The Vancouver Canucks are officially not frauds.

[nucksflailtogether]

They won a single series against a wildcard team. If they get past the Oilers they'll get some respect from me. For now they're an up and coming team and the fans should still be very happy with what they've accomplished this year.

Agreed. These threads are cringe. Everyone can see that we won the series we were supposed to win.

 

[End on a Hinote]

They barely beat Nashville..

So they won?

 

[eviohh26]

Man the Canucks have so many players I like but the sheer # of martyr threads they produce reminds me why it's historically been so easy and satisfying to root against them.

Same people who hated the Canucks still hate the Canucks and always will. We don't really give a shit. It's been that way for a long time.

It's weird to me when fans of teams want opposing fans to like them. We embrace the hate. I hope to never see a day when Alberta and Avs fans cheer for us. They can both eat my shorts.

 

[NoName]

That is a lot of boasting for a team that barely scraped by a wildcard opponent in the first round. They make it to the conference finals, then we can start talking about the Canucks as breaking into the upper echelon of the NHL.

 

[TheStatican]

Wow... who knew not to believe in knee-jerk fan reactions from the fans of the opposition

Anyway good on the Canuks, it's been a long time since they did much of anything. I'll be rooting for them next round.

 

[Connor McConnor]

No way a Canuck fan just made a thread on main boards calling his own team not pretenders, right?

 

[Three On Zero]

Man the Canucks have so many players I like but the sheer # of martyr threads they produce reminds me why it's historically been so easy and satisfying to root against them.

These threads are more indicative of the OPs, just silly content to try gloating about after winning ONE series 4-2. Sadly with such a large fan base, these things are inevitable.

 

[Bourne Endeavor]

In the regular season maybe. To me they were worse than the Caps and Islanders in the playoffs.

You mean the team who had a shot attempt differential of 82 and were overwhelmed in basically every single game they played? Or the other team that didn't manage a single win, had a -37 GF/GA differential and who's leading scorer produced half the offensive Forsberg did alone?

Putting either of them ahead of Nashville is just comical. And that isn't to pump up the Canucks. It's just silly. Neither team was remotely better than the Preds.

 

[I am toxic]

Brock Boeser BROCK BOESER

fify, you bastard

 

[I am toxic]

Man the Canucks have so many players I like but the sheer # of martyr threads they produce reminds me why it's historically been so easy and satisfying to root against them.

Yeah, that's the worst.

Well, second worst.

The worst is letting the lowest common denominators influence you.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Nashville was also terrible at the beginning of the season, they started the year 5-10 and had a better p% than Edmonton did post All-Star break

I personally thought the Canucks series win was huge for them and showed me a lot. Winning without Demko and with Pettersson not at his best says a lot about them.

Nashville though is a team I point to when people say expand the playoffs. If I missed a season and you filled me in telling me that exact same Preds roster finished third to last in the league, I'd probably tell you that makes sense. That is not a playoff roster. No way anyone can convince me it is. Neither are the two joke playoff teams in the East, but I think we have to also say the same thing about the Preds. There were 13 real playoff teams this year.

 

[Rowlet]

I personally thought the Canucks series win was huge for them and showed me a lot. Winning without Demko and with Pettersson not at his best says a lot about them.

Nashville though is a team I point to when people say expand the playoffs. If I missed a season and you filled me in telling me that exact same Preds roster finished third to last in the league, I'd probably tell you that makes sense. That is not a playoff roster. No way anyone can convince me it is. Neither are the two joke playoff teams in the East, but I think we have to also say the same thing about the Preds. There were 13 real playoff teams this year.

A lot of people have taken the exact wrong lessons from that series.

Two extremely skilled defensive teams have an intense low scoring series? They must both be bad and anemic offensively.

The Canucks' (arguable) best forward and (also arguable) team MVP (when healthy) played injured? The team has no chance going forward

Hughes spent an entire round getting squished by Predators, an extremely heavy forechecking team with a tight system? Hughes is going to get even more squished going forward

Canucks are on their third string goalie? They're going to get ventilated by the Oilers, a team with real offense.

What I took from the series is that the Canucks are a team who can win a million different ways. If they can't score because they lost one of their most potent threats they'll drag their opponents down too, if they lose their goalie they'll collapse around their AHL starter and give him clear lanes to see shots from 50g scorers. Hughes got out of that hell series alive and I'm not concerned that anyone on the Oilers is remotely as tough or who forechecks harder than the Preds.

The reason that series was such a slog is because, largely, that's exactly what the Canucks wanted. They've been a team to score on high% chances with low shot totals all year, famously only shooting when there are multiple screens. This was a nearly perfect series for them, the Canucks gave Nashville the rope to hang themselves with. When the Predators began clogging up the shooting lanes and letting the team cycle, they began cycling below the goalie line, so the Canucks started cycling behind the net more aggressively which lured defenders away from the front of the net, the team had free reign of the netfront space. The Predators weren't able to get anything done in the Canucks' crease because there were always people parked there, and nobody could move Myers or Zadorov.

 

[ItWasJustified]

I'm going to wait until the playoffs next season to see if they are frauds or not. If they make the playoffs they're not. If they miss the playoffs they definitely are one-season wonder frauds.

 

[Laterade]

Nah they're frauds unless they win the cup

pointless thread

 

[syz]

Man the Canucks have so many players I like but the sheer # of martyr threads they produce reminds me why it's historically been so easy and satisfying to root against them.

