2011 Canucks vs 2021 Lightning... who wins a 7 game series?

[Just A Bit Outside]

Lightning. 5 games tops.

Better supporting cast of forwards.

Better defence.

Better goaltending.

 

[Petey O]

Lightning. 5 games tops.

Better supporting cast of forwards.

Better defence.

Better goaltending.

Yep. This year's lightning would have easily been the best team in the NHL in 2011. Better than both the Bruins and Canucks. Though, perhaps, a better matchup for the Canucks than the Bruins.

 

[DFAC]

Tampa easily

 

[vanuck]

Man this would be a hard series to call!

Just by comparing lines, I would have to give a very slight edge to Tampa's 1st line even though I think Henrik was the better 1C; Palat and Burrows are comparable but having Kucherov is what nudges it over the line for me. I give the advantage to our 2nd line over theirs however - Kesler was the best two-way center in the league at the time and I take him over Cirelli. I'll also take our 3rd line over theirs - offensively they're comparable but I think ours was better defensively. Their 4th line is superior to ours however, no question (Higgins > Maroon but Johnson >> Lapierre and Colton/Joseph > Tambellini/Glass).

Looking at D pairs, the Bolts have a clear No. 1 D-man but overall I think our blueline was deeper and more solid. I think we have the better defence in this series.

Unfortunately I have Vasilevskiy over Luongo IMO.

However to me Cooper is a much better coach than AV and that's what ultimately gives them the advantage in this series... which would almost certainly go the full 7 games.

 

[mathonwy]

Lou's propensity to shit the bed on the road gives the edge to Tampa.

 

[bertuzzi2bure]

i think there is some recency bias here with Tampa.

The Islanders took them to game 7 lol....

Keep in mind the Canucks nearly swept the defending champs Chicago who still had a dynasty level team, and then dusted off the Sharks quite easily in 5 games. The Sharks also had a high tempo offense.

IMO it would go to 7.

 

[NoShowWilly]

Give both teams full health or where we were in the finals? Can Malhotra see out of both eyes?

 

[RebuildinVan]

I think the teams match up well...on paper. But in high pressure games Id bank on Kucherov, Hedman and Vasi over the twins and Lou. Tampa in 6

 

[bertuzzi2bure]

A lot of people saying V is better than Luongo... honestly im not sure about that.

Put young Luongo (from his first stint with the Panthers days) on this current Lightning team and he likely has multiple vezinas already. Luongo at 25 was an absolute animal.

Throughout his entire career he had what maybe 4 seasons of a great team in front of him? Canucks from 09-12. Compare that to the dynasty that V has had in front of him from his very first game.

 

[Reverend Mayhem]

Tampa, quite honestly. The NHL has evolved so much in just 10 years, and that team comparatively to top teams of today isn't super great. For example, that 4th line gets it's lunch fed to it. I do like Luongo slightly over Vasy, but I think the forward groups are all better, and the defense is about even I'd give the edge to Tampa because they've got a stud in Hedman.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

Looking at D pairs, the Bolts have a clear No. 1 D-man but overall I think our blueline was deeper and more solid. I think we have the better defence in this series.

we had our five top 3 dmen (six if you count ballard), but tampa has two #1s and we had zero.

 

[JianYang]

2021 lightning are the greatest team ever assembled in the cap era.

Stamkos is maybe the 5th best player on that team, and having Mcdonagh as a #2 dman is an absolute luxury.

 

[Regal]

we had our five top 3 dmen (six if you count ballard), but tampa has two #1s and we had zero.

I wouldn't say McDonagh today is better than Hamhuis was then.

 

[Regal]

A lot of people saying V is better than Luongo... honestly im not sure about that.

Put young Luongo (from his first stint with the Panthers days) on this current Lightning team and he likely has multiple vezinas already. Luongo at 25 was an absolute animal.

Throughout his entire career he had what maybe 4 seasons of a great team in front of him? Canucks from 09-12. Compare that to the dynasty that V has had in front of him from his very first game.

I'd take Luongo at his best over Vasilevskiy, but I think 2011 Luongo was too exploitable cross-crease after his groin injury.

