Cup Poll.

[Arachnid]

Since the question is do I "think" they'll win as opposed do I "hope" they'll win it, the answer is clearly no, I don't think they will. As others have said, if (big freaking if) we're healthy then the team has a shot, a decent one but not as a favorite, and we all know a hot goalie and hot team can make a run. So, I'll be growing the playoff beard, but my sense is the razor will not gain that much rust.

OK then, if they do not believe, then you and all your fellow monkey bandwagoneers have to jump of the cliff and can not participate in any celebrations...

The question used the word think, as in reason, not belief, as in faith...I grow the playoff beard etc as a ritual of faith (thereby re-asserting and expressing my belief) but as a matter of reason I do not 'think' they are going to win it, no. The bandwagon has no meaning to me, I was born on it and will die on it...there's no jump on jump off and jump back on again option.

Well is Hockey a Religion(Faith) or a Sport(Science) for you? You kinda have to make up your mind here.
Gods and Demi-Gods exist because we believe in them. Our Sports heroes are our Demi-Gods, we put them on pedestals and worship them (deservedly or not) so if you use reason and Think then you lack Faith and your Hockey fandom is reduced to Logistics and the Science of the Sport, your Traditions are nothing more than Habits.

Trying reaching down (not your balls per usual) and finding a little more Faith in your Team, they really can feel if the Fans have it in them...

[Uncle dans leg]

Sweet rant! I almost had a tear in my eye


but...the question was "do you think they'll win"

That would translate to "do you think they have the best chance of winning compared to the rest of the contenders"

I am ashamed to say my answer is...no

[Arachnid]

Sweet rant! I almost had a tear in my eye


but...the question was "do you think they'll win"

That would translate to "do you think they have the best chance of winning compared to the rest of the contenders"

I am ashamed to say my answer is...no

Go to the back of the room, with the rest of the non-believers...

So the questions are either...do you Believe (Bieleber?! ) in the Hockey Gods or do you Think Hockey Gods exist?

Is that one of faith or of logic?

Logic dictates that there is a numerical evaluation of your supposed support of the team, therefore you discount any intangibles whatsoever that your are either a) unable to determine do to lack of qualitative evidence or b) lack the understanding of the

If you lack faith in someone or something then odds are not in their favour, especially of the public notoriety.

It is basic math as well. If 99% have Faith in a team they will do well, it 99% Think their team will do well (Laugh fans) they chances are they will not.

Faith is different than the logic of reason.

There are (Vegas)odds are for this reason and the gamble is that your faith(higher) will pay off, not your thinking (lower odds)

Kapish my very heterosexual friend?!

[Uncle dans leg]

In 2011 I knew the team would win it. They knew it. Everybody knew it (except those bastard Bruins )

That team exuded the confidence that gave us all faith and confidence. They had a swagger. They got the damn puck out of their zone FFS.

This version fumbles around in their zone and don't have that swagger. Most here agree with my point of view that they simply doesn't have what it takes.

We all stop shaving, break out those gay little car flags, start wearing the slippers, etc because we hope that they somehow find the magic...maybe even pray when nobody can see

It doesn't make us band wagon jumpers...it shows a deeper level of hockey intellect (well for some of us anyways )

[Tiger]

Vegas has us @ 10-1...that's worth a 10 spot!

http://www.vegasinsider.com/nhl/odds/futures/

OK so first of all I am a Hockey Fan whose favorite team for over 40 years has been the Canucks.. But I love hockey first.. Canucks second.. Nothing better than watching great hockey ( except from TO ).
The first year the Canucks played I was content if they just beat Toronto or Montreal.. No playoff talk ..
Do I believe they will win the cup . Yes
Do I think they will win it this year? .. No..

I am also a "betting" man and will put up $20 that they will win ( and expect to lose it - but it makes games a bit more intense ) I will cover my bet by betting a team I hate ( remember its not how you feel its how you think? ) Chicago.. and a long shot ( Islanders @ 50-1 )
I hope my thinking is wrong ( yeah thats being an irrational fan ) but doubt that the Canucks got the balls or leadership unless they do something drastic.. Like make Kesler captain . relegate the Sedin's to the second line with Kassian.. Build the first line around Kesler/Burrows and use Roy line as the PK checking line..

