Sativika Posted March 31 Share Posted March 31 Yea. It's great, isn't it. We're gonna be playing in the second season. So stoked. That being said........ Even though our '23-'24 regular season success has made believers out of you, me, and the rest of the ever loving' hockey world, I tend to think we're the underdog team this years playoffs. Why I say this? Here's why; Every other team, wildcard teams included, are touted as contenders from the get go because of their recent past SC playoff successes, SC playoff failures, or consistent playoff appearances. The Canucks on the other hand have only very recently been regarded as such. This season to be exact! We've basically an unproven playoff team made up of some with playoff experience, one who's won the SC, a young playoff inexperienced core, and the rest with no experience; not even in the bubble! ( Which to me, doesn't count.) My thought is that among the contenders, of which we are considered such, and in keeping with what I said above, we are underdogs. At this point in the standings, the Flyers by virtue of their 3rd place standing in the Metropolitan Division with only 82 points would be the definitive underdogs, but among the contenders, we are the underdogs. What say you, CFF Peep? Yay? Nay? F*ck No! Sh*t Yea! You have no idea what you're talking' about, Sativika!!!!! Cheers. Go Canucks Go!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanuckDownUnder Posted March 31 Share Posted March 31 Factoring in last year, it makes a lot of sense to consider them underdogs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Korea Posted March 31 Share Posted March 31 Realistically, our first round opponent will be either Winnipeg, Nashville, Vegas, or Los Angeles. Assuming every team is relatively healthy at the start of the playoffs, the only team we'd be true underdogs against is Vegas. I don't think many pundits would pick the Jets, Predators, or Kings over us. None of those teams have a strong playoff pedigree. Hockey is hockey and predictions in this sport is hogwash. But our real Cinderella run happened in the regular season. We have overachieved to such a great extent that we can't really be considered underdogs anymore. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrJockitch Posted March 31 Share Posted March 31 (edited) Well we haven’t shown as much as NJ did last season, how did they do in playoffs? I think we are a more complete team than they were though. ‘Tocch has mostly said it best, we haven’t proven anything. ‘We were hot early, riding a lot of luck and hitting some teams at the right time. We have been distinctly average since ASB. This is the season of anything can happen and well, anything can happen. We have a big mobile D, should have some good scoring (especially if Brock ever returns from the ASB, wonder where he has been all this time) and centre depth once Lindholm comes back, that plus great goaltending. I think our special teams will lead to an early exit but if Demko gets hot and our scoring wakes up we can beat anyone. Edited March 31 by DrJockitch 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moeknows Posted March 31 Share Posted March 31 Depends. If EP and BB return to their earlier in the season form I think we'll do well and go far(assuming Demko's OK). if they don't we could be one and done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzle Posted March 31 Share Posted March 31 8 hours ago, CanuckDownUnder said: Factoring in last year, it makes a lot of sense to consider them underdogs. Factoring this year since the all star break it makes a lot of sense 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reg Posted March 31 Share Posted March 31 From my perspective the Canucks have been underdogs ever since they joined the NHL. To paraphrase Rutherford everything had to go right in order for this team to finally achieve the ultimate goal of winning the Stanley Cup. We can all share in the pride of once again participating in a playoff race. We are winners by any standard. Go Canucks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil_314 Posted March 31 Share Posted March 31 If the team can channel the Bubble energy and do as well as they did there, then I think we'd stand a good chance at least in round 1 against any of Winnipeg, Nashville (depends heavily on if they cool down before the playoffs) and LA (we did get through a defensive Minnesota team last time we were in the postseason). Vegas I'm still wary about, as they would be adding two major stars in Stone and Hertl, and if they lock things down physically I question if we can get through. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nucker67 Posted April 1 Share Posted April 1 17 hours ago, Phil_314 said: If the team can channel the Bubble energy The "bubble energy", if there was such a thing, will be nothing compared to an arena filled with screaming chanting fans. Miller Pettersson Boeser Hughes Demko Need all of them to be their best if they want to win. No passengers. Will be keeping a close eye on Petey. I feel he's the player who will determine the Canucks fate. . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breadnbutta Posted April 1 Share Posted April 1 We have zero playoff experience. We are underdogs for sure. I'll feel more comfortable after/if we win a round Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devron Posted April 1 Share Posted April 1 Underdogs is the best way to be 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
