Are You Surprised By The 8-2-2 Start Without Kesler/Booth/Aaron Rome?

[604]

Kesler is going to be tentative for a while and Booth didn't look to be making the team. I don't think they will transform this roster into a playoff juggernaut. There is still work to do or else the Canucks will arrive in the post season with the same team that proved itself unable in LA last season. Expecting a different result is crazy.

Except we'll have a healthy Daniel Sedin.

Given the nature of the series and the makeup of our team, that may have been enough.

I'd like to add another high end centre so we are better able to deal with injuries and the playoff grind but it does take luck to win.

 

[NYVanfan]

a bit surprised, but not really
just goes to show how big a part of our overall success has been goaltending.
then when you get into the playoffs some jerk like Thomas or Quick will get equally hot or better, and we need to have our skaters as stacked and primed as possible. I hate to be at all negative in this successful run ... but so much dejavu from last year; i really hope this isnt giving them a false sense of their elitism, beyond in nets. Other than the Ducks game shutout, we have not dominated any of these games, the way we used to regularly in 10/11 ...
again, with Kes and Booth and a fully healthy squad we should be as good as anyone ...but i cant help feeling that dealing Schneids for a killer added piece would be the single move that gets us closest to the cup this year ...(while also knowing that dealing Lu is more likely and more sound .... and carrying both is a distinct possibility as well)

 

[Cocoa Crisp]

Goaltending is hot right now and AV is coaching a conservative style to get the most out of the current roster. Sprinkle in some timely secondary scoring and voila, 6-game winning streak.

What I am surprised about is that Schroeder is able to provide quality 3rd line center minutes. His play and Kassian's hot start has really provided a lot of answers to the roster uncertainty heading into the season. Bodes well moving forwards as well.

 

[Eddy Punch Clock]

Yes is running away with this poll at 43%

Tight race at the bottom though between yes and yes at 15% and 16% percent respectively.

I'm in the 20% group. Didn't feel great going into the season; felt even worse after the first game.

 

[ARSix]

Everything is coming up Nuckers. Literally everything that could go right, is going right. Can this possibly keep up?

• Can Luongo continue to play like a vezina candidate? Sure he can, he's often a Vezina candidate.
• Can Schneider continue to be one of the best goalies in the league? Well, he's been that so far for 3 straight years so I see no reason to think he can't.
• Can Raymond be as good as he has been the past few weeks? Sure - he was great before the cup run, maybe he's finally healed and will be back to 20+ goal form.
• Can Kassian continue to contribute offensively while providing grit? Yes, he has all the tools, and maybe this is the year he puts them together.
• Can Keith Ballard keep playing like a borderline top pairing defenseman? Well, he did it in Florida and was legit in Phoenix, so maybe he's finally got this figured out.
• Can Schroeder keep being a strong two-way option even as a rookie? Probably not, his PDO is ridiculous.

The issue is that that's a lot of stuff that has to keep going as well as it's been going. You have to think that A couple of those things will fall off the pace they've been on. The goaltending won't keep being this good forever, Kassian will hit a lull, Raymond will disappear for a stretch of games, etc. So I don't want to say it can't keep going like this - because it CAN - it just doesn't seem likely. I'm still not believing it.

On the other hand I've been saying that for 3 games now.

 

[ddawg1950]

I am pleased.

But we have been playing the bottom feeders from the NW in four of the last five games. So there's that.

We are heading into a tougher part of the schedule and it'll be about the right time for Kesler to start working his way back into the line up.

 

[Fairweather]

The issue is that that's a lot of stuff that has to keep going as well as it's been going. You have to think that A couple of those things will fall off the pace they've been on. The goaltending won't keep being this good forever, Kassian will hit a lull, Raymond will disappear for a stretch of games, etc. So I don't want to say it can't keep going like this - because it CAN - it just doesn't seem likely. I'm still not believing it.

On the other hand I've been saying that for 3 games now.

The next set of games are the real benchmark.

Dallas twice, the Blues, Chicago and Nashville.

 

[Samzilla]

Next game's against Dallas. The return of Aaron Rome. Would be great to have a Rome-themed GDT, possibly Return of the Jedi related (since he obviously has mindpowers over AV).

 

[SergioMomesso]

Big part of the schedule next. Dallas is on a 4 game streak (could be 5 after tonight). St Louis is looking to rebound after a shaky 2 weeks. Nashville keeps getting points. And we all know what Chicago has been up to.

Kesler can come back any day now.

 

[biturbo19]

heh. Aaron Rome. Right.

 

[Anzes Eyes]

I'm probably the only Canucks fan that actually appreciates and likes Aaron Rome. I'd rather have him than having useless plug Andrew Alberts right now...


And I actually miss Salo more than anything.. Anyone watched the last couple minutes in the Habs-Lightning game on TSN? Lightning down 3-1 with like 2 mins to go, Vinny Lecavalier scores to make it 3-2 with their net empty, 44 secs to go... THen the Habs take a penalty and what does Sami Salo do just a mere few seconds later?? OH I dunno, just blast the puck from the point and get a couple lucky deflections and tie the game 3-3.


Really miss Salo.

I too miss Salo until Garrison starts getting shots on net.

