Vancouver Having Disastrous Start to Season

Vancouver Canucks GM Travis Fleming faced a tough decision over the offseason. After the they were eliminated in the Gretzky Conference finals for the second straight year Fleming could either tear everything down and rebuild or take one last shot at a Stanley Cup. He chose the latter.

So far it hasn’t worked out.

The Canucks currently sit at the bottom of the EHE standings, having amassed a paltry three wins in their first twelve games. So what’s wrong in Vancouver?

“I honestly don’t know,” said Fleming when asked to explain his team’s poor start to the season. “I really believe this team still has a shot to go all the way. Something just isn’t clicking right now. Hopefully our coaching staff and our players can get to the bottom of it.”

The Canucks lost Bobby Ryan, Andrej Sekera and Anton Stralman to free agency during the offseason. They also decided to part ways with Zach Parise and his $5 million contract. To replace those pieces Fleming brought in Rick Nash, Jason Chimera, Ron Hainsey and Niklas Kronwall.

It’s hard to argue that this year’s squad is as good last year’s Canucks, a team many picked to win the Stanley Cup during the season. Still, with superstars like Alex Ovechkin, Max Pacioretty and Shea Weber, and Tuukka Rask in net, it leaves you wondering how this team can be playing so poorly to start the season.

When asked if a rebuild was a possibility if his team continued to struggle Fleming refused to speculate.

“I’m not even thinking about that,” he said. “I still have faith that we’re going to turn things around. I believe in this team. The Stanley Cup is still the goal.”

Fleming’s faith is admirable, but if the Canucks continue like this the Stanley Cup may continue to be an elusive prize for the Canucks and their fans.