Well, that was a bad loss. The Canucks have had a few of those recently… not the best time for the wheels to be coming off the wagon. If you’re a Kings fan, here are your highlights:
“You're judged whether we win or lose. And not only did we lose, we lost 5-1 in a game... we didn't play well enough. That's becoming the story too often. We need to fix it.”
Strong words from Ian Cole. The Canucks lost again on Thursday night, leaving them 1-5-1 in their last 7, and having won just 3 times in regulation in their last 13 games. Gone are the highs of the first few months, and now it’s finding out what this team is made of… time.
“Every year there's ebbs and flows,” Cole continued. “Things were going great early. We were winning games we probably shouldn't have. Now we're not playing well. And the only way to get out of these slumps is to work through it. The only way you come out better for it on the other end is to work your way through it and understand that maybe, you know, there needs to be a little more desperation.”
Cole has been through this before, the ups and downs of seasons and Stanley Cup winning teams, so his voice should have some weight to it. How the rest of this young, unproven team responds in real time will be telling for the playoffs. But, one thing for sure is, they should be better than this. They’ve played a lot of hockey recently (13 games in the last 24 days), but getting consistently outworked and not being engaged speaks to something a bit bigger. I’m going to let Tocchet take it from here:
“I don't think we gave them a lot but what we gave them was egregious,” he said. “I mean you look at the goals, we're all in (gambling), pushing the chips in. We've got a day off tomorrow; some guys need it. We've got to recharge and we've just got to get our mind right.
“It's an organizational thing for us right now. We are lacking some staples. We're not chipping the body enough, I don't think (line) changes have been great, we're missing the net a lot, too. I think if we just correct about two or three things, get some guys get their confidence back... You get punched in the mouth, you've got to stand up and take it. You can't be hanging your heads. I hate when guys hang their head. You've got to have your chest up, ready to go. We're in a bit of a funk right now, and we've got to get out of it.”
“Maybe it's getting harder and guys have got to realize, you know, that's the game that's going to be out there from here all the way to whenever,” Tocc added. “I mean, that game is about winning puck battles and they won more than us.”
Tocchet seems pretty frustrated with their play at the moment, even calling their body positioning “mind-boggling”. Things aren’t getting easier as we head down the stretch run towards the playoffs, but hopefully the boys can get some momentum back with a softball against the Ducks on Sunday night... before playing the Kings again Tuesday.
Lastly, to stir the Petey pot, with rumors of a Carolina trade and then contract talks, he did not have a great game. He has not been playing well lately. He’s a huge cog on this team, a top end player in the league… but he’s got to pick up his game. Knowing how competitive and hard on himself he is, I’m sure he’ll rebound if he doesn’t eat himself alive first. This part from MacIntyre:
Amid the firestorm of reports of an impending new contract for Pettersson, the Canucks star was held pointless for the fourth time in seven games, managed only a single shot on net and was minus-three. Before speaking briefly to reporters after the game, Pettersson announced: “I’m going to talk about this game only.” More disappointment.
Let’s discuss in a civil and polite way, as fanatics only can:
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