As the Vancouver Canucks start their three-game junket in California this weekend, they’ll be looking for something.
Their game.
A 6-0 loss to the New Jersey Devils Wednesday night at Rogers Arena left the Canucks searching for answers heading into Saturday night’s contest in San Jose.
You had a sense that this was coming. Or at least this agent did.
The club had picked up points in five straight games yet the message from head coach Rick Tocchet and team leaders such as J.T. Miller throughout was that they had yet to play a full 60 minutes in which the so-called ‘team staples’ were completely adhered to.
At the morning skate prior to the Devils game, we started to look into this potential story but there was a part of me wondering if the Canucks could play a complete game that night and thus quash this narrative.
They didn’t. They made it a full-blown lead for many in the media.
“It’s about urgency. We make it way too easy on the other team. There’s not enough (expletive) you in our game. We haven’t played 60 minutes to our identity yet this year. We need to play harder and use your head when it’s time to use your head. Play like you want to win the game — not hopefully win the game,” said an angry Miller afterwards.
“It was embarrassing. Even through some of the wins the last couple of weeks, there are some things within our game right now that we have to clean up. We have to find our identity,” said Tyler Myers.
The Canucks had been warned by Tocchet and the coaching staff that they were straying away from the principles that define that identity and that made them a 109-point team last season.
“They all know. It’s been the message loud and clear not just from me, but from other coaches and other players. There's no false sense of security here. We know that we have to play better, but we also have to give them credit as we’ve been getting points. You have to try and find the sweet spot (with the message),” said Tocchet after the game day skate on Wednesday.
The Canucks are doing some good things with only two regulation losses in nine games but their current standard of play isn’t sustainable for long-term success.
Perhaps the biggest concern is how vulnerable the Canucks were off the rush not only against New Jersey but also during Monday’s 4-3 overtime loss to the Carolina Hurricanes.
The Hurricanes and Devils scored seven of their combined ten goals off the rush and the Canucks structure has become an issue for Tocchet.
“Our odd-man rush coverage was probably the worst I’ve ever seen since I’ve been here. It reminded me of when I took over the team – that’s how bad it was tonight. We were out of sorts,” Tocchet said after the Devils game.
As Miller pointed out during our Wednesday morning session, it all starts with getting back to the basics.
“We've been together now for two months and talking about the same thing on a day-to-day basis. A lot of times with us, it's about competing, going through people, not giving up the guts of the ice and not swinging away in the D-zone. That’s the stuff you shouldn't talk about. You’ve been taught that since you were a kid,” explained Miller.
"For us, it's just executing on our habits and then doing them every day. Then you don't have to think about it because it’s part of the way you play. Right now, we're not there yet. There's a reason we have those staples and pillars as a team. They work and they're sustainable. Over the course of the season, if you do stick to them more times than not, you're going to win. We should be doing them all the time. We shouldn’t have to talk about them. They should just become part of the DNA of the team."
It might be a bit of a reach to call this a turning point in the season but an argument can be made that it is. If the message wasn’t taken seriously prior to the loss against the Devils, it should now.
Hopefully the Canucks can get back to playing the disciplined hockey that they are capable of and this game will be looked at as a blip — the game in which the team realized that they were straying too far from what made them successful last year.
Or, as many have pointed out, the loss against the Devils could be the canary in the coal mine.
Saturday in San Jose, we start getting some answers.
OVERTIME
* On the long list of what the Canucks need to correct is the power play, which has gone 3 for 25 since scoring two goals in the season-opening 6-5 loss to the Calgary Flames. “We’re not shooting when we are supposed to shoot and we’re shooting when we don’t need to. We are so caught in between. We are slowing it down…it’s a frustrating thing right now,” said Tocchet.
* Former Canucks Matt Cooke and Derek Dorsett took in the game from the alumni suite. The pair were early arrivals in Vancouver for the Canucks for Autism Pro Am Hockey Tournament that will take place at the North Surrey Sport & Ice Complex this weekend. Former Canucks Ryan Kesler, Eddie Lack, Brad May, Chris Higgins, Mason Raymond, Derek Roy, Cliff Ronning, Geoff Courtnall, Kirk McLean and Dave Babych are all scheduled to participate.
* The Devils were scheduled to fly out of Vancouver to Calgary immediately following the game but a mechanical issue with their charter aircraft necessitated an overnight stay. With the Canucks having an off-day Thursday, the Devils decided to practice in Vancouver before departing for Calgary. The Devils play the Flames on Friday.
* Following the game in San Jose, Vancouver travels to Anaheim for a game on Tuesday against the Ducks. They finish their road trip with a game in Los Angeles against the Kings on Thursday before returning home to open up a six-game home stand beginning with Edmonton on Saturday, November 9th.
Veteran B.C. sports personality Bob “the Moj” Marjanovich writes twice weekly for Black Press Media.
