One can argue that the Vancouver Canucks are a terrible hockey team. However, they have a chance to be Canada’s best NHL team this season.
Hockey is Canada’s game. Most Canadians have played hockey at some point in there lives, and even if they haven’t, many of them are huge hockey fans. When there is only one Canadian team in the playoffs, many cheer for that team rather than anyone else. However, when it comes to determining which Canadian team is the best in the NHL, there is also a big rivalry among Canadians and their favourite hockey clubs.
The Vancouver Canucks were Canada’s best NHL team for a long time not too long ago. In the past 10 years, the Canucks won six division titles and two President’s Trophies, and stood in the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals against the Boston Bruins — sorry for reminding you.
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But today? Today, Vancouver is in the midst — or just at the beginning, depending on your judgement of Jim Benning‘s work — of a long rebuild. The club’s long-time heroes, Henrik and Daniel Sedin, are set to retire in 2018. We can probably all agree that watching Canucks games has been more painful than exciting for the most part this season. But yet, the Vancouver Canucks might become Canada’s best team of the 2015-16 season.
When the Montreal Canadiens started the season with a nine-game winning streak, it seemed clear that they would easily run away with the 2015-16 “Best Canadian NHL team” title, and it even looked like Montreal might get a chance to win their first President’s Trophy in franchise history. However, the Canadian standings have moved much closer together.
As of today, the Canucks are 22nd in the league standings, ranking third behind the Canadiens and the Ottawa Senators. Montreal, after losing 11 of their 13 games in December, is only three points ahead of Ottawa and Vancouver, who are tied at 46 points.
In addition to that, four of the league’s bottom-six teams are Canadian: the Winnipeg Jets (25th), Calgary Flames (26th), Toronto Maple Leafs (27th) and Edmonton Oilers (28th).
It is, unfortunately, a terrible year for Canadian NHL teams and their fans. But did you know that at the end of the season, there could easily be four Canadian teams in the playoffs?
Montreal currently owns the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. Vancouver is three points away from second in the Pacific Division. Calgary is four points away from third. Winnipeg probably won’t make a divisional playoff spot in the Central Division, arguably the best division in the league, but they are only two points away from a wild card spot.
But who will be the best Canadian team?
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As David Joun noted in an article yesterday, the NHL schedule makers did Vancouver a favour for the second half of the season. After the club’s current six-game road trip, the Canucks have no Eastern Conference trips left in their schedule, resulting in a relatively easy schedule for the rest of the 2015-16 campaign. They only have three games left against what Joun calls the Western Conference “powerhouse teams” — the Dallas Stars, Chicago Blackhawks and Los Angeles Kings — while playing 18 games against Pacific Division rivals — some of the weakest teams in the league.
If everything goes as planned, Vancouver should be able to finish the season at least in second place in the Canadian standings. With a little bit of luck, they might even be able to get past the Canadiens.
Keep in mind, the Canucks are in their current situation without the services of Brandon Sutter and Dan Hamhuis. Instead, guys like Bo Horvat, Sven Baertschi and Alex Biega are stepping up. With Sutter back in the lineup soon, and Hamhuis hopefully following before season’s end, Vancouver should have good chances to move up the standings again.
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At the end of the day, none of this matters as long as the Canucks make the playoffs. However, it has always been a rivalry that is fun to keep an eye on.
What do you think? Who is the best Canadian NHL team? Let us know in the comments or via Twitter @FSTheCanuckWay.