Canucks Nation! Please Remain Calm!

Fellow citizens of the Canucks Nation!

PLEASE REMAIN CALM!

I’ve read a lot of “stuff” tonight. I’ve seen the calls to trade Luongo, fire AV, EXPLODE the team, etcetera, etcetera. It never ceases to amaze me how quickly folks are ready to amputate the arm attached to the sprained pinkie finger. I know it’s simply because we all love the Canucks so much that we are prepared to bleed for our team. We’re prepared to make any necessary drastic decision to bring home Stanley’s hardware. Days like today I am comforted by the fact that Mike Gillis is the only guy with the burden of these decisions and so far he is following my advice to “not panic.”

You want to trade one of the best goalies in the NHL because he is following the same pattern of slow starts that he has his entire career? You want to fire Alain Vigneault who is our team’s most successful coach because someone’s, anyone’s head must roll? You want to pull the pin on the team and set sights on early draft picks to stock up on prospects?

No.

Just “No.”

I am one of those fans that believe any stats before the lockout of 2004/2005 are of very little validity. In the new NHL, a salary cap forces teams into something close to equality; Shootouts force a decision, ensure teams get their beauty sleep and the networks get predictable schedules; Crackdowns on obstruction penalties like hooking and holding speed up play. With major game changers introduced to the league the sport has changed and comparing pre-lockout stats to post-lockout stats are like comparing hockey pucks to footballs.

That said, our Vancouver Canucks are sitting at four points after six games in this 2009/2010 season. Horrible right? Last season (2008/2009) after six games the team had racked up a mind boggling six points. In 2007/2008 the team repeated the same whopping six points. In fact, since the lockout, season starts have always been rough with the highest point totals coming in the 2006/2007 and 2005/2006 seasons where the Canucks really showed their stuff by accumulating seven points in six games. A reality check reminds us that we have only lost one more game this year than our previous two. It is far too early in the season to be comparing these numbers and when I look at them, I can’t help but realize that it’s only been six games.

Breath in, breath out, don’t panic.

Our sixth game of the season against the Calgary Flames was… well… it was painful. I was sitting on my couch, chatting to fellow fans on the CDC live game blog, and I swear I could feel each hit, each missed shot, each sloppy penalty. It was careless and much of the time the Canucks just looked confused. As much as folks want to, the urge to hang Luongo is mostly due to the expectations some have on him after he signed that twelve year sixty-four million dollar contract. Just because he’s super rich and has great job security, doesn’t mean he is going to post a shutout every game. Sorry, but it’s true. The first three pucks that beat him were great goals. The Glencross goal, scored on a shorthanded breakaway, was likely to best any goalie in the league. Nigel Dawes’ tip-in seemed guided by an invisible force and bounced so un-expectantly that it would have required divine intervention to stay out of the net. Dion Phaneuf found the only hole through an all consuming screen in front of the goal leaving little chance for Lu to do anything but shake his head in disappointment. After those confidence shakers, goals four and five may not have been as spectacular, but I can’t say that they wouldn’t have beaten a worse goalie. Our Captain worked hard.

The unfortunate fact is that Luongo’s teammates, for the most part, did not hold up their side of the Canucks system. The Glencross breakaway was entirely due to defence being overconfident on the power play. With your best offensive player and one of your top two defensemen out with injury, taking the risk of four players rushing the net with one covering the blue line by playing deep inside, is simply a bad idea; especially when you are playing your biggest rival and arguably your closest competition for the division title. This was the most prominant defensive breakdown in many on the night. The defence have got to make better choices on the ice for the next twelve or so games.

