Are The Canucks Physical Enough?

I have written about this on numerous occasions and some of the readers have gotten this confused with the fighting side, which is not the subject, so pay attention.

To prove my suspicions, I used the “Hits” stats from Sporting News.com. I took the top eight players of each team and divided by the number of games played, to find the average and my ranking key.

Whether you agree with it or not, and call it what you want (toughness, grit, hits, physical play), it’s still part of the game (not fighting) and in many cases, e.g. (Calgary Flames vs Canucks, Games One and Six), it sets the tempo for the game.

Can the opposition that is on the receiving end push back when the intensity reaches its peak? Will the “will to compete” at the opposition's level be put forth?

Many have pooh-poohed this idea, citing the example of the Detroit Red Wings and how they went on to win the Stanley Cup with few, if any, tough guys. Surprise, surprise, but the Red Wings are second in the Western Conference in the hits department.

Another thing here is that the Canucks are not the Red Wings, nor did they have the talent at defense or forward, so please, this doesn’t fly. Also, the Wings had the best power play, which tends to remind the opposition just how many liberties they can take.

This was one of the areas that I wrote about after the Canucks' final loss to the Chicago Blackhawks (seventh), and named the number of players that they (Hawks) had on their roster, so there is no need to repeat that. The Canucks have a good, tough fourth line— big deal, so does everyone else.

What they are missing is enough toughness, grit, physical play, hits throughout the rest of the lines.

Nevermind what the line combinations are now, Kyle Wellwood (15th), Mason Raymond (fifth) or Steve Bernier (second), are not going to be in opponents' faces, nor cause the opposition to worry about them, when they are on the ice. So if you’re going to be going in and banging bodies, you’d better be ready when the opposition takes you to task, otherwise, you lose the edge you’re trying to establish.

The Sedins (19th and 23rd) are talented, but that’s not their game, nor should it be. Alex Burrows is an agitator but I wouldn’t place him in the “tough” category (11th in hits on the team). A better candidate for the Twins would be Mikkel Samuelsson, who likes to play the North American style and is big enough to do it.

Ryan Kesler can also be an agitator (12th in hits on the team), but he is like Burrows, and Michael Grabner (17th) is not even close to being physical, nevermind how many games he's played.

The opposition has known this for several years and this year it was very noticeable in both of the games vs. the Flames, and also in the game against Colorado (13th in the conference). Speaking of the Colorado game, no emotion came into it until the game was over, with Willie Mitchell (fourth) and Kevin Bieska (seventh) stirring it up. A little late to make the point.

People may think that the hits are overrated, not important, whatever, but pounding on players throughout a game wears them down and— this is a big AND— it gives superiority to the hitter, not the hittee, within the mental aspect of the game.

You think it was a coincidence that the Canucks could not beat San Jose (fourth in the conference) for two years? Do you understand now why ever team that plays the Nucks, fires out of the gate and takes the physical play to them?

No one is intimidated in hockey, that’s a given, but it does set the tone for who is going to be first to the puck, the compete level and the push back, when the pressure is applied.

For those of you that are interested, the No. 1 physical team in the Western Conference is the St. Louis Blues, the runaway leader at 19, followed by:

Detroit Red Wings, 15.85; Dallas Stars, 15.37; San Jose Sharks, 15.33; Edmonton Oilers, 15.12; Nashville Predators, 14.57; Chicago Blackhawks, 14.5; Los Angeles Kings, 14.33; Columbus Blue Jackets, 13.5; Calgary Flames, 13.34; Anaheim Ducks, 13.28; Phoenix Coyotes, 12.85; Colorado Avalanche, 12.8; Minnesota Wild, 12.57; and LAST but not least, your Vancouver Canucks, 11.75.

I’ll repeat again for those that have missed the point over the last two years and counting: “THE CANUCKS ARE TOO SOFT”!

The Eastern Conference (the more physical of the two) is as follows:

Carolina Hurricanes, 19; New York Rangers, 18.88; Pittsburgh Penguins, 18; Florida Panthers, 18; Ottawa Senators, 17.57; Toronto Maple Leafs, 16.42; New York Islanders, 16; Boston Bruins, 14.14; Washington Capitals, 13.25; Tampa Bay Lightning, 12.42; Philadelphia Flyers, 12.33; Buffalo Sabres, 11.83; Montreal Canadiens, 11.4; Atlanta Thrashers, 10.6; and last in the NHL, New Jersey Devils, 9.85.