CrashingTheGoalie

By Bill Heintz

…The Mediocrity Express!!!

Okay maybe I’m just being a grouch. And the team is trying to stay positive. You’ve probably seen the reports…you know “we have to win tonight against Nashville to ensure that this road trip is a successful one.”

And sure, I’m trying to buy it.

But in the back of my mind I can’t help thinking about the opportunities this team keeps wasting. We play well and then lose inexplicably to Carolina. And yeah, I know that bloggers and posters are saying that “the ‘Canes are better than their record. Oh yeah, and we lost to the NY Islanders last year and still finished with the Division Crown.”

But my problem is, we didn’t win anything. The Penguins did…and before that, Detroit. And before the Wings we had the Ducks carrying home the championship.

My point is, true contenders don’t play down…or at least that far down, to their lesser opponents. And the Canucks have been doing exactly that for a long, long time.

I’m not jumping ship here. They are still a must watch for me. They still can make me bleed. But as we approach game 30 there is no denying that this team is missing something rather critical to the winning process. And that disturbs my lurking cynicism.

What exactly are we missing? Well, a third line center and a truely dominating defenseman, is my contention.

Now whether you want scoring from the third line or rabid checking, it’s pretty obvious that we don’t have either one in Kyle Wellwood. We used to have one in Ryan Kesler but Ryan has proven himself worthy for second line duty. So we truly need a third line centre to play one of the roles. Get us a checker that can drive opposition forwards to distraction…or get us a solid two way guy that can pop twenty goals a season. One of the two.

Secondly, we need a truly dominating defenseman. That’s not to say that I don’t love the work Ehrhoff has put in. And Edler is coming back…hell, even Bieksa has moved out of the Twilight Zone. But we need a top five in the league type of guy. Someone that can skate and shoot and check and just lead the troops from the back end.

We don’t have one.

And until we do, it’s hard to imagine a championship.