I think we are rounding back into form, but I am not yet convinced we can be the top of the North. Yep, great question because saying yes actually helps us, but the cost, oh the cost of cheering for those two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Lock Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 (edited) Given these teams that would theoretically "stink and sink to the bottom" would be playing nothing but each other, I don't see that being a scenario. That being said, I think it's going to be a highly competitive division, but I also think that the Canucks are one of those competitive teams. Outside of Ottawa being bad, I don't really even know who will end up 1st overall in the division at this point. Toronto and Montreal are off to good starts, but it's only 10 games in and things could shift pretty quickly. To answer the question though, I don't really have a preference, although I do think no matter what, it's going to feel like playoff hockey even during the season given how much we play the other teams. Given that, I think we'll be as ready as needed for the playoffs no matter what scenario (provided we make the playoffs of course). Edited January 31, 2021 by The Lock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herberts Vasiljevs Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 I can't stress how important it was to beat the Jets last night and to reverse the narrative. I like our chances a whole lot better now. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slegr Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 As much as I love the games this season against other Canadian teams, I can't help but notice we did get a bit screwed over. For the past several years, while we were rebuilding, many of the southwestern teams hammered us on a nightly basis. Now they're rebuilding, and we're ready to start winning. If you look at the West division (filled with our old Pacific Division rivals), so many of the teams are horrible this year - LA, Anaheim, Arizona, San Jose. We would have easily found ourselves in the post-season this year. Now in the North division, we still stand a fairly good chance, but it will be close. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RU SERIOUS Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 According to the so called Toronto TSN experts at the beginning of the season: Dreger predicted 6th Button predicted 5th Poulin predicted 6th O'Neill predicted 3rd in our division. I predict 3rd as well. (Unless L.E. slots back in the line up - in which case we'll end up dead last.) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 Other than OTT, the remaining teams are quite compatible. Canucks have a poor start, but improved a lot within last week. MON/TOR have good start, but later I don't know. If we could gain 6-7 points in the coming 5 games, we have a good opportunity entering playoff. I still worry the injuries which always happen in Feb / Mar. In conclusion, I predict Canucks would be 2nd or 3rd of the division. GO CANUCKS GO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ImConfused Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 8 hours ago, -AJ- said: I think the North has a pretty weak chance of going deep. That's what she said? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TNucks1 Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 36 minutes ago, ImConfused said: That's what she said? didnt recognize you without the giant emoji pic. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mll Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 5 hours ago, Slegr said: As much as I love the games this season against other Canadian teams, I can't help but notice we did get a bit screwed over. For the past several years, while we were rebuilding, many of the southwestern teams hammered us on a nightly basis. Now they're rebuilding, and we're ready to start winning. If you look at the West division (filled with our old Pacific Division rivals), so many of the teams are horrible this year - LA, Anaheim, Arizona, San Jose. We would have easily found ourselves in the post-season this year. Now in the North division, we still stand a fairly good chance, but it will be close. I actually think Vancouver would have a tougher time in the West. Canucks are not particularly strong defensively and are top heavy so it just feels like that division wouldn’t speak to their strength. It’s a pretty strong defensive division while the North has probably the weakest defense. Looks harder to score in the West and not sure if skilled guys can keep their level of production playing only in that heavier division. LA was one of the better teams to end last season btw. So far LA has split their games vs Colorado and StLouis. Anaheim shouldn't have been that bad - they have a lot of good players who had a down season. Colorado only got 1pt in 2 games vs Anaheim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TNucks1 Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 depening on our injurys i could see us being the 3rd/4th Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaimito Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 (edited) 14 hours ago, -AJ- said: I think the North has a pretty weak chance of going deep. While I think the bottom of the North (5th/6th, not 7th) is one of the strongest of all four divisions, I think the top two are probably the weakest top two. With the new format, a North div team is guaranteed to be in the conference finals. That is going deep in any other year unless you insist on only making it to SCF as deep. Edited February 1, 2021 by Jaimito Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junkyard Dog Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 This division is so weak defensively save for the Flames and the Habs. Flames don’t have as good of an offence as everyone else though. Habs have the least amount of faults. Jets/Canucks/Oilers/Leafs all play an offensive game while giving up a bit defensively(some a lot more than others). Nothing really to say about the Sens. They have my pity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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