Shades of 2006

I can’t help but makes comparisons between this Vancouver Canucks team and the one that free fell their way out of the playoffs in 2006. I’m sure most people who are reading this can remember the Canucks and Oilers battling for 8th place in the West and at the same time fighting for the title for who could choke the most. Of course the Canucks played their way out of the post season and the Oilers ended up coming within one win of winning the Stanley Cup.

WIth the season hanging in the balance on March 31st in 2006 the Canucks went a dismal 1-4-2 before being eliminated on April 13th, the second to last game of the season. Now in 2009, the season hanging in the balance of sorts as the Canucks have a record of 1-4-2 since January 2nd. Not only have the Canucks lost six of their last seven games but they have, in general, looked terrible while doing it. The loss against the Blues were simply inexcusable, and while a loss against the Devils and the talented Coyotes could perhaps be excused if the team played hard, they simply looked as if they mailed in the efforts both nights. Unlike in 2006 the Canucks can still turn their season around, but they’re going to have to do it pretty quickly.

The return of Luongo between the pipes on Thursday night gave Canucks fan some optimism that he would come in and save the team from their horrendous slump, but like a guy who hasn’t played in two months, he let in the first shot of the game just over a minute into it. Anything that Vancouver fans had to hold onto in terms of hope were stolen that quickly and a full on panic swooped through GM Place. I don’t think I have ever had less fun at a hockey game than I did on Thursday.

So what needs to change? For starters the defense needs to play smarter and pick up their men in front of the net. I can’t even begin to count how many times that players have scored a goal standing all by themselves without a defender even close to him. We can blame Sanford, LaBarbera and Luongo for weak goals all we want but the truth of the matter is, in the last five games or so the defense has been lost.

The poor decision making by the defenders doesn’t even stop there. Far too many times the defenseman has pinched in at the offensive blue line to try and and hold the puck in. One glaring occurrence of this was when Willie Mitchell stepped up in the first period against the Devils and couldn’t hold the puck in. The Devils ended up on a 2 on 1 and it was 2-0 just like that. If its not leading to 2 on 1s its leading to 3 on 2s. I don’t think I have ever seen a team get more odd man rushes in a game than I saw the Coyotes get on Thursday since Canada played Kazakhstan at the World Juniors.

For the forwards I don’t even really know where to start exactly. The Sedins have played two of their worst games that I can remember over the last couple of days. But the blame can’t really be thrown at them because they have produced this season on a whole and are usually very consistent players. Pavol Demitra has been nowhere good enough despite scoring a soft goal on Clemmensen on Tuesday. Mason Raymond is still showing his inexperience and we continue to wait for Mats Sundin to work off the rust, but how long can we continue to afford to wait? A lot of people have disagreed with scratching Kyle Wellwood from the game last night but I can’t say it really bothered me. It’s true that Wellwood is second on the team in goals, but five on five Wellwood has proven to essentially be worthless and you might even argue that he has been ineffective playing with anyone but the Sedins on the power play. Vigneault seems like he’s committed to getting Mats Sundin going with the twins on the power play which relegates Wellwood to the second unit where he has been nowhere near good enough to hold on to his spot in the lineup.

If there has been anything positive to take out of the last few games its the resurgence of Steve Bernier and pretty much the entire checking line. Bernier-Kesler-Burrows have been pretty good on a nightly basis, even Vigneault had the sense to put the trio on the ice with two minutes to go when the Canucks desperately needed a goal against St. Louis. Bernier, Kesler and Burrows all have four points in their past five games.

As for the biggest change of all that might be needed, the Canucks may have to starting considering cutting ties with their coach, Alain Vigneault. Much like in 2006 when Marc Crawford appeared to have lost his influence on his team, Vigneault doesn’t seem to be able to get this team prepared to play a whole game anymore. Personally speaking I wouldn’t mind the Canucks bringing in someone else for a fresh look at things. They can’t trade the whole team so perhaps they need to bring in a new coach. There are plenty of coaches out there right now who are proven winners that can’t be a big impact on a team short term. Peter Laviolette, John Tortorella and Pat Quinn to name a few. One also has to remember that Mike Gillis did not hire Vigneault and while they seem to have a good working relationship, Gillis may use this as an opportunity to bring in his own guy, if not now perhaps at the end of the season.

Much like the team that fizzled out of the playoffs in 2006, the 2009 version of the Vancouver Canucks has far too many good players to be playing like this.