Donny and I have been saying similar through the season. Big structured teams have been difficult matchups for the Canucks throughout the season.UWSaint wrote: ↑Thu Apr 18, 2024 9:35 amGood post; something to think about.
On the one hand, there were loses to Minny, Colorado, Seattle, and LA during that mid-to-late February window where the Canucks were simply turning in bad performances and beating themselves so its hard to really tell if the opposition was the main contributor to those losses. With the caveat that some of this is due to that period the Canucks weren't playing like the Canucks (and that some teams are not on this list because the Canucks were playing out of their head or caught the opposition in a bad spot), I'd say that by and large, compared to the average NHL team, these teams largely have play a bit more lunch bucket, with a bit more structure/patience, size on defense, and are a bit more spread out offensively, either due to impressive depth or the lack of a high end player to key in on. Most of these teams also kill penalties well.
There are certainly exceptions to this -- e.g., Minnesota makes no sense. And these descriptions wouldn't be the first used for a team like the Avs, but they are elite at their game when healthy, have outstanding defensive depth, and have a great work ethic. Dallas, too, is much closer to playing this way, but like the Avs, I am comfortable saying straight up they are better on paper and have a high work ethic and so its just not a surprise to give away points to better teams.
But the record against LA, St. L, Phi (who was playing well when the Canucks played them), and Seattle might be most instructive. These teams aren't scary. These teams most represent the qualities I listed. These teams approach the game with the mindset of neutralizing what the opposition does best -- make what you do well less effective -- exploiting mistakes rather than exploiting weaknesses. The Canucks definitely had challenges getting points against these teams, even though setting aside crappy late February games, the Canucks played decently in these contests.
My feeling is it has a fair bit to do with Vancouver's small forward corps being unable to fight through their checks.