Four wins. Eight points out of a playoff spot with 22 games to go is an abyss. It’s Matt Damon marooned on Mars, looking toward Earth. But it’s still only four wins.
“It looks like we’re not going to make the playoffs this year,” Vancouver Canucks general manager Jim Benning said during a break in trade discussions this week. “But in my heart, I really believe if we’d had Brandon Sutter the whole year and Alex Edler didn’t get hurt, we’d be right there. We’re four wins out from being in the playoffs.”
If there were do-overs in the National Hockey League, the Canucks would have a pile of choices.