via 3.bp.blogspot.com

Give Chicago credit.  They came into hostile territory and did what they suppose to do and came away with a victory.  They are a talented bunch and I can see them giving San Jose some trouble.  But for Vancouver Canucks, what should they do?  After all we have lost two years in a row to the same team in nearly identical fashion.  What changes need to be made for us to take the next step and become a legit contender?

Personally I think we should:

Sign a 3rd line Center

Sign a defensive center to take some defensive burden off Kesler so he can concentrate more on being a 2nd line centre.

New Blood

Bring up Hodgson and keep Wellwood, just in case Cody needs some more seasoning. Maybe Schroeder too?

Sign a #1 Dman

With Willie seemingly has played his last game as a Canuck, we should replace him with a legit #1 guy.  Preferably a shutdown type of guy.  Volchenkov is what I have in mind,  Sure he's gonna be expensive but he's gonna block a ton of shots for us, deliver hits and some more. 

Re-sign O'Brien. 

Sure he's hothead, sure he's reckless at times but he's not bad for a #6 guy.  On a team with such heavy European flavor, we need a guy who plays with passion, willing to stick up for his teammate even if it means crossing the line sometimes.

Get bigger

We have speed and skill up front but we are small and we don't drive the net much.  We need to have guys willing to drive the net and pay the price to make a play.  That has to start with the Sedins.  Playing with beautiful passing is sure nice to watch, but you need to have a different game as well.  When you are going around the perimeter, passing behind the net and not to attacking the crease, they would do what the Hawks did. 

Take the 'C' away from Luongo

He's not showing leadership qualities and it seems like a distraction and extra burden for a goalie to be a captain.  He needs to concentrate on his game more instead of answering questions from the press.

To wrap up, I wouldn't be surprised it Kesler has a wrist or rib injury from the way he plays.  For Burrows, who did not have any jumps at all, I strongly suspect a groin injury.  As for Salo I think it's the right nut.

Cheer up guys!  There's always next year.

World Cup is just around the corner and it will be a good one.