Are the Canucks finally good again? Because they're playing great
After a decade of darkness, Vancouver Canucks fans are wondering if their team is finally stepping into the light.
The Canucks haven’t hosted a playoff game at Rogers Arena in over eight years and have been one of the worst NHL teams (26th overall since the start of the 2013-14 season) in the last 10 years.
Coming into this season, many were just hoping the team wouldn’t sink its chances of making the playoffs in the first month, as they had done in previous seasons. Fans were tossing jerseys onto the ice at their home opener last season, after all.
Well, the Canucks haven’t just had a good start to the season, they’ve had a great start.
Thursday’s impressive 10-1 win in San Jose was the latest in a series of positive developments for the Canucks this season. Their 7-2-1 record after 10 games is their best start to a season in 18 years. They’re one win away from equalling the franchise’s best-ever start after 11 games.
Vancouver is now ranked sixth in the NHL by points percentage. They have scored a league-high 46 goals and have allowed the fourth-fewest goals-against.
For the first time, the Canucks have all of their star players firing on all cylinders. Elias Pettersson (19 points) is second in NHL scoring, while J.T. Miller and Quinn Hughes (16 points each) are tied for fourth.
Brock Boeser is second in the NHL in goals (8).
Thatcher Demko has a .940 save percentage right now, which is better than any other goalie with at least six starts this season.
The vibes are great, and the city is starting to believe.
But can they keep it up? Is this team for real?
They might not rattle off 10-goal performances with regularity, but there are signs that this team has finally turned a corner. They’re not bleeding chances like they used to, as buy-in to Rick Tocchet’s system appears to be high.
Their PDO, which measures save percentage plus shooting percentage to approximate luck, is the highest in the NHL (1.084). That would suggest they’re getting the bounces, and certainly when you score as often as they have, the pucks are going in right now.
But it’s not like they’re squeaking out wins in overtime or shootouts.
With the benefit of hindsight, the Canucks may have had an easy schedule up to this point. Florida is the only team they’ve beaten thus far that has a winning record.
But that would be an overly pessimistic evaluation of their season so far. Vancouver deserved to beat the New York Rangers but lost in overtime, and that’s a team with an 8-2-0 record so far.
Sure, the Oilers and Sharks have been bad this season, but how many teams are beating them 8-1 and 10-1?
The Canucks have completed 10 games, but there are 72 to go. They’ll need to continue to prove themselves.
But so far, so good — and then some.
For the sake of hockey fans in Vancouver who are starved for a winner, let’s hope it continues.