Vancouver, British Columbia – At the beginning of the season, I assumed (guessed/prognosticated/drew team names out of a hat) that the Calgary Flames and the Vancouver Canucks were going to finish 1-2 in the Northwest Division.
The Canucks had re-signed Markus Naslund while generally retaining their “core,” and made judicious additions.
Turns out they won’t even make the playoffs, and they are getting ripped for it in British Columbia. It probably will get worse in the postmortems of the next week, in the wake of Saturday night’s regular-season finale against the Avalanche at General Motors Place.
The siege of injuries to several Canucks defensemen and the loss of No. 1 (albeit shaky) goalie Dan Cloutier were not considered sufficient excuses in Vancouver because, after all, all NHL teams suffer injuries, and harping too much on them insults discerning fans.
The Canucks deserve the heat, and the fans at least are disaffected enough to leave thousands of seats empty at “Fan Appreciation Night” against the Avalanche.
“For some of the guys in this room, there’s a possibility that it could be the last game here,” center Brendan Morrison told reporters at the Canucks’ game-morning skate.
Morrison, a former University of Michigan star, is smart enough to know that he was one of those who might be on his way out.
Captain Markus Naslund talked about how “disappointing” it was to be facing the season coming to an end Saturday night, and defenseman Ed Jovanovski talked of the obligations of professionalism.
It hasn’t helped the Canucks that Brian Burke, fired as general manager following the 2003-04 season after rubbing ownership the wrong way during negotiations for a new contract, has overseen a revival of the Mighty Ducks’ fortunes in Anaheim. His successor at Vancouver, Dave Nonis, in recent days has been candid that he believed the “core” deserved a chance to see what it could do in the New NHL, and that the plan backfired.
The lack of charismatic leadership from Naslund – in effect, he retreated into a two-man clique off in the corner with his avenger, Todd Bertuzzi – has been cited as one of the major problems. And while the Sedin twins, Henrik and Daniel, have showed flashes, they still collectively haven’t been anywhere near as good as the Canucks were hoping they would be after they maneuvered in the NHL draft to be able claim both brothers.
Canucks coach Marc Crawford has been on the job since early 1999. His future is up in the air. If he comes back, he probably will be working with a retooled roster as the Canucks attempt to address an apparent lack of chemistry that made his team worse than the sum of its parts.
And that brings us to Bertuzzi, whose actions of March 8, 2004, arguably dragged a dark cloud over the franchise that it hasn’t been able to escape. His woe-is-me attitude exacerbated the Canucks’ problems, and even the longshot possibility of Canucks players and others associated with the team perhaps having to testify in any of Steve Moore’s lawsuits undoubtedly didn’t do wonders for locker-room camaraderie. Whether it’s fitting or otherwise, what he clearly saw in his warped world as an ultimate form of standing up for a teammate helped tear his team apart.
It was bad karma. It even extended to Hockey Canada, which got what it deserved – a non-medal finish – after selecting Bertuzzi to the Olympic team. That’s not so much because of Bertuzzi himself, but the hypocrisy his choice represented for selectors in the wake of Hockey Canada’s well-done, good-sportsmanship campaign.
Every time anyone brings this up, the inevitable “can’t you move on?” laments follow. But the fact is, the Canucks weren’t able to move on themselves, and it’s one of the reasons they didn’t make the playoffs. Bertuzzi almost certainly will be playing somewhere else next season, and his departure will be good for both him and the franchise.
Moore’s older brother writes
Mark Moore, Steve’s older brother, has a new book on the market: “Saving the Game: Pro Hockey’s Quest to Raise its Game from Crisis to New Heights.” Like Steve, Mark played at Harvard. Like Steve, Mark’s professional career ended prematurely because of concussion problems. Mark, who had been a defenseman in the Penguins’ organization, already was out of the game and was working on the book when Bertuzzi attacked his brother. It is a former player’s insightful look at attempts to improve the game, and he offers his own suggestions. A third Moore brother, Dominic, is a rookie center with the New York Rangers.
Mark’s book, from Canadian publisher McClelland & Stewart, is available from Amazon.com and other major online sites, or could be ordered in U.S. stores.
Jockeying
As soon as the word came that Nashville goalie Tomas Vokoun wouldn’t suit up in the playoffs because of a rare affliction that caused blood clots in his lower abdomen, Western Conference teams could have been excused for wondering if there could be imaginative ways to end up matched up against the Predators in the first round.
However, seldom-used backup Chris Mason was good enough down the stretch to keep the Predators in the No. 4 spot in the Western Conference and keep the home-ice advantage for the first round. Mason’s confidence received a boost because the Predators, who benefit from the bottom-heavy Central Division and 24 games against Chicago, St. Louis and Columbus, had back-to- back meetings with the Blackhawks and Blues. He ended up with a shutout streak of 143 minutes.
It makes perfect sense to consider Mason suspect as a postseason goaltender, and for teams to “want” to draw the Predators because of Vokoun’s absence. But the funny thing about postseason goaltending is that it isn’t always predictable. Sometimes, unlikely goaltenders prove to be energized by the high-pressure rhythms of the postseason, and others with unquestioned credentials – even in previous postseasons – wilt.
In other words, it wouldn’t be the biggest upset in playoff history if Mason fools everyone and has a great series or two.
In closing …
Red Wings defenseman Chris Chelios, who is close enough to age 50 to be receiving membership offers from AARP, told The Detroit News he intends to play again next season. He has played surprisingly well for the Wings, especially after injuries forced Detroit to add to his minutes after the early stages of the season. “It’s never going to be a mental thing with me, it’ll be a physical thing,” Chelios, 45, said of a retirement decision. “As long as Detroit wants me, that makes it much easier, and I don’t have to leave the family.”
Terry Frei can be reached at 303-820-1895 or tfrei@denverpost.com.
