Now that the season is over...

[Sykonee]

How do you rate the Canuck's 07-08 campaign?

I give it a C. For Completely Crippled.

[ebbomega]

Same as it ever was.

We just chose to have our good half of the season at the beginning of the season this year.

[rawb]

this wasn't a cup year by any longshot, so in my mind there are some positives to missing the playoffs.

the biggest of which it sends a clear message that THINGS ARE NOT ALRIGHT with the team and we need to take major stops to right them. a second round loss, on the other hand, does not introduce such panic, and results in maybe a few minor player moves and a little retooling.

there are a bunch of positives right now. Naslund and Morrison are free agents, and while great players and a huge part of the Canucks, the Cap Space/Performance ratio they give is complete bonertown. we can stake a stab at resigning Mo' for less, but in the end theres a good possibility that some other team will vastly overrate his potential and take him.

the Canucks biggest weakness has been their commitment to sentimentality in moving players like Mo and Nazzy while under contract, so now that we are forced to either resign them or lose them the issue is pressed regarding how much they are actually worth.

another positive is our defensive core, which is very good (Bieska's end of season collapse non-withstanding) and very cheap. Our top 4 is great.

third positive is the youth really stepping up. kesler and burrows are both incredible shutdown people. bourdon doesn't look lost anymore. shannon is a steal that hasn't been gioven a chance to fully prove himself, but is a beast of a player. we can have two very fast lines that can shut you down on d and punish you if you turn it over.

sedins are still money, but are questionable in big games/down the stretch/playoffs. i think a lot of this is due of their inability to get in front of the net/set anyone up in good shooting positions. i think this could be helped by consistantly having a larger, more physical forward on the line (a pyatt or a more skilled 'power forward').

we don't really have a toughness problem through the whole team (but if we dump cowan we will need another physical guy for a 4th line). we generally have no problem standing up for ourselves. our trap system seems to work when we employ it on our 'slower' checking lines.

Be back later with more, work is happing

[NinjaBoy]

Exactly, the team is too comfortable. Things need to be changed big time, and after a season like this.

Nonis, will be gone.
Nasland, should be gone, which would be a great opportunity to free up the salary cap.

The team has some great aspects, but none of them come together on the ice. The team is too complacent.

[rawb]

Nonis is good and bad. His benefit is that he wont go crazy at a trade deadline for a rental player and get rid of prospects.

His bad side is that in the off-season last year, he failed to make the team better. The problems we have today are the problems we have had for a long time.

[se7en]

A for ass

[NinjaBoy]

Originally Posted by rawb

Nonis is good and bad. His benefit is that he wont go crazy at a trade deadline for a rental player and get rid of prospects.

His bad side is that in the off-season last year, he failed to make the team better. The problems we have today are the problems we have had for a long time.

I agree. But in order for the team to improve, big changes need to be made. And I don't think Nonis is willing to make them.

[FeelGood]

I think the nucks not making the playoffs this year will benefit us in the long run.
We needed to make some big changes and now we have the opportunity to do so.

[ppcock]

the canucks should be bought by an american
no name changes!

[DefJef]

[Grapes]

Do you think hockey players feel pressured to golf in order to maintain the cliche?

[miss.myra]

england not qualifying to compete in the eurocup > *

but i understand how you hockey fans feel.

vancouver is just a better place to be overall when the canucks are doing well in the playoffs, people just seem happier. you know, minus all that honking :P

[Senior]

Originally Posted by NinjaBoy

Exactly, the team is too comfortable. Things need to be changed big time, and after a season like this.

Nonis, will be gone.
Nasland, should be gone, which would be a great opportunity to free up the salary cap.

The team has some great aspects, but none of them come together on the ice. The team is too complacent.

Why would ownership fire Nonis? What has he done or not done that would make you think he doesn't have their confidence? In my eyes Nonis has followed a well thought out and logical process to building a contender. Since he took over the Canucks they have made some good draft picks (Edler, Bieksa, Raymond, Bourdon and Burrows) and got a franchise goalie. If they do fire Nonis who replaces him?

As for being complacent what would you have done differently??? Seriously name one thing.

The Canucks are, like it or not, right where they should be. Since Nonis took over he has had the Sedins, Naslund, and Morrison under contract taking up all his money for offensive fire power. now unfortunately minus Todd Bertuzzi, Naslund and Morrison have never been that effective. So that has left the Canucks with only one legitimate scoring line. Now this year with so many Canucks coming up as free agents we will really see his first chance at making some changes. These days though it seems more and more that good teams need to build through the draft like Anaheim did. In that respect the jury is still out on Patrick White, Michael Grabner, and Corey Schieder.

As for Alain Vigneault he is one season removed from being a Jack Adams winner. For the players he had this year he did okay but not as good as last year. He will get another chance though. unless a team severely bombs coaches don't usually get the ax in the off season. The exception would be if they had an amazing coach to replace him with... but you tell me who that is. GM's like to save firing their coach as a mid season option if the team starts badly.

I guess basically I'm not that disappointed because I just didn't have that high of expectations going into this season. I would have liked to watch a round of playoffs but they wouldn't have gotten past an Anaheim or San Jose anyway. Next year and the year after are going to be the Canucks window for building a contender.

For free agents I'd be interested in seeing guys like JP Dumont, Brian Rolston, Ryan Malone, Andrew Brunette, and daymond langkow.

for RFA's I think you might consider Correy Perry or jeff carter.

[miss.myra]

nolan, sorry i don't dig the honking :(

[KenJi]

Originally Posted by Senior

For free agents I'd be interested in seeing guys like JP Dumont, Brian Rolston, Ryan Malone, Andrew Brunette, and daymond langkow.

for RFA's I think you might consider Correy Perry or jeff carter.

Definetly! Would add some consistent scoring and toughness to boot.

I agree with most I didn't have that high of expectations this year, but I did still think the canucks would have made the playoff's. Albeit lose in the first round.

Most people in here have already left pretty good commments so I won't really add much to it.

Also don't forget people all season long the Canucks were never healthy on the back end. Our top 6 were always injured.

We definetly need a good scorer, but should be a good scorer with a good defensive side to him to. Otherwise he wouldn't fit into the system of the Canucks.

p.s: GO WASHINGTON,OTTAWA, and MONTREAL. All east teams lol

[KrisisID]

Amazing send-off to Trevor Linden, Forever a Canuck!

[SWIFTBEATS]

to hell with ottawa, pens all the way