Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes can win this series for the Vancouver Canucks if they are ready to be superstars

I’m not going to include stats, quotes, video or anything else, I’m just going to say it like it is.

The Vancouver Canucks were riding high after two wins in their playoff series and since then a lot has fallen apart in their game.

Early on in the series, the Canucks were getting timely scoring and converting on their limited opportunities. The Canucks were controlling the play in the first two games. Even if they weren’t maintaining high possession stats, the feeling around the team was they were playing confident and were a young team on the rise.

After an overtime loss in game three, they came out and played an absolute stinker of a game on Monday night in game four of this series. That team wasn’t a group led by two emerging superstars and a supporting cast — that was a team that got dominated at even strength and looked worn out by a better, veteran Blues squad.

The Canucks chased Jordan Binnington from the series and that’s the team that needs to come back if they want to win this first-round series and make a name for this young core that wants to challenge for a Stanley Cup in the near future.

This season isn’t about winning the Stanley Cup.

This team has a good, young core that will be able to throw their name in the hat for many playoffs to come. This season is about showing something. Showing that they are able to play at a playoff level, showing that they can play hard every shift and with that — earn the respect of the league.

In game four I didn’t see that at all.

I saw a team that looked out of sync and couldn’t tie together three passes in the offensive zone. This team is way better than that. They should embrace game four as an embarrassment.

Because that’s exactly what happened — they were embarrassed.

The team was shown up by the Blues and that’s not ok. We all want Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes to be superstars and I don’t doubt that they will be one day. But on games like that, your superstars need to drag the rest of the team’s ass into the fight.

Maybe I want Pettersson and Hughes to feel some pressure.

Maybe I want to see them be pushed and have to respond.

Maybe it’s because I know they can be elite.

Even with them being 20 and 21 years old, they are the Canucks best hope to be great again. They are potentially the best centre and defenceman that we have ever seen play in a Canucks jersey. There’s already a lot of hype on these kids, maybe there should be some pressure too.

Pettersson and Hughes’ brains work differently, they are super athletes. Some of the most talented hockey players I have ever seen at their age. They can be difference makers and I think that more pressure on these two would ultimately make them better.

They will be the ones who take the Canucks there and I’ve seen them play at a level that is much higher than what they have done this series.

The Blues are a damn good team — one of the best in the NHL. Arguably the best in the Western Conference. So when is a better time for these superstars to truly become exactly that? The world is watching right now, we don’t have to wait to see Pettersson and Hughes in big playoff situations. We are getting that in 2020, during bubble hockey due to a worldwide pandemic.

This is the stage for these two to write their story as elite players. Calder trophies are great, but playoff success surpasses that to the nth degree.

Maybe it’s too early, maybe these two still have a lot to learn. Maybe they do need to get bigger and stronger and learn to win in the playoffs. But Pettersson didn’t back down as an 18 year-old wunderkind in the SHL when he led his team to a championship as the youngest playoffs MVP in SHL history.

Hughes didn’t back down in his season with Michigan where he was the youngest player in the NCAA and finished third in the nation for assists while being named as a second-team All-American. He didn’t back down when he almost instantly become known as one of the best puck-moving defenceman in the NHL while skating literal circles around his opposition.

Maybe this isn’t the year for a magical run, maybe this is the year for a learning experience. Learning that you can’t just be good in the playoffs, you need to be great. You need to be at another level, a championship level. The problem for me is that I am so sure that this championship level is there for Pettersson and Hughes.

So why not show it. Right now.

Why not play your absolute hearts out and show that you are two of the best hockey players on the planet. I don’t doubt that they are and perhaps when the hype becomes pressure, we will see the best out of these two.

I sure wouldn’t bet against them.