After standing out as the best team during the regular season, the Vancouver Canucks looked strangely out of place during the 2011 Stanley Cup final series. They weren’t just expected to reach the finals; they were expected to win. So what went wrong? Why did this team that seemed destined to win it all end up losing to the Boston Bruins?
Most fingers will be pointing directly at Roberto Luongo’s inconsistent goal. Although his resume includes an Olympic gold medal, Luongo tends to skip some games. His lapses nearly prevented the Canucks from reaching the first round of the playoffs. It didn’t help that he was playing Tim Thomas, who is nominated for his second Vezina Trophy as the best goalkeeper of the season.
Daniel and Henrik Sedin also bear part of the blame. They were unable to sustain any offense against the Bruins. Although each of them has led the NHL in scoring for the past two years, none were able to score more than one goal in all seven Finals games.
Just as the Sedin twins were, so was the Canucks’ power play. What had been the best power play of the season fell through in the final round. To be clear, there were five goals scored while the Canucks were in the power play. Unfortunately, three of them were short goals by the Bruins!
The defense also had problems. Aside from Kevin Bieksa, the Canucks defensive unit was outmatched by the Bruins. The casualties of the injured Dan Hamhuis and the suspended Aaron Rome severely weakened what had been a dominant defense.
Injuries were undoubtedly a factor. Hamhuis and Mason Raymond were sidelined with injuries. Additionally, Alex Edler, Christian Ehrhoff and Chris Higgins all played through injuries. Ryan Kesler is also rumored to have been seriously injured, but in true hockey style, he’s not using it as an excuse.
It could be argued that anything can happen in Game 7. That’s true, but there’s no way the final could have lasted that long. At least not on paper.
Were the Bruins much better or the Canucks much worse? That’s the question Mike Gillis, the Canucks general manager, will need to answer as he tries to prepare the Canucks for another Cup run next year. Either way, it will be a while before the team and the city are able to put this collapse behind.
