Canucks season over: post-mortem
First of all I am really peeved off that my Canucks didn't show up for game 5. If it wasn't for Roberto Luongo, the game would have been over, if not in the first period, for sure in the second period. I'm going to give ten good reasons why the Canucks didn't deserve to beat the Ducks this series.
1. Lack of discipline: we took too many penalties and against a PP like the Ducks you can't take more than one or two penalties a day.
2. Power Play or lack of it: The Canucks finished the Playoffs something like 4-60 on the PP, including 23 straight times, including 2 long 5-on-3's in games 4 and 5. In the Playoffs, special teams are usually what decide games.
3. Speed kills: Anaheim has loads of speedy players on their team from sniper Teemu Selanne to young speedsters Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry
4. Endurance. Even though the Canucks were rolling four lines and the Ducks were primarily playing three, they seemed to have more jump as the game wore on. It was especially notable in the third period of game 4 when they came back from a 2-0 deficit to tie it up.
5. Puck battle: The Ducks were better at winning the battle in the corners for pucks. Case in point, during the Canucks PP, if they shot it in, Pronger or Neidermeyer would calmly skate to the corner and come up with the puck.
6. Two words: Norris Trophy defensemen: Most teams would be thrilled to have one Norris Trophy winner on their side, but the Ducks are blessed with two Norris Trophy winners in Chris Pronger and Scott Niedermayer and they are rarely paired together except for on the PP. This means that for over two-thirds of the game, the Ducks can rest easy and be rest assured thaat they'll rarely be scored on.
7. Injuries: Nobody likes to use the injury/flu bug as an excuse. However, clearly the Canucks missed not having Bieksa for half the series, resident pest Cooke for the entire serues, Cowan for the final two games, PK specialist Kesler for the entire series. One wonders if things might have been different if we were more healthy. Heck, the Canucks were even without the booming slapper of Sami Salo for the first 2 games.
8. Marque Players: Clearly the Sedin twins struggled against the stiffling checking five man unit featuring Rob Niedermayer, fellow countryman Samuel Pahlson, Kunitz, Scott Niedermayer and O'Donnell. Also, Captain Markus Naslund, while scoring in three straight games also put his team short-handed all too often. Morrison appeared to be struggling to keep up with the play at times. Selanne, meanwhile looked dangerous most shifts and McDonald had a hat trick in game 1, but nothing else the entire series.
9. Puck Possession: Not only were the Ducks beating the Canucks to pucks, outside of three minutes in game 5, they were great at passing it back and forth. On the Ducks PP, it looked like the Harlem Globetrotters against the sucky team they played against.
10. Goaltending: this was the least of the Canucks problems. Roberto Luongo played great most of the time, although he misplayed the puck in game 3 leading to the opening goal that took the home fans out of it and he had a mental break-down on the series-winning goal.
Now that the Canucks are out, my support is with the only Canadian team still alive: The Ottawa Senators.
1. Lack of discipline: we took too many penalties and against a PP like the Ducks you can't take more than one or two penalties a day.
2. Power Play or lack of it: The Canucks finished the Playoffs something like 4-60 on the PP, including 23 straight times, including 2 long 5-on-3's in games 4 and 5. In the Playoffs, special teams are usually what decide games.
3. Speed kills: Anaheim has loads of speedy players on their team from sniper Teemu Selanne to young speedsters Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry
4. Endurance. Even though the Canucks were rolling four lines and the Ducks were primarily playing three, they seemed to have more jump as the game wore on. It was especially notable in the third period of game 4 when they came back from a 2-0 deficit to tie it up.
5. Puck battle: The Ducks were better at winning the battle in the corners for pucks. Case in point, during the Canucks PP, if they shot it in, Pronger or Neidermeyer would calmly skate to the corner and come up with the puck.
6. Two words: Norris Trophy defensemen: Most teams would be thrilled to have one Norris Trophy winner on their side, but the Ducks are blessed with two Norris Trophy winners in Chris Pronger and Scott Niedermayer and they are rarely paired together except for on the PP. This means that for over two-thirds of the game, the Ducks can rest easy and be rest assured thaat they'll rarely be scored on.
7. Injuries: Nobody likes to use the injury/flu bug as an excuse. However, clearly the Canucks missed not having Bieksa for half the series, resident pest Cooke for the entire serues, Cowan for the final two games, PK specialist Kesler for the entire series. One wonders if things might have been different if we were more healthy. Heck, the Canucks were even without the booming slapper of Sami Salo for the first 2 games.
8. Marque Players: Clearly the Sedin twins struggled against the stiffling checking five man unit featuring Rob Niedermayer, fellow countryman Samuel Pahlson, Kunitz, Scott Niedermayer and O'Donnell. Also, Captain Markus Naslund, while scoring in three straight games also put his team short-handed all too often. Morrison appeared to be struggling to keep up with the play at times. Selanne, meanwhile looked dangerous most shifts and McDonald had a hat trick in game 1, but nothing else the entire series.
9. Puck Possession: Not only were the Ducks beating the Canucks to pucks, outside of three minutes in game 5, they were great at passing it back and forth. On the Ducks PP, it looked like the Harlem Globetrotters against the sucky team they played against.
10. Goaltending: this was the least of the Canucks problems. Roberto Luongo played great most of the time, although he misplayed the puck in game 3 leading to the opening goal that took the home fans out of it and he had a mental break-down on the series-winning goal.
Now that the Canucks are out, my support is with the only Canadian team still alive: The Ottawa Senators.
posted by opinionator777 at 9:47 PM
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