[Aaronp18]

Tiger, I'm a hockey fan before a Canucks fan as well.

However, I am not a fan of the NHL right now and let's face it, if it wasn't for the Canucks I would not be watching NHL hockey! It's not the best hockey to watch, it's too over coached and too defensive.

So I cheer for the Canucks, nd I think they will win the Cup this year!

Once the playoffs start anything can happen and I choose to believe that "anything" is the stars finally aligning for our team.

Go Canucks Go!

[ukcanuck]

Personally I think there is a point where you can over think it. I am a west coast expat Canadian I fuckin hate and mistrust everything east of the Purcell mountains and west of penzance... I am not even quite sure about the peace river country either...I hear there are far too many oiler fans up there...

Anyway, of course the Canucks will win the Stanley cup this year and anyone who suggests otherwise is either a leaf fan or just as bad.

That's the official party line and you damn right that's what separates the band wagoners from real fans.

You all wanna be realistic and pretend you know what your talking about show me the big pile o cash you won from betting on the kings last year....

[Arachnid]

Personally I think there is a point where you can over think it. I am a west coast expat Canadian I fuckin hate and mistrust everything east of the Purcell mountains and west of penzance... I am not even quite sure about the peace river country either...I hear there are far too many oiler fans up there...

Anyway, of course the Canucks will win the Stanley cup this year and anyone who suggests otherwise is either a leaf fan or just as bad.

That's the official party line and you damn right that's what separates the band wagoners from real fans.

You all wanna be realistic and pretend you know what your talking about show me the big pile o cash you won from betting on the kings last year....

Me thinks that those that Thought and had Faith don't wan't to get burned by their lover/Team from 2011....

That's understandable, we are all still hurting from that Final series...we should have won it, it was ours to win...

You make the most valid point Lor, you are either Fanatic about it or not. I mean if you think they have no chance then don't watch or post about it but if you Think they might have a chance, no matter how thin, then that means you have some Faith in them and that with a little puck luck (or a lot in the case of Alberts & Baltard) they could actually pull it off this year...

[okcanuck]

I'm with UK on this. I always think we're going to win the cup.Just because I've been wrong for 42 years doesn't matter.Canucks over the Bruins in 4. By the way can we now stop this feeling sorry for Boston. And no more fucking Leaf threads on this board please, it's nauseating.

[Arachnid]

I'm with UK on this. I always think we're going to win the cup.Just because I've been wrong for 42 years doesn't matter.Canucks over the Bruins in 4. By the way can we now stop this feeling sorry for Boston. And no more fucking Leaf threads on this board please, it's nauseating.

Soooo I can't mention the fact that if Winnipeg keeps winning, the Rags, Sens and Isles keep up their hotness of late and the Laughs continue to lose they might not even make the playoffs?
Are you saying we can't cheer for the other teams?

Not nauseating at all, it'sa actually kinda fun (the nauseating part is those already planning a secound round victory party for them ).

[Boston Canucker]

Personally I think there is a point where you can over think it. I am a west coast expat Canadian I fuckin hate and mistrust everything east of the Purcell mountains and west of penzance... I am not even quite sure about the peace river country either...I hear there are far too many oiler fans up there...

Anyway, of course the Canucks will win the Stanley cup this year and anyone who suggests otherwise is either a leaf fan or just as bad.

That's the official party line and you damn right that's what separates the band wagoners from real fans.

You all wanna be realistic and pretend you know what your talking about show me the big pile o cash you won from betting on the kings last year....

Me thinks that those that Thought and had Faith don't wan't to get burned by their lover/Team from 2011....

That's understandable, we are all still hurting from that Final series...we should have won it, it was ours to win...

