ESPN analysts & reporters overwhelmingly write off Canucks in Round 2
Being underdogs is something the Canucks have dealt with since the beginning of the season. No one expected them to make the playoffs and if they did, they would be one of the two wild card teams in the Western Conference.
The Canucks proved everyone in the hockey world wrong as they won the Pacific Division and finished with a top-five record in the National Hockey League. They went on to defeat the Nashville Predators in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in six games, setting up a second round date with the Edmonton Oilers.
While making their second round predictions, nearly every single analyst and reporter at ESPN wrote off the Vancouver Canucks, with 23 of 24 picking the Edmonton Oilers to advance to the Western Conference Final. Among those to pick the Oilers to advance were Mark Messier, P.K. Subban, Ray Ferraro, Ryan Callahan, among others.
The only person to predict that the Vancouver Canucks would advance to the Western Conference Final for the first time since 2011 was Ryan S. Clark, a writer for ESPN. Clark predicted that the Vancouver Canucks would defeat the Edmonton Oilers in seven games.
The Canucks are embracing the role of underdogs, something they've dealt with all season long and they know what they're capable of. There's no doubt that locker room is confident in their ability to eliminate Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and the Edmonton Oilers from the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
It's going to be a fun series for not only Canucks and Oilers fans, but fans of hockey in this country in general as this is the first all-Canadian matchup in the Stanley Cup Playoffs since 2022 when Calgary and Edmonton met.
Do you think the Vancouver Canucks will pull off the series win? Let us know what you think in the poll below!
| POLL | ||
Do you think the Vancouver Canucks will pull off the series win? | ||
| Yes | 1411 | 79 % |
| No | 376 | 21 % |
| List of polls | ||
