I’m torn. I mean, I am a Canucks fan. On any given night, I want to see them win.

But at the same time, I have seen nothing to indicate that there’s any sort of foundation on which to build a contender here.

So I also want them to fall enough in the standings so that they are sellers at the deadline and wind up not only with a high first round pick next June, but also a cupboard full of other picks acquired by trading away some of the looming UFAs.

Now, I didn’t always feel this way.

It wasn’t too long ago that I made the argument in the comments section of this very blog that the Canucks should always try and make the playoffs. That the playoffs are a crapshoot. A lottery. And all you need is a ticket and you have a chance to win.

No really. I just looked it up to be sure:

But that was before the team self-destructed under Tortorella and the core started to show its cracks. Even last year I had hope that we could avoid the need to blow it up, run through a couple of barren years and then emerge with the high-quality prospect pool restocked.

But no more. I have seen hardly anything from this management team over the last eight months that gives me confidence that they can just squeak into the playoffs and actually accomplish anything.

And so, I am torn on a nightly basis.

I’m torn when I see them dressing Adam Cracknell instead of Sven Baertschi:

I put Dorsett and Hansen onto that chart just so it would scale right, but Baertschi has by almost any rational measure been one of the Canucks’ better players. The puck is almost always in the offensive zone when he is out there. Sure, you can pick on his play and say he’s not strong on the puck, but the fact remains that the puck is in the offensive zone more than not.

If you want and expect him to play like Adam Cracknell or Derek Dorsett he won’t and can’t.

But why would you want him to play like guys that are constantly buried in their own end?

Anyway, I digress. My point is this: when I see Baertschi scratched in favour of Cracknell I shake my head at the poor decision making that ices an inferior roster and increases the likelihood of losing the game. But then, I also think that in the long run, maybe that’s not such a bad thing. Another loss is another game closer to that higher pick and the potential of selling at the deadline. 

So maybe it’s not so bad when they make what I think are obviously stupid decisions.

But damn, it sure makes it tough to watch the games.

You can also check out the monthly collections of Graphic Comments over at The Sporting News.