Playoff tourney could start with a Wild ride
Canucks rested, ready and feeling optimistic about possible playoff tilt with Minnesota
“I remember Wes Walz. I wanted to kill the guy.”
That was one of Ed Jovanovski’s candid summations of an epic and unforgettable Stanley Cup playoff collapse by the Vancouver Canucks in 2003.
Leading the best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series with the Minnesota Wild 3-1, and knowing the seventh-seeded Anaheim Ducks held the same advantage over the top-seeded Dallas Stars, the road to the franchise’s first championship appeared paved with optimism.
However, the Canucks would wildly veer off that road and hit the ditch with a calamitous Game 7 loss on home ice. When Todd Bertuzzi scored in the second period to make it 2-0, and breezed by of the Wild bench to suggest they start booking tee times, it was both laughable and laudable.
Minnesota responded with four consecutive goals, and the legend of what could have been lives on. After all, Walz scored four goals in that series. That’s difficult to forget.
“What got us up 3-1 was our speed and play through the neutral zone, and we would kind of pick them apart,” said Jovanovski, who had six playoff goals. “We played into their game plan and we just got frustrated and started doing things uncharacteristically and getting away from it.
“They got the momentum and we didn’t have an answer. The only time they tried to score was when they were short-handed. But I feel the team we had, the path was there. We didn’t look past Minnesota, but how can you not up 3-1?”
Fast-forward, the current level of disdain for the Wild is more muted.
It’s trumped by a points-percentage calculation that would see the Canucks advance to the post-season for the first time in five years — they would have been out if standings were the measure — in a proposed 24-team, play-in tournament that reportedly was expected to receive approval from the NHL Players’ Association executive committee on Friday.
However, the NHLPA then released the following statement:
“The executive board of the NHLPA has authorized further negotiations with the NHL. Several details remain to be negotiated and an agreement on the format would still be subject to the parties reaching agreement on all issues relevant to resuming play.”
In conference bracketing, the No. 7 Canucks would face the No. 10 Wild in a best-of-five opening round series that could commence in July, once other pressing issues surrounding COVID-19 restrictions are resolved. The winner would play the No. 2-seeded Colorado Avalanche in a best-of-seven series, unless a round robin of division winners in a best-of-three format changes the bracketing.
There still has to be an agreement for accurate and frequent player testing for the novel coronavirus. Safety measures, easing isolation concerns and financial implications regarding escrow and expiring contracts also need to be in place.
Only then can 12-team conference playoffs be held in two hub sites — likely in Las Vegas and Edmonton — if there’s not a severe spike in COVID-19 cases that would lead to government intervention.
Meanwhile, being separated from family during playoff isolation in a hub hotel is a big concern for players. Canucks forward Brandon Sutter has a three-year-old daughter and a son who turns two in August.
“When my dad (Brent) played and would be gone for road trips, it didn’t really affect me. I was eight when he retired,” recalled Sutter. “For me, that (isolation) is No. 1 and something I’ve thought about the last two weeks. Let’s say we play well and get into the second or third round.
“And if you go all the way to the final, that’s going to be three months away from your family. That’s a long stretch and there is concern among players. When we go on those long road trips, by the 10th day all you want to do is see your kids.
“There’s going to have to be a decision with the hub city idea. Maybe there’s a chance we could see our families between series.
Nothing is set in stone yet. It’s all speculation.”
In the interim, the Canucks have reason to be as optimistic, as they were in 2003.
They went 1-1-1 in this season’s series against the Wild, but on paper, they’re the better team.
They’re healthy. They own the league’s fourth-ranked power play. Their most valuable player is goaltender Jacob Markstrom and their most effective producer and voice of reason is leading scorer J.T. Miller, who set career highs this season for goals (27), assists (45) and points (72) and finished 17th in league scoring.
He’s extremely motivated by twice being on the wrong end of Eastern Conference Final Game 7 outcomes on home ice with the New York Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning.
“It (playoffs) teaches you a lot about yourself and what the game is like and it’s important to be a sponge — and that’s hard to be,” said Miller. “You have to care a lot about each play and every play matters. And you have to have a little bit of amnesia and move on win or lose, good play or bad play.
“And that’s something I’ve grown with over the years in the playoffs. I’m a fiery guy, and sometimes you can’t let a period get away from you in the playoffs. We’ve proved when we stick to our plan and our identity, we’re a really tough team.”
Miller was also second in NHL faceoff percentage this season (59.2), while Jay Beagle was third (59.1) and Bo Horvat seventh (57.3). The Canucks ranked second overall at 52 per cent efficiency.
They also have a Calder Trophy winner in Elias Pettersson, a Calder favourite in Quinn Hughes and former Calder finalist in Brock Boeser. And defensively they have two of the league’s best shot-blockers in Alex Edler and Chris Tanev, who ranked third and fourth respectively this season.
But it’s health that could mean playoff wealth. Markstrom, Tanev and Beagle will be back and so will Micheal Ferland.
“Well, all the other teams should be healthy, too,” said Canucks general manager Jim Benning. “We haven’t played in 10 weeks, so it’s going to be exciting to be healthy. You’re going to get the best players playing their best.”
Well, probably not right away. “I feel a lot better than I did a month ago, that’s for sure,” said Sutter. "But you can’t really replicate skating. There’s nothing like it. Everyone is going to be really rusty and two weeks (training camp) might be fine, but you’re going to need longer to get your muscles going.”
The Canucks also have balance with four 20-goal scorers — Jake Virtanen finished with 18 in a career season — and the rookie Hughes finished fourth in defencemen scoring. He’s also the get-outof-jail-free card with his sublime skating and precise passing.
Still, the Wild won’t simply roll over.
The Canucks won 4-1 in Minnesota on Jan. 12, but lost 4-2 on the road Feb. 6 and dropped a 4-3 shootout decision at Rogers Arena on Feb. 19. Miller led the Canucks in the series with three goals while Horvat had two.
The Wild, who didn’t have a player in top 50 scoring this season, would ice a pair of 20-goal snipers in Zach Parise and Kevin Fiala. Eric Staal finished the season with 19 goals.
In the last meeting, it was theatre of the bizarre.
The first shot got by Markstrom, who often looked like a Vezina Trophy candidate this season, and so did the 10th shot. The Wild opened the scoring when Fiala moved into the high slot on a 2-on-1 and ripped a wrister that went off Markstrom’s glove.
The second goal came after the Canucks were pinned in their zone and gassed. A slow line change allowed the Wild to quickly enter the O -zone. Luke Kunin went wide and his centring pass struck Markstrom and somehow trickled between his pads. The Canucks had 34 shots — Hughes had five — but the looks weren’t great.
“Not much room out there and the Grade As were few and far between,” said Miller, who scored twice.
Save that quote.
Coach Travis Green’s biggest concern during the season pause was to make sure his players were dialed into fitness routines.
“We want guys who are all in,” said the Canucks’ bench boss. “It’s the mental part of getting into that routine. Some guys find it hard to be confined to an area and go stir crazy.
“And a lot of people are accustomed to running on the schedule we have, where it seems like there’s never enough hours in the day when you’re in the season.”
Green was playing for the New York Islanders in the 1994-95 campaign when a lockout reduced the season to 48 games.
And whether he was still naive at age 23, thinking he could just hit stride when play resumed, he didn’t handle the down time properly. He only had 12 points (5-7) in the 42 games.
“I learned the hard way,” Green said. “I didn’t work hard enough and I didn’t play well.”