You make the most valid point Lor, you are either Fanatic about it or not. I mean if you think they have no chance then don't watch or post about it but if you Think they might have a chance, no matter how thin, then that means you have some Faith in them and that with a little puck luck (or a lot in the case of Alberts & Baltard) they could actually pull it off this year...

People who come up with these threads really have to decide what they want to talk about..although I like that it changed in the middle so now we can have a debate over a question that wasn't asked...nice move!

In the end, one can spend all day make assessments of whether someone is a fan or not by talking about their faith or reason, in the end if are you sitting there watching every moment, as the beard gets longer (or in the ladies case, armpit hair) and your stress level increases, then you're in. That's where I'll be. I don't take and never have taken a powder from the team after havin a hissy fit...which I've seen before, often. But as to the question about whether I am afraid of getting burned after 2011, the answer to that would be one or more of "fuck yes", "well duh", "no freaking kidding einstein", "um, ya think"...and yet with the fear of getting burned again being very real after more than 4 decades of watching and pining for a Cup championship I, and so many others, will walk right into the potentially burning house again, sit down, and we won't rush out no matter what the smoke alarms and bedwetters say....if the house burns down, it's taking us with it.

[Uncle dans leg]

This has turned into a quasi-theological debate so here's what I think....


Fuck ya....anything could happen. If you believe

[nuckster]

Vegas has us @ 10-1...that's worth a 10 spot!

I am also a "betting" man and will put up $20 that they will win ( and expect to lose it - but it makes games a bit more intense ) I will cover my bet by betting a team I hate ( remember its not how you feel its how you think? ) Chicago.. and a long shot ( Islanders @ 50-1 )
I hope my thinking is wrong ( yeah thats being an irrational fan ) but doubt that the Canucks got the balls or leadership unless they do something drastic.. Like make Kesler captain . relegate the Sedin's to the second line with Kassian.. Build the first line around Kesler/Burrows and use Roy line as the PK checking line..

I really like your idea about changing our first line around. Sorry to say it but the Sedins aren't leading us anywhere. We need some driving energy on the first line... Some force... Energy...physicality...and. Kesler is a place to start. Throw in Burrows and we're on to something good. The Sedins would probably do better on the 2nd line matched against the other team's 2nd pairing of defensemen. Most teams have the Sedins figured out now and they're rendered pretty darn ineffective now. In playoff hockey the physicality gets taken up a notch or two. It would really help if the team's leaders could lead by example (physical example) not just stand there and take a facewashing from agitating half bakes!
It's hard to submit stuff from a little smart phone screen.

[RoyalDude]

I really like your idea about changing our first line around. Sorry to say it but the Sedins aren't leading us anywhere. We need some driving energy on the first line... Some force... Energy...physicality...and. Kesler is a place to start. Throw in Burrows and we're on to something good. The Sedins would probably do better on the 2nd line matched against the other team's 2nd pairing of defensemen. Most teams have the Sedins figured out now and they're rendered pretty darn ineffective now. In playoff hockey the physicality gets taken up a notch or two. It would really help if the team's leaders could lead by example (physical example) not just stand there and take a facewashing from agitating half bakes!
It's hard to submit stuff from a little smart phone screen.

I agree, I love the Sedins but we ain't winning the cup with them as our go to guys. It's quite clear to other teams that in order to render the Sedins useless is to play them dirty. It takes them right out of the game. It's pretty much paramount that the likes of Burrows and Kesler play huge like they did in that Cup run, injury free that is, to deal with that. I don't think it matters who you play with the Sedins, teams will get chippy with them no matter what. To free them up, Kesler has to become a massive threat to get the focus away from the Sedins.

After this season, it's time for the team to tinker with the core. It's a stale group, changing the coach does fuck all. These guys have been playing hockey this way since they first put on skates as kids. It's becoming as familiar as watching re-runs of Seinfeld, the coach can only do so much to freshen things up with the same pieces over and over and over again. Time for a new look...Gillis.

[Uncle dans leg]

I still think separate lines, then together on the powerplay.
pussy-to-asshole ratio balanced