End of the season Press Conference: Thursday 12:00 PST

[VeteranNetPresence]

i can't believe that team lost to the wild. well i can considering cloutier but still

 

[JA]

i can't believe that team lost to the wild. well i can considering cloutier but still

They had a two-goal lead in Game Seven and bled goals in the third period due primarily to some bad luck. The first two were due to some horrible bounces. The third was Cloutier's. The fourth squeaked between Jovanovski and Cloutier while the former was trying to block the pass. It was a mess. The defense wasn't exactly keen in Game 6, but the Game 7 loss was partially due to some terrible luck. The Canucks outplayed the Wild that game. It's a shame.

7:00:

 

[Barney Gumble]

They lost to a medicore team - just look how well the Wild did in the next round (swept - where they just managed to score just *ONE single goal* that entire series )

 

[John Bender*]

They had a two-goal lead in Game Seven and bled goals in the third period due primarily to some bad luck. The first two were due to some horrible bounces. The third was Cloutier's. The fourth squeaked between Jovanovski and Cloutier while the former was trying to block the pass. It was a mess. The defense wasn't exactly keen in Game 6, but the Game 7 loss was partially due to some terrible luck. The Canucks outplayed the Wild that game. It's a shame.

7:00:

Typical Canucks. This is a good example as to why when things start to look like they are going wrong, we all get up in arms.

3-1 lead in the series and a 2-0 lead in the third. I remember when Bertuzzi scored that goal, I thought they had it.

Bertuzzi was such a good player. 1000x the playoff performer Naslund ever was. I don't care what stats and **** people throw out there. Bert was a physical force.

Is Bert available now?

 

[JA]

They lost to a medicore team - just look how well the Wild did in the next round (swept - where they just managed to score just *ONE single goal* that entire series )

To be fair, the third-overall Detroit Red Wings were swept by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim as well.

 

[Barney Gumble]

To be fair, the third-overall Detroit Red Wings were swept by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim as well.

True but at least those were closer games.

 

[JA]

Typical Canucks. This is a good example as to why when things start to look like they are going wrong, we all get up in arms.

3-1 lead in the series and a 2-0 lead in the third. I remember when Bertuzzi scored that goal, I thought they had it.

Bertuzzi was such a good player. 1000x the playoff performer Naslund ever was. I don't care what stats and **** people throw out there. Bert was a physical force.

Is Bert available now?

I'm not sure if it's fair to really say that. Markus scored in all three of the comeback games against St. Louis to lead the team out from a 3-1 series deficit and to win it 4-3. He scored in each of the last four games of that series. Considering Game 6 was won by one goal, and Game 5 was won by two, those goals were crucial.

In fact, he scored in Game 1 of the next series, establishing a 5-game goal-scoring streak during that postseason campaign. Each loss involved the team giving up three or more goals.

The following year, Markus scored in Games 2 and 3, both one-goal games. He was the only scorer in Game 2, a loss. He scored one of two goals in Game 3 to help them win. In Game 1, he had three assists, matching the Flames' three goals that game. In Game 6, he contributed two assists to the win, and in Game 7 made the gutsy coast-to-coast dash on Matt Cooke's game-tying goal.

The top line contributed when it mattered. The defense could score goals as well, and the bottom-six players did their job. Certain breakdowns, poor goaltending, and bad luck contributed to the team's demise. If the team had any decent goaltending, they would have been much more successful. It didn't help when every bad bounce led to a goal because Cloutier had thrown himself out of position.

 

[iFan]

Hurry up Gillis and make some big trades, I'm hockey bored.

 

[Verviticus]

Typical Canucks. This is a good example as to why when things start to look like they are going wrong, we all get up in arms.

3-1 lead in the series and a 2-0 lead in the third. I remember when Bertuzzi scored that goal, I thought they had it.

Bertuzzi was such a good player. 1000x the playoff performer Naslund ever was. I don't care what stats and **** people throw out there. Bert was a physical force.

