How Relationships are like Sports teams

Canucks are now down 2-0 to the Sharks thanks to their old comrade Raffi Torres. I'm not too shocked from the fact that the Nucks are down 2-0 and neither should anyone else.  However, there are those who still believe that this is essentially the same core of guys we had during the 2011 cup run which feature the Sedins, Burrows, Kesler, etc.  This year's team is definitely not the same as the 2011 team.  The Canucks coach Alain Vigneault is already in his eighth year as the team's head coach and he has clearly lost the team.  For example, there were many instances where the Canucks would take undisciplined penalties like the senseless penalty by Bieksa today where he made a hit after the whistle.  This is a sign of poor coaching and it shows from the lack of coherency from top-down.  This starts from the general manager of the hockey club Mike Gillis who has made many questionable moves since the fallout of the series loss to Boston.  For instance, the failure to re-sign Raffi Torres, the deal for injured forward David Booth and the notorious trade for Kassian are cases of the general manager's incompetence.  It even came to the point where Gillis attempted to pry Torres back to Vancouver during this year's trade deadline but failed.  This has shown a lack of vision by the GM and he has also failed to recognize the team's biggest woes which comes from coaching.

Again, this team is 100% not comparable with the 2011 team.  Despite having a similar mix of players, the passion that was there during 2011 has been long expired.  This brings me to my next point in how sports teams are exactly like relationships.  Both share the initial stages of passion.  For example, prior to the 2011 cup run, the Canuck players have undergone several disappointments but have simultaneously saw their players reach new heights like when both Sedins won the Art Ross trophy.  We also had a solidified number one goalie in Luongo who everyone at the time felt that he was only going to get better and eventually lead us to the cup.  2011 was supposed to be the Canucks' year but that was brutally taken away by the hands of the big bad Bruins.

Since then, the team hasn't been the same.  Just like relationships, the passion goes away after experiencing the pinnacle of its potential.  If 2012 was any indication of the Canucks' decline to mediocrity then this year's playoff run is most definitely indicative of the fact that the Canucks need a major change within their organization.  It's time for the breakup.