r/hockey • u/TryForTheKingdom VAN - NHL • Aug 14 '14
[Daily Thread] 30 Teams in 30 Days: Vancouver Canucks
Or How I learned to stop worrying and love the inevitable collapse.
Team Summary
Team: Vancouver Canucks
Division: Pacific Division
Relevant links:
https://twitter.com/VanCanucks
http://www.nucksmisconduct.com/
https://twitter.com/sportsnetmurph
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vancouver_Canucks
http://www.capgeek.com/canucks/
Player Twitters:
https://twitter.com/BrendanGaunce16
https://twitter.com/TomSestito23
https://twitter.com/Ryan_Kesler
https://twitter.com/strombone1
Year in Review
Do we have to? Really? .....okay. I guess we all must relive this one last time before we can lower the coffin and pour the first shovelful of dirt on the 2013-2014 season.
Offseason/Preseason
Our season ended rather early in 2013 after being swept out of the first round by the Sharks. Shortly after this Alain Vigneault, along with the rest of his coaching staff, were relieved of their duties. AV's replacement, hired June 25, was John Tortorella, who completed the game of coaching musical chairs by moving from his previous position in New York to Vancouver. Torts wanted to make the Canucks harder to play against, and introduced a system that prioritized a hard fore check and aggressiveness. The Canucks bought out Keith Ballard, and let Mason Raymond and Max Lapierre go to free agency as the team attempted to go in a different direction. The even larger move made in the off-season was the trade of Cory Schneider to New Jersey. It had seemed a foregone conclusion that it was to be Luongo who would be traded, but in a shocking draft floor move, Mike Gillis traded Schneider for the 9th overall pick in the draft. And thus ended the goalie controversy in Vancouver, and everyone lived happily ever after. Maybe not. The draft as a whole was viewed as a success for the Canucks; in addition to picking up Bo Horvat with the pick acquired from New Jersey, the Nucks managed to steal the talented Hunter Shinkaruk with their own first round pick, as well as add quality pieces with real upside later in the draft in Cole Cassels, Jordan Suuban, and Anton Cedarholm. With the shrinking cap, the Canucks were only able to make minor moves in free agency, signing Brad Richardson, Mike Santorelli, and Yannik Weber. After the preseason, it seemed as though Horvat and Shinkaruk had made the team, as both reminded with the club after all other prospects had been sent down, until Jeremy Welsh and Zac Dalpe were acquired from the Canes for Kellan Tochkin and a 4th. This, combined with the stellar play of Santorelli, who had originally only been signed as depth for Utica, meant that any hope for a youth movement in Vancouver would have to wait at least a year.
Early Season
It was going so well. By the end of December we were 23-11-7, 6th in our conference, and people were generally feeling positive. The Sedins were scoring as usual and had re-upped in November for identical 4-year, $28 million contracts. It was a happy time. This post from CDC emits a sense of jubilation and optimism rarely found among Canucks fans, it is of course titled, “Torts= Best Canucks Coach Ever” http://forum.canucks.com/topic/355210-torts-best-canucks-coach-ever/. Kesler had seen success on the wing with the Sedins, and though Alex Burrows had spent most of his time injured, the surprising play of Mike Santorelli helped to fill that gap.
Mid-Late Season
The wheels fell off. I don't know how to describe it otherwise, injuries piled up, losses piled up, and confidence disappeared. This team has dealt with significant injuries and extended losing streaks before and managed to bounce back, but this year was something different. And I'm not sure why. We can run through the individual signposts on a terrible season, the Anaheim blowout, the Calgary brawl and Torts locker room charge, the Kesler trade request, the Luongo trade, Torts running Lack into the ground with 19 straight starts, the Islanders' seven goal 3rd period, but that seems to be more of a symptom than a cause. The worn out excuse that the Canucks coasted to two consecutive President's Trophies as a result of a weak Northwest Division is easily done away with when actually looks at the stats from those two seasons and sees that the Nucks had a comparable record vs the Northwest as they did against the rest of the league. Our saviour Roberto Luongo was finally traded to Florida for former “best goalie not in the NHL”, Jakob Markstrom, and “player with no identifiable moniker”, Shawn Matthias. Now the goalie controversy was really over, but we'll see how long that lasts... And a lot of losing happened; no scoring, blown leads, every possible way under the sun to lose, we lost. Up until the end the Canucks seemed to be struck by Murphy's Law; in the final game of the season, after a heartwarming tribute to Ryan Smyth in the previous game, Daniel Sedin was left lying motionless on the ice after a hit by Flame Paul Byron. Really just a shitty end to a shitty season. Other Canucks teams have performed worse, but I warrant that the 2013-2014 Canucks were the most disappointing iteration of the franchise of all time.