 

[PuckMunchkin]

I think the Canucks win their first cup in 5 games had the f***ing Lightning scored in Game 7 of the 2011 ECF.

That said. 2021 Lightning beat the 2011 Canucks in 5. This Tampa team is up there with the 2001 Avs, 2002 Red Wings, 2010 Blackhawks.

I think this Tampa dynasty is going to be the closest thing to a precap Dynasty team like the Detroit Red Wings.

If we 2011 Canucks are in the finals HEALTHY, they give this Tampa team a decent series but probably come short.

 

[PuckMunchkin]

The Islanders took them to game 7 lol....

Hockey is a variance heavy sport.

Expected outcome vs Actualized outcome

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

I wouldn't say McDonagh today is better than Hamhuis was then.

maybe recency bias but after the game we just watched i think mcd is a clear whole level up, and i loved prime dan hamhuis

 

[Johnny Canucker]

My personal opinion on who wins this matchup is :




People need to move on from 2011. Like the guy that always talks about the girl that got away. Move on, it’s been a decade.

 

[BrilliantBroReferee]

Torres would injure Hedman with a dirty hit and the Bolts are done. The irony is that the 2011 Canucks could destroy Tampa in a physical battle. There is no equaivalent in the NHL for the 2011Bruins,Sharks and Predators when it comes to defensive abilty. What defensive pair compares with prime Weber and Sutter, Keith and Seabrook?. Tampa has a lot of midget forwards who would not survive in 2011 vs Raffi Torres and co.

Look at what this Habs team is doing and have no offensive talent close to 2011 canucks. If ultra Midget Caufield can do well vs Tampa, i have no doubt prime Sedins would average 2ppg vs them like they did vs the Sharks. Tampa had the most problems vs the Panthers who play a similar game to what Canucks/Hawks played back in the day. They just lack a reliable goalie. Put prime Lungo/Price/Rinne/Raks in their net and they finish tampa in 5-6 games.

Tampa are the beneficiary of very good front office but they also have no real powerhouse team to rival them. Most teams are a mess. They are lucky Price / Toffolli went god mode vs Vegas .Good for them for taking advantage of a perfect situation.

 

[mathonwy]

My personal opinion on who wins this matchup is :




People need to move on from 2011. Like the guy that always talks about the girl that got away. Move on, it’s been a decade.

Yer like the king of bad takes.

 

[Paradise Circus]

I still think with a healthy Hamhuis we would have beat Boston, so in this exercise I'll say with a healthy Nucks 2011 team it goes 7 and comes down to goaltending. flip a coin.

 

[elitepete]

I think the Canucks win their first cup in 5 games had the f***ing Lightning scored in Game 7 of the 2011 ECF.

That said. 2021 Lightning beat the 2011 Canucks in 5. This Tampa team is up there with the 2001 Avs, 2002 Red Wings, 2010 Blackhawks.

2011 canucks healthy > 2010 hawks

 

[HockeyWooot]

Obviously ten years later in a faster more skilled game that we have now.

Even if you could find a way to adjust for the era I’d give TBL the edge. Having a Hedman and better forward depth is the decider for me.

 

[vanuck]

we had our five top 3 dmen (six if you count ballard), but tampa has two #1s and we had zero.

I actually tend to think Edler is comparable to McDonagh. He was trending to be a clear No. 1 guy before that back injury in 2011 (and he still turned out to be a solid top-pairing defender nonetheless), but if he's fully healthy like the OP is assuming I think they're on par with each other as far as who's better. Maybe I should've actually counted him as our 1D?

As to their top pair vs. HamJuice, I think we had a more solid pairing even if they didn't put up as much offense as Hedman can. Though watching the Bolts play, you come to realize that it's Kucherov who really runs their PP1 and not Hedman.

I also think a fully healthy Ballard (whose play suffered after his hip surgery in the offseason plus at least one concussion during the regular season) plus Salo beats Sergachev-Savard.

 

[lawrence]

Canucks win,

I think Luongo is better than Vas

I think our Defence is deeper.

Our Fowards is good enough to take em on. We have Hank Dan back to back art ross winners, and a Selke winner. I do give the slight edge to Tampa for having Hedman.

Canucks win but Kelly Sutherland cannot be reffing.