Can we win the division again.. Should we care?

[Vancan]

Edmonton has not taken a step back, in fact with there recent additions they may be better.

My question(s) are, can we win the division again? 

Next one is do we really care? 

Florida won the cup- division champs... 1 point ahead of Boston. However 3rd in the conference. 

Edmonton cup final- second in the division, 5th in the conference. 

 

I figure in the pacific 

 

Edm-114 pts

Van- 104

Veg-96

 

I say dont kill yourself trying for the division title. Stay on pace to comfortable make the playoffs, try hard to win the last 4 or more games, go into the playoffs on a roll and healthy as can be after 82. 

 

I felt we got a little fancy at home this year in the playoffs. Tried to put on a show for the crowed, maybe one to many passes, looking for that huge hit that turned into a penalty,etc.

On the road it was who cares how we win, just win. Home ice advantage can sometimes be a disadvantage. 

 

Just get in healthy with confidence, who cares in what position. 

 

 

[Tank]

from the current roster, I see we are a play off team but not cup favorite.

[Tank]

 

still bottom feeders

[wai_lai416]

32 minutes ago, Vancan said:

Edmonton has not taken a step back, in fact with there recent additions they may be better.

My question(s) are, can we win the division again? 

Next one is do we really care? 

Florida won the cup- division champs... 1 point ahead of Boston. However 3rd in the conference. 

Edmonton cup final- second in the division, 5th in the conference. 

 

I figure in the pacific 

 

Edm-114 pts

Van- 104

Veg-96

 

I say dont kill yourself trying for the division title. Stay on pace to comfortable make the playoffs, try hard to win the last 4 or more games, go into the playoffs on a roll and healthy as can be after 82. 

 

I felt we got a little fancy at home this year in the playoffs. Tried to put on a show for the crowed, maybe one to many passes, looking for that huge hit that turned into a penalty,etc.

On the road it was who cares how we win, just win. Home ice advantage can sometimes be a disadvantage. 

 

Just get in healthy with confidence, who cares in what position. 

 

 

really depends on how they play?? they were on a 94 point pace since the all star break that's without demko but at the same time they completely changed the way they played heavily focused on defence and grinding games out. i don't think we'll be on a 94 point pace but i don't think we'll be on a 120 point pace we were on prior to... 

 

home ice advantage imo is extremely important in the playoff against teams like edmonton colorado etc in the west.. if edmonton had home ice against florida? they prolly win the cup as they can get mcdrai away from barkov 4 out of the 7 games. if edmonton gets last change and gets away from the miller line and playing our 4th line and bottom pair defenceman? all series? ya that's not going to be pretty.

[Vancan]

Ya for sure you get the advantage of line changes with home ice. Adding the altitude in Colorado gives the an advantage However the pressure of playing at home, putting on a show, friends n family there, I still feel it's not quite the advantage its made out to be. 

 

Edmonton lost at least 5 home games in the playoffs this year to. 

 

I guess what I was saying is home ice that important to beat yourself up, playing the top players maximum minutes, top goalie to many games, just to win the division. Or stay a bit above the pact comfortably in a playoff spot, then going into the playoffs, more rested and less injured then go full throttle. Worked for the kings a few times. 

[wai_lai416]

2 minutes ago, Vancan said:

Ya for sure you get the advantage of line changes with home ice. Adding the altitude in Colorado gives the an advantage However the pressure of playing at home, putting on a show, friends n family there, I still feel it's not quite the advantage its made out to be. 

 

Edmonton lost at least 5 home games in the playoffs this year to. 