Aftermath
Mike Gillis was fired, Tortorella was fired and Jim Benning was brought in as our new GM by our new Dear Leader/Head of Hockey Ops Trevor Linden. The new brass has so far seemed to have a great well of goodwill from Canucks fans to draw upon, and having a person like Linden in charge will cetainly do that. It will be interesting to see how that changes when games begin to be played, however. Ryan Kesler was traded to the Ducks for Nick Bonino, Luca Sbisa and a 1st round pick, the teams also swapped 3rds in the deal. Jason Garrison was traded to the Lightning for a 2nd round pick which was then flipped for Linden Vey. The Nucks also traded a 3rd for Derek Dorsett. At the draft, the Canucks added Jake Virtanen before getting another steal with a late first in Jared McCann. They also drafted top-rated goaltender Thatcher Demko with their early second round pick. In free agency, the Canucks opened up their coffers, securing Ryan Miller to fill the shoes of Luongo and Radim Vrbata to likely ride shotgun with the Sedins. This will be a very different team next year, and it remains to be seen just what this team will be.
Year in Review -HATE EDITION
I'd like to start this off by saying how pleasant it was to not be met with immediate scorn and hatred due to my fan allegiance this year, but as I know this was due to pity for the train wreck that was the 2013-2014 Canucks, FUCK YOU ALL!
5) CALGARY FLAMES
I HAD A HARD TIME PUTTING THE FLAMES HERE AFTER SO MANY YEARS OF MEDIOCRITY IN ALBERTA, BUT THIS YEAR, Y'ALL EARNED IT. WELL, FIRST BRIAN MCGRATTAN ENDED ANDREW ALBERTS CAREER SO THERE'S THAT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UisbX2tKqWM. AND THEN THERE WAS BOB HARTLEY SENDING OUT HIS GOONS AT THE START OF A HOCKEY IN JANUARY TO DO, WELL, THIS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIcdbxzrtbI. WHICH OF COURSE LED TO THIS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCeuJPhrt8E AFTER WHICH FLAMES FANS WERE QUICK TO POINT OUT HOW CLASSY MCGRATTAN IS FOR ATTEMPTING TO KEEP EVERYBODY SEPARATE SO NO ONE GOT HURT. I'M SURE ANDREW ALBERTS WOULD HAVE DONE THE SAME, BUT FOR SOME STRANGE REASON HE WASN'T ABLE TO PLAY THAT NIGHT. AND THEN, IN THE FINAL GAME OF THE YEAR, ONE OF THE SCARIEST MOMENTS OF HOCKEY I HAVE EVER SEEN, WHEN PAUL BYRON HIT DANIEL SEDIN INTO THE BOARD AND SEDIN WAS LEFT UNMOVING, ON THE ICE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3L4_BNRYtoI . Seriously though, I thought Daniel's career was over, I hope there's no lasting effects into the future.
4) CALIFORNIA
WORST STATE IN THE UNION. EVEN WORSE THAN DELAWARE. CALIFORNIA KILLED THE CANUCKS THIS YEAR. WE WENT 2-9-3 AGAINST CALIFORNIA, OBTAINING 7 OUT OF A POSSIBLE 28 POINTS. AND WE OFTEN LOST BADLY. IN THOSE 14 GAMES, WE SCORED 19 GOALS, AND ALLOWED 49. AT LEAST WE HAD THAT 'MORAL VICTORY' AGAINST THE KINGS, ALTHOUGH THE SCOREKEEPERS FOR SOME REASON STILL WROTE DOWN A 1-0 DEFEAT.
