Well

[KnowItAll]

they are who I thought they were.

all last year, I couldnt figure out how this bunch of mostly noname average players were winning so much. People started to compare them to the 94 team and I was like, are you kidding me. I didnt get how they did so well in the reg season, nor in the playoffs. I kept waiting for the bubble to burst.

I thought, surely this year, the real canucks would step forward, yet somehow they won a lot of games again. Some people supposed they were even better than last yr. I just shook my head. Even the players were saying at the end of the season that they didnt know how they won the presidents trophy, that they had trouble scoring, their power played sucked, etc. Clearly to me, they went into the playoffs lacking confidence in themselves, and each other. So now, unfortunately, they are playing like I have been expecting for the last two yrs.

unless they get luongo to agree to a trade for 1 or 2 real quality players, like sedins or better, and/or a couple of good draft choices, I will again be surprised if they even make the playoffs next season.

and damn them to hell if they let go of schnieder.

[Sir Purrcival]

There are more than a few of us who have been suspicious of this team this year. Too many low scoring games, too many occasions of just scraping by when they should have outclassed their opposition. Unfortunately, it appears that this team has fulfilled the fears of many of us far too well. Faced with a top flight goalie and a team who has the ability to play tough and the Canucks revert to form much like they did last year against Boston. However, they are not the only team in that position. The Pens were also considered a top flight prospect and they are equally hooped albeit for different reasons. The Canucks played well this Sunday but it only took one good bounce and that was enough. You can lose games like that on any given night. It was the first two games that really set the tone for this series and put them in the dangerous predicament they faced tonight. Now it is an almost hopeless cause. At this stage, I think I would much rather them go out sooner than later as I don't see this team being able to come back 4 straight and see little merit in prolonging the series for another game or two only to go out anyways. I don't know what this team lacks or how to get it. I do know that I am tired of the brash, motormouth agitating tendencies of some who yap too much and provide too little. I am also tired of the complete lack of consistency with the officiating and supplemental discipline from league offices. I congratulate the Canucks for doing as well as they managed but in the end, they don't seem to have what it takes to compete in the roughfest that is the NHL Playoffs.

[TheLionKing]

5 goals in 3 games doesn't cut it. Edler has been terrible in this series. Is Kesler a reincarnation of Houdini ?

[1greatmysticbushape]

yeah pittsburg's the way to go. for sure.

[WestCoastJoe]

The Canucks try hard. They overachieve in the regular season, or one could say they max out their wins/losses.

After this playoffs, it is time to let Luongo go, IMO. Keep Schneider.

The goal tender is obviously the most important player. Just look at Jonathan Quick. Hybrid butterfly/standup with amazing athleticism.

LA has some great talent: Doughty, Penner, Brown, Kopitar, et cetera. They have no pressure on them.

And yet the Canucks outshot the Kings 41 to 20. But could not beat Quick. So we were killed by the goal tender.

Kesler has been a shadow of last year's player. The Sedins, even when Daniel was playing, have been easy to defend with physical play. Edler has been inconsistent and nervous.

Disappointing, not terribly surprising. The playoffs are a different animal than the regular season.

[Lion Guy]

5 goals in 3 games doesn't cut it. Edler has been terrible in this series. Is Kesler a reincarnation of Houdini ?

5 goals would be better. They only have 4

[TheLionKing]

After this playoffs, it is time to let Luongo go, IMO. Keep Schneider.

Luongp has a no trade contract

[KnowItAll]

After this playoffs, it is time to let Luongo go, IMO. Keep Schneider.

Luongp has a no trade contract

canuck fans could convince him to go elsewhere, or he might be convinced that he has a better chance to win the cup on certain other teams.

[notahomer]

Luongo seems to remind me of a certain Lions QB of a short while ago . You got your converts who can't understand why he gets criticized and Your haters who can't understand why he doesn't get criticized more. I persoanlly would be sorry to see Corey go. I think Luongo is an emotional player and that obviously has your ups/downs. When he's on he's on and when he's not hes awful, IMO. I am glad I'm not a major Canucks fan because it must be frustrating. OTOH, part of the magic being a Canuck fan when I was a kid was they were the underdog, scrapping for every win and knocking off the big favourite on to success. They never won a cup but it was exciting regardless. This #1 seed and on the verge of getting knocked out sucks pretty bad. Not as bad as losing game seven on home ice but its gotta be close. You gotta wonder what changes are in store for Canucks 2012-13.

