ce FLEE TELE BLT ITN TLL T GICLEE Ms ey FL LES TG OME LI EON INR EN OPENER ed PIER MERON RANE! ORS s try to REVERED RIES ILE EMIS TT EET EME ME EUR TRL TE, it out McLean, Linden and Bure stand | out as the ‘players’ for the Canucks ire Kearney the spectator ARE THE real Canucks the : team that played one game “83), they won exactly the same number of games during the regular schedule, but went out in the open- ing playoff round. There are no guar- aniees in life, especially when the goalie who carried you there the year before turns out to be merely mortal a year later. Richard Brodeur was hailed as King Richard during that play- off run !3 years ago. He was sensational, Unconscious. Qut of this world. A yeur later, more than adequate, but, unfortunately, just mor- tal. With all due defer- improved to onc-in-five. But with expansion from the original six to the current 26 teams. the qualified workers down on the farms are in much shorter supply. 66] would respectfully suggest that in the distribution of that superior talent known as players, the Canucks have come up a little short. 99 their players. By and large, everyone else on the club is a worker, Their ratio is one-in-seven. This is the circumstance in which superior goaltending has to make the difference. as it did in last year's playoffs. ‘Twas ever thus. Try naming # Stanley Cup champion or contender that didn’t have an out- standing goalie. You can't. A pronouncement even older than Carveth’s is attributed _ to Lester Patrick, one of hackey’s early ° inventors. “Goaltending is 60% sional one who suggested Lester was too conservative. How about 70%? Can you think of any other team sport where just one position is this important? Could quarterback Steve Young have taken a team of no-stars to the Super Bowl? Forget it. Back when the Canucks were a minor league affiliate of a very bad New York Rangers club, goalic Gump Worsley was exiled here from time to time as the big team tried to solve the problem of giving up 40 to 50 shots a game by replac- ing him with Johnny Bower. They were considered interchangeable. - Confronted with the Patrick assessment on one such trip down, the Gumper, always fast with a quip, asked: “‘If that’s the case, how come ~ over 50) last season, or the - one that caught lightning ina bottle during the playoffs and came within one game of win- I'm not getting 60% of the payroll.” It’s a question McLean also might properly ask should the cur- rent group of Canucks go as far in’ of a team,” he said back when your grandfather was in short pants. Several generations of coaches since then have never argued with 1 would respectfully suggest that in the distribution of that superior - talent known as players, the Canucks have come up a little short. McLean, ence to their work ethic and their unstinting emotional input. the rea- son the Canucks got as far as they did last spring was Kirk McLean. ning the Stanley Cup? “Their fans, rather unrealistically, believed it was the latter, a manifes- tation of that old line about hope springing etemal. After a month of * the new, truncated season the — Canucks continue to be the team we: saw for most of Just season. . Obviously, management thought ; the same as the fans, for it did pre- -- cious little in the off-season to .- Upgrade the product. This is virtually the same lineup as a year ago and, given this fact, it would be ‘Tudicrous . ‘to believe it could have the Same sort of playoff run again. The Canucks themselves provide _ the precedent for such an assess- ment: Their 1981-82 team finished a ““game-and-a-half under .500, then climbed onto-an emotional high that ‘carried them all the way to the final, “where they lost to the Islanders i in four straight. 0.3.5 Back with virtually the game team the following semester ¢ 82- . For two playoff months he provided the best goaltending the NHL had witnessed that season. And he’ll have to provide the same sort of miracles this spring if the current collection of Canucks has ‘serious plans about emulating last ~ year’s run. For, fundamentally, this is the same .500 team. Many years ago when Detroit Red Wings were in the habit of win- ning Stanley Cups, a veteran cam- paigner named Joey Carveth took a nervous rookie aside during fall training and gave him this advice: “Kid, there are 120. guys in this league. Twenty of them are players and the other 100 are workers. Just work your ass off and you can stay -up here. If you don’t. there are a dozen guys down on the farm who can take your place and nobody will notice the difference.” - That was nearly 50 years ago and * the one-in-six ratio has hardly changed. With all the best Europeans - now playing over here, maybe it has j 5 ” Skiing, shopping, art, entertainment, and casino gambling are just a few «reasons to consider a winter visit to Bellinghaut! Buy One - Ger ONE FREE ~ HOTELS AND ENTERTAINMENT! Present or mention this ad and you'll receive two nights for the _. price of one at participating hotels and’ buy-one, get-one free dinner buffet at the Nooksack River Casino. Call for details. Best Western ~ Heritage Inn “151 E. McLeod Road - Exit 256 360-647-1912 Best Western ~ Lakeway Inn 714 Lakeway Drive - Exit 253 360-671-1011 Hampton inn 3085 Bennett Drive - Exit 258 360-676-7700 , * Holiday Inn Express 4160 Guide-Meridian - Exit 256 360-671-4800 Rodeway Inn 3710 Meridian - So. at Exit 256 1-800-688-8030 Nooksack River Casino 5048 Mt. 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