 

I guess what I was saying is home ice that important to beat yourself up, playing the top players maximum minutes, top goalie to many games, just to win the division. Or stay a bit above the pact comfortably in a playoff spot, then going into the playoffs, more rested and less injured then go full throttle. Worked for the kings a few times. 

if the players are playing a different game at home than they are on the ice because they are trying to put on a "show" then the players and coaching staff are immature and childish.. and that's on the management to tell them to grow the fuk up. did edmonton change the way they play their game on the road ice they do at home? not really other than line matching and trying to get away from it... you can put on a show by playing hard and play for the entire 60mins.. something we seldom did in the playoff.. how many periods did we have less than 6 shot this playoff? we played 13 games 39 periods + 2 OT.. we had 6 shots or less in 23 of those periods.. so i wouldn't call it they were trying to put on a show

[GrammaInTheTub]

3 minutes ago, wai_lai416 said:

if the players are playing a different game at home than they are on the ice because they are trying to put on a "show" then the players and coaching staff are immature and childish.. and that's on the management to tell them to grow the fuk up. did edmonton change the way they play their game on the road ice they do at home? not really other than line matching and trying to get away from it... you can put on a show by playing hard and play for the entire 60mins.. something we seldom did in the playoff.. how many periods did we have less than 6 shot this playoff? we played 13 games 39 periods + 2 OT.. we had 6 shots or less in 23 of those periods.. so i wouldn't call it they were trying to put on a show

Edmonton stinks 

[Vancan]

14 minutes ago, wai_lai416 said:

if the players are playing a different game at home than they are on the ice because they are trying to put on a "show" then the players and coaching staff are immature and childish.. and that's on the management to tell them to grow the fuk up. did edmonton change the way they play their game on the road ice they do at home? not really other than line matching and trying to get away from it... you can put on a show by playing hard and play for the entire 60mins.. something we seldom did in the playoff.. how many periods did we have less than 6 shot this playoff? we played 13 games 39 periods + 2 OT.. we had 6 shots or less in 23 of those periods.. so i wouldn't call it they were trying to put on a show

Also remember loosing arguably the best goalie in he world for an extended period of time, makes you change your whole game plan. The way they played with Silovs or even Desmith for that matter, is not the way they would have played with a healthy Demko. It was smart defensive play priority 1, 2, 3. and take the offence opportunities when they come. Hence the low shot totals, and little offensive output. 

[wai_lai416]

13 minutes ago, Vancan said:

Also remember loosing arguably the best goalie in he world for an extended period of time, makes you change your whole game plan. The way they played with Silovs or even Desmith for that matter, is not the way they would have played with a healthy Demko. It was smart defensive play priority 1, 2, 3. and take the offence opportunities when they come. Hence the low shot totals, and little offensive output. 

sry 5 shots or less a period ain't going to win you much game if you play like that over 82 games.. playing like that also stretches and stresses the defence and the goalie.. demko already shown he's not really capable of dealing with the massive workload in terms of games and the high amount of shots per game added on top of that doesn't help.

[DrJockitch]

The Pacific is going to stink next year. Calgary and SJ are bottom feeders, Seattle is middling, LA could be worse, could have addition by subtracting PLD.  Vegas who know, they may suddenly be too old or the constant turnover may be starting to affect them. 

Edmonton is the only really other good team and they are a collection of whining cheap shot artists with inconsistent goal tending. I am not sure McD has the character to come back strong from the finals loss, he may go into a funk.

I did see one of the sports modelling programs had us and Edmonton tied for President’s trophy at 111 points. 

[Heretic]

As with every season, it will depend on injuries and depth.

 

Yes, it is nice to win the division, but I just want to win the last game.

[grumpyone]

winning the division means nothing to me.... playing longer than the oilers, that's another subject. 

[Petey O]

I think they'll be second or third in the division but a better overall playoff team.

 

My guess is somewhere around 97-103 pts.

[nux_win]

We can, and should.  GCG!

[Reg]

Ideally we will win the division and the conference. That being said during the regular season I would really focus on beating teams in our division especially the Oilers.

 

A couple of comments about the Oil. They are now one of the oldest teams in the league and not getting any younger. Also last season they were lucky to only experience relatively few injury days.

[King Heffy]

The only good teams in the Pacific are us, Vegas, and LA.  Neither Vegas nor LA improved.  Edmonton has still chosen not to bring in actual NHL quality D or goaltending.

