Canucks’ Front Office Back On Crazy Train
It’s a long season, coach points out
There’s a good reason American Thanksgiving is considered a key date for NHL playoff hopes.
Since the 2005-06 season, 75 per cent of the teams in a playoff spot on the fourth Thursday in November went on to qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs the following April.
The Canucks’ recent skid of eight straight losses, including one in a shootout, has them sitting fourth in the Pacific Division and also short of a Western Conference wild-card berth.
The run of losses has seen their points projection downsized, putting them on course for 81 points — and last in their division, according to HockeyViz.com.
The positive spin is that’s an improvement over last season’s total of 73 points, but it would still be short of what’s needed to qualify for the post-season.
The Canucks will win again. The question is, will they win often enough to defy projections and get back in the playoff hunt?
With two games in two nights — Friday ’s loss in San Jose, and today in Los Angeles — the Canucks already find themselves in a bit of a make-or-break position.
But for Travis Green and the coaching staff, the results over the next two games are somewhat immaterial. They ’re focused on what the team learns from what’s happened over the last three weeks and will continue to learn over the coming days.
“There are ebbs and flows to the hockey season,” Green said earlier this week about the playoff chase.
He talked to his team about it, while highlighting the fine line between winning and losing.
Friday, he spoke about what’s needed from his team to stay in the hunt, and the need to win.
“This is a team that needs everyone to play well,” Green said.
Even if the Canucks are currently on the outside looking in at the Pacific Division standings, there are reasons for optimism: the team has been playing decent hockey and has been scoring goals. There’s also reason for pessimism: they’re simply giving up too many goals.
Meanwhile, the players are trying to remain upbeat, focusing on what they ’re doing well, while also admitting they need to be much better in key areas.
Sometimes you play well and lose, their coach has noted more than once over the losing skid.
And tough times are inevitable during a season for any team.
How a team copes with those struggles matters.
Green said he’s learned a lot about his club, both when it’s been winning and when it has faced adversity, like the over the past seven games.
“It’s what you see, how they react,” he said. “How they handle moments … can they keep an even keel throughout a game, can they stick to a game plan?”
Playing in a Game 7 in the playoffs is obviously a big emotional challenge, but even before you get there, you have to have a solid emotional base, too.
“We talk a lot about a burning desire to win within our group,” Green said. “When your will to win is high, you seem to do everything right.”
He wants to see that even now, even if the Canucks aren’t in Game 7 situations.
Of course, the outside perspective on that position could be that this is a self-fulfilling prophecy, that players with that burning desire also happen to be players who win a lot, that there’s a confirmation bias to that.
No matter, though. Green said he’s happy with how his team has handled itself. He also wants his players not to be afraid to fail.
“We want to be a team that initiates,” the coach said.