HockeyCanucks can use Penguins as inspiration

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The Vancouver Canucks will once again lean on Henrik Sedin, front, and Daniel Sedin for leadership and scoring. (Harry How/Getty Images)

The task of winning the Stanley Cup after a near miss the previous season is never easy. You deal with a short summer, the heartache and the constant replay of what went wrong.

It's much better to cope with the short summer by spending a day with Stanley Cup in celebration. Of course, that's easier said than done.

Since expansion, only the 1967-68 Montreal Canadiens, 1983-84 Edmonton Oilers and 2008-09 Pittsburgh Penguins have accomplished the difficult undertaking of winning the Stanley Cup after losing in the final the previous spring.

But what gives the Vancouver Canucks a solid chance to repeat as Western Conference champs and return to the final is that they have most of the key components back from last year's Presidents' Trophy-winning team and they can wonder that age-old question, "what if?"

What if they had a healthy defenceman Dan Hamhuis for the entire final? He injured his groin and hip in the series opener against the Boston Bruins.

What if centre Manny Maholtra didn't suffer that potential career-ending eye injury, which kept him out of action for two months? He clearly was rusty in his comeback bid, but is feeling a lot more comfortable with his game this fall.

Finally, what if Mason Raymond didn't suffer that serious back injury in Game 6 against Boston?

Talent galore

Injuries are not an excuse. The Bruins dealt with the loss of Marc Savard most of the season and Nathan Horton in the final. Boston was the better team. Tim Thomas did outplay his Canucks counterpart in goal, Roberto Luongo. Daniel and Henrik Sedin also were not at their best.

But for the Canucks psyche they can wonder what if. They can push on early this season without Ryan Kesler (hip) and Raymond for the first month or so and get their groove back. If they can learn one thing from their flop in the final winning is not easy. The regular season is not the post-season.

This still is a talented team, even with the loss of defenceman Christian Ehrhoff. This still is a team that can win 16 games in the post-season instead of 15. This is a team that can use Sidney Crosby and the Penguins as inspiration.

Here are the results of the Stanley Cup loser the next year since the 2004-05 lockout:

Edmonton Oilers - missed playoffs in 2007.
Ottawa Senators - eliminated in 2008 first round.
Pittsburgh Penguins - won 2009 Stanley Cup.
Detroit Red Wings - out in 2010 second round.
Philadelphia Flyers - eliminated in 2011 second round.

Coach: Alain Vigneault will be behind the Canucks bench for his sixth season. He won the Jack Adams award as NHL coach of the year in his first season in Vancouver in 2006-07. Before a stint as the Montreal Canadiens head coach, an Ottawa Senators assistant coach and 10 seasons in the QMJHL, the 50-year-old Vigneault also played briefly on defence for the St. Louis Blues.

GM: Mike Gillis, 52, was a successful player agent. He represented stars like Pavel Bure, Markus Naslund, Mike Richter and Bobby Holik before trying his hand at running an NHL club. He now enters his third year at the helm of the Canucks. As a player, Gillis was the Colorado Rockies' fifth-overall selection in the 1978 NHL Entry Draft and played 246 games for Rockies and Bruins before retiring in 1985.

Last year: 54-19-9-117 points, first in the West and first overall in the league.

Who's in: LW Marco Sturm, C Andrew Ebbett, D Alexander Sulzer, RW Mike Duco, RW Dale Weise.

Who's out: D Christian Ehrhoff, LW Raffi Torres, RW Guillaume Desbiens, LW Tanner Glass, LW Jeff Tambellini, C Alex Bolduc.

Payroll: $62.0-million US (seventh in the NHL).

Key stat: The Canucks outscored their opponents by an average score of 3.15 to 2.20 in the regular season, but they were outscored 2.76 to 2.32 in the playoffs.

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