It's been built in since the Burke days. The players don't seem to have it as much these days but the fans have never shook it. Swedish for headlock, etc.

 

[cotillion]

im back on the bandwagon boiz

 

[snag]

im back on the bandwagon boiz

I look forward to your quality posts this series.

 

[wgknestrick]

View attachment 865110

I look forward to your quality posts this series.

Need to update it now, buddy. I popped his cherry

 

[Grub]

Trenin is probably what they’re thinking of

Could’ve sworn they beat St Louis and then put a real scare in Vegas in the bubble

Most of us are not counting that Bubble playoff. If it was a regular season we would have not made it.

 

[daver]

I will say this on behalf of Canucks fans:

PDO stands for PRETTY DAMN OUWESOME!

 

[biturbo19]

They're slouching a little bit since the playoffs started, but the Canucks do still have one of highest, most elite PDOs in the league. Best in the West at least.

 

[bigdog16]

Not afraid of this team in the slightest and i wish the rangers were playing them

 

[Bank Shot]

A lot of people have taken the exact wrong lessons from that series.

Two extremely skilled defensive teams have an intense low scoring series? They must both be bad and anemic offensively.

The Canucks' (arguable) best forward and (also arguable) team MVP (when healthy) played injured? The team has no chance going forward

Hughes spent an entire round getting squished by Predators, an extremely heavy forechecking team with a tight system? Hughes is going to get even more squished going forward

Canucks are on their third string goalie? They're going to get ventilated by the Oilers, a team with real offense.

What I took from the series is that the Canucks are a team who can win a million different ways. If they can't score because they lost one of their most potent threats they'll drag their opponents down too, if they lose their goalie they'll collapse around their AHL starter and give him clear lanes to see shots from 50g scorers. Hughes got out of that hell series alive and I'm not concerned that anyone on the Oilers is remotely as tough or who forechecks harder than the Preds.

The reason that series was such a slog is because, largely, that's exactly what the Canucks wanted. They've been a team to score on high% chances with low shot totals all year, famously only shooting when there are multiple screens. This was a nearly perfect series for them, the Canucks gave Nashville the rope to hang themselves with. When the Predators began clogging up the shooting lanes and letting the team cycle, they began cycling below the goalie line, so the Canucks started cycling behind the net more aggressively which lured defenders away from the front of the net, the team had free reign of the netfront space. The Predators weren't able to get anything done in the Canucks' crease because there were always people parked there, and nobody could move Myers or Zadorov.

Canucks were poor at finishing high % chances in the Nashville series. 14 out of 16 teams. Outside of their miracle come back, they didn't have good luck at finishing. Luckily for the Nucks, the Predators were even worse at 16th.

Preds were 4th out of playoff teams for most offensive zone time. Canucks were spending a lot of time in the defensive end of the rink, and that is why they took so many penalties.

Not sure the strategy of spending a bunch of time in their own end, and taking penalties is going to be as effective against the Oilers.

Also considering the Canucks had to win 2 games when trailing after two, I'm hesitant to give Tocchet credit for a master plan. Being 2-1 when trailing after two periods in the playoffs is pretty nuts. In the regular season for instance the Canucks went 3-14 when trailing after 2.

 

[Aqualung]

Canucks were poor at finishing high % chances in the Nashville series. 14 out of 16 teams. Outside of their miracle come back, they didn't have good luck at finishing. Luckily for the Nucks, the Predators were even worse at 16th.

Preds were 4th out of playoff teams for most offensive zone time. Canucks were spending a lot of time in the defensive end of the rink, and that is why they took so many penalties.

Not sure the strategy of spending a bunch of time in their own end, and taking penalties is going to be as effective against the Oilers.

Also considering the Canucks had to win 2 games when trailing after two, I'm hesitant to give Tocchet credit for a master plan. Being 2-1 when trailing after two periods in the playoffs is pretty nuts. In the regular season for instance the Canucks went 3-14 when trailing after 2.

Canucks do that a lot, and hope covering the middle of the ice and letting their goaltenders stop all the shots from the outside will bail them out of their lack of foot speed for some players. It’s worked mostly all year. It’s also why they play less man and more zone. Going man on Oilers is asking for trouble with their skating, but zone will force the Oilers to slow down which is what happened all season. Canucks are a solid defensive team. Their offense clearly has been more up and down.

The reverse is also true for the Canucks— if you play man coverage defensively against them you’ll frustrate their offense because they can’t win many foot races. That’s why LA was successful against them. Preds played a mix of man and collapsing defense. Bet you Oilers do a version of this.

Problem is, Canucks do have one defenseman who can constantly win foot races and when you play that same defense against him, he will feast.

 

[Brookbank]

So am I to understand that after winning the division, defeating Preds in 6 in the first round should be considered overachieving by the team, or what's the point that's actually being made here?

If you're arguing that this was some convincing triumph by the Canucks and that they're setting themselves up as the favorites to win the West or something of that nature, then I struggle to agree.

I'd even go as far to say that of all 8 first-round matchups, this one was the least convincing victory.

The point of the thread is simply this : If the Canucks did lose in the first round, the sceptics could have made a legit case that they were "frauds". (Lets just set aside the fact that the Canucks won the pacific division )

But once a team wins a playoff round, there's simply no way you can call said team a fraud. Some of the haters still will but that is just pure sophistry.