With the Same Core...Canucks +26 more points in Standings, +80 in goal Differential from last year-Division Champs- Who gets credit?

[UrbanImpact]

Was Bodreau that bad of a coach that lacked system and structure? Is Tochett a savant?

With almost the same core Q Hughes, Pettersson, Miller, Garland, Demko, Boeser, The Canucks were able to retool on the fly and post a 50+ win season, only the 3rd time in franchise history.
If the Canucks win tomorrow night, it would go down as the 2nd best Canuck regular season ever.

So how did they do this? They have almost the same core as the previous year in which the Canucks finished at the basement of almost everything.

Do you give credit to coaching? management?

The only real change was Horvat became Hronek and depth was very much improved with Bleuger, Cole etc..

The evolution of Q Hughes should also be taken into account as it has catapulted many parts of the Canucks system.

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[FiveFourteenSixOne]

All-time PDO heater.

 

[jd22]

Why would you make this thread just before playoffs? Maybe you should ask yourself "does the main board need another Canuck thread by me today?"

Coaching.

 

[UrbanImpact]

Berube I believe implements alot of the same system as Toch, he should be the number 1 target for all these teams that have fired their coaches recently.
I didnt realize how bad Travis Green and Bruce Bodreau were until i saw Toch's system.

Pacific is no cake walk either, Mcdavid, Defending Champs, up and coming Kings..

 

[TheDawnOfANewTage]

JT Miller.

Also goaltending.

 

[UrbanImpact]

JT Miller.

Also goaltending.

Surprisingly, the fans voted JT Miller as the TEAM MVP this year which was announced last night. As someone that watched every single Canuck game this year, i can tell you it should be Hughes AINEC.

Goaltending? Demko has been solid for sure but he has also been hurt.

Desmith played 29 games at .896 Sv percentage.

 

[Bobby9]

Another year to grow as a group.

Confidence. Players entering their primes together.

If you ask other fans: They have games in hand.

 

[MNRube]

They rebuilt their blueline behind Hughes, no? It looks much better than previous years.

 

[UrbanImpact]

They rebuilt their blueline behind Hughes, no? It looks much better than previous years.

This and coaching is probably what i would definitely give credit too.

They swallowed the pill and bought out OEL.

Got a legit partner for Hughes in Hronek

Surrounded Hughes and Hronek (smaller Dmen) with Giant Dmen in Myers Zadorov, Soucy, Cole, Juulsen

 

[blundluntman]

Surprisingly, the fans voted JT Miller as the TEAM MVP this year which was announced last night. As someone that watched every single Canuck game this year, i can tell you it should be Hughes AINEC.

Goaltending? Demko has been solid for sure but he has also been hurt.

Desmith played 29 games at .896 Sv percentage.

I know that thread about Vancouver having the best C-D-G trio got some flack a few months back but in retrospect, it turns out they probably did. Hughes should win the Norris, JT Miller put up 100 points, and Demko put up amazing numbers this year.

 

[UED]

Goaltending? Demko has been solid for sure but he has also been hurt.

Desmith played 29 games at .896 Sv percentage.

In fairness, he won just 12 of those 29 games.

 

[NVious]

It's the #JTMillerEffect, guy is an absolute DAWG and maybe even a PAWG? (Potentially Amazingly Wonderful Goalie....if he wanted)

Some quotes about him

"Sometimes I don't want to be at the rink, but then I look at JT knowing that the NHL makes him play 10 hours of Hockey before our games because he broke all of Gretzky's records too easily and they had to pretend it didn't happen and I go out there and play amazing" Elias Pettersson

"When I came to Vancouver I had a loser's mentality, but JT took me out to lunch and just watching how he even ordered food professionally and like a winner, I knew what I had to become" Elias Lindholm

"Who was my goaltending inspiration? Kinda strange to say, but JT Miller, knowing he's on the ice and capable of a quadruple hat trick at any point of the game if he wants gave me the peace of mind to play my game" Thatcher Demko

 

[UrbanImpact]

It's the #JTMillerEffect, guy is an absolute DAWG and maybe even a PAWG? (Potentially Amazingly Wonderful Goalie....if he wanted)

thats not what PAWG means

 

[NVious]

thats not what PAWG means

When you're speaking about Sir JT Miller, words can mean new things, he doesn't play by your local 3D limitations.

