Post-Game Talk: WCSF GM7 | Canucks lose to Oilers | 2-3 (Garland & Hronek) | Season Over

[Jay26]

Their most talented players let them down hugely and that's the most gutting thing for me.

 

[Petey O]

Was fun guys. Genuinely fun for the first time in a long time. Have to be proud of what this team was able to accomplish with so many idiots completely writing them off.

 

[just22]

Amazing season that no one predicted. Went to 7 games in Round 2 with a third string goalie and a superstar centre playing like a passenger.

Canucks offseason priority should be to find Petey a top 6 winger, get more speed and skill in the line up, and find a f***ing good PP coach FFS.

 

[Dream Big]

Congratulations to the Canucks for working hard in the 3rd and not giving up and battling until the end.

 

[iFan]

He was the only one creating chances along with Garland tonight.
Wouldn’t be saying the same thing if PDG and Mik were not the ones getting the breakaway passes

in game 7 of round two he put in some effort... that's why I don't have confidence in him.

 

[VanJack]

You have to give the Canucks some credit.....they never gave up in this game and put the fear of God into the Oilers in the last few minutes.

The sad part of this game and the last one, is that Skinner really sucks. It they'd gotten any shots or chances directed at him, he'd have buckled. The Oilers better pray he recovers his game in the next round--otherwise, Dallas will chase him again.

It's hard to fathom how the Canucks could play so poorly through two periods; and turn it up in the third. But I suspect the Oilers were just falling back to protect the lead.

Big off-season changes coming in Vancouver though. Not much reason to follow the upcoming draft because the Canucks don't pick until the third round.

 

[AzNightmare]

Missing Boeser for that gameplan.
He's the comeback guy.

 

[arttk]

Guenzel is most likely going back to Pittsburgh

He already sold his house

 

[potatowejj]

So many bad coaching decisions when it mattered. The way the lineups were set up gave me the impression that tocchet didn't know what he was doing

I mean part of the issue is that they laid an egg in Game 6 with the same line combinations that did very well in Game 5.

 

[M2Beezy]

Game 7 and we put in the 2 ex leafs to give their best effort

Now that is funny Jiffy

 

[Flik]

So much fun. What a ride!

 

[Hoglander]

Lame. Brutal effort over the 1st half of that game. 4 minute PP without a shot. The lows were just too low.

Tocchet got schooled as the series went on. Oilers dominated the neutral zone by backchecking hard and denying zone entries, while the Canucks reverted to last season's neutral zone play, and just backed off while giving up the blueline time and time again. This, and refusing to get shots on net, cost us the series.

Good season overall, though. If we get young guys taking the next step, this team could contend.

 

[604]

Tough loss, we never did figure out what we needed to keep tight to Bouchard.

Garland showed up as always. The UFAs didn’t have great games.

 

[vancityluongo]

that third period bodes very well for this franchise.

bieksa just said it best. the franchise has changed the culture. they play games following process and stayed true to the course through thick and thin. that's what winning teams do.

changing a player or two out won't change that. great teams suffer personnel losses but keep ticking.

this team can be one of those teams.

 

[StickShift]

Hated the coaching in the playoffs. Playing loser sit back hockey. Infuriating. Then when they got down they played a lot better when they were allowed to. Not sure this team will go any further than they did this year with EP and Tocchet coaching this way.

I have a lot of time for criticizing coaching for the powerplay deployment. It was stagnant and relied on the same predictable zone entries and plays. It was easily neutralized by both Nashville and Edmonton.

But, I think their 5v5 style was very much the product of the players they had available. Mikheyev, Hoglander, Lafferty, Blueger are not the caliber of players a contender has playing in their top-nine. Failing to acquire a single winger at the TDL or even signing Kessel for free will be a big question mark for me. I think they made a mistake not going big-game hunting either and swapping Hoglander for Guentzel or Toffoli. You already made big bets with Lindholm and Zadorov—why not go all-in?

 

[Sedinery]

Thanks for running kuzzy out of town Tocc

Probably could have used a 40 goal scorer in the playoffs

 

[HockeyWooot]

Tough way to end a great season. Oilers levelled up from game 6 onwards, we couldn’t match and didn’t have any juice left.

On the bright side that this team has exceeded expectations, keeping in mind our Vezina goaltender went down early and carried by our third stringer.

Bright future ahead, I’ve always maintained that our window to contend starts in a couple years when Hughes and Pettersson have physically matured and in their prime along with some ELC reinforcements bolstering the lineup in Willander and Lekkerimaki.

 

[aquaweenie]

No. You can't coach scared. He's allowed the team to turtle far too often and this is the result. They have to change the system such that offense is an expectation, not an occasional dalliance.

Ya hate to say it but Toch coached scared tonight… learning lesson I guess

 

[Treefingers]

Honestly, I’m just so stoked to be invested like this in the team again. 2011 pretty much broke my enjoyment of watching the NHL and then the Benning years were just god awful. It was unfortunate that the boys played the way they did for most of the game today, but it was a great ride. The offseason is gonna be very interesting - I’m looking forward to next year already.

 

[Flik]

He already sold his house

But has he purchased a new BBQ?????

 

[Orca Smash]

Sucks to blow two chances to win a series again just like 2011, but at least they fought back.

Some changes are needed to take the next step. Need more speed up front for sure, fix the PP, and I think tocchet needs to tweak his system slightly, so much grinding around the boards i just think its to old school and its such a grinding way to play, most modern teams throw it out front and shoot right away.

 

[Angry Little Elf]

Great ride with everyone here.

Now time to focus on planning my wedding.

See y’all in September

 

[AzNightmare]

So here's the thing.

The second 41 games of the season and the playoffs were what this team "truly" is.

And that's much improved from last season.

But... after seeing what the team was capable of in the first 2-3 months of the season.

It's disappointing because we got a taste of what the team could look like when playing to its full potential.

I think more like unreal potential. Shooting percentage was unreal. And they had all the puck luck in the world.

 

[Billy Kvcmu]

To all the haters and doubters

All in will find way to improve the team

I trust that man

 

[corona]

Miller was going to score on that shot if it hadn't hit Zadorov in front