By Joel Smart (The Cascade) – Email
Print Edition: May 9, 2012
It’s tempting to look at the recent second-round sweep of the St. Louis Blues by the Los Angeles Kings, and conclude that Vancouver’s first-round exit had more to do with the Kings’ play than their own. After all, the Blues ranked just below the Canucks in the Western Conference, and they made it through the first round with just a single loss against the San Jose Sharks. Sound familiar? Yet, such a conclusion would require an awfully short memory – a failure to remember the brutal inability to make a tape-to-tape pass that characterized their turbulent (and incredibly brief) postseason “adventure.”
Granted, the Kings have managed to transform into the most dangerous of the remaining postseason teams through the effective tutelage of brain-numbing head coach Darryl Sutter. For a team that barely squeaked into the playoffs, winning eight of nine games to advance to the third round is beyond impressive. Perhaps, and I hate to say it, Dustin Brown has been the biggest difference maker on the team. The six-foot, 204-pound team captain has amassed six goals and 11 points in those nine games. He leads all others with a plus-nine rating in the playoffs. Jonathan Quick has been remarkable in goal, allowing in two-or-fewer in every game – and allowing a goal or less in five of the nine games.
Despite this, Quick was arguably outplayed by Cory Schneider in the three games they played against each other. Schneider finished with a .960 save percentage – which leads the NHL in postseason play. With the exception of the first two games of the series, the Canucks did not lose due their defensive play (even though there were some serious gaffes by Alex Edler, Kevin Bieksa and even Dan Hamhuis). The problem was that while the Kings scored eight goals in their first two games against the Canucks, it took all five games for the Canucks to match that output. Down 2-0 in the series, the Canucks failed to score a single goal in the absolutely critical game three.
Admittedly, they were without their leading scorer Daniel Sedin (thanks a lot Duncan Keith). Yet, when they needed it most, their power play shriveled up like a leathery old raisin in the desert. In fact, the Kings were a greater threat to score when the Canucks went on the power play. Their greatest asset became a major liability. The drop pass, which was never really that impressive, became something between a horrific car crash and a comedy routine. It all seemed to change in game four when Daniel returned, but by then it was too late – the reverse sweep was not to be.
Ryan Kesler, one of the biggest assets on the team, admitted he had an off-year after the game five series-ending loss. With almost every game coming down to the final few minutes with just a single goal separating the Kings and the Canucks, it is hard to deny that he could have been a difference maker if he had been able to dial up his game in a way many had imagined he would. Unfortunately, his offensive game never sparked. But he was in good company there – David Booth and Chris Higgins, who many thought would come alive in the playoffs, were simply nowhere to be found. With no second line to make up for the loss of Daniel on the first line, the Canucks had nowhere else to turn. No one stepped up. Not even Alex Burrows could turn things around for the President’s Trophy winners. There would be no celebrating this year.
Although the sting of a first round exit can not be quelled through an analysis of the effort of the players on the team, or even by the play of the Kings, there is some merit to the claim that the team just wasn’t ready for another run. The run last year went long into the summer and took its toll on the team – physically and mentally. While the Kings were able to ratchet up their effort level at the drop of the puck in game one, the Canucks never once played to their potential in the series; they seemed to play without a vision.
Intriguingly, the Bruins suffered a similar fate. In fact, the major players last year all dropped out in the first round. The third round this year will feature entirely different teams from last year. In fact, only three teams were able to advance to the second round that also advanced last year. While we hold the Canucks to a high standard, it may be the case that the team just needed another year to put last year behind them – to dream again. I can hardly blame them; I’m still recovering myself.
