Vancouver Canucks Struggle, Is Anyone To Blame?

(Photo by Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images)

Written By: Mark “The Hard Hitter” Ritter

If you thought things were bad in Leafland, just ask Vancouver Canucks fans how their season is going, and you’ll feel a whole lot better.

Presently, the Canucks are sitting at 0-3 (which is killing my Red Hot Pick’s by the way!). Clearly, the Canucks and their fans expected much more from a team that is favored to contend for the Stanley Cup, this is not the start to the season that they envisioned.

To be fair, from all accounts, the Canucks' offseason went extremely well. General Manager Mike Gillis pulled off a trifecta in the offseason, inking the Sedin Twins to a pair of $30.5 million contracts over five years and then went out and signed goaltender Roberto Luongo to a 12-year, $64 million deal.

For all intents and purposes, everything looked rosy and sweet for the Canucks, it was a dream summer, many of the “experts” were picking Vancouver to represent the Western Conference in the Stanley Cup finals and the preseason was a huge success.

So, what gives? Why are the Canucks 0-3 at this point?

Winning and losing often starts and ends with good goaltending or lack-thereof. Through three games, Luongo has struggled mightily, currently boasting an 0-3 record, 4.55 goals against average and a horrific .820 save percentage. Heck, Canucks backup “Red Light” (Andrew) Raycroft has a better Save Percentage than Luongo!

Last night, the Canucks outshot the Columbus Blue Jackets 43-24 and still came out on the short end of the stick. Unlike in Toronto where Vesa Toskala has been unfairly fingered as the reason for the Leafs’ 0-2 start, Luongo has been the source of many of the Canucks troubles and, as such, deserves the bashing he is receiving at the moment.

Lost in all the hoop-la this offseason was the departure of veteran defenseman Mattias Ohlund. Could it be that the Loss of Ohlund was bigger than the Canucks organization thought it would be?

The removal of Ohlund from the lineup was liable to bite the Canucks in the butt at some point this season, perhaps this 0-3 start is representative of the growing pains that the Canucks will have to suffer through until someone steps up to take the leadership role that Ohlund fulfilled on the Canucks blueline?

Ohlund ate up a ton of minutes last season and he has continued that trend, averaging well over 26 minutes a game with the Tampa Bay Lightening. Combine that with the fact that Ohlund was quite possibly the Canucks best all-around defenseman last season and you have a huge void you have to fill and, quite possibly, have failed to do so.

Of course, outside of the departure of Ohlund, there are other lingering issues for the Canucks.

The Canucks Penalty Kill is plodding along at 58.3 percent, which ranks the Canucks 25th overall. When you consider the firepower the Canucks have up front, the Power Play has been rather ordinary, sitting at a 20 percent success rate, which ranks the Canucks 16th overall.

Clearly, there are other players who need to share the blame for the Canucks first three losses. To date, Mason Raymond has zero points, Mikael Samuelsson has a -4 rating, Daniel Sedin has zero goals, defenseman Sami Salo has a -4 rating, fellow defenseman Alexander Edler has a -3 rating, Kyle Wellwood has one shot on goal, and Ryan Kessler has no goals and a -3 rating.

Much like the Leafs, things can only get better for the Canucks. That said, in the ultra-tough Western Conference, it is imperative that the Canucks nip this losing streak in the butt before it gets any uglier.

Up next? The Canucks face the surging Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday night, followed by tilts against the Dallas Stars on Sunday and the Calgary Flames the following Friday. Perhaps the long layoff will do the Canucks good next week. Something has to give, they are just too a good a team to be this bad.

Until next time,

Peace!

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