Quote:
Originally Posted by RustyBadcock
Yeesh, 
How's that one grab ya. 
Well, here I sit and as always I try to find positives at time like this. Aannnd, well. I'll get back to you.
Wgat a totally exhausted team. Currently I cannot recall a game that they packed it in and got pounded like this. This was a game for Luongo to own, unfortunately it didn't work out that way.
Burkie must have been in his glory. What have the Canucks and the Aquilini group learned from all this? Well, perhaps one is that McCaw is actually gone. It was his pal whom chased Burkie out of Van City if memory serves. So, the new owners get to see what a brilliant hockey man can do for your team, in a relatively shot time. Let's see off the top of my head since Burke arrived in Cali. He's traded Fedorov and easliy won that move, signed Scott Neidamayer, traded for Pronger, took Randy Carlyle from the Moose (Canucks couldn't obviously imagine him coaching like this) and even took players from the Canucks system like Joe DiPenta. Whom, at this very moment would have been very helpful on our blue line. Just to mention a few.
Ironic how on the night everyone is talking about McCaw leaving town the new ownership group gets to see what happens when you spend and manage a team well. We could have had Pronger - why not ? Burke got him. We also could have signed Neidamayer and brought in his bro somehow to close the deal if that was the case. When there is a will there is a way.
Regardless, there is some soul searching to do on this team now. And not a lot of time to do it since the puck drops tomorrow against a team just starting to rememeber how to win.
"I see, a bad moon risin' ":git:
RB |
I know think the fatigue showed in any but Luongo during the first two periods. The Canucks outshot and out battled the Ducks. The Ducks got lucky bounces off of the skates of Matt "Wayne Gretzky" Cooke and Nathan "I shouldn't be anywhere close to the NHL" McIver. If the Ducks don't get those bounces, this game may have had a completely different outcome. Let's not forget Josh Green drilled one off the post before either Duck goal. If Vigneault isn't convinced Luongo needs a rest, he didn't watch this game. He was fighting the puck the moment the Ducks took a shot near him.
The third period was terrible, that's when the fatigue of this team started to show. The Canucks could have come out and made a stand losing 3-2, 4-2, and etc, but instead they ****ed up a 5 on 3 in the second more than I thought possible, and just crashed and burned.
In a nutshell
The team played good early on.
The powerplays in the first looked strong, even without a goal. Columbe looked very poised.
The bad bounces off of skates crushed the team and truly were the difference in the game.
Luongo is tired.
The third period was a complete lack of effort, let's hope it didn't show the character of this team.
As far as Burke being a hockey genius, wasn't he the guy that built a playoff franchise in Vancouver that never passed the second round blowing a three game lead to the Wild? Wasn't it Burke's team last season that dropped short of the playoffs? Give Burke credit for what he's done in Anaheim, but Burke's teams have had great regular seasons, and always fall short in the playoffs. I wouldn't be suprised to see a team other than Anaheim take the Western Conference, that being San Jose or Nashville.
This is convincing that the Canucks need a deal. The obvious need is a defenseman. They need a hitter, and a shot from the point. It would be great to get a guy that could do both, but I suppose I'd rather have the hitter. It's an element this team doesn't really have.
Choice trade bait
Brendan Morrison
Matt Cooke
Sami Salo
Players to fish for
Anton Volchenkov
Christoph Schubert
Dan Boyle
Dan Hamhuis packed with Scott Hartnell in a blockbuster deal
Robyn Regehr
Mike Komisarek
There are a lot of options the Canucks can take.
They could trade their captain Markus Naslund assuming he signs off on the deal and build a core of young talented players like Jason Williams and Mikael Samuelsson, Christopher Higgins and Mike Komisarek, Kyle Wellwood and Jay Harrison, among others.
Granted I know it takes to teams to make a trade, but some teams who have been having a strong season, and feel they need another star scorer in their lineup may go after the possibility of adding Markus Naslund to their lineup. Toronto would need a winger for Sundin, Montreal seems set on forwards, but they could definately use the star power, especially with a struggling Samsonov, Detroit would love to put a sniper like Naslund alongside a paitient playmaker like Datsyuk. The Canucks are a team that have a lot to offer to the league. The question is can they get a just return for Naslund?
Think about it. The Canucks were able to land Roberto Luongo for essentially Todd Bertuzzi and a third pair defenseman named Bryan Allen. Imagine what the value of a former Pearson winner like Markus Naslund and a gritty contributor like Matt Cooke or a prospect like Mark Columbe.
Canucks to play Duck Hunt against a bunch of unmightys, 9 nov
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