Vancouver exit: Nonis whines, Vigneault makes excuses

It's enough to make anyone say, "And so it begins..."

The Vancouver Canucks are out of the play-offs. Nonis says it's the injuries, it's the schedule. Well excuse me! Vancouver has had schedule problems since joining the NHL. It's an obstacle to manage and overcome. Not an excuse for under-performance.

Vigneault focuses more on the injuries which have been particularly brutal this year, yes.

But I say that people who blame what they couldn't control for the state of affairs they find themselves in are not people who are going to solve the real problems, ever. If Nonis doesn't sack his defensive co-ordinator before June (and named a real coach as replacement!), I say the Aquilinis should sack them both. Vigneault will still be just a defensive co-ordinator and Nonis will have proven that he hasn't moved on from being a management trainee.

But yet another summer of whining and "wait until next year"? I want to hear about it even less than I want to hear about the NBA or interminable baseball scores.

Canucks season

Like a bad top 40 tune from the 70s: "It's over... It's over... It's over... yeah, yeah yeah..." And it was over no matter what Vancouver did as Nashville gained a regulation-time win over St. Louis. Too bad.

And as I wrote the last time, I've stopped caring very much. I haven't stopped wishing, nor will I stop cheering for excellence whenever it appears. It's just that right now, the slogan, "We are all Canucks" feels too much like "We are all losers".

Oh, the woes of a Vancouver Canucks fan...

It's either woe, or you stop caring very much what the next game will bring. The talent isn't changing from night to night but the coach doesn't know how to bring out their best night after night.

After the trouncing of Calgary on Sunday, it seemed anything, including a Stanley Cup was possible. At least if that team showed up again, finally. But on Thursday, yet again, sure as Stanley Park in rain, a two goal lead goes down the drain and the fans can feel the pain of fate. Fate out of our hands: someone else has to lose now, for Vancouver to get in -- and, like as not, embarrass themselves and everyone else in in bowing to the Detroit Red Wings in five or six, if they're lucky. Most likely it'd be four straight though.

If this team isn't tough to recognize come training camp next fall, I predict falling gates, falling excitement unless the team's commitment to charitable causes keeps them in the hearts of the populace more effectively than their on-ice performance has.

The good news is, the Giants are in the 2nd round in the WHL, with very little of their core mindset disturbed from what it was. Will they own the W's berth in the Memorial Cup again? Who knows! Go, Giants, Go!