I needed a little time to accept the fact that the New York Rangers are headed back to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since they played the Canucks in 1994.
It's not so much about Alain Vigneault. I'm actually really curious now to see how he does, no matter which team the Rangers end up playing. He has so much history against both Darryl Sutter and Joel Quenneville—and a goalie who appears to have ice in his veins.
The reminiscing is what's making me squirm. Certain iconic players whose names we don't mention on this blog are already on the scene, and I expect the crowds of ex-Rangers will grow as the final goes along. I didn't see it, but apparently Alexei Kovalev was on hand for Game 6—repping for the Rangers and ignoring the fact that he also played for the Canadiens.
Brace yourself to hear Glenn Healy talk about how he was the Rangers' backup in '94. I imagine his biases will be even more emphatic than usual...
Not looking forward to this trip down memory lane.
I have no idea how Game 7 will shake down in the West tomorrow. I'm not surprised at all that Chicago has come back, especially with Patrick Kane doing that thing that he does. Again. But now that the Kings are finally facing elimination again, this is when they'll play their best hockey. Should be quite a game.
Add my voice to the chorus that's saying, "Wow—these are the teams that the Canucks will need to compete against if they want to get back to the top of the conference??" An intimidating prospect.
I doubt that we can expect the Canucks to be duking it out in a similar series by next season, so I starting thinking about how far the team and the players would need to progress in order for 2014-15 to be considered a "success."
Linden and Benning say that the goal is to make the playoffs, so then you can compete for the Cup. I'll take them at their word. I'll also acknowledge that being among the top eight teams in the west is a pretty solid accomplishment these days.
Now—how are we going to get there?
What kind of numbers would we want to see from our current players to finish next year with a good feeling?
The team's 196 goals-for in 2013-14 were the second-worst in franchise history, only behind the rock bottom 1998-99 season when the team scored a total of 192. So let's start there, with the team's so-called top producers.
We've seen so many goals in the playoffs. It's easy to forget that, overall, this wasn't a big year for offensive production in the regular season. Only Sidney Crosby scored over 100 points; only Alex Ovechkin cracked the 50-goal plateau. No one else was close to either of those numbers.
Click here for the handy sortable list of the league's top scorers of 2013-14.
To me, it's amazing that only 17 players scored 70 points or more, while 49 got at least 60.
The Sedins' new deal gives them a cap hit of $7 million next season, which ranks them 15th and 16th among the league's highest-paid forwards. According to this year's numbers, they'd need to get about 70 points to match that ranking. I think I'd feel satisfied if they could get back to that number.
Here's another one—Alex Burrows: cap hit of $4.5 million.
Goals per year since 2008-09: 28, 35, 26, 28, 22 (pro-rated), 5
What's the bar for Burrows? Are we happy if he gets back to 20? 25?
As long as he has his career-worth-of-injuries out of his system, Burrows is a valuable two-way player even when he's not scoring, but $4.5 million's a bit steep for a grinder and penalty-killer. It'll be interesting to see if Burrows regains his spot with the Sedins and gets a chance to be akey offensive guy once the new coach steps in.
One other detail jumps out from that list of top scorers: the number of up-and-coming players who are climbing the ranks. On the top page, there are a few grizzled vets like Thornton, Marleau, St. Louis and Jagr, but the next generation of talent is well represented. Even if we ignore the usual superstars and playoff standouts, the Canucks just don't have anyone like Jamie Benn or Claude Giroux in that 24-26 age bracket, who's on the verge of hitting his hockey peak.
Hey Evander Kane—how's your summer going so far? Will you be celebrating your 23rd birthday at home in Vancouver on August 2? Anything we can get you to make that birthday extra-special? Like maybe a chance to play with Ryan Kesler??