The Vancouver Canucks couldn’t have asked for a better first round match-up versus the surprising St. Louis Blues.
Blues president John Davidson has done a tremendous job in turning around the St. Louis franchise and build a winner. The rebuild process has sped up with a playoff spot. For the Blues and their very young roster, they are going to be in tough versus the Canucks. Mainly, scoring goals will be hard to come by, if Roberto Luongo is determined to do something, he does it. Luongo can win a series on his own, and even carry the Canucks to the Finals.
Vancouver has the team in place to make a strong run at the Stanley Cup. With the addition of Mats Sundin, that just made the Canucks that much better. Sundin’s scoring touch wasn’t there with nine goals, but it was the little things he did, like winning face-offs, strong leadership and the addition of a strong second scoring line. It eased the pressure on the Sedin twins, and they flourished with Sundin in the lineup. The Canucks can roll with three scoring lines throughout the playoffs.
Offensively, the Blues were led by Brad Boyes and David Backes, with 33 and 31 goals respectively. Overall, the play of the veteran players on this team carried this team through the season and into the playoffs. Players like Keith Tkachuk, Paul Kariya (if he plays in this series), and Andy McDonald could only do so much. The young players on this team will be in for a rude awakening when the playoffs begin, because it is a whole new game played at a more intense level. The Vancouver blue line has a couple of bruising defensemen, so the Blues players have to know where they are going, keep their heads up, and enter the corners if they dare.
This Canucks team has plenty of pressure on them too. Their captain Roberto Luongo will be entering the final year of his contract next season, and the Canucks need to go deep into the playoffs this season and add more players to convince Luongo to stay. Let’s face it; Luongo is too damn good of a goalie and deserves to win a Stanley Cup in his career.
The Sedin twins have shown that they could play in the playoffs, but there is still another gear that they haven’t hit, and have to take their game to another level. Of course, that can be achieved because Mats Sundin will attract plenty of defensive coverage, which will open up room for his line mates and other skaters. Players like Alexandre Burrows, Ryan Kesler, and Steve Bernier all have to translate their success in the regular season into the playoffs.
In the end, the Canucks have a much better team than a raw St. Louis Blues team that is full of youngsters, and should use this playoff series to learn, and know what they will need to do next season.
SERIES PREDICTION --> VANCOUVER CANUCKS WILL WIN THIS SERIES IN 4 OR 5 GAMES.
The opinions and thoughts expressed in this or any other article written by 12nadnuk are of his thinking and what he thinks is correct or close to it in the sporting world. If there are any problems by anyone, 12nadnuk is open for rebuttal and what not, and honest criticism. There is also a comments section, so feel free to post what is on your mind about the article. Thank you for reading.
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