Vancouver Canucks: 10 Reasons They Might Actually Be Better Than Last Season

The Vancouver Canucks ended the first month of the 2011-12 season in style with a big win over the Washington Capitals to finish off a tough month of October following their loss in the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals. The Canucks opened November with a romp of the Calgary Flames, 5-1, and seem poised for a good rebound month—and historically speaking, that should be the case.

The Canucks may have lost a key player in Christian Ehrhoff in the offseason, but this season they are fundamentally the same team. With late season add-ons like Max Lapierre and Chris Higgins getting a true fresh start with the team, the Canucks could potentially be better than they were last season. Many have the Canucks' window of opportunity to win the Cup rapidly closing, but they should have a solid year and are very much still Stanley Cup Finals favorites in the Western Conference.

10. Four-Line Team

If there is one thing the Canucks have learned over the past several years, it is that in order to have a Cup-contending team, all four lines need to be able to roll and be successful in their roles. Injuries and lack of production eventually hindered the Vancouver Canucks in the Stanley Cup Finals last June, and they were unsuccessful in having all four of their lines able to perform.

This season is the first time in several seasons where it seems the Canucks finally have four solidified lines in the beginning third of the season. Whether it be the Sedins on the top line or the fourth line of Weise-Lapierre-Volpatti, all four lines have their roles and so far this campaign seem to be performing either up to expectations or even above. 

Having four lines that the coach can throw on the ice at any point of a game and have success is crucial if a team wants to be successful. The solidified roster of the Canucks in 2011-12 seems to have the increased likelihood of success throughout the lineup this season, as opposed to last year when they were very capable on all four lines.

9. More Balanced Goaltending Schedule

Although Vancouver Canucks starting goaltender Roberto Luongo is just 32 years of age, the amount of games he has played since the NHL lockout in 2003-04 is the second-most in the league. Averaging 69 games played spanning from 2004-05 to 2009-10, Luongo finally caught a bit of a break when Cory Schneider became the Canucks' backup goaltender in 2010-11.

Luongo and Schneider split time, which saw Luongo take 60 games and Schneider take 25 last season, and it was integral to the success of the team. The two goaltenders combined for a league-best 2.20 goals against average for the season, leaving them as the winners of the William J. Jennings Trophy for fewest goals allowed in a season.

In 2011-12, expect the time split between Luongo and Schneider to become even more balanced. Through just 13 games in this young season, Schneider has already played in five games to Luongo's eight. This has Luongo on pace for 54 games this season, and could aid the Canuck goaltender, as rest is key for a goaltender throughout a long playoff run.

The Canucks' balanced goaltending rotation, should it keep continuing at the pace it is currently, will play a large role in how successful the team is this season.

8. Jannik Hansen

For diehard Vancouver Canucks fans, third-liner and left winger Jannik Hansen has always peaked some sort of interest and cult following, but until last season (playoffs included) Hansen had largely played a defensive depth role on the team. 2010-11 saw Hansen post nine goals and 29 points in his first full 82-game schedule as a professional, and three goals and nine points in 25 playoff games.

Hansen showed his offensive prowess last season, and is only expected to improve upon it in 2011-12.

Despite a slow start to the season that has seen Hansen score just one goal and have three assists, Hansen's game should pick up as the season wears on. He is a minus player currently, but that will become a plus sooner rather than later. Hansen will have a better season than last offensively, and will help provide scoring from the bottom two lines—which is always crucial in the long run in the NHL it seems.

7. Healthy Manny Malhotra

When Manny Malhotra went down with a devastating eye injury last spring, many speculated that his career might be over. Despite having the odds against him, Malhotra returned to play in the Stanley Cup Finals with a full shield. Although Malhotra was not able to be as effective as he had been his entire career, he was able to play the rest of the finals and finish out the season with the team.

The summer saw Malhotra have two separate surgeries and he was cleared as 100 percent healthy prior to the 2011-12 regular season.

Having Malhotra in the lineup is a huge boost for the Canucks. Annually a faceoff-percentage leader among the NHL's top centers, Malhotra now wears a visor and appears to have not lost his edgy style of play. He is not tentative about anything in his game. When a player goes through an ordeal like Malhotra did when he suffered a potential career-ending injury, more often than not the player does not return to the same form they once experienced. 

One downside to the injury is that Malhotra is behind in his conditioning, but he should be back in shape in no time as the Canucks have one of the best training programs in the league (see Kyle Wellwood circa 2009). A healthy Manny Malhotra means a terrific penalty kill and third line, a hard thing to come by in the NHL these days.

6. Cody Hodgson

The Vancouver Canucks' top prospect Cody Hodgson is finally getting his opportunity to make a name for himself in the NHL this season. Hodgson was the 10th overall selection in the first round of the 2008 entry draft for the Canucks, yet had only played in 20 games in his NHL career prior to the 2011-12 season.

For the initial part of the season, Hodgson saw time as the second-line center while Ryan Kesler recovered from hip surgery. When Kesler returned to the lineup in early October, the Canucks' young prospect was demoted to the third line on the wing. It was the first time in his career Hodgson had ever played on the wing. Alain Vigneault quickly promoted the young winger to the second line which is where Hodgson continues to play currently. 

