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“I’m not going to comment on the refs.”

It kind of looks like he elbows you in the head…

“I’ll leave it up to what you guys think it was.

“I should have closed the play off in the corner, then none of that would have happened.”

BIGGEST TOLL

It’s 11 losses in 15 games and the anguish which accompanies such losing is beginning to surface.

“It’s awful,” Markstrom said.

“It absolutely sucks.”

MDZ took it a step further.

“It’s probably the toughest stretch I’ve been through in my career.

“It’s not easy on you when you lose consecutively.

“Talk to anyone who has a competitive nature. They want to win.

“Myself included. We could play flipping over sandals and I wouldn’t want to lose at that.

“That’s the nature you have. It’s frustrating.”

STARKEST REALITY

Despite Boeser, this is where the Canucks offence ranks:

If that doesn’t turn your stomach, this is where the Canucks rank defensively:

So they can’t score and they can’t defend.

See the teams that make both lists?

The Sabres, Coyotes and Canucks.

That’s not good.

Is that good?

BEST RESONATING QUOTE

I found this Jim Nill comment from 31 Thoughts both illuminating and haunting;

“The biggest change for me, is that when you become GM, there’s less hockey and more managing.

“I was lucky to be in Detroit with good people. Ken Holland. Scotty Bowman. The Ilitches, you see that part. I would have failed. I wouldn’t have managed the business the right way.

“I was used to scouting, finding good players. Now you’re not in that position. You hire people to scout, to figure out your cap. Your success is dependent on people you hire, putting them in right situations to be successful.

“If that makes sense.”

Heck, I may have had 31 thoughts from Nill’s comments.

Was Benning put in a position to succeed?

Could the Canucks have fared better with more experience in their front office to insulate and help Jim make a transition?

Would they have been able to cut back the mistakes which would have made the managerial wins look larger?

Did Linden fully think through what it meant to essentially hire a scout?

There are some tough questions to be asked of Linden and will be if the Canucks continue on their way to another bottom five finish.

Ownership will be asking some of these and have been.

One Q I heard that was making the rounds at Rogers was this:

“So, the plan was to be good in 6-to-7 years?”

I think some people see the Canucks could be in the same position this time next year.

BEST SHOT/CHASER 1.0

Shot:

Chaser:

BEST QUOTE

“That was awesome. I think in the last three or four games he’s played, he’s laid out some guys really hard. Caught them on their back foot and blown them up.

“That’s helluva job. That’s a big man he ran over and that was a man’s fight he got into after, sticking up for himself for out team … and our logo.”

— Guddy on Hutton

Doing it for the logo!

BEST REVELATION

“Right after the hit, I saw Smith-Pelly and I knew I had to answer the bell.

“After, in the box, he said ‘Thanks for stepping up.'”

— Hutton.

BEST HE MAY BE RIGHT

BEST REMIX