Vancouver Canucks Offseason Blueprint for Change Part 4

January 7, 2012 marked a very critical day for the Vancouver Canucks. It was the official Stanley Cup final rematch between the heated rivals Boston Bruins and the visiting Vancouver Canucks.

Many people knew the game would be highly anticipated, and very emotional for both sides. However, nobody knew that game was the turning point of the season for the Canucks. The team, as Mike Gillis has pointed out, never recovered from the 4-3 victory in Boston with Cory Schneider winning the game.

Let's break down what happened after the rendez-vous in Boston occurred. The Canucks scored three power-play goals against the Bruins. After that, the team finished with merely two power-play goals for the rest of January. That was a stretch of eight games to finish off the month.

When the team returned from the All-Star break, it continued to struggle, posting zero power-play tallies in the next three games against the Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings, and Colorado Avalanche. Finally, on February 7, the power play clicked for one goal during a game in Nashville.

What happened to the rest of February? Two more power-play goals in the entire month. That's three goals registered on the man advantage in a month.

In March, there were four games where the Canucks scored on the power play. In those four games, six PPGs were scored.

In April, in a span of three games to finish off the regular season, the Canucks score two powerplay goals.Those came in the final game of the year against the Edmonton Oilers.

As a result, the Canucks No.1 ranked PP fell to No.6 in the NHL by the end of the year.

The Canucks' players, coaches, management staff and fans know the importance of capitalizing on the power play when the team gets them.

In the playoffs against the L.A. Kings, the Canucks not only failed to score on the power play for the first three games of the series, they allowed two short-handed goals in Game 2. With no contribution from the power play, the Canucks were always chasing on the score sheet, and the team sagged in confidence.

Los Angeles scored one power play goal in each of the first two games played in Vancouver, and it became crucial in a low-scoring, tight-checking series. In a way, Roberto Luongo may not have been pulled from the crease if the Canucks fared a little bit better on the special teams early on.

What should happen in the offseason to address the ineffective power play?

First, if the team tries to look for answers, there must be an added presence in front of the goalie on the power play. On the first unit, the Canucks plug Ryan Kesler in front of the crease, and the second unit is usually a merry-go-round in terms of personnel.

This offseason, forwards Alexander Semin—a skilled sniper—becomes available out of Washington. The Canucks should do everything they can to add the talented Russian despite rumours spread by former teammate, Matt Bradley, suggesting he doesn't care.

Semin proved himself in the playoffs with three gigantic goals for the Capitals in a low-scoring seven game stretch against the defending champion Boston Bruins. Semin tallied two goals on the power play, consisting of 66.7% of the PPGs for Washington.

Another supporting figure who could be valuable on July 1 may be Kristian Huselius of the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Swedish forward was hampered by injury this past season, however, he is at his best on the power play having registered 14 power-play goals in 2006-07, and a six-time 20-goal scorer in 10 NHL seasons.

If the Canucks have an opportunity to bring in a big bodied force to block the goaltender's vision, veteran Ryan Smyth may become available if the Oilers go in a different direction to build their youthful lineup, and big power forward Dustin Penner will enter the UFA market also.

Depending on the availability, Shane Doan of the Phoenix Coyotes, Teemu Selanne of the Anaheim Ducks and Zach Parise of the New Jersey Devils round out the list of potential help for the Canucks 5-on-4 offensive attack.

Mike Gillis has to make a move to complement his two best players in the Sedin twins. If they are able to give them some help on the first or second power-play unit, the opponents will be forced to back off and give the Canucks more space. If that happens, that is when the Sedins are on top form.

In the final sequel of the five part series on Canucks Offseason Blueprint to Change, the topic of discussion will be about the Canucks coaching staff or the team's style of play.

In case you missed it earlier:

Part 1 of Offseason Blueprint to Change on Changing the Player Personnel.

Part 2 of Offseason Blueprint to Change on Increasing Team Toughness.

Part 3 of Offseason Blueprint to Change on Addressing the Blue Line.