Vancouver Canucks Must Think Outside the Box for a Change

The Vancouver Canucks lack youth. Maybe it is a given that they also lack the creativity found in youth.

If the Canucks want to pull off the rebuild-on-the-fly, they must think outside the box.

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Changing the coach? Perhaps. Is giving Willie Desjardins the boot after just two years on the job the right decision for the organization? No. Who would then want to come to Vancouver to coach, after cutting a perfectly fine all-star coach Alain Vigneault based solely on his playoff performance, a veteran John Tortorella in less than a full season of hockey, and a rookie Willie D in under two years of work?

Changing the management? Unlikely. As much as you hate to admit it, GM Jim Benning has done a decent sample of work, as he was advertised to do. He drafted decently and pulled moves in the toughest of situations. Remember how Ryan Kesler and Kevin Bieksa ended up in Anaheim. And of course, Jim Benning cleaned up after himself, shipping Nick Bonino out.

Changing up the line-up? Obviously the most likely to happen. But not outside the box.

So here it is, this Sunday’s Canucklehead Lament.

Changing the Training Staff

I said to think outside the box, did I not?

The strength and skill of the Canucks team might have to do with more than just the trainers, but the trainers are certainly responsible to the skaters that Vancouver ices.

Hypothetically, if you can out-skate the opposition and out-muscle the opposition, you win most, if not all of your 50/50 puck battles. You win your battles, you win. Likewise, if you can out-deke the opposition and shoot through all the holes in the netminder while fooling his puck tracking, you can score on almost all your shots. You score, you win.

There is a lot of technique involved on both sides of the puck. Read here on a prime example of goaltending techniques and how Devan Dubnyk earned his massive contract. As bad as these players can look at times, they are professionals who have risen above the NCAA, the CHL, the ECHL, and the AHL levels for a reason — they are good at hockey. And they make more money than most of us.

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Jared McCann practices his shot every day, according to what he said in the offseason. Daniel Sedin practices his daily as well. The two are scorers for a reason. Watch the NHL All-Star skills competition, and you will see how skilled these players can be.

But when that skill dissipates from your daily training routine thanks to decreased practice time from travelling, a prototypical Vancouver issue, increased video time — happens when you are trying to analyze the 3-on-3 overtime struggles — or a team meeting to pick up the pieces after a 5-0 shutout loss of sorts… it is the trainer’s job to bring it back up.

I have nothing personal against the trainers and the human performance department. But I do have things against them when the Canucks are outmatched in virtually all one-on-one battles.

The Canucks are not strong enough, nor are they skilled enough.

The speed has improved, thanks to Matt Bartkowski and Ben Hutton in the back end. But strength and skill? The Los Angeles Kings game and the Anaheim Ducks game the past week just made me think twice about watching this team.

The Canucks were obviously outmatched physically. Defenders were pinned against the wall easily by the strong-side forechecking Ducks and Kings forwards, and the second forechecker promptly swung the puck to the blueline. Shot, traffic, maybe a tip, and probably a goal.

Here is strong #23 Dustin Brown prying weak #44 Matt Bartkowski loose from the puck, #22 Trevor Lewis swinging it back to the point, and #7 Derek Forbort shooting it from the point and scoring.

Of course, I might be over analyzing the entire sequence in the first place. Just reminding you of what happened against L.A. in case you fell asleep watching the game.

As for the skill, here are some numbers to chew over. The Dallas Stars have scored on 10.75 percent of their shots. Vancouver has scored on just 8.08 percent of its shots. The Stars have Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn. The Canucks do not.

Simply put, there is a correlation between shooting percentage and winning. Only five teams have a smaller fraction of shots that score than the Canucks do, and all of them are below the Canucks in the standings, with the exception to the Penguins.

Related: Are the Vancouver Canucks a Cursed Organization?

On the other hand, of the 24 teams that shoot ‘better’ than the Canucks do, 20 are above the Canucks in the standings, with exception to the Calgary Flames.

Hence, let shooting percentage correlate with points. Let shooting percentage correlate with shooting skills. Conclusion? Skill correlates with points on the standings, and the Canucks do not have much of either.

So, am I saying that the Canucks need to change up their skills coach Glenn Carnegie? Probably. I have not watched a single Canuck deke successfully and score on the same play, since Radim Vrbata fooled Craig Anderson last season. Last season.

If the Canucks want to win, they have to bring a skilled bunch to the ice. And that might have to start with a new skills coach who can teach a few dangles and deceptive shots. Maybe some day, Henrik Sedin can score on a breakaway. Maybe Chris Higgins can live up to his “sniper” identity as EA Sports dubbed him a few years back. Maybe the Canucks can win a few games. Maybe.

Watching the SuperSkills competition yesterday made me wonder. These Canucks have no creativity, almost no skill, and nearly no positive changes to cheer about. But Andrey Pedan is the fastest skater and the hardest shooter. Bo Horvat can power through a couple defenders. Adam Cracknell shot four-for-four on the accuracy shooting. And I realized: none of them have spent two full years under the Canucks management.

The more time they spend with the Canucks, the more skill-deprived they come out to be — and lacking creativity, too. Honestly. Name veterans, outside of the Sedins, who can deke around a few defenders and rifle a shot through like a Seguin or a Patrick Kane.

McCann, Horvat, and even Jake Virtanen — they are all scorers. That is how they got to the NHL — because they could score and win teams points by scoring goals. Watch their highlight reels and look at those shots, dekes, and the behind-the-back creativity oozing from them.

Next: Returning 'post-WJC' Virtanen to NHL is the Right Decision

If the Canucks do not want to dry up the skill and creativity — and the points — from these kids, they are going to have to let them flash the skill with confidence, and train the team to be as skillful as their fellow competitors.

If the coach can’t go, the GM can’t go, and the hands are tied on the trade front… go and get new trainers. If the Canucks want to pull off the rebuild-on-the-fly, they must think outside the box. That was this week’s edition of the Canucklehead Lament.