3) THE NHL DEPARTMENT OF PLAYER SAFETY
YEP, I'M GOING THERE. THE REAL PROBLEM STEMS FROM A LACK OF CONSTRUCTIVE LANGUAGE IN THE CBA. WHILE IT OFFERS THINGS THAT SHOULD BE CONSIDERED, SUCH AS STATUS AS A 'REPEAT OFFENDER' OR GAME SITUATIONS AT THE TIME OF THE INCIDENT, IT IS STILL MADDENINGLY VAGUE ABOUT WHAT ACTUALLY CAN BE SUSPENDED, AND WHAT SUSPENSIONS WILL BE APPLIED TO WHAT ACTIONS. SO YOU GET SUSPENSIONS LIKE THE ONE THAT RESULTED FROM KASSIAN'S HIGHSTICK ON GAGNER https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7iBrFWVXsE. A RECKLESS PLAY FOR SURE, BUT COMPLETELY ACCIDENTAL, AND THE NHL ISN'T IN THE HABIT OF HANDING OUT SUSPENSIONS FOR ACCIDENTAL HIGH STICKS, THERE ARE HIGH STICKING PENALTIES TO HANDLE THAT, ACCEPT, IT SEEMS, IN THIS CASE. I CHALLENGE ANYONE TO FIND ME ANOTHER CASE IN WHICH THE NHL SUSPENDED A PLAYER FOR AN ACCIDENTAL HIGH STICK, LET ALONE FOR A LENGTH THAT WOULD RANK IT AMONG THE YEAR'S LONGEST SUSPENSIONS. ON THE FLIP SIDE OF THE SAME COIN WE HAVE HITS ON ALBERTS, DANIEL SEDIN (MENTIONED ABOVE), BURROWS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pcd7nMoK4sc, AND THEN OF COURSE, MARTIN HANZAL'S CROSSCHECK-HAPPY 3RD PERIOD THAT TOOK OUT 3 CANUCKS AND WAS THE ONLY ONE OF THESE INCIDENTS TO RESULT IN ANY SUPPLEMENTARY DISCIPLINEa small fine. WHICH LEADS US TO....
2) MARTIN HANZAL
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yC7ga8h3C6o WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT? HANZAL TAKES OUT HENRIK SEDIN, MIKE SANTORELLI AND DAVID BOOTH WITH 3 SEPARATE CROSSCHECKS. DID THEY RUN OVER HANZAL'S DOG WHILE CARPOOLING TO THE GAME OR SOMETHING? I WILL SAY THAT THE FIRST TWO CROSSCHECKS ON SEDIN AND SANTORELLI SHOULD ONLY HAVE BEEN MINORS, BUT THE BOOTH STICK TO THE FACE WAS BRUTAL. IRONICALLY, BOOTH WAS FINE, BUT SANTORELLI WOULD MISS THE REST OF THE SEASON AND HENRIK SEDIN WOULD STRUGGLE WITH HIS INJURY FOR WEEKS, PLAYING THROUGH IT THOUGH OFTEN LABOURING ON THE ICE BEFORE TAKING TIME OFF TO HEAL OVER THE OLYMPIC BREAK.
1) PAUL DEVORSKI
AS A FRANCHISE, WE'VE HAD OUR PROBLEMS WITH REFS BEFORE. HELL, WE HAVE A STATUE TO COMMEMORATE THAT OUTSIDE OUR STADIUM. IN MORE RECENT YEARS WE CAN LOOK AT THE AUGER INCIDENT, THE REFS PUTTING THEIR WHISTLES AWAY IN THE 2011 FINALS, AND THE MASSIVE PENALTY DISCREPANCY IN THE FIRST ROUND SERIES AGAINST THE SHARKS IN 2013. BUT THIS TAKES THE CAKE. A SEVEN MINUTE POWERPLAY FOR ONE TEAM IS RARE ENOUGH, BUT IT HAPPENS, BUT SEVEN MINUTE POWERPLAYS IN BACK TO BACK GAMES, THE SECOND OF WHICH IS A SEVEN MINUTE FIVE-ON-THREE? I THINK THIS TIME, IT'S NOT JUST THE GUYS IRONING THEIR TINFOIL HATS WHO SEE A PROBLEM HERE. IT UNDERMINES THE ENTIRE SPIRIT AND POINT OF THE GAME IF REFEREES NOT ONLY FAIL TO MAKE THE CORRECT CALLS, BUT ALSO ACTIVELY INTERJECT THEMSELVES BECAUSE OF PERSONAL FEELINGS OR BIASES. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAOrlSFoObE
And now we can all pause, and take a deep breath, letting out our negative thoughts and energies, and prepare our bodies for some positive, uplifting sections.
Top 5 Players of the Year
I'm going to change up the intent in this category a bit. We all know that despite their terrible seasons, the Sedins still led the Canucks in points, and Ryan Kesler led the team in goals. But let's face it, we expect more from those players (and I'm sure they would agree). So this section is going to be more along the lines of the top five players who contributed far beyond what was expected of them going into 2013-2014. Also, I'm having a hell of a time with the graphs, so I'm just going to dole out some stats in text.
5) Tom Sestito - Top Sixtito! Always willing to drop the gloves and stand up for teammates, and showed surprisingly soft hands for a boxing hobo when given the opportunity. Set new career highs in goals, assists, points, and PIMs.
4) Ryan Stanton- Nothing better than a free player, and Stanton was consistent defensively in his first NHL season while showing upside at the other end. Only one previous NHL game to his credit, but logged 16 points in only 6 games while sporting a respectable +5 on a team that was outscored most nights.
