The messing around must end
Canucks need to settle on a lineup that can deliver some consistency
Two years ago, when the Canucks and Sharks were having a fairly intense argument over who was the alpha team in the Western Conference, the city would have stopped for Tuesday’s game.
Remember? In 2010-11, the Canucks and Sharks finished 1-2 in the West with 117 and 105 points, respectively, then met in the conference final. They also played one of the great regular-season games in recent memory, a 5-4 Canucks’ shootout win in San Jose March 10.
The rivalry had everything: stars, scoring, emotion, a raw edge that made it appointment viewing.
That was just two years ago. Geez, what happened?
While there remains something compelling at the heart of the Canucks-Sharks rivalry, they’re no longer heavyweight title bouts. Both teams seem to have settled into that great, grey middle class in the West that featured nine teams within three points of each other before Tuesday night’s games.
In the new West there is Chicago, there’s Anaheim, then there’s 12 teams that are indistinguishable from each other. Then there’s Columbus. That’s about it and, as bad as it is, it doesn’t seem it will change before the end of the regular season.
“I haven’t seen the Eastern Conference but you look at the teams in the West, and most of them are the same,” said Daniel Sedin. “There aren’t a lot of games where you’re going to score four or five goals. That’s seems like the formula for success now.” Which is too bad. Tuesday at The Rog, the Canucks and Sharks offered up something that stirred a few echoes in the Sharks’ 3-2 shootout win but didn’t really capture the best of what each team had to offer. You could tell this because the Sharks’ Ryan Clowe didn’t score. Joe Thornton? No points, no shots, no purpose. Patrick Marleau? One shot on goal. The Sharks goal-scorers, in fact, were Scott Gomez, with his third since Feb. 11, 2011, and Adam Burish. Yeesh.
It wasn’t a whole lot better for the Canucks. True, Henrik Sedin scored the goal that got them back in the game in the second period but the Orcans were also handed a gift power play in overtime in which the twins, Alex Edler and Alex Burrows couldn’t close the deal. Not only did their failure cost the team a point, it also shot a hole in the theory that there’s an officiating conspiracy against the Canucks.
As for the other theories about this team, where do you start? The Canucks are rapidly approaching the midway point of the lockout-shortened season and not only have they failed to separate themselves from the flotsam in the Northwest Division, they’ve managed to draw Minnesota into the race and give hope to the other three teams.
Just two weeks ago they were 10-34 and held a comfortable lead within the softest division in hockey. At that point, the worst-possible scenario seemed to be they’d coast to the Northwest title, then take their chances with whoever they drew in the playoffs. But over their last five games they’ve gone 1-3-1 while inviting everyone in their division back to the party.
Their one win, of course, was an inspired 5-2 demolition of the Stanley Cup-champion L.A. Kings that everyone agreed would launch the Canucks on an exciting new arc. Since then they’ve lost to Calgary in regulation, then earned a loser point against the Sharks. Sorry, not nearly good enough. It’s now time for the Canucks to stop the incessant messing around with their goaltending, with their blue-line and their power play and settle on a lineup that can deliver some consistency. If Cory Schneider is going to be your goalie going forward, then play him like he’s your goalie going forward. If Keith Ballard isn’t good enough to play every game on your blue-line, then don’t play him. Maybe that decision was taken out of the Canucks’ hands by Ballard’s injury Tuesday but it’s still hard to deliver any consistency when you’re in and out of the lineup.
The Canucks shouldn’t be hanging around with the riff-raff in the West, but there they are. The good news is they’ve got a lot of company. The bad news is it’s not the kind of company they want to keep.