Rigamarole - A Foot In The Crease - Episode 5.34

www.afootinthecrease.com

Just six weeks ago when Ryan Kesler signed a six year deal, everything thing seemed rosy in the world of the Vancouver Canucks as they locked up the final piece of their core for the long term. In signing that contract extension – one that would pay him $30 million by its conclusion – Kesler joined the brothers Sedin and Roberto Luongo as cornerstone pieces of the Canuck organization. This was the group the Canucks decided they could win with.

No longer “young players” in the NHL, this was supposed to be the year where that group would step up to finally lead the Canucks to success not only in the regular season as they had done in the past but finally on a long playoff run where they would legitimately challenge for the Stanley Cup. Fast forward now six weeks and the Canucks find themselves in a world of trouble in more ways than one.

Yes, they trail the Chicago Blackhawks three games to one in their West semi final series but the bigger problem is the fact that said core group has been invisible.

The Sedins have shown very little interest in battling through now that the Hawks have made conditions a little bit more difficult to operate under in the offensive zone. There has been no sign of them being able to bring their game to another level. Kesler has one goal in ten playoff games. He’s added eight assists but for a $5 million player, one goal during the most important time of the year just isn’t good enough, period. For Luongo, the series against the Hawks was supposed to be a statement series, a way for him to exact revenge from an ugly defeat a year ago. Well he has made a statement alright, that he continues to come up empty handed when the Canucks need him most.

The Canucks now will have to decide whether or not they can win with this group. If they decide no, with four gigantic contracts, there may not be much that they can do about it. But hey, all that was just rigamarole.