Question Time: What is the Problem with Vancouver?
Mike's question this week again focuses on my team the Vancouver Canucks and our currently shocking run of form, the question reads "The Vancouver Canucks have lost their last three games. Is this an Olympic hangover or are there deeper problems in BC?" This will be a tricky one for me to answer, particularly as I don't wish to incur the wrath of my fellow fans! But anyway, away we go!
So far the Canucks are currently on a run that makes last season's 3rd place finish in the Western Conference seem like a beautiful dream, and currently our winning record stands at just one win from a possible 12 games! But the biggest question is what exactly causing this slump? In December we recorded an impressive 7 consecutive wins and after a slow start things appeared to be picking themselves up.
The Olympic Hangover hasn't helped us, but I wouldn't point the blame squarely at this because there seems to have been a far worse problems growing within the walls of the Rogers Arena. Team morale seems to have plummeted and our star players don't seem able to life the side like before and our scoring record has diminished because of this. Henrik Sedin this season has suffered a loss of form and hasn't seemed the capable leader he has been the last couple of seasons, though Daniel Sedin has continued his fine scoring record, but losing him to an upper body injury will severely affect our season. Also rumours have been flying about Ryan Kesler's impending departure and his discontent playing for Vancouver- on trade deadline day, it seemed set we would lose him, but miraculously he remains a Canuck!
Our poor defence hasn't helped our cause either and our currently goals allowed figure stands at 149 scored and after our shocking 6-1 away to Dallas, it is clear cut that we are lacking a definitive presence at the back! Alex Edler, Kevin Bieksa and Jason Garrison have done well, but unlike our 2011 cup final team, we are lacking the experience of D-Men like Keith Ballard or Christian Ehrhoff and it is frustrating that Gillis didn't look to bring in more defensive cover during the trade deadline and instead focused solely on getting rid of Luongo!
My personal opinion of the cause of the Canucks crisis falls squarely on one man- John Tortorella! I know it is unfair to shoulder the blame on just one man but who else there is culpable? GM Mike Gillis has made a pigs ear of our player trades in the past- he may have finally offloaded Roberto Luongo, but his failure to bring in more experienced cover hasn't done him any favours. Tortorella however, has failed to elevate our performance and we have fallen so far since last season that the team just isn't recognisable and there seems to be a permanent air of gloom around the players on the ice.
His failure to raise our game has come as a surprise to many because in spite of whatever shortcomings he may have shown as his time as Rangers boss, Tortorella was normally a big feature of the playoffs. This season our hopes of reaching our Stanley Cup goal are looking especially sparse, and we have to ask ourselves, do we really still want this man in charge of our team? But sacking everyone doesn't always solve the problem, JT is going to have dig deep to find something because the people of British Columbia love their team.
So far the Canucks are currently on a run that makes last season's 3rd place finish in the Western Conference seem like a beautiful dream, and currently our winning record stands at just one win from a possible 12 games! But the biggest question is what exactly causing this slump? In December we recorded an impressive 7 consecutive wins and after a slow start things appeared to be picking themselves up.
The Olympic Hangover hasn't helped us, but I wouldn't point the blame squarely at this because there seems to have been a far worse problems growing within the walls of the Rogers Arena. Team morale seems to have plummeted and our star players don't seem able to life the side like before and our scoring record has diminished because of this. Henrik Sedin this season has suffered a loss of form and hasn't seemed the capable leader he has been the last couple of seasons, though Daniel Sedin has continued his fine scoring record, but losing him to an upper body injury will severely affect our season. Also rumours have been flying about Ryan Kesler's impending departure and his discontent playing for Vancouver- on trade deadline day, it seemed set we would lose him, but miraculously he remains a Canuck!
Our poor defence hasn't helped our cause either and our currently goals allowed figure stands at 149 scored and after our shocking 6-1 away to Dallas, it is clear cut that we are lacking a definitive presence at the back! Alex Edler, Kevin Bieksa and Jason Garrison have done well, but unlike our 2011 cup final team, we are lacking the experience of D-Men like Keith Ballard or Christian Ehrhoff and it is frustrating that Gillis didn't look to bring in more defensive cover during the trade deadline and instead focused solely on getting rid of Luongo!
My personal opinion of the cause of the Canucks crisis falls squarely on one man- John Tortorella! I know it is unfair to shoulder the blame on just one man but who else there is culpable? GM Mike Gillis has made a pigs ear of our player trades in the past- he may have finally offloaded Roberto Luongo, but his failure to bring in more experienced cover hasn't done him any favours. Tortorella however, has failed to elevate our performance and we have fallen so far since last season that the team just isn't recognisable and there seems to be a permanent air of gloom around the players on the ice.
His failure to raise our game has come as a surprise to many because in spite of whatever shortcomings he may have shown as his time as Rangers boss, Tortorella was normally a big feature of the playoffs. This season our hopes of reaching our Stanley Cup goal are looking especially sparse, and we have to ask ourselves, do we really still want this man in charge of our team? But sacking everyone doesn't always solve the problem, JT is going to have dig deep to find something because the people of British Columbia love their team.
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