In the big picture, they are just three games in a marathon 82 game season. But given the disastrous performance against Boston and some biting comments from the head coach in the aftermath, the next three games feel like a referendum of sorts for the Vancouver Canucks.
The team hosts Colorado on Monday, followed by back to back games in Utah and Vegas.
The Avalanche have the top two scorers in the NHL and will absolutely slice the Canucks to pieces if the team offers up the half-hearted defensive effort it did against the Bruins.
Then it’s out on the road – which may be a relief – for games against the surging Utah Hockey Club, followed the next night by the first matchup of the year against the division-leading Golden Knights.
The Canucks, you may have noticed, are clinging to the final Wild Card spot in the West for the moment. And on far too many nights this season – particularly on home ice – they’ve looked like a team destined to remain in the muddy middle rather than make any kind of push to hang with the teams at the top of the division and conference.
And after having their lunch fed to them on Saturday by a Boston team coming off a pair of lopsided losses of their own to start their road trip, the Canucks were called out by their coach who questioned the emotional investment of a number of his players and doubled-down by suggesting that too many players were choosing not to follow the game plan laid out for them.
Those are serious accusations for a team that has been on the wrong end of far too many beat downs in its first 29 games. Sure, the overall record remains highly respectable at 15-9-5. But if the Canucks don’t clean up their act over the next week, they’ll find themselves looking up at the playoff pack. More than that, if the Canucks don’t measure up over these next three games, then whispers about team chemistry and players tuning out the reigning coach of the year will only grow louder.
Colorado has won four of five as it arrives in Vancouver. Utah is 4-0-1 in its last five and doesn’t play again until the Canucks come calling. And Vegas, despite a 6-3 loss in a heavyweight showdown in Edmonton on Saturday afternoon, is 8-2-1 in its last 11.
So the Canucks are running into three teams all seemingly at near the tops of their games this week. The challenges are obvious.
The solutions are much tougher to identify. Certainly, the Canucks best players simply playing better would be a good place to start. But more than that, the Canucks need to find the passion and emotion that has gone missing on so many nights. The coach isn’t wrong when he suggests a lack of emotional buy in. It’s both clear and troubling to see.
Outside of JT Miller, the Canucks aren’t a fiery bunch. Conor Garland’s effort is rarely going to be called into question. And Kiefer Sherwood has done his best to be a tone setter this season. And, of course, Quinn Hughes leads by example. After that though, for the most part, the Canucks have a roster that needs to be dragged into the battle. And it was evident during Saturday’s no show and reinforced by the coach in the aftermath, that something needs to change in terms of preparation and readiness for so many of the team’s games.
Colorado, Utah and Vegas. Three conference games in four nights. Based on the quality of opponents in a compact time frame, it’s a huge test for the Vancouver Canucks. But more than that, it’s a mid-season gut check and a look into the soul of this hockey club.
Rise to the challenge, prove they measure up and allay some of the growing fears in the marketplace.
However, if things go sideways, it may be the signal management is looking for to start moving pieces in an effort to alter the look, feel and composition of this roster.
It may be the holiday season, but after Saturday’s brutal showing against Boston, things don’t feel all that festive around the Vancouver Canucks right now.
