Fansided

Canucks: Mailbag through 11 games of the season

By Jamey Vinnick |
Oct 3, 2021; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Vancouver Canucks assistant coach Jason King and head coach Travis Green on the bench against the Winnipeg Jets in the third period at Rogers Arena. Canucks won 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Bob Frid-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 3, 2021; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Vancouver Canucks assistant coach Jason King and head coach Travis Green on the bench against the Winnipeg Jets in the third period at Rogers Arena. Canucks won 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Bob Frid-USA TODAY Sports
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It certainly hasn’t been a fun start to the year for the Vancouver Canucks or their fans. A Lotto Line slump, a 1-4 home record and downright pathetic special teams have led to the team’s 4-6-1 record, with two of the wins coming after regulation.

With the exception of spoiling the Seattle Kraken’s home opener and the dramatic comeback against the New York Rangers, there hasn’t been much to cheer about.

But the mailbag must go on, so let us see what Canucks fans had to ask about this week.

I’ve been a huge fan of Green. And I’ve defended him a lot throughout the last few years, often directing the blame to the roster handed to him. But it’s beginning to feel like Vancouver has reached his peak under him. At some point, the job is to win games. He’s now 129-138-33 as the coach of the Canucks.

The team is not devoid of talent. It was one thing in 2017-18 and even 2018-19 when he was forced into playing the likes of Nic Dowd and Alexander Burmistrov. The team has a lot of good players, but when it’s not clicking for a good handful, it’s a problem. I give Green through November. If there hasn’t been a considerable improvement, he has to go.

VANCOUVER, BC – OCTOBER 26: Goalie Thatcher Demko #35 of the Vancouver Canucks makes a save during NHL action against the Minnesota Wild on October, 26, 2021 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. (Photo by Rich Lam/Getty Images)
VANCOUVER, BC – OCTOBER 26: Goalie Thatcher Demko #35 of the Vancouver Canucks makes a save during NHL action against the Minnesota Wild on October, 26, 2021 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. (Photo by Rich Lam/Getty Images) /

I ask myself this question every day. I’m also Seattle Mariners fan and a Washington State University graduate, so my sports pain knows no bounds.

Okay let’s talk about one of the good things from this season. Thatcher Demko has been nothing short of brilliant, keeping the Canucks in seemingly every game. Yes, I fully believe he’ll have an opportunity to start. Connor Hellebuyck will be his main competition, but the former Vezina winner has struggled some so far this year.

It’ll likely come down to who has the better few months leading up to the Olympics, but there’s no reason to believe Demmer won’t be in serious consideration to start.

I don’t think we’re there yet. As I said above, I think he gets until the end of November and if things aren’t going well, you move on. But if you move on from him, Jim Benning should be going with him. They just can’t trust Benning to make another crucial move in regard to this franchise’s future.

VANCOUVER, BC – NOVEMBER 2: J.T. Miller #9 of the Vancouver Canucks celebrates with teammate Elias Pettersson #40 after scoring a goal against the New York Rangers during the third period on November, 2, 2021 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. (Photo by Rich Lam/Getty Images)
VANCOUVER, BC – NOVEMBER 2: J.T. Miller #9 of the Vancouver Canucks celebrates with teammate Elias Pettersson #40 after scoring a goal against the New York Rangers during the third period on November, 2, 2021 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. (Photo by Rich Lam/Getty Images) /

I was born and raised in Seattle and my dad was and is a huge hockey fan. He liked the Canucks due to the proximity and I basically become a fan of them as well. My first memory is Matt Cooke tying Game 7 against Calgary and then having to go to bed for school and waking up to learn that we had lost. That ruined my entire week.

Are we talking about the real Elias Pettersson? That player is a borderline top 10 center in the league. This version, not so much. It’s clear that the lack of training camp is hurting him. For those hose who want to say Quinn Hughes missed training camp too and looks great, remember Hughes played his last game of the 2021 season came on May 19. Pettersson’s came on March 2. That is a big difference.

He’ll be fine, and a healthy, dialed in Pettersson is a top-10 center in my book.

Next. Canucks: Three takeaways from 3-2 loss to Nashville Predators. dark

That concludes The Canuck Way mailbag for this week! Be sure to follow @FSTheCanuckWay on Twitter and look out for the Tweet asking for questions so your question can be featured in next week’s mailbag?

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