Dead or Alive

What else is left to say?

As far as digging one's self into a tunnel goes, the Canucks may as well have made it to the dark side of the moon. Down 3-0, the odds are most certainly not in their favour. In the long and storied history of the NHL, only three teams have ever accomplished the biggest comeback possible. Most recently, the Philadelphia Flyers accomplished the feat in the 2010 Playoffs, rallying to defeat the Boston Bruins with four straight victories.

The Canucks are going all-in on Wednesday night. Star forward Daniel Sedin has been cleared to practice, and he has flown to Los Angeles where he will join his teammates today. Hope springs that he will play tomorrow night, and hopefully provide the team with a shot in the arm. Despite losing three straight games, the Canucks' play has trended upwards. They were awful in Game 1, slightly better in Game 2 (but for perhaps the worst power play ever iced), and strong in Game 3 were it not for one bounce that went the Kings' way.

So what does Game 4 hold? The hockey world is waiting with baited breath. It's the time of years where the Canucks have once again reached an almost universal level of unpopularity. The Los Angeles Kings made a bold statement after winning Game 1, saying "to everyone in Canada outside of BC, you're welcome". It's no secret what the talking heads, armchair general managers, and opposing fanboys and even players think of the Vancouver Canucks. And they will certainly be celebrating their demise if the Canucks due complete perhaps the most ignominous loss in their forty-one year history.

It would be so easy for the Canucks to pack it up and go home. They've done it three times, what's one more?

Or maybe, just maybe, do they have some fight left in them? Do they hear the knives coming out from all corners of the opposition fanbases, and even their own?

The last time the Canucks lost three straight games in a playoff series, it was a year ago. Having cruised to a 3-0 lead against the Chicago Blackhawks, the Canucks were firmly established in the driver's seat of that series. No one could have foreseen the Blackhawks not only winning the next three games, but dominating the everlasting you-know-what out of the Canucks in the process. They outscored Vancouver 16-5 over the next three games to force that seventh and deciding game. "They are in Vancouver's head", came some of the voices. "They're the defending champions and now they have momentum on their side", came more. "The Canucks don't have what it takes to win". Still more.

Roberto Luongo had been ventilated. The Canucks' defensive corps had been humiliated. The star-studded offense had been rendered impotent by the surging Blackhawk defense.

And yet, in Game 7, none of it mattered. The Canucks took to the ice with force, purpose and determination, three things which had been completely and utterly absent in the three losses. They came at the Blackhawks in waves, battering their bodies, throwing pucks at the net, pressuring them into turnovers, dictating the pace of the play - playing like the best team in the NHL.

Only spectacular goaltending by the Blackhawks' netminder, Cory Crawford, kept the opponent in the game. But that all ended shortly into overtime, when Alexandre Burrows drove a dagger through the heart of the Canucks' most hated nemesis, and put a firm exclamation point on what was perhaps the greatest single-game effort in the history of the franchise, or at least the best since the Canucks capped off a 3-1 series comeback against the Calgary Flames in 1994.

The Canucks are in need of such a performance again. They will need four of them to escape this series with a win. They have the personnel to do it. Alex Burrows, the man who has scored virtually every big goal possible for this team, needs to come through. Back-to-back Art Ross trophy winners Henrik and--hopefully--Daniel Sedin need to break through the suffocating defense of the Los Angeles Kings. Ryan Kesler, who was so dominant in last year's playoff run before injuring his leg, needs to re-capture just a bit of that magic. Kevin Bieksa, no stranger to big goals himself, needs to come through in the clutch. And whoever is in goal - and the goaltenders have been the Canucks' best players so far - needs to come up with a big game, make the big save, and match Jonathan Quick shot for shot.

The alternative is going home. No shot at redemption, no shot at the prize. And if you thought the voices calling out the Canucks last year were unbearably loud, it would be nothing to what awaits them should they allow themselves to be swept.

I said before the playoffs in a conversation with my Dad, there is only one team that can beat the Canucks, and that's the Canucks. And right now, they have done that to the tune of a 3-0 series defecit.

In this series, there's only one team that can beat the Kings. And that has to be the Canucks as well.

So tomorrow night, they need to dig deep and fight for their playoff lives. Because it's not just their season that is at stake, it could be the makeup of this very team, which will face some alarming questions should they lose.

So tomorrow night, get your butts out there, play for yourselves, play for your teammates, and play to shut up every would-be critic. Show that you have what it takes to turn this fiasco into a series. And do it starting tomorrow night.