Is Bert available now?

i dont care what you do with your "facts" and "numbers" i know what i saw

 

[King of Anarchy]

Hurry up Gillis and make some big trades, I'm hockey bored.

Not gonna see any major trades until the draft, so.. get comfortable!

 

[Hammer79]

Any other decent goalie than Cloutier and the Canucks win the Cup in 2002-03.

I think a better goaltender would have been enough to get them past the Wild, but Giguere was amazing that year and I don't think they would have got past the Ducks. Even if they did, I think the Devils would have shut them down. That Canucks team was deep up front, but had some real question marks on D.

 

[John Belushi]

I think a better goaltender would have been enough to get them past the Wild, but Giguere was amazing that year and I don't think they would have got past the Ducks. Even if they did, I think the Devils would have shut them down. That Canucks team was deep up front, but had some real question marks on D.

Agreed. You never knew which Malik, Sopel or Jovo would show up. All 3 were ticking time bombs defensively.

 

[Reverend Mayhem]

I think a better goaltender would have been enough to get them past the Wild, but Giguere was amazing that year and I don't think they would have got past the Ducks. Even if they did, I think the Devils would have shut them down. That Canucks team was deep up front, but had some real question marks on D.

Agreed on that, but we were hardly deep up front. Our 2nd line was Jofa-era Sedins with Klatt. Our 3rd line was pretty good, but 4th line sucked.

I'd say our defense was fairly under-appreciated. They had poor games, but when they were on they were excellent. 16 shots allowed in that game 7 vs Minnesota. Too bad only 12 of them were stopped. I thought Malik was a rock here most times.

 

[Barney Gumble]

I'd say our defense was fairly under-appreciated. They had poor games, but when they were on they were excellent. 16 shots allowed in that game 7 vs Minnesota. Too bad only 12 of them were stopped. I thought Malik was a rock here most times.

They're "strengths" were complemented by the style of coaching Crawford preached. A guy like Ballard I think would've thrived with him.

 

[Burke's Evil Spirit]

Ohlund-Sopel
Malik-Jovo
Allen-Salo

...with everyone in their prime, was a nails D.

 

[canucksfan]

Any other decent goalie than Cloutier and the Canucks win the Cup in 2002-03.

As soon as Detroit and Colorado got upset I thought for sure the Canucks would get to the finals.

After game four Bertuzzi said something like "Wild fans won't need to buy game 6 tickets."

 

[Reverend Mayhem]

They're "strengths" were complemented by the style of coaching Crawford preached. A guy like Ballard I think would've thrived with him.

Jovo basically was Ballard. Sopel I thought was a product of Crow. Pretty poor defensively with us, lots of points though.

 

[John Belushi]

Typical Canucks. This is a good example as to why when things start to look like they are going wrong, we all get up in arms.

3-1 lead in the series and a 2-0 lead in the third. I remember when Bertuzzi scored that goal, I thought they had it.

Bertuzzi was such a good player. 1000x the playoff performer Naslund ever was. I don't care what stats and **** people throw out there. Bert was a physical force.

Is Bert available now?

Bert had 6 pts and 60 PIM in 14 games that 03 run. Not sure if I want a player like that back.

Ohlund-Sopel
Malik-Jovo
Allen-Salo

...with everyone in their prime, was a nails D.

Malik and Sopel were also capable of some of the dumbest plays I've seen out of any hockey player... Blown coverage, giveaways, getting caught flat-footed...They weren't the most consistent players around that is for sure.

 

[MS]

Malik and Sopel were also capable of some of the dumbest plays I've seen out of any hockey player... Blown coverage, giveaways, getting caught flat-footed...They weren't the most consistent players around that is for sure.

Sopel was very unfairly treated by fans here.

In the summer of 2002, he bulked up a ton (roids?) and was legitimately terrible for the first 30 games of that season, and took a ton of heat for it.

