Originally Posted by Maggot

The Canucks crash and burn again on Sunday.

The reason why the Canucks are losing games is that last year the defence did it all and this year they aren’t. The defence were scoring a lot of the Canucks’ goals, jumping in on the rush, and this year they aren’t. The defence were stingy and played great positional hockey, and this year they aren’t. That and the forwards are the same anemic offence that can’t seem to take the puck to the net against anyone but the worst teams. Having the injuries the Canucks did in training camp didn’t help things much either.

Bieksa has been a huge disappointment, but the rest of the defence hasn’t played very well either, compared to last season. It’s way too easy to gain the Canucks’ zone, but the Canucks look like they’re in a death match to do the same at the other end of the rink.

One problem the Canucks have had is leadership. Naslund is the result of the bad management idea that you make the most skilled guy on your team the captain, even if it doesn’t work in practice. And Naslund has great skills, even if he’s never been quite the same since the concussion Moore clocked him with. That wrist shot just isn’t there anymore. Naslund isn’t a guy who is going to drag his team through a playoff series, the way guys like Steve Yzerman could. Linden can motivate a team and is a good leader. He’s not the player he once was, but did lead the team in points during last season’s playoffs. He’s tried to be a good captain and you can tell that he really takes the job seriously, but you can also tell that he’s often uncomfortable with the role. Fans like Naslund, but currently his salary is one of the things keeping this team from being competitive, especially when he’s not living up to it.