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Learning from mistakes Canucks don't want to dig another series deficitPosted: Wednesday April 23, 2003 9:57 PMVANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) -- The resiliency Vancouver showed in the first round has been a long time in the making. The Canucks fell behind the St. Louis Blues 3-1 before winning three straight to take the series. It was Vancouver's first playoff series win in eight seasons. Last season, the Canucks led Detroit 2-0 in their first-round series before the Red Wings won the next four games on their way to capturing the Stanley Cup. It was the second straight year Vancouver was knocked out in the first round by the eventual Stanley Cup champions. Colorado swept the Canucks in 2001. "A lot of people counted us out early, but what mattered was the guys in the room believed that we could still do the job," said center Brendan Morrison, who scored the winner in the 4-1 Game 7 victory Tuesday night. "Obviously losing in the first round last year to the eventual Stanley Cup winners, there are lessons as you go along. I think we were able to apply them in this series." The Canucks expect a similar test against the stingy -- and surprising -- Minnesota Wild when the second round starts Friday night in Vancouver. The Wild beat Colorado 3-2 in overtime in Game 7 Tuesday. "We played hard hockey. We got it deep, we forechecked, we didn't sit back whatsoever and we kept it coming at them and that's what we need," Vancouver forward Todd Bertuzzi said. "Minnesota is going to be a tough, tough opponent and it's going to be the same kind of grueling task," Bertuzzi added. "You have to be prepared to do all the little things out there." Those little things are also helping the Canucks financially. Vancouver president and general manager Brian Burke said Wednesday that the team, which lost $38 million in the fiscal year before he arrived in 1998, will turn a profit for the first time during his tenure. But he quickly cautioned against Canadian teams celebrating too soon. "You can't budget for that type of success, you can't count on that, you can't depend on that, so it doesn't change anything," Burke said. "Suffice it to say that it's not going to come close to offsetting any of the money that [owner John] McCaw has lost on this team. If we had 10 years in a row like this it wouldn't come close to offsetting the losses." Burke did take some joy in seeing other smaller-budget teams advancing. The Canucks are joined by lesser-budget teams like Minnesota, Anaheim and Ottawa in the second round. Asked about the message that sends, Burke said: "That you don't have to write massive checks to win hockey games." |
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