Canucks Talk: Time to worry?

First of all, my apologies for not updating the blog. November was a bit hectic for me, and I didn't get a chance to do any work -- at all -- on the blog or on the video project. I'll post the December highlights at the end of the month, and at some point, I'll post the highlights from November, just so they're up there. I do plan on updating this blog again, at least weekly.

Now, on to the topic at hand. I wasn't worried about the Canucks' brutal start this season. I wasn't even worried at the 20-game mark, when they were only 10-10-0. I've always maintained that the first 20 games don't really say anything about the team and their strengths as a whole. Now, though, I'm starting to worry. We're now seeing a trend -- and this isn't a new thing for this team -- of glaring inconsistency. I made a few statements, albeit not publically, about their most recent four-game road trip.

Essentially, I said that the Canucks would need six points on this trip, whether that meant going 3-1-0 or 2-0-2, to stay competitive, silence some of the critics, and show that they're the team everyone said they would be at the start of the season. They were mostly recovered from injury and Luongo has his slow start behind him, so this was the time to show what they were made of. After two strong games against the Devils and Flyers, they crapped the bed, so to speak, against the Hurricanes and Predators. My concern is that this is what they're made of. I really, really hope not, but it is very alarming.

I've got a pretty good track record with these kind of predictions. In 2006-07, right before the trade deadline, the Oilers had a road trip -- my memory is a bit fuzzy, but I think it was a six-game trip. I told my friends at the start of the trip that if Edmonton didn't pick up at least nine points on the trip, Ryan Smyth would get traded at the deadline. Sure enough, they only got eight points, and Smytty was gone (Once again, the details are fuzzy, but that was the gist of it). At the start of last season, I predicted that the Canucks would win the division. Everyone laughed at me, but I was so sure of it that I made a $100 bet with a friend of mine. He thought I was a fool for making this bet, but he was eating crow in April when I walked away with his cash!

Anyways, my point: The Canucks are starting an eight-game homestand tonight, and they need 12 points to stay competitive in the division, the conference, and the league. If they fail to do this, making the playoffs isn't quite a lost cause yet, as there will still be another 40 games to play, but it will make things a lot harder for them. In short, this homestand is crucial. As I write this, The Canucks are up 4-2 against Atlanta in the third period, so so far so good. Things are going mostly right, but the boys are still taking a fefw too many stupid penalties. On this trip, I'll document their record and show how many points out of the available points they'll need and determine whether they've been successful or not.

Why the sudden slide? I really can't put my finger on it. The same thing happened last January, where nothing seemed to go well. They pulled themselves out of that, only to go back into the same useless funk against Chicago. This season, they'll play a couple of great games, and then come out with absolutely no effort and get beat by teams that have no business beating them. I don't know if there are problems in the dressing room, problems with the coaching staff, or problems with personnel in general, but I get the feeling there's something really wrong with that team that's dragging morale WAY down and causing the team to play this poorly. If they don't pull things together soon, something will need to change, whether it's a trade, a benching, or a coach firing (which would get my vote -- more on my dislike for Vigneault in a future post).

I will never stop being a Canucks fan, and I firmly believe that this is the strongest team the Canucks have had in 15 years, but they need to play like it, and if they don't, it's going to be harder and harder for me to keep my optimism. Hope is not lost yet, but it's slipping away, and there needs to be a major change before it can be firmly in grasp again.

That's it for tonight. As I said, I'll keep this blog updated more regularly from now on and keep providing my insight. Until next time, Cheers!