So I’ve made mention in a couple of other blog posts that I was going to be doing up a piece talking about the Canucks bottom six. And why not? There’s been a lot of talk lately about certain members of the Canucks third and fourth liners, most of it laced with profanities.

Steve Bernier needs to be shipped out of town, Kyle Wellwood should be benched and so on and so forth. While I’m not in disagreement that the bottom six players are bad, I would argue that there are reasons why our bottom six hasn’t really been performing all that well that extend beyond ’such and such player sucks.’

At least that’s what I’m hoping to get across here.

The Canucks were looking to extend their hot start post-Christmas with a win over the Phoenix Coyotes. The Yotes were looking to earn a franchise best 10 straight victories at home. Whatever happened tonight, someone was going to be going home disappointed. Unfortunately, it was some bad decision making in the second period that resulted in the Canucks going to overtime and eventually losing in the shootout to the Desert Dogs.

Or, The Assassination of Darcy Hordichuk by the Coward Trevor Presiloski

Alright, this is sort of an extension from my postscript on Wednesday, where I talked about the problems that are going on in the Canucks bottom six. Kyle Wellwood has been catching a lot of flak from people as of late as his offensive production so far this year has ranged from miniscule to dreadful. Just as Wellwood’s waistband has been shrinking, so too have his numbers on the scoresheet. Some fans have called for his being waived or bought out, as we simply must have him off the roster post-haste. Others have been content to let him stew up in the pressbox, letting him have a couch potato’s seat for his couch potato efforts.

But are ALL of these criticisms fully deserved? Is Wellwood truly as bad as everyone is making him out to be, or are people getting caught on the lack of offensive numbers and roasting him on a spit as a result? I don’t think so, as even without Wellwood’s offensive contributions, he actually improves the team and gives them a better shot at winning when he is in the lineup. So, here comes the analysis!

I was hoping that the Canucks inconsistent nature had gotten sorted out after a rather convincing win on Monday against the Kings. The Canucks were clicking on all points, getting contributions on the PP, being flawless on the PK and improving in the faceoff circle.

Based on what transpired tonight in GM Place, you wouldn’t have known that  the Canucks had been improving and looking like a team that was on the upswing. I don’t even know where to begin.

I’m tardy, I know. I apologise. I’ll try to make this quick and dirty.

The Nashville game resulted in another loss for a Canucks team who has been inconsistent and got burned on the powerplay. The team also looked worn out (!) and tired out there, which again makes me worried about the upcoming Road Trip From Hell, Pt 1 and Pt 2.  Annoyingly, Nashville games continue to be ones that punish our defensemen (remember Bieksa’s laceration and Salo getting his nose broken in the same night?) as Alex Edler is out for a couple of weeks with an arm injury. What makes this all the more frustrating is that Edler was looking to be turning things around and has been one of our more consistent offensive contributers from the backend, alongside Ehrhoff.

A little late with the postscript here, but no harm, no foul, right?

The Canucks played what was essentially a perfect game last night against the Flyers, a team who has now lost 6 of their last 7. I’m not sure what more you could have asked for from the team, outside of chasing the starter, this game had it all.

Man, where to begin with tonight’s game? It was bowling shoe ugly…

As I wrote in my recap last night, the Canucks needed to play a full 60 minutes and get away from the sloppy play that allowed an injury riddled and exhausted Oilers team to make it a game after going down 4-0 in the first period.

Taking 3 penalties in a row is a recipe for disaster against a team like the Sharks, particularly when your PK has been having problems like it has for the Canucks. Factor in a team that played the night before and a powerplay that was firing blanks by going 0 for 4 and the Canucks could ill afford to suffer poor play.