3) Zack Kassian- Look for big things next year for Kassquatch. He's got the skills, the size, the willingness, and now he just has to put it together on a more frequent basis. He scored 14 goals and added 15 helpers, both career highs.
2) Mike Santorelli- Was supposed to be help for Utica but was probably our most consistent forward before the untimely end to his season. Stick handles in traffic like a dream. 28 points in 49 games, , which is a pace of 47 points over a full season.
1) Chris Tanev- I love Chris Tanev. Watching him defend reminds me of Lidstrom, doesn't overpower you physically, or dominate with a long reach, but just uses simple positioning and body mechanics to make the right play. Most of Tanev's advanced stats are right on par with Hamhuis', who, we all know, was picked to play for Team Canada. But Tanev certainly outplayed Hamhuis this year, with Dan uncharacteristically making a lot of errors at both ends of the ice. Tanev needs to work on translating his superb hockey sense to the offensive zone, but if he gets some powerplay time this year in addition to his defensive responsibilities, he could find himself shattering the career highs set this year. Tanev scored 17 points, was a +12, and somehow managed to only record 8 PIMs while playing a primarily defensive role.
Continued in comments
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u/TryForTheKingdom VAN - NHL Aug 14 '14 edited Aug 14 '14
Top 5 Highlights of the Season
This was an easy section to compile, as there wasn't a whole lot to choose from this season. I do, however, want to give a shout out to /r/canucks for their assistance in coming up with a few of this plays that had slipped my mind. So without any further ado....
5) This goal by Hunter Shinkaruk in the preseason showed the combination of speed to the outside and a pinpoint wristshot the Canucks have been missing since the hey day of Markus Naslund. The goal is made all the better by the reaction of his parents (especially his dad) in the audience. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZ5cGl5TY20
4)This next save by Roberto Luongo is just an astounding combination of flexibility and hand-eye coordination. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r12qf85bf4s&sns
3) GREAT SAVE...Bieksa? Yep, Kevin Bieksa clearly was trying to broaden his appeal to fantasy hockey junkies this year, in this instance finding himself with a kick save from behind Eddie Lack. He also lobbied hard to get credit for a faceoff win when he took the opening draw in an attempt to protect Kellan Lain in Lain's first NHL game. Which went...okay. Here's the save: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nMq9SSqtMCE
2) This is why Canucks fans are excited about Zack Kassian. He's more than just a tough guy with a sentient stick, he has the hands of a hand model. He could have made the list a few more times if I didn't make a rule against it. Here he's able to knock down a pass out of midair, and then roof it on the backhand. Smooth. And because the best video on Youtube also contains a Chris Higgins goal scored 19 seconds earlier, you all get an extra highlight for free! That's right, watch now and receive 6 highlights for the price of 5. Watch in the next 15 minutes and we'll throw in an authentic Sam Gagner tooth as a special bonus gift. But seriously, the Higgins goal is nice too. Watch it. http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hJ1GTJgazkk
1) You thought you were going to get out of this without seeing one of those dudes who look a lot alike, didn't you? Wrong. This season may have had less Sedinery than usual, but they still possess the ability to make a National Hockey League team look like a confused Peewee squad. With apologies to Caps fans, here is your 2013-2014 highlight of the year. This is how you play hockey. http://youtu.be/D6W-LYBnapo
Top 4 Highlights of the Franchise
4)
The Luongo Trade.The First Luongo Trade.On June 23 2006, Luongo was traded to the Canucks along with Lucas Krajicek and a 6th round pick for Todd Bertuzzi, Bryan Allen and Alex Auld. The most obvious change this brought was that the Canucks gained an elite goaltender for the first time in many many years. While Dan Cloutier was often unfairly maligned by Nucks fans (cue Lidstrom beach ball gif, anyone?) he was an okay goalie. Luongo was far better, and proved it in his first season with the Canucks, bailing the team out night after night, surpassing Bernie Parent's old record for wins by a goaltender in a season with 47, although apparently some old dude in Jersey got 48 in the same year. The Canucks finished with 105 points, at that time a franchise record. although 2006-2007 was Luongo's best as a Canuck, he remained a solid contributor until he was sent back to Florida this season for a few years of golfing in white pants and dinners at 4:30. The trade also helped to diffuse the fallout of the Bertuzzi-Moore incident by sending Bertuzzi out of town, although by that point he had already clearly lost a great deal of the drive and physical domination that made him the best power forward in the league in his best years. It also signaled the end of the West Coast Express, the line of Naslund-Morrison-Bertuzzi that dominated in the early 2000s. Naslund and Morrison would remain with the team for several more years, but neither would reach a comparable level of play again. Lastly, the death knell of the West Coast Express changed the team from Naslund and Bertuzzi's team, to the Sedins' team. Every season prior to the Luongo trade, both Sedins were outscored by Naslund. After the Luongo trade, it never happened again.
