Canucks: Team needs to figure out its identity soon

The Vancouver Canucks went into Buffalo looking for their second victory of the season.
Unfortunately, it was a poor effort from the team and they lost 5-2 to the Sabres team that is projected to be one of the worst in the league. (And they don’t have Jack Eichel either.)

Hearing a “na, na, na, hey goodbye” chant from the crowd of 7376 fans at the Keybank Center was a double gut punch.

The Canucks were outplayed by the Sabres after a good start. The team couldn’t figure out how to break out of their own zone, the power play couldn’t get going and the penalty kill wasn’t good either.

The Canucks defence was poor. It also shows how much Quinn Hughes is missed on the blue line. They spent a lot of time in their own zone and gave the Sabres plenty of easy scoring chances. Buffalo had 14 High Danger Chances For in the game at five on five according to NaturalStatTrick.
But enough about that game. I’m sure not a single Canucks fan wants to relive it.

Up next on the schedule are the Chicago Blackhawks. The Blackhawks are 0-3-1 and are struggling to score goals and keep the puck out of their net.

Obviously, it would not be ideal for the Canucks to go into Chicago with the same effort and give the Blackhawks their first win of the season.

Canucks fans were very vocal on social media after the loss to Buffalo on Saturday night. Some were calling for head coach Travis Green to be given the pink slip.

There is no way the Canucks will let Green go four games into the season. However, he and general manager Jim Benning’s jobs are on the hot seat and the boot could be given to both of them if the team misses the playoffs once again. In the NHL, the first domino of coaches getting fired usually falls around the American Thanksgiving long weekend.

The game against the Sabres opened the wounds of last season.

The Canucks were looking to put last season behind with a series of offseason moves but the ghosts of seasons’ past have returned.

Yes, it’s early. It’s only been four games. 1-2-1 isn’t an ideal start for the Canucks but it is a bit concerning.

It was an entertaining shootout win over the Philadelphia Flyers and they gave valiant efforts in losses against the Edmonton Oilers and Detroit Red Wings. (They should have won the game in Detroit but Thomas Greiss had other ideas.)

The defence and special teams have to be better without a doubt. The Canucks can’t also rely on Thatcher Demko to steal them games and it looks like they will need to outscore their problems consistently.

Both Jason Brough of Sportsnet 650, and Hassan Ahmed of the Cap Space Wins Cups Podcast brought up two very good questions about the Canucks after the game.

The answer to that is there is no identity.

As Brough asks above, what kind of team are the Canucks?

They aren’t a high-flying offensive team or a heavily defensive team.

What the Canucks have is a forward core that is better than last year with some young talent featuring Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser, Nils Höglander, and Vasily Podkolzin. They have what could be a good goaltending tandem this season and even without Quinn Hughes, a defensive core that could be better.

What kind of playing style can Green use? At this point, it’s hard to tell even what his style is.

In some games (In Green’s tenure as head coach.) the Canucks are flying down the rush scoring goals, in other games, they are trapped in their zone most of the game, and in others, they mostly just dump and chase.

The Canucks are a team without an identity and it’s early but it is hurting them so far. They have to figure out what kind of team they are and start driving the bus forward or else they’ll have another season like last year.

If Vancouver can’t manage to get wins against the winless Blackhawks and Seattle Kraken, fans will make their voices heard during the home opener against the Minnesota Wild on October 26.