The Playoff Push

Ok, so looking at the way things are shaping up with the playoff race, the Canucks have but one option along with San Jose, Edmonton, LA, Anaheim, and Colorado: win as many games as you can and hope that the others fall. As if this isn't obvious enough, the interesting thing about the Canucks Schedule compartively is that they play 6 of their last 7 games against said aftormentioned clubs (San Jose + Anaheim twice, and Colorado + Edmonton once). Out of these playoff battlers the Nucks play the most head-to-head.

Thus, I can only look at the Canucks' playoff fate one way:

The playoff-like intensity for these last 7 games will only help a team like the Canucks that need to be pushed to the brink of elimination before responding (think last year's first round against Calgary). The Canucks handle pressure fairly well, and it's this pressure that's needed if they want to come out fiery in their first round against a better opponent (Detroit, Dallas, or God forbid Calgary.) If some Canucks fans seem dismayed about the bad fortune of their remaining schedule, I argue it would bring little cheer for a fan, like myself, to see an easy finish for a team that has done nothing since Christmas. Think about the affect that last year's 6 game regular season win streak had on them, they felt invincible going into the playoffs even against a very tough foe in Calgary. The Canucks are an overrated, overachieving team and need to be humbled by less talented teams like Edmonton that fight every minute in a hockey game. If the Canucks learn that only the hardest working clubs will have a chance to hoist the holy grail of hockey, they might have a George Mason-like run in the playoffs.