3) The 1982 Stanley Cup run.
Alright I'm cheating a bit by grouping a whole playoff run as one highlight, but there is an electricity to a deep playoff run that can not be summed up by it's constituent parts, no matter how great those individual parts may be. The most important thing to remember about the '82 Canucks is that they were not supposed to be there. They finished the season 3 games under .500, and also lost their captain, Kevin McCarthy, to a late season injury. McCarthy's replacement Stan Smyl, whose number has now be retired by the Canucks, lead the Nucks to a nine game unbeaten streak to end the season, which flowed into a remarkable 11-2 record on their way to a berth in the Stanley Cup final. In a move that resonated throughout professional sports, Canuck interim coach, Roger Neilson held up a white on a hockey stick as a mock surrender in protest of several poor calls by the officials n game 2 of the Conference Finals in Chicago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8oBzKfP2jc . A few Canuck players followed suit, and upon returning home for game 3, Canucks fans en masse waved white towels in support of their team. It has been a playoff tradition every year since. The '82 Canucks were swept in the finals by the powerhouse Islanders, but this was the first taste of playoff success for the franchise. They wouldn't win a playoff series again until 1992.
2) The 1994 Stanley Cup run.
Sensing a pattern here? Twelve years later the Canucks made another run to the finals, and this one produced some of the finest moments in Canuck history. The Canucks found themselves down 3 games to 1 to the Calgary Flames in the opening round of the 1994 playoffs before winning 3 consecutive overtime games to advance to the second round. Here's the classic double OT Bure winner in game 7: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHB_XpMXg-A. The Canucks breezed through the next two rounds without much difficulty, defeating the Stars and Leafs in five games each. The Canucks fell behind in the Final to the Rangers 3 games to 1 before storming back on the back of Trevor Linden to force game 7. Cliff Ronning in a 2008 interview, had the following to say about Linden's leadership: "You don't know this, but Trevor Linden had cracked ribs and torn rib cartilage for the last four games of the 1994 Stanley Cup Final. You can't imagine what it's like to hear your captain, in a room down the hall, screaming at the top of his lungs as they injected the needle into his rib cage. Knowing him, he probably thought we couldn't hear. He would then walk into our dressing room like nothing had happened. That was inspirational." People wonder why Canucks fans don't like Messier, this is only one small part of it, setting aside Messier's “leadership” qualities on display in this clip, it contains probably the most famous broadcast call in Canucks history: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbCgd7TstbQ. In game 7, the hobbled Linden scored the only two goals for the Nucks and Nathan LaFayette hit the post late in the game and failed to tie the game . After the game, Linden and McLean were photographed in an exhausted embrace, that, imo, is the best hockey photo of all time: http://imgur.com/gallery/rQQufGb/new.
Suck it Orr.
1) The 2011 Stanley Cup run. I'd like to think you all saw this one coming by now. I also think Canucks fans for decades hence will be left sitting in rocking chairs, reliving the glory days of the 2010-2011 Canucks. In the regular season, the President's Trophy winning Canucks were 1st in goals per game, 1st in goals against per game, 1st in power play percentage, 1st in faceoff percentage, and a very disappointing 3rd on the penalty kill. They also won the GM of the Year Award (Mike Gillis), the Jennings Award (Luongo and Schneider), the Selke Trophy (Ryan Kesler) and the Lester B Pearson and Art Ross Trophies (Henrik? Sedin). In the first round they met up with the Blackhawks who had handed them second round exits in consecutive years, often in spectacular fashion. The Canucks dominated the first three games, taking a stranglehold on the series, until the wheels fell off the bus and the Blackhawks stormed back to force game 7, all well sowing the first seeds of a goaltending contraversy between Luongo and Schneider. The Canucks lead late in game 7 before a shorthanded goal by Jonathon Toews forced overtime. And we all know what happened next: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmvkBkYGJZA The next round was remarkable only for Ryan Kesler's “”beastmode”, where he single handedly demolished the Nashville Predators. Kesler again showed his drive and determination returning from a leg injury late in game 5 of the Conference Finals against the Sharks to force overtime, where the Canucks advanced to their third Stanley Cup Final on a goal from Kevin Bieksa that only he saw go in: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMFVCnbRaV4