So the Canucks were a product of PDO all this time? Or are they still a legitimate contender?

[strattonius]

Svilovs stepped in admirably but he's not demko. Anybody who watched demko in the playoffs against Vegas a few years back almost singlehandedly pulling the Canucks through that series will remember just how big of an impact he could put on a series.

It reminds me of when the Habs lost price in the semi finals and brought in tokarski. Again, tolarski was fine in his own right but the mindset and complexion of the team changes when you go from an elite goalie to an unknown.

It's hard to argue that a healthy demko isn't the marginal difference required at that time, but now the Canucks have another issue which is whether demko is durable enough moving forward and whether he's still the same guy.

Team also plays different in front of a rookie as opposed to a Vezina calibre goalie that's been there all year.

Vancouver protected Silovs really well at the expense of creating offensive opportunities. The series would've been completely different with Demko. And by the end of the series, Silovs was allowing point shots with low traffic in pretty easily.

 

[TheOrangeDesk]

Team also plays different in front of a rookie as opposed to a Vezina calibre goalie that's been there all year.

Vancouver protected Silovs really well at the expense of creating offensive opportunities. The series would've been completely different with Demko. And by the end of the series, Silovs was allowing point shots with low traffic in pretty easily.

game 7 Canucks had 4 shots to oilers 22 half way through that game. but sure, blame the goalie

 

[strattonius]

game 7 Canucks had 4 shots to oilers 22 half way through that game. but sure, blame the goalie

I don't know if the Canucks win the series with Demko. You gotta think it would be a favorable addition to their chances though.

Silovs rose to the occasion in the playoffs last year because he was a completely green rookie that was thrown in to the playoff hotbed. All things considered he did a really good job, but Silovs is a flawed goaltender and a lot of holes in his game were exposed as the series went on. Not really all that surprising and I am not blaming him.

 

[HockeyVirus]

With hindsight, it seems the answer is yes. Last year is a clear outlier for them.

 

[BertMcDrai]

I just checked the standings...what happened to the Canucks?
I mean everybody knew they were a product of a historical PDO (Canucks fans still think it was not) but they are worse than expected.

Maybe they should be sellers at the deadline?
Still lots of hockey left, so everything can happen.

 

[Canucks LB]

Significant injuries, drama, and poor D depth.

Not a good combination for success

 

[Senor Catface]

Great topic. Seems like a lot of opinion change since December 4th.

 

[BB79]

I really want to contribute to this thread but I have no idea what PDO is.

Haha glad I'm not the only one. I detest acronyms and advanced stats so it's no wonder

 

[PULSATING]

Haha glad I'm not the only one. I detest acronyms and advanced stats so it's no wonder

Its a VERY advanced stat. You have to add save percentage and shooting percentage together to get it.

 

[Else Ermine]

The burden of expectations?
It's fair to say they've had some significant adversity this year but honestly it seems like when things look to be at their best they've performed the absolute worst.
They started the season with expectations massively raised by last year. They played adequately away but badly, sometimes horribly, in front of their own fans. Now they've finally got their core group reunited from injury and there's hope of a turnaround but instead they've put together back to back miserable performances. Genuinely woefully bad even on a Jim Benning era scale of reference.

They're lucky that the division/conference lacks depth because it they're talented enough that they could still turn things around enough to make the playoffs but there's no real reason to expect it. Nor to expect them to cause any real noise if they make it. Even if they play well their defense is still majorly limiting.
They can't rely on JT Miller to carry them emotionally like he did last season, he's just not able to be that person right now but no-one else, the coach included, seems capable of having that guiding aura either. Something needs to change and everyone looks like they're waiting on it happening elsewhere.

 

[Ciao]

I really want to contribute to this thread but I have no idea what PDO is.

I think it means they were lucky .