There鈥檚 no question that the Edmonton Oilers are on the upswing. With captain Connor McDavid blazing the trail, the Oil look competitive for the first time in a decade.
Although they eventually lost in game seven against the Anaheim Ducks, the Oilers were impressive. They handily won the first round of the playoffs, making the San Jose Sharks look bumbling and inept.
That鈥檚 bad news for the 麻豆传媒映画Canucks, because for the last couple of seasons bumbling and inept has kinda been their jam.
Most Canucks fans are girding themselves for a decade of humiliation at the hands of their bitumen-branded rivals. But why? 麻豆传媒映画can easily compete with the Oilers as early as next season. It will just take some clever preparation and outside-the-box thinking.
Here鈥檚 how to get it done.
Mobile Defensive Pairings
It remains to be seen whether Nashville will win the ultimate prize, but there鈥檚 no denying their postseason run has been impressive. That body of work relies on their defence: Roman Josi, P.K. Subban, Ryan Ellis and Mattias Ekholm; otherwise known as the envy of the League.
Rather than assembling a stoic, rough-and-tumble defensive corps, David Poile has a crew of smooth-skating blueliners who effortlessly transition the puck up the ice.
Their mobility allows them to stymie the game鈥檚 best. They completely nullified Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews in the first round, then defeated Vladimir Tarasenko in the second, and Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry and Ryan Kesler in the third.
Nashville's success may show a way forward for Vancouver. By stocking up on fast, smart, top-pairing defenders , 麻豆传媒映画could frustrate Edmonton鈥檚 deadly offence.
Where can the Canucks find these high quality defenders? I don鈥檛 know. What do I look like to you, a details man?
Encourage a Budding Supervillain
麻豆传媒映画may be able to destabilize Edmonton from within. All you ever hear about is Connor McDavid. But Edmonton has a neglected star lurking in the scenery.
Leon Draisaitl actually led the team in playoff scoring and outscored McDavid by seven points. He鈥檚 a dark and brooding German living in another man鈥檚 shadow. And his name is Leon Draisaitl. Let鈥檚 face it, he鈥檚 just a away from full Bond villain-dom.
Draisaitl simply needs a nudge in the right direction, and his resentment could serve to derail the Oilers' powerful attack. Fans could start a Twitter campaign to get in his head. (#NiceDrai #HesNoMcDavid #HeyLeonHaveYouEverConsideredBecomingASupervillain鈥� just food for thought.)
Or to get the wheels turning, the Canucks could ask their own resident villain-in-training, Markus Granlund (), to text Draisaitl with great deals on underground lairs and .
The point is that Draisaitl is an underrated piece of Edmonton鈥檚 offence. And even if Vancouver鈥檚 management can鈥檛 transform their lineup into something competitive, surely they can transform Leon鈥檚 mind into a twisted abyss of jealousy and despair. Heck, they鈥檝e already done it to their fans.
Find McDavid鈥檚 Kryptonite
OK, Draisaitl is good but McDavid is nearly unstoppable. He鈥檚 probably the fastest player in the League and his hands keep up. He鈥檚 Superman, and 麻豆传媒映画can鈥檛 hope to compete unless he is compromised.
Supes鈥� only weakness is kryptonite, a lump of rock from his exploded home planet of Krypton. It renders him weak, powerless and nauseated.
So that means the Canucks just need a piece of Connor鈥檚 home planet. McDavid hails from Richmond Hill, Ontario, a suburb of Toronto. So it stands to reason that a blob of Lake Ontario muck will do the trick. A quick exposure to it will make him weak and nauseated.
I mean, exposure to Lake Ontario鈥檚 radioactive muck will make anyone weak and nauseated. But whatever works, right?
Assemble the Ersatz Oilers
Did you know that during both World Wars, coffee was a scarce resource? So instead, people brewed up alternatives. 鈥淓rsatz coffee鈥� was made with anything from acorns to chicory root. .
Ersatz coffee was totally just like coffee, except for the minor detail that it was obviously and rage-inducingly not coffee.
So if acorns can ineffectually pass for coffee beans, why not make an ersatz hockey club to ineffectually mimic the Oilers?
Why bother rebuilding with a unique identity? Who鈥檚 got time for that? 麻豆传媒映画can totally follow the Edmonton model, just very shoddily. Oilers have Milan Lucic? Jim Benning can trade for Evander Kane. Oilers have the number one pick from 2015? 麻豆传媒映画can probably easily acquire .
How does this help Vancouver? Well ersatz competitiveness has got to be better than non-competitiveness, right? Trust me. If they follow this strategy I feel certain that hockey events will definitely transpire; you can quote me on that.