#JTMillerEffect

 

[Yotes4Cup]

They won't last in the playoffs with their midget #1 D-man. Good regular season team, but won't go far when it matters.

 

[LemonSauceD]

Helps they have a generational all time guy in the line up (JT Miller)

 

[Lacaar]

1. Attitude
2. Coaching

The playoffs will answer my question about a team that really didn't change much and went from rags to riches. Would be interesting to see how other teams faired in the playoffs that went from missing the playoffs to 100+ point win the division season.

The question is what type of opponent did Vancouver face regularly throughout the season. Do teams "Get up" to play the Vancouver Canucks? I know the Oilers laid 2 giant .. and I mean giant f***ing eggs against Vancouver this year. And the third game wasn't even close to the Oilers best either. I do feel I saw the best Vancouver had to offer though. This honestly is much more damning on the Oilers imo, and a compliment to Vancouver. They put in a consistent effort all year long. Remained focused and detailed. Something I can't say was done by the Oilers.

But the playoffs are a different beast. Can Vancouver handle an opponents best night in and night out? Will be fun to find out. Hopefully in the second round

 

[Grifter3511]

Berube I believe implements alot of the same system as Toch, he should be the number 1 target for all these teams that have fired their coaches recently.
I didnt realize how bad Travis Green and Bruce Bodreau were until i saw Toch's system.

Pacific is no cake walk either, Mcdavid, Defending Champs, up and coming Kings..

Might not be a cake walk but objectively its the worst division in the league.

I think the simple answer is 'core is older' as the key ingredient and bits of everything else ( depth contributions, shoring up D depth, demko play, tocchet system) make up the rest.

 

[thekernel]

When you look at the D we were running last year, it's night and day. Hronek/Soucy/Cole/Zadorov versus Ekman-Larsson/Schenn/Burroughs/Bear

 

[Three On Zero]

Good coaching
Buy in from the top down
No internal struggles
Norris level defenceman in Hughes and a solid supporting cast (not you Myers)
Demko being a good goaltender

Most importantly they disproved many whom tried to claim they had an unsustainable PDO and would be in for a huge regresssion

 

[Bobby9]

They won't last in the playoffs with their midget #1 D-man. Good regular season team, but won't go far when it matters.

They'll last longer than your franchise will

 

[zar]

Luck.

… and Demko.

I don’t mean that in a negative way. They were a much better team than they showed last year and this year with some favourable anomalies (from a statistical perspective) they have exceeded expectations.

They couldn’t buy a break last year this year they have them all.

I predicted for them to finish 2nd in the Pacific last year. Not surprised they finished better this year but I would not have predicted as much of a turn around.

The Canucks are a very good team and should be mentioned with the other “contenders” they deserve it.

 

[VanCanucks53]

Why would you make this thread just before playoffs? Maybe you should ask yourself "does the main board need another Canuck thread by me today?"

Coaching.

I don’t care for Canuck threads on the main board but the playoffs doesn’t change what they accomplished this season.
This is hopefully the first of many good seasons for this fairly young core.

 

[potatowejj]

Defense and coaching primarily, not only Tocchet, but bringing in Adam Foote and Sergei Gonchar for the defense has been a revelation. Honestly even Myers hasn't been that bad and has had games where he actually looked worth his contract *ducks*. Goaltending has actually been a bit shaky at times this season and the team has had to bail it out, which was never happening in previous years. They've been able to play shutdown defense consistently when they have the lead going into the 3rd period for most of the season, which is also something that was very rarely happening under previous coaches.

The takes regarding JT Miller are a bit weird considering he has consistently been a great player while here.

 

[Nucker101]

JT Miller