Unless you were living in a non-hockey hole in Southern California over the last few days, I doubt you missed hearing about the Canucks brutal trip through the LA Basin against the LA Kings and the Anaheim Ducks.
The two game set against SoCal saw the Canucks compile 142 minutes in penalties, 10 goals against, while allowing the Ducks and the Kings to have a staggering 18 powerplay opportunities. To me the 9-1 drubbing of Vancouver on Thursday was the exclamation point, or maybe a question mark, on what role team toughness plays in the NHL these days.
Now let me say this right off the bat, this isn't a "pile on Vancouver" blog entry. There is, and has been, a lot to like about the Canucks over the past five years. It was always a very scary skilled team with multiple players who could hurt you on the scoresheet. However, they were never a real "tough" team. Who needed to be tough when you had the Sedins, Kesler, Burrows, Raymond, Samuelsson, Hodgson, Demitra, Bernier, etc. etc.?
You know what? That's fine. It really is. Because what is team toughness? To me it's staying mentally tough, mentally focused, and fixated on what your goal is. Could anyone ever say that the Detroit Red Wings of the mid 2000's were physically tough teams? How about the Avalanche? But were they tough to play against? Absolutely 100-percent. Physical toughness works for some teams as well, like the Bruins, the Kings, or the Flyers. But the two definitions couldn't be any more different in the hockey world.
The Canucks seemed to be on that track for the former definition, where they were a very tough team to play against but not necessarily a tough physical team. Enter the 2011 NHL Finals, where a highly skilled Vancouver team was beat up by the big bad Bruins on the way to a devastating game seven series loss.
I don't think they have ever truly recovered from this. My sympathy to them as well, that's not an easy thing to have happen for fan, for player, or for GM.
Since then we've seen the Canucks transform their lineup, opting to bring in players like Zack Kassian, Tom Sestito, Dale Weise, in favor of Cody Hodgson or Mason Raymond. The nastiness of players like Bieksa and Hansen, who have always had a mean streak, has been pushed up a tad. They have even opted to bring in a more in your face style coach in John Tortorella.
Is this a good thing? Maybe, maybe not. It really depends on how you want to see it. Sometimes a change of pace is needed. However, despite the changes on the surface it seems like the Canucks still suffer a crisis of identity so to speak.
This was apparent in the last two games against the Kings and the Ducks.
Every team will have these games, where a line brawl happens or things get out of hand after a questionable hit. It's inevitable in this passionate sport that we all love. The last two games however seem to be an example of going out of your way to prove a point. The Canucks were not in those games at times to play hockey. Which to me is why they lost.
In this article in the Vancouver province the Canucks were praised for their team toughness. With several players saying they battled for each other.
A few things stood out to me from this article.
“We didn’t get the win, but we can come out of that game with our heads up high knowing we battled for one another,” said Luongo, who practised Tuesday and is close to returning from an ankle sprain suffered Jan. 4 in the Brown crease collision. “It was a statement for our team that we won’t get pushed around and I don’t think it was about one particular person — more about standing up for each other as a team.”
Kesler doesn’t believe the Canucks get enough credit for physically standing up to the opposition.
“We’re not a team that’s going to score four or five goals,” said winger Daniel Sedin. “We’ve got to be prepared to play the way we did (Monday).
But I ask of you Vancouver, why do you need to be perceived as tough? What did coming across as tough in the last two games net you?
Past all the #MoralVictory jokes that were all over the twitterverse on Wednesday night, there was some seriousness to the question of what is it all worth?
I understand the purpose of stepping for a questionable collision between Brown and Luongo, which you can see here:
But again, what is it all worth to be percieved as tough if you still lose your cool, and eventually the game? What does it really mean to be tough then? To stick up for each other? But again, at what cost?
I ask Kings fans to recall a moment between Shane Doan and Dustin Brown following the 2011-12 playoffs. Moments after Brown hit Rozsival, sending him off the ice under aid of trainer and teammate, the Kings scored and moved onto the finals while Doan and company went back home. They were unable to make Brown answer in that game. The next time the teams played, almost six months later do you know what happened? Doan and Brown fought, AND THAT WAS THE END OF IT. There was no #MoralVictory grand standing by the Coyotes and there was no excessive defining of the Coyotes style or team in the media. There was a simple statement fight from one captain to the next, and that was the end of it. We didn't like what you did, we're a going to let you know that, and then we are going to play our game. THAT is toughness. Phoenix did not dedicate an entire game of their schedule to making a "statement" about getting back at Dustin Brown. It was simple, it was effective, and it has created a heated rivalry between the Kings and the Canucks that has led to some pretty darn competitive games.
What happened in the Kings Canucks game was a blemish on a good game in my opinion. While Kesler did in fact fight Dustin Brown, and good on him for that, it was at the start of the second period after both Kassian and Bieksa made points of going after Brown. Both instances were penalized and set the Canucks back. Had the Kings powerplay not been woefully inept that game could have been out of reach very quickly for Vancouver. In the same game Jordan Nolan was also taken on by Tom Sestito after a clean hit on Daniel Sedin. It was another instance of going over the line to prove a point.
There are teams in the league that are just tough, physical teams. That's the style that they implement. The Bruins, the Blues, the Flyers etc. Then there are teams that are not. But are they any less skilled or talented? No. The Lightning are not a big tough team, but they are a skilled one no doubt. Are the Ducks a big, tough, bruising team? No, but they are fast and they are skilled. The Blackhawks are one of the toughest teams in the league to me and I can't think of a single person who will fight on a regular basis.
Vancouver to me was a much better team when they weren't trying to prove to the hockey world how tough they were. I remember fearing games against the Canucks, much like I fear games against the Ducks now. Now it seems like a team that is still trying to shake of the Boston Bruins demon of old. Honestly? I miss the old Canucks, because it was a very good team to watch. The skill, the open style, the potency of the offense. It was a great thing to behold.
Now what we get is games filled with "statements" and staged fights over trying to prove to the world that you can't push us around. Now they are trying to play a game they are not built for, and they are doing it the wrong way. Or at least they were in the last two games.
Usually the guy standing up and yelling about how tough he is is the last one in the brawl.
The true toughness displayed in the Kings and Ducks games against the Canucks, was the Kings and Ducks not losing their cools and staying true to their style. They each came away two points richer from it as well. Unfortunately, the Canucks walk away at the butt of a lot of jokes, and with a lot of questions surrounding the team. It is unfortunate because it's a passionate fanbase and a storied franchise that is currently in a state of flux.
Maybe they move on from this terrible trip and learn something, maybe they don't.
As always the Canucks leave me with a ton of questions.
I'll look forward to what team shows up for the final meeting between the two teams in April. Will I be talking about the skill of the Sedins and the determination of Ryan Kesler? Or will I be talking about Zack Kassian and Tom Sestito. I hope it's the former.
Alright let the wolves come.
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