Seeing the Wings and Sharks fight to seven games irks me. When's the last time the Canucks actually fought back in a series?
Down 3-0 to LA? Win one game and then keel over at home.
Down 3-0 to SJ? Fight back in the 3rd period of Game 4 and then keel over in OT.
Up 3-0 on Chicago in 2011? Mail in the next two games, start Schneider in Game 6, and then scrape out a Game 7 win. I don't know why there isn't a statue of Chris Campoli outside Rogers Arena.
Discounting 2007 (when the Canucks overachieved with a one-line team and Luongo) the Canucks haven't faced and overcome much adversity over the past 7 years. They've won the division title against inferior competition and having top-tier goaltending gives them a chance to win every night.
2009 they swept a young Blues team ravaged by the flu and choked away a potential series stranglehold against a young Hawks team (I wouldn't be surprised if they went up 3-1 and lost in 7, to be honest).
2010 they beat a young Kings team and got stomped by the Hawks. Down 3-1, they pulled out a gutsy Game 5 win on the road and proceeded to keel over at home in Game 6.
2011 they won the first game of every series they were in. They still needed 6 games to beat an overachieving Nashville team, and that was due to Kesler and Luongo (Suter and Weber shut down the Sedins pretty well). They beat the Sharks in 5 thanks to a stanchion and Thornton playing with a separated shoulder.
When's the last time a Sedin scored a huge goal? I can think of one: Henrik's goal in Game 4 against LA in 2010 with under 3 minutes left to tie the series 2-2. Yes the Sedins produce all the time and they do play with Burrows (who has scored some huge goals himself) but they don't really have that game-changing element needed in the playoffs.
To me it almost seems like the Canucks are arrogant; they know they're one of the top teams in the league with a talented lineup and they should just breeze into the Cup finals every year. I guess the media doesn't help with all the excuses; they're injured, they lost to the Cup champs, etc. I thought the LA series would've humbled them but it didn't help against SJ.
One last comment on goaltending: the whole adversity thing is why I think Luongo is better for the Canucks then Schneider. Schneider has frankly been coddled every step of the way while playing behind of the league's best goalies. Luongo, on the other hand, toiled for years on a bad Florida team and has faced criticism ever since he arrived in Vancouver. Yet for all his meltdowns he's still given the Canucks every opportunity to win.
