Canucks Edler boxed in far too often If Alex Edler feels like the walls are closing in on him, it’s because he’s spending far too much time in the penalty box these days. Since returning from a knee injury on Nov. 9 in Anaheim, the veteran Vancouver Canucks defenseman leads the NHL in minor penalties taken.

WINNIPEG – If Alex Edler feels like the walls are closing in on him, it’s because he’s spending far too much time in the penalty box these days. Since returning from a knee injury on Nov. 9 in Anaheim, the veteran Vancouver Canucks defenseman leads the NHL in minor penalties taken.

In those 15 games, Edler has made 11 separate trips to the penalty box highlighted – or perhaps low-lighted – by the three minors he took in the same game against the Philadelphia Flyers last week. On the season, Edler leads the Canucks with a dozen minor penalties which has him tied for ninth in the league, but he’s the only player in the top-10 to play fewer than 24 games. Edler has amassed his penalties in just 18 games this season.

His rap sheet includes five slashing penalties, two each for hooking and tripping and solo infractions for boarding, high sticking and interference. And the only thing saving him from a 13th minor penalty – which would put him in the top five in the league – is the fact that the 31-year-old was whistled for a penalty shot for hooking Chris Tierney in San Jose on Nov. 11 and that doesn’t count toward his season total.

To better put his troubles in perspective, in the 15 games since being hurt, Edler has taken as many minors as the three other defencemen to suit up for every one of those games combined. Michael Del Zotto and Ben Hutton have each been sent to the penalty box five times while Derrick Pouliot has only been flagged for one foul.

With the Canucks facing life without two of their three leading scorers now that Sven Baertschi (face) has joined Bo Horvat (ankle) on the injured list, the Canucks will need to find a way to play effective, low-event hockey. Repeatedly putting opponents on the power play hardly meets that description. Head coach Travis Green is a stickler for details repeatedly cautioning that his team simply isn’t skilled enough to get by without anything less than its best effort.

Edler is either ignoring the coach’s message or having a difficult time adjusting to the increasing speed of the league and the tighter standards being enforced by officials when it comes to stick fouls. Ten of his 12 penalties so far this season fall in the stick foul category (slashing, hooking, tripping and high-sticking).

Saturday night in Calgary, the troubling trend continued as Edler tripped up Flames forward Sean Monahan moments after the Canucks got out to an early lead. The Canucks managed to kill off the penalty, but it put immediate pressure on a penalty killing unit missing its top two centres in Horvat and Brandon Sutter.

Again, the Canucks need everyone to do their part and that includes Edler finding a way to stay out of the penalty box. Others manage to do it and Edler has to find a way to adapt. Compare Edler’s penchant for penalties to teammate and frequent defense partner Chris Tanev who needs a map to find the penalty box in most rinks. Over the past six seasons, the two have played essentially the same number of games (Edler 320 and Tanev 317) and usually against the same top calibre opponents. So it’s an apples to apples comparison. Over that time, Edler has taken a mind-boggling 91 more minor penalties than Tanev who continues to demonstrate an ability to defend at the highest level in today’s NHL without committing punishable offences. Since the start of the 2012-13 season, Edler has been whistled for 119 minors while Tanev has taken just 28.

The Canucks need Edler to change his ways immediately. On Monday night, they face Patrik Laine and the high-flying Winnipeg Jets. The feared Finn leads the NHL in power play goals this season with nine, so discipline simply must be top of mind for the Canucks. As a veteran and a team-leader who sometimes serves as an alternate captain, Edler has to curb his bad habits. It’s not fair to his teammates to constantly having them stare down the barrel of loaded opposition power plays.

There are better, more modern ways to defend than to hack, whack and chop at opponents. The game is changing. Alex Edler needs to find a way to change along with it.