Dive or survive to the playoffs?
For the Canucks, the benefits of losing might just outweigh the prospect of winning
This was the situation facing the Vancouver Canucks on Friday night.
With some 10 minutes left in the third period, they were trailing the Anaheim Ducks 1-0 and staring down the barrel of their sixth shutout in 15 games.
At that point, a loss would have dropped the Canucks into fifth place in the Pacific Division. More importantly, it would have left just six teams between the locals and last overall in the NHL, a position which will henceforth be known as the Matthews’ spot.
Canucks defenceman Chris Tanev then aimed an unambitious wrister in the general direction of the Ducks’ net, which found its way through a phalanx of players and past goalie Frederik Andersen. That goal vaulted the Canucks into overtime, where they hung on for dear life through three-on-three before Alex Burrows scored the only goal in the shootout.
As a result, they entered Saturday’s schedule in third place in the Pacific, hanging grimly on to the third and final playoff spot.
Now here’s today’s discussion question. Which scenario is more preferable for the Canucks? Which of those two positions most benefits the organization and its fans?
The Canucks, as you may be aware, have been trying to strike a delicate balance between competitiveness and development this season, but as 2015-16 plays out, it appears they’re going to have to chose one to the exclusion of the other.
Yes, their lineup has been butchered by injuries and, yes, we’ll get a better read on this team when they start getting some bodies back. But, unless Brandon Sutter and Luca Sbisa have been hiding super powers throughout their careers, this team, at best, is average and that’s being as diplomatic as possible.
Finishing mid-table, moreover, doesn’t exactly advance the cause of the Canucks’ rebuild. One supposes they can squeak into the playoffs where they’ll be bounced like a bad cheque or finish fourth in the Pacific and net, say, the 10th pick in this summer’s draft. But you can excuse the faithful if those prospects don’t excite them.
As for prospects like Auston Matthews or Jesse Puljujarvi, that’s a different story. The Canucks have some pieces in the pipeline and adding a bonafide blue-chipper at the top of the draft will lend credibility to their master plan.
That’s something they can sell. They just can’t sell what they’re putting on the ice these days.
Friday night’s affair was a 2½-hour exercise in banality which was made watchable only by the theatre provided by Ryan Kesler. The polarizing one scored the Ducks’ only goal, accused Jannik Hansen of diving (pot, kettle) and took out Brandon Prust with a cynical knee-on-knee hit all while being booed enthusiastically by the crowd.
After scoring in the second period, Kesler milked the celebration for all he was worth then told Ducks’ TV of all the goals he’s scored at The Rog, that was probably his favourite.
“He said before (the game) he was going to try to get everyone to hate him, and he did a great job of it,” said old friend Kevin Bieksa, who was honoured with a video tribute on his first game in Vancouver after 10 years with the Canucks.
“Just savouring the moment,” Kesler said of his celebration.
But, try as he might, Kesler couldn’t save this game. The Canucks directed 22 shots at Andersen in regulation and there might have been two scoring chances in the bunch. And it’s not like that performance is unprecedented. While there have been spikes throughout the season, the Canucks are 9-13-5 since Nov. 3 while averaging just more than two goals per game. That’s bad enough. What’s worse, however, is this sense that they’re trapped in their current circumstance — that the faithful will be watching more of the same for the next three months — and the organization has to do something to change that picture.
Chris Higgins, Radim Vrbata, Yannick Weber, Burrows and Prust have all, to varying degrees, been productive NHL players throughout their careers, but right now they carry the weight of being yesterday’s men. Presumably some, or all, will be moved at the trade deadline for what they can fetch. But does it make any sense to keep playing Higgins when Brendan Gaunce has 18 points in 21 games in Utica and Hunter Shinkaruk has 25 in 26 games?
We understand we’re painting with broad strokes here, but consider the optics. The sense is the fans can live with the losses if they see the new faces and can see a Matthews or Puljujarvi down the road.
As it is, it’s asking a lot of those fans to watch games like Friday night. It’s asking even more to keep watching when there’s little hope things will change.