No Net for Naslund

While the Vancouver Canucks have momentarily managed to slip in front of the knotted mess that is the Northwest Division, they're doing it without much help from Markus Naslund. And that's shocking to me, because Naslund is such a leader. Um, yeah. He makes Cap'n Crunch look like Horatio Nelson.

Naslund got off to a decent start this season, posting five goals and nine points in his first nine games, but it's been downhill ever since. The Canuck captain, and I use that term loosely, has gone 13 straight games without a goal, managing a mere six assists during the drought.

And the current slide is hardly surprising. It's a trend. Naslund's production has been dropping ever since his banner 2002-03 season. Check out his recent goals-, points-, and shots-per-game averages...

            G/G     P/G    S/G
2002-03    0.59    1.27   3.59
2003-04    0.45    1.08   3.79
2005-06    0.40    0.98   3.26
2006-07    0.32    0.66   2.95

And it's not like Naslund can blame his linemates. While Todd Bertuzzi may be gone, and he's been skating the last several games with the likes of Ryan Kesler, Jan Bulis, Matt Cooke, and Brendan Morrison, he's spent his share of time with the Sedin twins, and those boys know how to move the puck. Henrik doesn't know how to shoot it, but he can definitely pass it. The Sedins made Anson Carter a 30-goal scorer. And if things get chippy on the ice, they can even turn into a giant gorilla and a bucket of water.

Yet despite the quality support, and continuing to lead all Canuck forwards in ice time with 18:29 per game, Naslund has managed just 22 shots in his past 12 contests. I took more shots than that during my last AA metting.

Vancouver coach Alain Vigneault continues to praise Naslund for his hard work and commitment to the team, but what else is he gonna say, that Naslund is a soft, overpaid, fancy lad who couldn't win a game of checkers? With his $6-million contract, Naslund is virtually unmoveable. Unless they're willing to eat a large portion of his salary, the Canucks are stuck with him.

The C seems equally stuck to his sweater. Stripping Naslund of his captaincy would be perfectly justifiable, and it might even relieve some of the pressure from the slumping Swede's shoulders, but it would be admitting the franchise made a mistake in giving him the honor in the first place, and it could also shatter whatever dwindling confidence he has left.

But look on the bright side. At least Randy Cunneyworth is no longer in the league.

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