Vancouver Canucks: Road to Redemption Starts with the Ottawa Senators

The Vancouver Canucks have been inconsistent at best this year, and that is the most charitable spin I can put on it. 

The team has been out of sync and lacking in effort on too many nights, and it shows in the standings.

The 2011-2012 season is almost at the quarter pole, and the Canucks are playing 0.500 hockey, with a 9-9-1 record after 19 games.

The Canucks are currently 3rd in the North West Division, 11th in the West, 23rd in the NHL overall.

Any way you look at it, playing 0.500 hockey in today's NHL is a ticket to golfing in April.

General Manager Mike Gillis and Head Coach Alain Vigneault went outside the box and gave the majority of the veteran players the preseason off, and that was after an extremely light training camp.

The thinking was that this would give the players who went to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals a few more weeks of time to recover physically, and mentally recharge after a short summer.

After 19 games, I think it is safe to say the experiment, while an idea worthy of a try, was an utter failure.

After the debacle that was the second and third periods of the 5-1 loss at home to the hated Chicago Blackhawks on November 16th, Vigneault took a hard line with his players, bag skating them the following morning and taking advantage of the three days between games to run a mini-camp.

Game 20 is on November 20th against the Ottawa Senators, and the Canucks need to put together a winning streak to get back into the playoff picture before the gap widens.

Luckily, the Senators have problems of their own. The Sens are also 11th in their conference, although they were expected to be bad, unlike the Canucks, so their lacklustre start isn't a surprise.

Can the Canucks respond to some tough love from their coach, face reality and dig in to save their season before it spirals out of control?

Injuries aren't helping the Canucks, as Ryan Kesler is listed as probable to play against the Sens after injuring his shoulder against the Hawks.

Keith Ballard is out with back spasms, and Andrew Alberts will draw back into the lineup.

Perhaps most importantly, Roberto Luongo is expected to dress on Sunday after missing the previous game, and several practices, with an upper body injury. However, I'd expect Cory Schneider to get the start.

Schneider starting makes sense in terms of managing Luongo's ice time, but also in a bigger sense, because the Senators are one of the teams rumoured to be interested in trading for Schneider.

The Senators haven't had a solid goalie since Ray Emery, and are looking to upgrade as part of their rebuilding process, so showcasing him in one of the few head to head meetings is only good business.

Hopefully the Canucks can follow in the footsteps of the other four Canadian teams that have already played this weekend, as the Oilers and Leafs blew out their opponents in dramatic fashion, and the Habs and Jets also picked up wins.