 

[enuck]

I'm somewhat surprised. I didn't see this happening when I looked at the other teams in the division vs the Canucks on paper. I expected Minnesota to be much better out of the gate, I thought the Oil would have come out stronger given many of them played together during the lock out, and no one could predict Calgary's injuries and lack of production. I didn't have high expectation for the Avs. With 2 key players out at the start and goalie uncertainty I wasn't expecting to see the quick improvements and adjustments I'm seeing this far.

I'm happy to see Schroeder is proving me wrong so far, I didn't think he'd be ready for the bigs for another year or two; I'm happily eating crow.
It doesn't hurt that Mason is playing like it's a contract year

 

[Proto]

I'm not surprised the goaltenders have been good because they were last year and they both have something they really want to prove. I am definitely surprised they've been so good that they've been able to overcome the Canucks understandable so-so ES play and dreadful special teams to such an extent that the team is still in shouting distance of Chicago.

 

[Wizeman*]

This is a good thread. Here are my thoughts

- Aaron Rome is a good 6th defense man. We simply had too much depth with Tanev and Ballard . We had to let him to advance his career. He is capable of top 4 min as a band aid and Dallas is lucky to have him.

- Gillis has made some mistakes. For every 2 good moves , he does fumble some occasionally. He and the coaching staff underestimated what Sami had in the tank and were not prepared to pay him 2 mil a year to keep him.

-Kassian is going to make Hodgson look like an idiot 3 years from now.

- Schroeder is going all the things Raymond, Hansen, Burrows and Kesler did before him. Keep his mouth shut and play the tough minutes in your own zone.

Lui and Cory are handling this way better than I expected. There was some whining but it was quickly covered up. Amazing what winning will do

 

[NYVanfan]

I too miss Salo until Garrison starts getting shots on net.

yep, so far garrison<salo (when healthy)
devoutly hoping and trusting that JG will get it on track, but secretly fearing we've just bought our 3rd helping of overpriced Florida beef...

 

[thepuckmonster]

yep, so far garrison<salo (when healthy)
devoutly hoping and trusting that JG will get it on track, but secretly fearing we've just bought our 3rd helping of overpriced Florida beef...

Garrison's been a stud since his Junior A/B days. He's becoming better acclimatized with the system now and it's showing. His offensive production should be the least of our worries considering we had 3 top 30 scoring D-Men last year. It will come, no need to stress it.

 

[biturbo19]

I too miss Salo until Garrison starts getting shots on net.

On the Salo thing...

He's looked fine this year and still has a cannon RHS which we definitely miss...but it was never about this year in letter Salo walk. Salo wanted an extra year...and next year, that Salo-money on a 35+ contract would've sunk us with the Cap going down. And lol if Gillis were to have assumed Salo was capable of 2 more completely healthy seasons without slowing down (which he was already showing signs of here). Tampa does a better job protecting blueliners and covering for slowing footspeed than AV does here. The way Canucks defencemen are expected to play...Salo would've continued to look as old as he is, and it probably would've continued to expose his fragility.

Not that Garrison is the ideal substitute by any means, as some were expecting. There were a ton of people who extremely wary of committing to yet another LH defenceman with $$$ and Term like that. Especially considering his specific circumstances. But the Salo thing had a lot more to it than just thinking about this season.

 

[Biggest Canuck Fan]

I am completely stunned by the 8-2-2 record, but I also expected Edmonton, Colorado and Minnesota to be better. Instead they have regressed it seems. I also did not expect Raymond, Schroeder and Ballard/Tanev to be so effective. The team is very complete right now, and I think no matter the team the Canucks would be 8-2-2 honestly because of those players effectiveness. Depth wins championships.

 

[lush]

Some aspects of the teams are surprising while others aren't. I'm surprised that Luongo started off as well as he did. He's traditionally a slow starter and even more importantly he always seemed susceptible to external pressure, which was quite rampant due to his situation with the club.

The guys playing in in the AHL who came in and made an impact didn't surprise me. They were in better game shape than anybody else, especially since our NHL regulars simply didn't play during the lockout. Easy to predict that.

Separating the individual pieces and looking at the bigger picture I do think that Canuck fans are incredibly reactionary. Losing to the Kings sparked threads about our window closing and with the off-season dragging on due to the lockout expectations were seemingly lowered.

We have a good team here, the playoffs will be another story but they're difficult for everyone. Maybe the shortened season will help us out there for some unknown reason -who knows

 

[MikeK]

I am totally surprised we're 8-2-2 without both of Kesler and Booth. I had us pegged at a .500 hockey team or just above simply because of the unknown second line we were starting the season with.

 

[jigsaw99]

Aaron Rome is Dallas' fans problem now. Taking ice time away from good young prospect Philip Larsson and Jamie Oleksiak.

 

[jigsaw99]

a bit surprised... there's alot of games where we got out played and still won. The level of competition is just not that good in our division.

 

[thepuckmonster]

Aaron Rome is Dallas' fans problem now. Taking ice time away from good young prospect Philip Larsson and Jamie Oleksiak.

The Rome giveth, and the Rome taketh away.

Actually, just takeths away.

 

[trytobe]

came into this season without any real expectations for this team, and still don't even now. regular season success is more of the same old, same old. playoffs are where we need to shine.

 

[HighAndTight]

The Rome giveth, and the Rome taketh away.

Actually, just takeths away.