[TheLionKing]

Here's an interesting stat on Luongo: he has lost 6 of the last 7 playoff games

[KnowItAll]

Just wondering

is it possible that this years canucks are the worst ever presidents trophy winner??

[TheLionKing]

Yes if they get eliminated by LA. That would be the first time a President's Trophy winner was eliminated in the 1st round

[WestCoastJoe]

Yes if they get eliminated by LA. That would be the first time a President's Trophy winner was eliminated in the 1st round

There seem to be many Canuck haters across the land. That would make them very happy.

Seems to me it has often been disadvantageous to win the President's trophy. Better to finish 2nd, 3rd, 4th, et cetera. Go under the radar a bit. Not be such a target. Teams get pretty pumped to bump you off otherwise. And it is kind of obvious the Canucks have been feeling the pressure of finishing first two years in a row.

No way LA Kings should finish as poorly as they did for the regular season. You coast for most of the year, then crank it up for the playoffs. Makes a joke of the regular season. A guy like Dustin Brown gets red hot. Jonathan Quick morphs into the best goalie in the league. Might as well negate the value of the regular season altogether. It is almost like an extended exhibition season.

Personally, I think the refereeing, what is allowed and not allowed, the inconsistency make a shambles of it anyway.

"a plague on (all) their houses" LOL

Bring on the CFL season.

[sj-roc]

Yes if they get eliminated by LA. That would be the first time a President's Trophy winner was eliminated in the 1st round

The way I heard it on 1040 was that President's Trophy winners have been eliminated in the first round before, but never in less than six games. In fact according to wikipedia, it's happened five times including the Sharks and Caps back-to-back in 2009 and 2010. The links in this article also show for the ff playoff years:

1991: Chicago ousted 4-2 by Minnesota North Stars (+38)
2000: St. Louis ousted 4-3 by San Jose (+27)
2006: Detroit ousted 4-2 by Edmonton (+29)
2009: San Jose ousted 4-2 by Anaheim (+26)
2010: Washington ousted 4-3 by Montreal (+18)
2012: Van/LA, ??? (+16)

In fairness, none of the other PT winners in this list has ever been so evenly matched in their opening round, in terms of regular season point differential (just 16 pts). Nonetheless, closer study shows that this year's Canucks are the first PT winners to lose their first three playoff games and remain a decent bet for fastest to be eliminated. Probably all sorts of other new futility standards in there as well, in terms of inefficient power play, penalty kill, goal scoring, etc, I just don't have the time to bother at the moment.

There seems to be some currency for regarding the PT as a curse of sorts since only 7 of 26 PT winners have also won the Stanley Cup, but I think it speaks as much to the sheer difficulty of winning the Stanley Cup as anything else. It would be interesting to examine the PT era by ranking the playoff teams 1 through 16 by their regular season performance and observing the year-by-year fate of each of those 16 seeds to see if any particular spot other than first has historically correlated well with championship. I haven't done this but surely the top seed, if not the best, would have to be near the top.

[Sir Purrcival]

Well, the Nucks are are done. I guess that means football season is around the corner. It was a very disappointing end for the Canucks but at least they are sharing the fate with some other teams of note. The Penguins, The Red Wings and with a little luck the Bruins, Hawks and the Rangers could be joining them. You have to wonder if this series might have looked a little different but for the Duncan Keith bs that kept a very good player out of the line up for the first 3 games. Even taking one of those first two games could have impacted the series quite a lot. A classless move by a player that I formerly wouldn't have considered classless.

As for the Kings, the next team they are going up against is as big and as physical as they are. It is likely going to be a very difficult ride for them. At this stage I put my money on a Nashville/Blues Conference Final with the the Blues going to the Cup.

Sad to say really but I haven't enjoyed the playoffs much this season. I think that too many teams have taken a page from the Bruins success last season and are basically trying to bash their way to the cup. Frankly, I am not all that interested in seeing which team has the most muscle and that seems to be what the playoffs have devolved into. That and a guessing game as to what is a penalty and what isn't and who is gonna get suspended next. Guess it has always been that way to a point but maybe I just appreciate more now what a skilled team can do when it isn't getting mugged. There have been moments but frankly now that the Canucks are done, I probably will only take a passing interest in the rest of the playoffs. I don't see the Sens making it all the way and that means another US team is going to win Stanley again. It doesn't seem like a Canadian based franchise is ever gonna win this thing again in my lifetime.