higgyfan Posted April 1 Share Posted April 1 Having a good matchup in the 1st round is important. The top 4 teams in the conference might shift a bit by the end of the regular season. The Avs have easier opponents for their remaining games, so they might get by the Canucks. Dallas is on a tear and have some easy wins in their remaining games, so they probably win the Conference. 1. Stars 2. Avs Oilers might pass the Canucks, but it will be up to the Canucks, as they have more points right now. 3./4. Canucks/Oilers Vegas has a super easy run in their remaining games so they can they bypass the slumping Jets. 5. Knights If Peg continues to slump, Nash has several games they can win on their remaining schedule. LA also has a favourable schedule, as well as a game in hand. This will be an interesting race to see how they end up in the standings. In no particular order... 6./7./8. Kings/Preds/Jets *We all know that anything can happen during the final regular season games. Teams might rest players, injuries can still happen, lower placed teams can put in a furious effort to show they can play some good hockey, etc. We can make predictions all we want, but we'll have to wait until the final games are played, to know the actual order of the top 8. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IBatch Posted April 1 Share Posted April 1 (edited) Yes, like other teams, we've had a bit of a tougher time later in the season. However maybe they are working on it. Get we haven't won anything yet, but it's not like sneaking in either. And we aren't like Boston who pre-lockout maybe would have about 90 points now. And 33 wins lol. Edited April 2 by IBatch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sativika Posted April 2 Author Share Posted April 2 (edited) When ya' look at the teams above in IBatch's post above; they all are powerhouse teams and have been for awhile now. Among the teams eclipsing 100 points, including us, I would definitely put us in the category of underdog. Even teams not listed above could still reach the 100 point plateau, Oilers, Leafs, Panthers; those that will not, Caps, Knights, Jets(Maybe.), and those presently in the wildcard spots, Preds, Kings, Lightning; all are in the mix and want to get a chance at Lord Stanley's cup! I mean I get it. We're not considered underdogs anymore. Our record of success this season shows such. We're up there with the big boys now. But I still contend; we have much to prove. To prove our Cinderella season wasn't a fluke. Hmmmmm......I don't know why the punctuation is out of whack??!?!?!?? Just started typing in the middle??!??!??? Did I click on something I wasn't supposed to? Edited April 2 by Sativika Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VegasCanuck Posted April 2 Share Posted April 2 I look at the west and teams we could match up against and I gotta say, there's not really anyone that I look at and say, yeah, I hope we get them. Maybe Nashville, but other than that, everyone is close, every matchup is going to be a massive battle. If the playoffs started today, who do we draw? Los Angeles? We struggle badly with teams who shut down the center of the ice. Los Angeles and Vegas are two of the best in the league at that. We are good along the boards and winning those battles, but we have trouble getting into shooting position with teams that are really good at clogging up the rest of the zone away from the boards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Long Posted April 2 Share Posted April 2 5 minutes ago, VegasCanuck said: I look at the west and teams we could match up against and I gotta say, there's not really anyone that I look at and say, yeah, I hope we get them. Maybe Nashville, but other than that, everyone is close, every matchup is going to be a massive battle. If the playoffs started today, who do we draw? Los Angeles? We struggle badly with teams who shut down the center of the ice. Los Angeles and Vegas are two of the best in the league at that. We are good along the boards and winning those battles, but we have trouble getting into shooting position with teams that are really good at clogging up the rest of the zone away from the boards. there's some teams that I want to see get really beat up before we'd meet them in the 2nd round, assuming we can get out of the 1st. Seems to be aligning that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HKSR Posted April 4 Share Posted April 4 Right now, it's shaping up to look like: COL vs WPG EDM vs VGK Then we've got LAK and NAS vs either DAL or VAN. With the way it's going right now, NAS have cooled off and lost 3 in a row. Likelihood is it will be: DAL vs NAS VAN vs LAK Can't say I'm too fond of that matchup for the Canucks given how the regular season games have gone. Unless the Canucks find a way to fight through that 1-3-1, I doubt we get out of the 1st round. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldFaithfulcap Posted April 5 Share Posted April 5 (edited) Good. Screw 'em. We've been the surprise team in the playoffs a few times in our history. They seem to be better years than when we're expected to go far. The 2001-02 that lost to the wings was seen as a first step but it was a great chance and we barely improved. Tired of taking it slow, if this team can wake up from the ASG slumber then it can go where no Canucks team has gone before. Time to change the ending, just takes some self-belief. Edited April 5 by OldFaithfulcap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jester13 Posted April 5 Share Posted April 5 Big time underdogs. This is our first year in the postseason with our core guys and team, so we have many unknowns, such as who will show up and who won't, as well as who will be able to stay healthy and handle the postseason physicality. It's best we keep our expectations low this year as fans, as this is a growing season and postseason for us. Even the Sedin era had many hard lessons before making it to the finals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaimito Posted April 5 Share Posted April 5 (edited) Win the div at least. Get that home ice ad in the first and second round. Edited April 5 by Jaimito Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Crossbar Posted April 5 Share Posted April 5 On 4/1/2024 at 9:33 AM, Devron said: Underdogs is the best way to be I've said this before ... After experiencing both the '94 run and 2011, I'd take being the underdog all day long. In '94, no one thought we'd get past the first round or gave is a shot at getting to the final. There were no expectations. Each win and round was a celebration. It was disappointing but you could also smile and celebrate the achievement because we weren't supposed to make it that far. They were underdogs. In 2011, however, everyone expected us to win. It was supposed to be our year. It was disappointing on the opposite level in that there was much more anger and the higher expectations only made the loss that much worse. It was harder to celebrate the achievement. That's why, imo, there's much more warmth and nostalgia around the '94 team and more darker disappointment and lingering anger around the 2011 team. This year's team is in the perfect spot, really. We've been atop the league most of the season yet we're still considered underdogs and the expectations are much less. 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanuckMan Posted April 6 Share Posted April 6 I want the Canucks to finish 4th-8th in the league and not go in the playoffs as the #1 regular season team. I’d rather not have the added pressure of winning the Presidents Trophy. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IBatch Posted April 6 Share Posted April 6 7 hours ago, Dr. Crossbar said: I've said this before ... After experiencing both the '94 run and 2011, I'd take being the underdog all day long. In '94, no one thought we'd get past the first round or gave is a shot at getting to the final. There were no expectations. Each win and round was a celebration. It was disappointing but you could also smile and celebrate the achievement because we weren't supposed to make it that far. They were underdogs. In 2011, however, everyone expected us to win. It was supposed to be our year. It was disappointing on the opposite level in that there was much more anger and the higher expectations only made the loss that much worse. It was harder to celebrate the achievement. That's why, imo, there's much more warmth and nostalgia around the '94 team and more darker disappointment and lingering anger around the 2011 team. This year's team is in the perfect spot, really. We've been atop the league most of the season yet we're still considered underdogs and the expectations are much less. Will add there was the idea the Canucks were an up and coming team. 91-92, 92-93, we won against some good teams in the opening round. How good was the team going to be in a couple years ... this one is similar in that regard too. 2011 felt like we could have a couple more cracks at it but things were starting to unravel. Could see the best days were about to be over. Felt like we would get more cracks at it. Both times, moreso with the Linden teams given their ages. Mogilny was a pretty big upgrade. Too bad we didn't keep Ronning. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaBamba Posted April 6 Share Posted April 6 Stars Oilers Avs Vegas Preds Canucks Kings Jets These are my playoff rankings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldFaithfulcap Posted April 7 Share Posted April 7 We're more like underants lately. Gotta change something Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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