After that first 30 games, though, he lost the extra weight and returned to playing well. But after his stretch of horrible play, he had become a whipping boy and everything he did was micro-analyzed and every mistake blown out of proportion. Also didn't help that John Garrett absolutely hated him and would single him out for mistakes whenever possible on telecasts - and of course fans went along with what Garrett said.

The thing about Sopel was that (in my mind at least) he didn't make many mistakes but the ones he did make were clumsy stupid ones that everyone in the arena could see and were easy for fans to complain about.

Fans don't notice when you're strong in front of the net and clear shooting lanes for your goalie. Fans don't notice when you're a spectacularly good pincher at the blueline (and IMO Sopel was the best in the league at that). Fans generally notice 2 types of mistakes - getting beat wide, and outlet pass turnovers. You can be an utterly crap player but if you don't do either of those things, fans will think you're great. You can be a terrific player but if you tend to make those errors semi-regularly, you'll be torn to shreds.

Sopel hung around the NHL for a long time as a defensive defender for a reason.

 

[Free Edler]

Sopel was very unfairly treated by fans here.

In the summer of 2002, he bulked up a ton (roids?) and was legitimately terrible for the first 30 games of that season, and took a ton of heat for it.

He also grew his hair out and looked like a greasy tweaker. It was so long ago but I still remember how slow he looked early on that season, the additional weight really handicapped his game and he was hardly a bonerack before.

Sopel totally stunk his second time here but he was past his prime at that point as a puckmover and bringing him back was nothing more than a continuation of the really poor asset management that plagued the Nonis years.

 

[Aphid Attraction]

Sopel was very unfairly treated by fans here.

In the summer of 2002, he bulked up a ton (roids?) and was legitimately terrible for the first 30 games of that season, and took a ton of heat for it.

After that first 30 games, though, he lost the extra weight and returned to playing well. But after his stretch of horrible play, he had become a whipping boy and everything he did was micro-analyzed and every mistake blown out of proportion. Also didn't help that John Garrett absolutely hated him and would single him out for mistakes whenever possible on telecasts - and of course fans went along with what Garrett said.

The thing about Sopel was that (in my mind at least) he didn't make many mistakes but the ones he did make were clumsy stupid ones that everyone in the arena could see and were easy for fans to complain about.

Fans don't notice when you're strong in front of the net and clear shooting lanes for your goalie. Fans don't notice when you're a spectacularly good pincher at the blueline (and IMO Sopel was the best in the league at that). Fans generally notice 2 types of mistakes - getting beat wide, and outlet pass turnovers. You can be an utterly crap player but if you don't do either of those things, fans will think you're great. You can be a terrific player but if you tend to make those errors semi-regularly, you'll be torn to shreds.

Sopel hung around the NHL for a long time as a defensive defender for a reason.

It is late at night and I'm tired, but

I noticed that you talked about John Garrett

And then said is trade mark phrase "The thing about" which he uses before talking about most things

 

[EpochLink]

Ugh that 2002-2003 season was awesome, god damn collapse in game seven against the Wild.

Alas, my graduating year of grade 12 as well lol...

 

[Derp Kassian]

Lemaire and the Gaborik line killed the WCE, although Naslund was pretty solid throughout the first couple games iirc.

Edit: Looking back at that series it was like the genesis of the Canucks blowout melt down losses in the playoffs

 

[me2]

Some people asking to get Brian Burked by Sopel.

 

[dmacgreg37]

Bert had 6 pts and 60 PIM in 14 games that 03 run. Not sure if I want a player like that back.




Malik and Sopel were also capable of some of the dumbest plays I've seen out of any hockey player... Blown coverage, giveaways, getting caught flat-footed...They weren't the most consistent players around that is for sure.

Jovo was just as capable of dumb plays as Malik ever was. He just had the offensive skills, and great personality, etc that he got a pretty big pass from a lot of the fanbase. He did have his detractors as well, but his offensive skill, awesome haymaker fights, etc. often got him a lot of leeway for his terrible defensive play.