Playing alongside such NHL talents as Ryan Kesler and David Booth will be huge for Hodgson not only in his development, but also in his production. The Canucks' second line is shaping up to be a very productive one this season, and Hodgson is a big part of that. Currently the young forward has three goals on the season and is on pace for a 20-goal season—not too shabby. 

5. Fresh Starts for Higgins, Lapierre and Ballard

Although Chris Higgins, Keith Ballard and Maxim Lapierre all played for the Vancouver Canucks last season, it was in a very limited capacity. Higgins and Lapierre were picked up at the trade deadline, and Ballard sat in the press box as a healthy scratch much of the 2010-11 season. 2011-12 allows all three players to have fresh starts, and so far they have all taken advantage.

In what are ultimately their first full seasons as active Canucks, Higgins has already contributed six goals and eight points on the team’s third line, and Lapierre has three goals and two assists in very limited ice time on the Canucks' fourth line. Their contribution as depth players has been huge in the Canucks' victories this season. 

For Keith Ballard, 2011-12 is a sort of do-over. Last season Ballard found himself in head coach Alain Vigneault's doghouse early on in the season, and spent much of the year as a healthy scratch. Fortunately for Ballard, the departure of Christian Ehrhoff in the offseason opens up a roster spot for himself and his big contract. Should Ballard properly take advantage of this opportunity he should be in for a big year as an offensive defenseman.

As long as he remains defensively responsible and chooses his spots to make his big coast-to-coast rushes, he will find success this season and help the Canucks defense to put points on the board.

4. A Healthy and Productive Sami Salo

Another beneficiary of Christian Ehrhoff's offseason departure is oft-injured veteran defenseman Sami Salo. Salo has tremendous skill and a exceptionally powerful slap shot, but he has never played a full NHL season in his 15-year career. In fact, Sami Salo has been injured to the point of missing games a grand total of 34 separate times. That is unheard of for any other seasoned NHL professional. 

The good thing for the Canucks is that Sami Salo is in possibly the best shape he has been in years this season, and it is showing. Through 12 games, Salo has surpassed his 27-game output from last season with three goals and five assists for eight points, and is a plus-six.

Salo has replaced Christian Ehrhoff as the big shot on the power play and so far so good for the Canucks. Of Salo's three goals, two of them have come with the man advantage. Sami Salo has been the best D-man for the Canucks this season and is a big reason the Canucks have encountered success on the power play through one month of the season. A successful power play usually means a successful season in the NHL.

3. Alain Vigneault

Last spring was an interesting time for Vancouver Canucks head coach Alain Vigneault to say the least. In the Canucks' first-round series that saw them encounter the Chicago Blackhawks—the same team that had knocked the Canucks out of the past two years in the playoffs—if the Canucks had lost, Vigneault would have probably lost his job; instead they won in seven games and carried on to the seventh game of the Stanley Cup Finals.

Instead of being fired, Vigneault went on to get nominated for the Jack Adams Trophy as NHL Coach of the Year, the same award he was nominated for in 2010 and won in 2007.

Alain Vigneault is a terrific coach, and deserves much of the credit for the Canucks' 117-point, Presidents' Trophy-winning season. Vigneault is among, if not the top coach in the NHL among active bench bosses, and his strategies and coaching style will help the Canucks to another terrific season in 2011-12. If the Canucks had gone and let Vigneault go at the end of last season, there is no way the Canucks would be as successful as they will be this year.

2. Overall Team Health

The Vancouver Canucks struggled at the end of last season with injuries. In the offseason Ryan Kesler, Chris Higgins, Manny Malhotra, Dan Hamhuis, Alex Edler and Kevin Bieksa all dealt with injuries they suffered throughout the course of last season and the playoffs. All returned to the lineup with a 100 percent bill of health for the 2011-12 campaign. 

After such a short layoff between the Stanley Cup Finals and the start of training camp, a total recovery from injury is crucial to a team’s long-term success. Having all of these players healthy and in midseason form this early in the campaign will be huge in the long run for the Canucks this season, and should propel them to success this year.

1. Roberto Luongo

Many hockey fans place the blame of the Vancouver Canucks' seven-game loss to the Boston Bruins in the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals on goalie Roberto Luongo. Luongo did allow 18 goals in the final four games of the finals, but there wasn't much offensive support from the Canucks in any of those games. It was a lack of a team effort that cost the Canucks the finals.

The 2011-12 season is make or break for Roberto Luongo. Despite having 10 years remaining on the lucrative extension he signed in 2009, Luongo's struggles in big games has fans calling for a trade and wanting backup Cory Schneider to take over as the starting goaltender. Once again, Luongo is out to prove his critics wrong and have a massive year.

If Luongo can recover from a slow start in October, which he seemingly always does, the Canucks should be just as successful if not more so in 2011-12. Luongo is poised to have a huge year and if he really commits and wants to prove everyone wrong, he will.