The Vancouver Canucks have been widely ridiculed for the roster moves they’ve made over the last few months. Long story short, the Canucks made some questionable decisions and we’ve already listed them as one of three teams who failed to improve this summer. Despite all of the vocal criticism, Alexandre Burrows believes that the Canucks have the ability to be as good as anybody in the NHL.
Burrows recently spoke with NHL.com and discussed a variety of topics, from recent trades to what he thinks of the Canucks’ chances. Every skater enters the year with optimism, but Burrows’s glass is definitely half full.
“Who’s going to win the Cup next year? Who’s really in contention in the West? There’s so many good teams. Are the Stars going to get in and make a push? Are the Kings going to get in and make a push? Are the Blackhawks going to win again? There’s so much parity. We have a lot of good pieces in Vancouver. The [Sedin] twins are going to be good, [Radim] Vrbata’s going to have another good year, I’m going to have a good year, we have a lot of good young guys coming up.
So I see it as another year where we have to have guys that will push the right way. We’ll have good team chemistry, have 20 guys on the same page that will have the same goal. If we do that, we’re as good as anybody else.”
Burrows is correct that the West is stacked and loaded with strong teams, but that’s where his analysis goes from on point to questionable. The Canucks will be a fascinating team to watch this year, but more so to see how all of their changes from the summer pan out rather than expecting an impressive display of hockey.
Burrows and the Canucks might end up proving us wrong, but a lot of things would have to perfectly fall into place for the Canucks to make the playoffs, let alone be considered one of the best in the West.
