Northwest Division breakdown-Vancouver Canucks...

the defending Western Conference champions should be stronger this season,but the team will have it tougher to get back to the Stanley Cup Finals,where they lost in seven games,to Boston,while only scoring eight goals,in the seven games,but still winning three games... the team is mostly intact,but can the Canucks stay hungry,and focused,while having a bullseye,on their heads for everyone to try to knock off its perch... can Mason Raymond come back from a devastating back injury suffered in the Stanley Cup Finals(was crunched into dasher,while being bent back first),and Mikael Samuelsson come back from the same injury that sidelined Chris Osgood,and put a dent in the Red Wings' roster,and season-a sports hernia,that Samuelsson suffered during the playoffs?... both player injuries will put Vancouver on short side up front,because depth on team is key... can Roberto Luongo repeat these numbers:a .928 save percentage,and a 2.11 goals against average(G.A.A.),in the regular season,that he had last season,and make a run like he did,during the Stanley Cup Finals,again?... the good teams,and goaltenders,can do it,but will he revert back to the form of a so-so playoff goalie,without the mental edge needed to get the Stanley Cup Finals... Vancouver has the team to do it again,but they were like the San Jose Sharks,not making out of the second round for several years(losing to Chicago,in back to back years),then breaking through to the Stanley Cup Finals,yet losing to Boston,in seven games... they have lost in their only three Stanley Cup Finals' appearances,losing to New York Islanders,during the Islanders' four year run,as Stanley Cup champions,in the early 80's,and then losing to New York Rangers,in a memorable seven game series,in 1994(the Messier series,i call it,because Mark Messier carried a very good Rangers' team,on his back,literally,scoring critical goals,including an improbable hat trick,in game six of the Eastern Conference Finals,against New Jersey,that literally made an echo chamber out of Grand Central Station(i was there that night,Dad)... i can still the chant of "Let's Go Rangers",in my dreams... they also lost to Boston,last year... the tougher Western Conference will test them,and pundits say that they can do it,but to me only special teams repeat... are they special?