Well.
For a few moments, the game felt like it was in reach. Pettersson finally scoring was a euphoric moment, and Hoglander scoring a brilliant goal moments later was titillating. But then...then it all fell apart.
There’s a lot to dissect here. Not a lot of it very pleasant. In my opinion, this team looks really uninspired and lazy. The defensive breakdowns are symptomatic of a major issue in both the players’ decision making, and the coaching systems in play.
Travis Green (and Nolan Baumgartner) really sewered this one tonight when the Canucks had momentarily put it back in reach. The brain dead challenge to the clearly on side play was bad. And the defensive pinches and turnovers and “system” is just awful. It’s not enough to say the favoured pariahs like Myers are to blame. Edler, Schmidt, and Hughes (our competent defenders) are falling victim to the same stuff.
The forward deployment is baffling. Hoglander looks like the guy who gives a damn the most out there, and he got the second lowest ice time among forwards second only to MacEwen. I mean...what? What did Virtanen and Roussel bring that he didn’t? I know Beagle and Sutter have PK roles, so whatever, but it blows my mind that the one forward who consistently seems to be working his bag off (and who has some skill) barely sees the ice.
The goaltending has been low on the list of issues here, but the second goal to Perry is one Holtby has to have. Inexcusable. But even if you take that out, it’s still 4-2, with innumerable turnovers.
The team looks like it has quit on the coach. Travis Green looks like he has no clue what to do. He started expressing frustration to the media after the 7-3 game - said the team was immature, forgot how to play hard to win, all the good sound bites - and you blow two coach’s challenges in back to back games? And your systems and deployment are this bad? Were you really this reliant on the Canucks getting stellar goaltending?
So that’s one problem. IMO, the Canucks look like a team that’s quit on their coach.
But of course, it’s bigger than that.
I don’t know how - if you’re Aquilini - you look at the team that’s been assembled, and the results, and how the guys we allowed to walk are performing for their new teams, and don’t feel furious. Green is being exposed as a coach that might be in over his head right now - but I don’t think there’s a coach out there who can really make this roster a contender. Make them competitive, sure. Make them give an honest effort night in and night out, make them play a smart two way game, absolutely. But is there a coach that can make this a contender, which is what Benning billed this team as? I have a hard time believing so.
Which brings us to Benning. The cap and term he gave to Sutter, Beagle, Roussel, Myers (and Baertschi and Ferland) has hurt this team in a huge way. One, it played a part in costing us Markstrom, Tanev and Toffoli. But two, it’s going to handcuff us now from fixing our roster.
I have a hard time picturing a team out there that would be willing to take any of his contracts on period, never mind without commanding a steep price for it. They’re all negative value assets. Even if Benning gets fired, there’s no looking at even beginning to undo those contracts until this season ends and - mercifully - a few of them come due (Sutter, Baertschi).
But the noise is going to get louder here. The roster Benning has assembled isn’t good enough. Green’s coaching isn’t good enough. At what point does a hammer or two fall, here? The expectations were high from fans and ownership after a tremendously successful 50th season. To watch key pieces walk away, a lesser team emerge, and get their asses kicked in the first 10-15% of their season is tough for anyone to swallow.
I think Green and Benning’s seats might just be getting a little hot. I think that on some level, some or all of the players are sending a message about some of the personnel choices that were made regarding “Dad Tanev”, and the well regarded Marky and Tofu.
Tick tock.
