Blue Line Breakdown
By Richard Loat ⋅ November 12, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment
The Canucks blue line is supposed to be one of the best in the league. With names like Salo, Bieksa, Mitchell, Edler and Schneider, the Canucks on paper boast a blue line that should be amongst the leagues best. Gillis builds his teams from the net out and on paper this team is rock solid, but as we approach the quarter way-mark of the season, the Canucks defense has been shaky at best, and the odd injury aside, the Canucks blue line has been the one of the healthiest parts of the team. Gillis stocked up on blueliners in the offseason in anticipation of losing many a man game to blue line injury, but with the exception of Salo, no blue liner has had an in season injury that’s kept him out. (Schneider was out before the season started).

Edler has been having an off season. He’s pocketed a handful of assists, but his play lacks confidence, and he’s making mistakes we never would have seen him make last year. Routine gaffs at the blue line, getting caught up ice, and the biggest problem is as a puck moving defenseman, he’s not moving the puck. His breakout passes are suffering and his whole game is off kilter because of his lack of confidence. He’s taking bad shots on the PP, and it doesn’t help that he’s counted on to be one of the defensive leaders on the team. After a career year last year it can be expected that he wouldn’t necessarily repeat, but his sub par play has really been amplified by a defense that’s been sub par as a whole.

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