Spector on Canucks: Gillis trending down

VANCOUVER - The spring of 2011 was supposed to be the start of something in Vancouver, not the end.

The Vancouver Canucks were supposed to have staying power, not just the ability to rack up regular season points in the National Hockey League's saddest Division, the North-worst.

Strong up the middle, they have a well-constructed payroll underneath the brilliantly negotiated Sedin cap. Vancouver is rock-solid in goal, deft on defence, and has depth up front.

No, these Canucks weren't the one-hit wonders that the Flames and Oilers were. They wouldn't disappear after their Stanley Cup, the way Ottawa did.

All they required were a few tweaks under the steady hand of GM Mike Gillis, and they'd be back to.

Wha?!?

How do you go from one game away from a Stanley Cup to just one game won in pursuit of it? Well, look to the top, where a series of moves by Gillis, on balance, brought the Canucks no closer to the Cup. In fact, the numbers say they're further away.

We've always applauded Gillis for making the right moves to get Vancouver to the precipice, nicely augmenting a core group that - other than fine defenceman Dan Hamhuis - was completely in place when he took over the Canucks on April 23, 2008.

But his hand has gone cold. And as always, the good moves only last so long, while the bad ones are like bed bugs - very difficult (and costly) to rid yourself of.

To wit:

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Spector on Canucks: Gillis trending down