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I manage to catch a little bit of the Leafs game last night and I honestly walk away with a few thoughts regarding the Canucks.

The main one that popped into my head last night is why is Alain Vigneault such stubborn dumbass?

Randy Carlyle picked up about halfway through game one that his team needed a change and he wasn’t afraid to make that change for game two. He felt he needed more speed, he added speed by making changes.

Out came MacArthur, Liles, McLaren and Kostka; in went O'Byrne, Frattin, Hamilton and Gardiner.

But what impressed me most – and this leads me to my next point – is Carlyle wasn’t afraid to play them. These minor tweaks weren’t coming in to play four-to-five minutes. No, Carlyle challenged them to play 8-18 minutes and every one of them responded by playing well. Hell, they even got a solid nine minutes from Colton Orr… Colton “freaking” Orr played more than both Weise and Ebbett combined. There is no way that should ever happen!

Throughout the playoffs, take a look at what all the teams are getting out of their players. For the most part the fourth-line is generally playing 7-10 minutes and the third pair is getting around 15 minutes. What’s so special about the Canucks? Why are they not following what every other team is doing?

So what similar tweaks can Vancouver make? How about play Weise for 7-10 minutes, Slot Schroeder into the third-line (yes I know about a million people are puzzled as to why AV can’t see this) and slot Ballard in for Alberts and give him and Corrado 15 minutes.

A huge key in the playoffs is depth. While the Canucks aren’t as deep as past years, they are a whole lot deeper than Alain Viguealt is giving them credit for. You will not win in the playoffs by only playing two healthy forwards for less than five minutes. You will not win in the playoffs by using a defensive pair for roughly 12 minutes a night. Check the ego at the door, and show your roll players that you have some confidence in them. It’s really that simple.

Hockey is a team game and you need contributions from all 18 guys if you want to will. When you play with such a short bench you team is essentially handicapping itself and going into a fight with one arm tied behind their back.

So now that we know what we can learn from TO, let’s take a look at what the players can learn from another rival: the Chicago Blackhawks

I don’t remember the exact way Toews (I believe) said it, but him and I believe a few of the Hawks players basically said Vancouver wasn’t that good and they could beat them.

Vancouver on the other hand, has decided to spend this series telling the world about their process and how if they stick to it they will get their chances and then reminding us all how good the Sharks are.

Now I don’t know about you, but I’d rather have a team that is cocky and will say screw you, we’re better, then one that is telling us their doing their best and that the Sharks are good too. Once you think the other team is as good or better than you, you’ve already lost.

It’s like this team is prepping themselves for their playoff exit rather than preparing to kick ass and take names.

Lose the respect, or lose the series.


So my keys to tonight…

- Ebbett and Alberts out, Ballard and Schroeder in
- Get the roll players some minutes to keep the stars fresh
- No respect
- Good goaltending
- Battle for 60 minutes


Prediction- I’ll say 5-1 Canucks just to keep the message boards fun today.

Find great deals on Vancouver Canucks Playoff Tickets at FanXchange.com


Well that's a wrap.

Ian


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