Canucks & Beyond

Time to Panic?

by Alanah McGinley on 02/15/08 at 05:09 PM ET
Comments (6)

February is a hockey fan’s worst headache—especially when their favorite team is on the bubble and experts start dispensing their wisdom.

Case in point, in Allan Muir’s mailbag on SI, a Canucks fan writes a panicked note:

I’ll admit it. I’m in full panic mode over my Canucks. I’m starting to think the playoffs are a longshot at best unless we add a big piece to the puzzle, and soon. What do you think of our chances?
-- Steve Joe, Sacramento

A Canucks fan in a panic is hardly news (that’s just what we do) but Muir’s response seems pretty over-the-top:

I think full panic is an appropriate state at this point, especially after that shootout loss to the Wild at home on Thursday night. Alexander Edler stole them a point with his late goal, but the Canucks needed two in the worst way.

Huh? Edler’s goal was a late one, but they hardly “stole” a point. They knocked out four goals (not an everyday event for this team) and played a pretty good game.

And as for panicking, I don’t get why. 24 games left, and only 2 points back of 6th place. I guess Muir feels 6th, 7th and 8th should be panicking, too?

I mean, Colorado & Calgary lose one, Canucks win one, and they’re suddenly in a 3-way tie for 6th place, for godsakes. Why panic?

But he does make one good point, that they need to play out the stretch strongly to pull this off. However…

Given that they’ve won just three of their last 10, I don’t like their chances to do that.

I like their chances just fine. They’ve had a crappy streak. And earlier in the season, they had a major winning streak (also missing a lot of players from the roster).

So I see no reason to assume that their recent record guarantees how the rest of the season plays out. But hey, I don’t have Muir’s crystal ball so maybe I’m missing something.

And sometimes it looks like coach Alain Vigneault is starting to out-think himself. Thursday night’s game against the Wild is a perfect example. In a must-win, why are Edler and Ryan Shannon, two rookies, your first two shooters? Seems to me that your go-to guys, players like Daniel Sedin and Markus Naslund, need to get the tap on the shoulder in a situation like that.

I won’t argue that Vigneault doesn’t make shaky decisions at times, but Thursday night’s shootout with the Wild is the worst example of that.

Alex Edler has not only had great mojo in the shoot outs he’s been in, he had an excellent game that night. And Shannon - same thing.

More to the point, a “go-to” guy in regular play is not necessarily a “go-to” guy in shootouts. Naslund and Sedin both have dismal records there; and Trevor Linden has an excellent one.

But everyone else on the team? Meh. All Vigneault can do is go with the hot hands.

All things considered, I see no reason to panic… yet.

Filed in: | Canucks and Beyond | Permalink
Tags: alex+edler, conference+standings, playoffs, ryan+shannon, shootouts,

Comments

I’m not panicking yet. But we will have to smarten up soon. The Preds and Flames will have to slump, cuz I don’t see the Avs going on a losing skid any time soon. Especially not with the return of Sakic on the horizon.
It’s amazing how much of a difference Willie Mitchell makes at the back end. He has that calming effect, like a good leader has. That’s the biggest reason why I’m not panicking. I will begin a panic mode if the 3 big money Swedes don’t step it up soon though.

Posted by Zanstorm from Smithers on 02/15/08 at 05:36 PM ET

Something is up with Luongo. He was hung out to dry on one of the goals, but a couple months ago he would have stole that game last night. Certainly not his fault they lost however.

I think the Canucks should be sellers. With much more focused checking vs. the Sedin’s in the playoffs the nucks would have a quick exit anyways.

Posted by Laker from Dapuddle on 02/15/08 at 06:23 PM ET

I agree with V’s choice to go with Edler, Linden, and Shannon.

All 3 have had good shootout results… Linden’s shot was a beuty, no less.

I think coaches need to go with the younger players in these shootouts. Guys from the old school are rougher, shooters with not much for tricks. But guys like Shannon can be a bit unpredictable.

Posted by LOUiE on 02/16/08 at 01:11 AM ET

Alanah, you should know better then to turn to SI as a resource! I don’t believe hockey is one of the sports they better, um, illustrate.

That said, I’m going to go ahead and disagree with ya. It is time to panic or, perhaps better stated, time to acknowledge this team composition simply isn’t getting it done. A loss tonight would put them three back from the NW basement and they effectively need to catch either the Wild, Flames, Avs or Predators while fending off the BJs and ‘Yotes (and let’s ignore the fact they are suddenly in a struggle with the mighty Columbus and Phoenix squads)! Even with a win tonight they aren’t showing the chemistry or consistency to suggest they can beat out the teams in front of them much less a probable first round opponent of Detroit or Anaheim.

Considering they entered this year with practically the exact same problems as they ended last year with, what happens if, in ten days at the trade deadline, this team is roughly in the same 9th or 10th place position? Wouldn’t you prefer they accept their fate this year, sell off what they can get and try and prepare for next year?

Posted by Mike from New York on 02/16/08 at 12:52 PM ET

block buster deals don’t (or RARELY do) happen at the trade deadline - they happen in the off season. So I wouldnt expect anything big from Nonis this year. He’s far too much of a ‘forward-thinker’ to pull of some trade-deadline shenanigans.

That said, I won’t be the least bit surprised if some serious movement happens in the off season.

Posted by LOUiE on 02/16/08 at 09:27 PM ET

That shootout comment shows Muir doesn’t follow this team too closely (which he can’t really be blamed for as a league writer, but he should at least have checked a few stats). Based on past history, I hope Naslund and Daniel Sedin are kept out of all shootouts. The shootout requires a drastically different mindset and set of skills than regular play, which is why Shannon, Linden and Edler are great at it and Naslund and Daniel aren’t.

Posted by Andrew Bucholtz from Kingston, ON on 02/18/08 at 06:20 PM ET

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About Canucks & Beyond

Alanah McGinley has been blogging hockey since 2003, sharing opinions, rants and not-so-deep thoughts with anyone who will listen. In addition to writing Canucks & Beyond and helping manage Kukla’s Korner, Alanah is one of the founders and co-hosts of The Crazy Canucks Podcast, as featured at Canucks.com.

She has contributed pieces to FoxSports.com and the New York Times Slapshot blog, as well as other stray destinations in cyberspace.

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