[Phil_314]

No and no.  Take it a step further, go for the President's Trophy let's say.  We've had two historically great regular season teams in 2022-23 Boston and 2018-19 Tampa in recent memory, both bowed out early.  Tampa dialed it back and saved some gas for the playoff push and came away with two Cups and a 3rd Finals appearance.  Boston is still of course bordering or they are a contender depending on who you ask, but I think the importance of the divisional title is overrated, nobody remembers unless you win the Cup at the end.  I'd rather we bring Stanley home than another divisional banner, we've come too close on different occasions for that, and I'd like for the end goal to get accomplished instead.

Furthermore, with some of our losses in top-end skill (Zadorov/ Lindholm) I think Edmonton leapfrogs us, at least on paper, so I'd rather our team which is currently more built for the playoffs saves their energy for the postseason run. 

[Nucker67]

Canucks started last season without Zadorov and Lindholm, and they were good. Then Zadorov came aboard in late November and Lindholm joined just before the all-star break. Lindholm didn't provide much, though.

 

They're both gone now, but the Canucks brought in grittier, more relentless players. I think they're going to be so hard to play against next season.

 

Miller

Joshua

Boeser

Garland

Hoglander

DeBrusk

Heinen

Sherwood

Blueger

 

Wave after wave of gritty, in your face forwards. The tipping point could be the Canucks coaching.

[-dlc-]

I honestly don't give a rat's ass about division title. As a matter of fact, I'd prefer they don't because it's like a huge target on their backs. If they do, fine...but it isn't important (to me).

 

Proving themselves in the form of a cup is much more relevant....the rest just gets erased.

 

Also: I don't give a flying f about Edmonton and would rather not hear about them at all. Bunch of cheating whiners. They can disappear along with their Gazdic circle of followers.

[-dlc-]

41 minutes ago, King Heffy said:

The only good teams in the Pacific are us, Vegas, and LA.  Neither Vegas nor LA improved.  Edmonton has still chosen not to bring in actual NHL quality D or goaltending.

Also, their (Edmonton's) sense of entitlement and self absorption will be their demise again. They expect to win but don't always play to win. Individuals who spend far too much time whining about their unfair treatment and diving to try to sell it. Yet they're one of the dirtiest teams out there. They don't need to do that stuff, yet they do. Really discredits their integrity to me.

 

[chris12345]

48 minutes ago, King Heffy said:

The only good teams in the Pacific are us, Vegas, and LA.  Neither Vegas nor LA improved.  Edmonton has still chosen not to bring in actual NHL quality D or goaltending.

I'm not sure it matters anymore. I would normally agree with you but seeing this year I question my beliefs.

 

They have the NHL poster boy. Does anything else matter? 12 guys on the ice during the Stanley Cup final, no call.

[Pears]

I still don't see how Edmonton gets better by adding two more small one dimensional wingers and trading one of the better third line centers in the league for a guy who's at least two years away. Call me biased or whatever I don't care but the guys we signed will have a bigger impact for us than Edmonton's will have for them. 

[HKSR]

Always strive for the top.  Home ice is a very good reason why FLA won the cup.  If game 7 was in EDM, we'd probably see mcdavid and the cup all over the place right now.

[I.Am.Ironman]

1 hour ago, King Heffy said:

The only good teams in the Pacific are us, Vegas, and LA.  Neither Vegas nor LA improved.  Edmonton has still chosen not to bring in actual NHL quality D or goaltending.

Edmonton improved their forward depth which has made them a more complete team. Yes D and goaltending is their weak spot but despite this they still made Game 7 of the SCF. They played a good team defensive game. They are a better team than last year.

 

I'd say Edmonton wins the division, Vancouver comes 2nd.

[King Heffy]

53 minutes ago, I.Am.Ironman said:

Edmonton improved their forward depth which has made them a more complete team. Yes D and goaltending is their weak spot but despite this they still made Game 7 of the SCF. They played a good team defensive game. They are a better team than last year.

 

I'd say Edmonton wins the division, Vancouver comes 2nd.

They're still not a good team though and got lucky with a 1st year coach.  They also still have a locker room cancer wearing the C and Kane who is a ticking time bomb.  When the losses start coming, they don't have the leadership to address it.