OffThePost.org

Way late on this thread but what the hell is going on??? 49 shots on goal allowed against the Kings, 45 tonight against Anaheim in regulation, worst game of the year vs TB. They are not an elite team but this is a pretty brutal stretch right now. Not going to get any easier with Crosby in town Tues.

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Shoresy, "It's called a sweater"

The ending to tonight's game was comical. No clown smilie so release the kracken.

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GO CANUCKS GO!

They are injury riddled especially on the back end right now.

Edler - 15 games
Stanton - 8 games
Alberts - 5 games
Burrows - 15 games
Higgy - missed last night
Schroeder -35 games

And now Lou and Kassian.

It's no excuse for 45+ shots against per night on this recent road trip but they were already challenged with their depth.....

They are simply not in that top elite tier anymore with the likes Chicago, LA, Anaheim, and St Louis.

They've been missing Edler/Burrows since Nov and had a great Dec without them. All teams have injuries and losing your #3 dman and #5 forward should be something you can overcome. Then losing a #6 and #7 dman should not be that big a deal either although I guess combine that with the step up in competition in the last three games and you get three turds.

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Shoresy, "It's called a sweater"

From PITB, I like this stat but somehow I think he won't sustain this over a career and will have to adjust his game. Will that adjustment diminish his play?

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Shoresy, "It's called a sweater"

100% agree but the injuries are starting to compound. There is simply no logical explanation for their abysmal performances over the weekend and past 4 games. They flat out aren't as good as LA/ Anaheim. We saw this before our very eyes over the weekend. I would throw in St. Louis, San Jose and even Colorado, which leaves them as tier two team fighting for a playoff spot and an early round playoff exit. Either the Sedins are showing signs of decline quicker than we initially thought, or the elite teams have simply just figured out their gig. And when your elite players aren't, well elite, then you need to depend on secondary scoring, which highlights their issues of depth and their ability to work through injury. Given league parity, the margin of error is so small that every shift counts and being a hard working team isn't enough -- it's a given. With Torts team system, the personel here have not demonstrated they can hold a lead in tight games all season long. They just don't have the horses anymore. Below are some further numbers off PITB.

.923 | Eddie Lack’s save percentage this season, which happens to lead all Swedish goaltenders in the NHL. Hello Sochi? Probably not, but he’s been better than Team Sweden’s de facto starter, Henrik Lundqvist, who has a .905 save percentage this season.

60.9% | The Canucks’ winning percentage when scoring first, which is 20th in the NHL. Unsurprisingly, not a single playoff team in the Western Conference has a worse winning percentage when scoring first. If not for having the fourth best winning percentage when giving up the first goal, they might be in real trouble.

46.6% | The percentage of total shot attempts (aka. Corsi%) for the Canucks when Jason Garrison and Kevin Bieksa are on the ice together. In other words, the Canucks get outshot and outchanced when Garrison and Bieksa are paired together. Without Garrison, Bieksa’s Corsi% is 53.3%. As good as Garrison has been on the power play, he’s been the worst defencemen on the team at even-strength, as long as you don’t consider Yannick Weber.

Low then High than crushing disappointment. Pretty much sums up the Canucks/Pens game. Can't dispute the entertainment value though.

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GO CANUCKS GO!

Inexplicably inexplicable.

From PITB



Henrik took zero faceoffs? Oh oh, he's playing injured, damn I hope it's not ribs.

That goal by Kassian was a beauty, he has hands you don't normally see on a big guy, just wish his brain could catch up to his abilities.

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Shoresy, "It's called a sweater"

seems you're right about the loss of Burrows and Edler, saw the teams possession numbers after they went down and it has been really poor, fortunately Lack and Luo were posting a .965 save percentage for 10 games which covered that up.

Still it's baffling to me how the best team in the league at 4 vs 5 is so friggin lousy at 5 vs 6. They've given up 6 goals this year when the other team has pulled their goalie.

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Shoresy, "It's called a sweater"

some thoughts on why the Nucks are so bad at 5 vs 6

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/hockey/globe-on-hockey/canucks-coach-tortorella-unloads-on-gimmick-shootout/article16274817/

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Shoresy, "It's called a sweater"

Interesting. The article is basically saying they are bad 6-5 because they don't practice these looks. I wonder if a wider disconnect is starting to emerge between team concept and practical deployment amongst the players. I heard Gilles on the radio this morning saying that due to Olympic scheduling, they literally have no practice days, favouring days off and rest. I suppose Torts favours rest and recovery and conceptual work like going over tape to practicing situational play. This might be good for some players, but hurt a great many others depending on how each individual player relates to the game on an intellectual/ emotional level. There has been a lot of psychological banter in the media lately about Torts talk of 'mindset', i.e. mental approach to pressure situations and decision making over rote physical practice.

Wathcing the game tonight and they were saying Kesler has been on the ice for 13 of the last 18 goals scored by opponents against the Canuck's. Is he injured again or has Tort's mismanaged his and the Sedin's minutes and it's already starting to bite them in the ass?

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Shoresy, "It's called a sweater"

Iain MacIntire is sure trumpeting this horn -- Torts mismanaging top player ice time as a reason for these late game collapses.

Not sure I buy it. A team's best players will need to be on the ice in most critical and late game situations. Kesler was likely out there when they closed out the games during that 7 game win streak as well. He is certainly not playing the way he was, but it's likely a consequence of ebbs and flows of a long compressed schedule with a tonne of travel.

Torts has definitely curtailed most of his top players ice time overthe past 10 or so games.

Just saw a stat regarding shot differential of the Canucks all season long from period to period.

1st Period: +70
2nd Period: +104
3rd Period: - 74

Geez, Bieksa is sure a defensive adventure out there huh?

Santorelli makes it 2-1 Nucks midway through the 3rd period. Fasten your seatbelts Canuck fans!!