Vancouver Canucks Have to Rethink Their "Formula"

At the beginning of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, there were several teams who had a recent history of playoff failure and needed to "prove" their critics wrong.

These included the San Jose Sharks, Washington Capitals, to a lesser extent, the Nashville Predators and ironically, both the Boston Bruins and Vancouver Canucks.

In Nashville's case, all that was required was to show progress by finally winning a playoff round.  All the others had to go deep into the tournament and win the Stanley Cup.

On one level, it might seem that the Canucks successfully answered their critics.  They finally got by Chicago and reached the Stanley Cup Final.

Yet upon closer examination, there's more reason for alarm instead of satisfaction.

The vision for the Canucks goes back to the days when Brian Burke was the general manager.  His vision for the team was to draft the two Sedin twins and build a team around them.

The other significant part of the vision was to have a top goalie—if possible the best in the game—as the last line of defense.  Enter Roberto Luongo.

By 2011, it seemed that the Canucks were ready.  The twins were in their prime, they had created a deep, strong defense, a competent third line and an unexpectedly good second line led by Ryan Kesler.

The Canucks had a runaway good year, winning the President's Trophy by more than 10 points over their nearest rival.  Most fans, except those wary critics who still shouted "show me," made them the favorites to win the Stanley Cup.

The Canucks drew the Chicago Blackhawks again, but this time in the first round.  Though there were worries about a hex, there were still grounds for optimism because the Canucks were improved and Chicago was much weakened by deletions due to the salary cap.

All started off well.  The Canucks won the first three games, looking good in each one of them.

Then the Blackhawks inserted Dave Boland into the lineup and the horrors began.

Overnight, as if by magic, the three main assets of the Canucks, Henrik and Daniel Sedin and Roberto Luongo, became liabilities.

Not only were the Sedins shut down, they began to pile up significantly bad plus/minus statistics.  It is one thing not to score, but the Sedins were bad defensively.  The Canucks were a better team when they were OFF the ice.

The Blackhawks also discovered the magic they had over Roberto Luongo.  Not only did they score, they scored in bunches.  They roared back to tie the series.

Still, because the Canucks had improved and more probably because the Blackhawks were weaker, the Canucks barely eked out a victory in Game 7.  Significantly, the twins did not lead the way.

Next up were the Nashville Predators, who had silenced their own critics by finally winning a playoff round.

Nashville had limited talent, but they were a smart team and were good defensively.  The coach, Barry Trotz, tried to copy the Blackhawks and it almost worked.

Once more, the Sedins began to pile up horrific defensive statistics, Luongo was the second best goalie and the Predators were on their way to a colossal upset.

Fortunately for the Canucks, the Predators were short on talent at forward and could only mount a popgun attack.

And significantly, while they were able to handle the Sedins with ease, they had no answer for Ryan Kesler who tore the Predators apart, almost single-handedly.

So the Canucks reached the third round with the added bonus of finding a new leader, Ryan Kesler.

There they met another "show me" team, the San Jose Sharks, who have an even more dismal recent playoff history.

The Sharks proceeded to show why they are at the top of the list of NHL chokers.

Learning nothing from Chicago and Nashville, they allowed the Canucks to play Sedin hockey unchecked.  With the chains taken off, the twins romped with ease and piled up the points.  San Jose proved to be the easiest team the Canucks would play.

Next up were the Boston Bruins, and at least on paper, they didn't seem much of a threat.

They had no star players like the Sedins, and their goalie, Tim Thomas, had as shaky a playoff history as Roberto Luongo.  The Tampa Bay Lightning had scored five goals four times against him in the semifinals.

The Canucks seemingly had a big talent edge over Boston.  Unlike their two past trips to the final, they were heavily favored to win.

But how would the Bruins play?  Would they play the Canucks like Chicago and Nashville or San Jose?

Wisely, the Bruins studied and copied the Chicago/Nashville formula.  They were on the Sedins at every turn and they had more talent than the Predators, so they were able to handle Kesler too.

As early as the second period of the second game, which they completely dominated, the Bruins began to smell Canuck blood.

Significantly, all the games that Vancouver won at home were close eked out victories.  On the road, they suffered blowouts, and Luongo had to be removed in Game 6 like he was in the Chicago series.

The Finals really weren't that close at all.  If the Bruins had got any type of breaks in any of the Vancouver games, the series might have been over earlier.  Never once did the Canucks dominate with superior talent.

This Boston team was beatable.  They won't be listed near the top of the all-time best Stanley Cup winning teams list.

But for the Canucks, besides losing the final in what may be the only opportunity for this group to win it, the discouraging thing is knowing that any future smart playoff opponent can study and duplicate the success that the Canucks opponents showed this year.

The Sedins can be controlled and made to look bad.  Luongo can be humiliated.  The assets are now liabilities.  The formula doesn't work.

With stronger opponents building in the Western Conference, it's unlikely the Canucks will be back in the final next year.

For the Canucks, despite the improvements and playoff success, 2011 ends the way it started.  The phrase "show me" still applies.