The Canuck Way
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Canucks: 3 reasons the team didn’t qualify for the playoffs

By Zaahid Lalani

VANCOUVER, BC - APRIL 18: Alex Galchenyuk #12 of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Bo Horvat #53 and Jalen Chatfield #63 of the Vancouver Canucks watches the shot of Auston Matthews #34 of the Toronto Maple Leafs ring off the goal post behind goalie Braden Holtby #49 of the Vancouver Canucks during the third period of NHL hockey action at Rogers Arena on April 17, 2021 in Vancouver, Canada. (Photo by Rich Lam/Getty Images)
VANCOUVER, BC - APRIL 18: Alex Galchenyuk #12 of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Bo Horvat #53 and Jalen Chatfield #63 of the Vancouver Canucks watches the shot of Auston Matthews #34 of the Toronto Maple Leafs ring off the goal post behind goalie Braden Holtby #49 of the Vancouver Canucks during the third period of NHL hockey action at Rogers Arena on April 17, 2021 in Vancouver, Canada. (Photo by Rich Lam/Getty Images) /
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VANCOUVER, BC – MARCH 08: Paul Byron #41 of the Montreal Canadiens tries to get past Quinn Hughes #43 of the Vancouver Canucks during NHL hockey action. (Photo by Rich Lam/Getty Images)
VANCOUVER, BC – MARCH 08: Paul Byron #41 of the Montreal Canadiens tries to get past Quinn Hughes #43 of the Vancouver Canucks during NHL hockey action. (Photo by Rich Lam/Getty Images) /

Once again, the Vancouver Canucks are on the outside looking in.

The team failed to qualify for the playoffs this season, marking the fifth time in the past seven years. They finished the 2020-21 campaign with a record of 23-29-4, good for last in the Scotia North Division, and 24th in the league standings. They finished nine points behind the Montreal Canadiens for the fourth and final playoff spot in the division.

It was one of the more disastrous seasons in franchise history, with the team essentially crawling their way to the finish line at the end of the season.

Of course, most of the physical and mental exhaustion that plagued the players was a direct result of their team-wide COVID-19 outbreak, which put the entire organization out of commission for just under a month. Upon return, the team was subjected to 19 games in 32 days, including 5 back-to-back sets. 11 of those contests took place on the road, and their final four games happened while the playoffs were going on.

Talk about a nightmare.

However, COVID-19 aside, the team was still dealing with a plethora of other problems that severely hampered their chances of qualifying for the playoffs. Even if the Canucks were completely healthy and were able to play on a normal schedule, there was still a very likely possibility that the team was going to find themselves on the sidelines going into the offseason.

Let’s take a look at three reasons why the Canucks didn’t qualify for the playoffs this year:

A February to forget

Most unsuccessful teams can pinpoint exactly where their season went wrong. For the Canucks, they can just look at the entire month of February.

Prior to that, the Canucks were putting together some decent hockey in January, especially considering their truncated training camp schedule. The team posted seven victories over 11 contests, including a four-game winning streak to end out the month, and, as expected, were right in the thick of the battle for the fourth and final playoff spot in their division.

It all went downhill from there.

The Canucks’ were picked apart in February, and their defensive struggles were put on full display against their superior opponents. The team recorded a dismal record of 2-9-2, and were outscored by a margin of 48-41 over that span. They recorded two separate losing streaks of four or more games, and were limited to one or fewer goals on six separate occasions.

They collected six out of a possible 26 points, and plummeted to the basement of their division as a result.

The team posted a decent record afterwards, going 15-15-2 in their remaining 32 games of the year. As we all know, however, they still finished nine points out of a playoff spot.

At the end of the day, we’ll never know if the Canucks would’ve been able to make a strong push for the playoffs in normal circumstances.

But, even if they were able to complete their remaining contests on a normal schedule, without their mortifying team-wide COVID-19 outbreak and multiple back-to-back sets having an effect, it would’ve been hard for the Canucks to climb out of the hole that they had dug for themselves in February.

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