Vancouver Continues Success, Despite Low Scores

After a solid finish to the 2006-07 season, in which the Canucks went 32-6-6 in the second half after a stunningly poor 17-18-1 record to start off, most thought the Canucks would pick up right where they left off in their winning ways. 

Similarly to last season however, the Canucks started the season on a low note, losing 3-1 to the Sharks on route to a dismal 5-7 October record. Fortunately, Vancouver got back on pace a lot earlier than last season and followed up with a strong 9-2-2 November which ended with three straight shutouts by goalie Roberto Luongo.

Vancouver currently sits third in the Western Conference, tied with the SJ Sharks at 52 points. San Jose holds the second place due to a game in hand on the Canucks.

A strong November and December have compensated for the sub-par start and the Canucks now sit in the position that everyone expected them to—leading the Northwest Division and consequently owning one of the top three spots, reserved to the division leaders, in the West.

Despite the success, there are still obvious areas that need improvement—most notably scoring. The Canucks are currently 19th in goal scoring in the NHL, a stat made obnoxiously obvious after a 1-0 loss to the Oilers on Nov. 14 a game in which Luongo earned a shutout but lost after regulation and overtime ended in a scoreless draw and not a single Canuck was able to score in the shootout. Despite the low amount of goals the Canucks generate, they are somehow awarded the fourth place in the NHL in the standings.

As if oblivious to the lack of scoring, GM Dave Nonis opted to sign stay at home defenseman—a post that has already successfully been filled by Willie Mitchell—Aaron Miller in the offseason, and not for lack of offensive defensemen free agents. Nonis let names such as Schneider, Markov and Souray find other homes.

Despite not signing any new offensive defensemen, Nonis did resign Kevin Bieksa, who had a stellar break out season in 2007. A calf laceration has unfortunately kept him sidelined for most of the season.

Nonis did add some much needed size by signing Brad Isbister, but the scoring issue is still unaddressed. Players such as Matt Cooke could be used as trade bait. He never really developed into any more than a 15 goal scorer, a stat he hasn’t attained since the 2003 season and doesn’t really do anything a minor league call up couldn’t do. He could provide experience on a young team.

Pyatt does put up good numbers with the Sedins, but let’s be honest, who doesn’t? Whenever anyone is in a slump, put him with the Sedins for a couple of easy tap-ins for a quick morale boost. The Sedins make Pyatt look good and hopefully that might fool some GMs. Any fourth liner or minor league call up could play with the Sedins instead.

The Canucks have also called up a number of minor leaguers in the midst of all the injuries, and the likes of Mason Raymond and defenseman Alexander Edler have shown they are almost ready to play at this level and have put up surprising numbers. Mason’s 10 points in his 23 games in the big league surpass many mainstays and Edler’s plus/minus of +18 is sure to raise some eyebrows.

Trading those players could land us some quality scoring talent at the deadline, and can be replaced. There are still high caliber players developing down in the Moose such as recent first round draft pick Grabner, a forward for Raymond, and Memorial Cup Champion Luc Bourdon, a defenceman for Edler.

Cooke, Miller, a minor leaguer or some sort of a draft pick, for a 20-30 goal scorer; put him with Naslund and maybe Morrison to get a descent scoring line to go along with the Sedins’ line and we might have some goals in this town. Do I hear someone calling Stanley’s name?

With a healthy Bieksa, our defense will once again be up to par, Isbister and Cowan can provide the muscle and maybe pop some in along the way (I’m sure Cowan would love to add to his bra collection!), our scoring will, in theory, exist on at least two lines and as for the goaltending, who we kidding, just try and score on Luongo.

Dave Nonis and head coach Allaign Vignault have combined to turn the Canucks from  an exciting, top scoring teams before the lockout to a less exaggerated version of the Minnesota Wild. This makes for boring games and a fragile dependency on Luongo, but the Canucks are once again an elite team in the NHL whose fans can expect them to win any game. A wise man did once say if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, but we’re oh so close. Just a little tweak.