I am a little bias on my next point, I’ll warn you now. When the news hit that the organization had decided to finally give Grabner his opportunity with the bigs, I held my tongue despite the fact I’ve kept it no secret that I think the boy has yet to find his NHL heart. If the coaching staff have confidence that it’s time for this experiment, than who am I to second guess them? His contribution was so negligible that he ended up playing six to seven minutes less than line mates Hank and Burrows. He did record his first career NHL point with a second assist to the Ehrhoff power play goal, and I admit that the other two call-ups can’t boast that. Regardless, his presence on the top line rendered it impotent and ineffective. The only life we really saw in Hank and Burrows came when they were supported by Bernier and Samuelsson, not Grabner. I sincerely hope that he will find his big boy game and contribute to the Canucks the way he does to the Moose. I am willing to suspend my judgement for a couple more games but in order to give our top line some zip the coaching staff may have to swap Grabner with Bernier.

One of the most significant contributors to finding ourselves down by five goals was our incredible use of the penalty box. It was like a spring break time share condo where every Canuck who wanted to be make drunken decisions got to sleep off their 09/10 schedule hangover. Starting off the game by auditioning for the UFC is good for ratings but doesn’t do a lot for the scoreboard.  Taking ridiculous penalties is simply not good for business. Alex Burrows’ goaltender interference choke did to the Canucks late third period momentum what Kanye does to an MTV Video Music Award. Not that I think the Canucks were going to tie it up with just under two minutes to go, but any hope of such miracles was certainly squashed the second Alex gave Kipper a love tap. We saw similar patterns in the Dallas game and if we plan on making it out of this injury riddled October with any hope of catching up, we MUST stay out of the box.

So now we come home in an effort to spoil Minnesota’s weekend by keeping their winless road trip void of satisfaction. The Wild will be tired but hungry for a point before returning home. The kind of desperation that comes with starving for a “W” makes them dangerous. The Wild will eat us alive if we relax because we think their confidence is shattered. The Canucks have got to put the Flames behind them and move forward.

Luongo will likely continue to be the go-to goalie. This is a good thing. Not just because we need to get our money’s worth on his contract extension, but because he needs the time in net to find his groove. Like it or not, as I said earlier, Bobbie is a slow starter. If we want him to be superhuman we need to give him time to work his mojo. Raycroft has been proving himself as a fantastic back up. He brings us confidence that if, God forbid the need arises, we won’t have to worry the way we did with Sanford as a backup. Get off Roberto’s back and let the boy settle in.

Bernier, Samuelsson or another more seasoned NHL forward will find himself playing alongside Hank and Burrows on the top line. I can understand if AV wants to give Grabner another shot with them but if he continues anywhere near his performance vs. the Flames, it won’t be long before he is shuffled to the third line or replaced outright with a call-up such as Shirokov, Desbiens or even Labrie or Walsky. Shirokov could be the man. At his best, he is a monster who shows flashes of genius and he may get the most benefit of added time in the NHL to find his footing. Regardless, given AV’s history with rookie patience, the Grabner experiment is definitely on a very closely watched timer.

Mostly, the team will have to find its grit. Gillis found us the grit. The grit was acquired. We’ve seen the grit and the grit is good. Now we need the grit to cowboy-up and come to the game. I believe we saw some grit in the seven to one win over the Habs and I think we will see it again. That edgy, fast, aggressive, knock-around, puck moving, board working, corner grinding grit is in them as a team. They just need to eat their Wheaties and let it out to play when the puck hits the ice.

I know it looks bad sometimes, and the Flames game doesn’t do much for our confidence as fans. Take a deep breath and rejoice that you are not a fan of the Leafs’ who boast one point with a record of 0-5-1 this season. Our Vancouver Canucks are going to be okay. They have a fantastic line-up that, when healthy, is going to tear it up this season. Playing with simultaneous injuries to four pivotal players (Schneider, Sedin, Demitra and Salo) is going to cause bumps in any team’s play.

Besides, I am sure that Kipper, Iginla and all the Sutters made a soul surrendering deal with the Devil for his help this season. Find solace that they’ll go where all Flames and Flames fans eventually go… straight to Hell.

Bring on the Wild of Minnesota!