The Vancouver Canucks are used to playing under pressure. A Canadian team who has yet to win the coveted Stanley Cup can't play a game without critics and supporters alike evaluating their every move. So what do the supporters and those within the organization think about this season? Is it an improvement on the past and therefore a success no matter the final outcome? Is it a stepping stone in the journey to rebuild? Or if they don't win it all, is it all for naught?
With a season smothered by change coming to an early end over the last weekend in April, the Vancouver Canucks have found themselves out of the playoffs and out of Stanley Cup contention for yet another year. Hopes were high – or at least on the rise – for the rehabilitated squad. The Canucks made some big changes leading up to the season's first face off but why wasn't it enough to bring a big change come playoff time?
The return of Trevor Linden to the organization brought excitement and promise to Rogers Arena. Unfortunately, as the season progressed and the Canucks didn't easily coast through to the playoffs like many hoped they would, excitement wained and expectations fell. Despite the season being a time of transition, as new management began developing young talent to complement the returning core, the Canucks still came up short.
Expectations might not have been high, and still weren't met, but some would argue the Canucks did deliver in several ways. Their play this year was infinitely better and marked by less controversy than the season prior. The Canucks ended the regular season with 101 points – 18 higher than the 2013-2014 season – and made the playoffs – also a step ahead of the previous year's team.
Signed in the off-season as an unrestricted free agent, Radim Vrbata lit up the scoreboard while igniting offence on whichever line he played. Having a career year with 31 goals and 32 assists, Vrbata was a welcomed addition to the lineup, bringing experience and expertise in areas essential to winning performances.
Rookie Bo Hovart quickly became a mainstay in the roster, boasting 25 points as the first teenager to earn a spot on the team since Ryan Kessler 11 years prior. The defensive duo of Alexander Edler and Chris Tanev posted improved stats over last year's dismal display, stepping up on the blueline when it counted.
With a regular season so full of promise, what went wrong? Was it an aging core? Too many prospects in the playoffs? A team still adjusting to alternations? "We are not young anymore, but we still showed we can play a big part with the team," Daniel Sedin told media at the conclusion of the series, and consequently, the Canucks' season.
With Daniel and Henrik sitting 9th and 13th, respectively, for points in the league, it's hard to argue their 'old age' has affected their play in a negative way. Both their on-ice and off-ice composure has been complimented by coaches past and present making the twins excellent mentors for the young crop of Canucks. Vancouver can't rely on the aging Sedins to carry the team to the Cup but their expertise will go a long way in ensuring future Canucks are prepared for the challenge.
While age could be considered a contributing factor to Vancouver's early demise, the team believes they were neither too young nor too old. The winning combination is a mix of experience and energy, both of which the Canucks seemed to possess this season, but more importantly now, what they have to look forward to in contests to come.
“We want to develop those players in a winning environment,” said first-year general manager, Jim Benning, referring to the handful of younger skaters on the ice for the Canucks this season. “You can have a lot of good, young players, but if they don’t learn and understand what it takes to win and we don’t have older players showing them the right way to play and how to win, you end up with a team full of real good players that never wins anything.”
It's hard to fault the younger members of the team for their lack of playoff experience but Benning believes this year's run will only help the future of the club, as emerging players like Ronalds Kenins and Sven Baertschi now understand the intensity of playoff hockey.
While fans may again be tempted to turn their backs on a team that has yet to bring home the Cup, the end of the season doesn't mean the end of a team worth cheering for. Fans still have much to be optimistic about for the foreseeable future and should take solace in the fact that, despite an early exit from the playoffs, their team stood 8th in the league at the end of the regular season while undergoing a rebuild.
The younger players may not come with a wealth of experience but they bring an energy to the team on the verge of becoming stale and outdated without some change. With youngsters like Hovart, Kenins and Baertschi already making their mark and prospects Jake Virtanen and Cole Cassels showing success in the system, the Canucks have a lot to look forward to as these players continue to improve and integrate within the team.
“You could tell this year what the younger guys meant to this team and the excitement they bring in,” said Daniel. “I think you can bring up those guys and you can still have the expectations of getting 101 points, I don’t see that drop off. This is the first time since we came in that I’ve felt that excitement with the young guys and prospects. If they can come in and be a part of this team, that goes a long way.”
“We don’t plan on taking any steps backwards, we’re trying to win, trying to make the playoffs and we’re going to do everything we can to do that,” Linden told media after his first season as Vancouver's president of hockey operations came to an end. “Having said that, we have a firm eye on our future and we need to develop players, but we can’t put players in the line-up that aren’t ready. They have to be ready to play.”
The upcoming draft day and off-season of summer will show just what the future may hold for the Canucks. The continuous task of ensuring their youngsters are ready to play while retaining their returning talent may take time for a team that has spent its last season repairing and rebuilding. It may not be the overnight success fans had dreamed of coming into this year's contest but the Canucks are confident they are skating to success.
Is a season of improvement considered a win despite the loss? For many fans, it may be easy to answer no as another disappointing playoff run ended without a Cup; for the Canucks, though, the answer has to be yes. As the team works to find the winning balance, incorporating the old with the new, a team worthy of playoff wins is in the process of being built.
