Vancouver Canucks: Midseason Review, Part 1

The people of Vancouver know the old saying better then most: When it rains, it pours.

However, last November the conversation changed from the weather to the success of their hockey club, as the Canucks were a dismal 4-7 through the first month of the season. The team lost focus and was trying to play a different style of hockey than the defensive one that won them 49 games last season. At the end of the month the Canucks had just one win at General Motors Place and only two in their last seven games.

But the worst was yet to come for Vancouver.

On Nov. 1, in a 3-0 home loss to the Nashville Predators, the team lost two of its top four defensemen. Kevin Bieksa suffered a deep laceration to his right calf muscle after being stepped on by an errant skate and Sami Salo, who was playing only his fourth game of the season after returning from a wrist injury, was hit in the orbital bone around the eye and nose by a puck shot by teammate Alex Edler.

The Canucks sat in last place in the Northwest division—perhaps the toughest in the league—with their next eight games against divisional rivals. Many were saying it was unlikely they would make the playoffs, let alone come close to the club record 102 points that won the team the division last season.

Playing hockey in a Canadian city is a daunting task for a player, especially when the fans have become accustomed to winning. Following the game coach Alain Vigneault was quick to point out that it was far too early to press the panic button and acknowledged that the team had to return to its tight checking defensive style of play in order to be successful.

And that’s exactly what the Canucks did, posting a 6-0-2 record through the eight game divisional stretch and finishing November 9-2-2. Roberto Luongo proved he was back to his perennial, Hart and Vezina candidate status, recording three shutouts in a row for a franchise record streak of 210:34.

The events of Nov. 1 are now a distant memory in Vancouver. The team has gone 20-8-4 since then, despite having the third most man games lost due to injury in the league. These injuries not only include Bieksa and Salo, but Mattias Ohlund, Brendan Morrison, and for a brief stint, Roberto Luongo.