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Maxim Lapierre Yes, the Canucks have had a consistent history of mediocrity in October under head coach Alain Vigneault s watch beginning six seasons ago.But does that or the 7-4 win over Washington on Saturday necessarily mean they ll bounce back in November as they have in seasons past under the current coach?Clearly, the upcoming six-games-in-11-days road trip and a schedule that sees Van football bowl games couver playing only four times at home this month will play a big part in determining that.Will the early-season struggles of goaltender Roberto Luongo(notes) who starts tonight in Calgary to kick off the trip be shown to be just the usual slow start or something more concerning?Can the team s uneven and incomplete performances at times be simply the remnants of a long and ultimately disappoin football bowl games ting playoff run? The upcoming trip will provide some insight. Vigneault had no answers as to why the trend is so entrenched here, but cautioned that no one should count on history necessarily repeating itself. I m lost for words, considering the way this group prepares and put in the time and effort in training camp, why we get off the starts that we do, he said. We did play hockey a little football bowl games later than some other teams, but we adjusted our training camp. We ve gone through our ups and downs that have happened since I ve been here. Today is the last day of October, but a switch is not going to turn on where we automatically start winning in November. We re going to have to work hard. Those are the key ingredients. Clearly, part of the Canucks slow start was not having Ryan Kesler(not football bowl games es) in the lineup for the first five games. Kesler was impressive his first three games back, but has fallen off in the last three.That s not a surprise for a player who had hip surgery on July 25 and missed all of training camp and Vigneault said as much following Monday s practice.Even after the hoped-for jump start from the recent David Booth(notes) acquisition, the second line still is not p football bowl games roducing much even-strength. I d say it s a work in progress, said Vigneault of the Kesler-Booth chemistry. Ryan s not where he can be and David s coming into a new environment, a new way of doing things. I see a lot of upside there, but it s not where it s going to be. I expect them to be a lot better. Booth got his first point as a Canuck on Saturday against the Caps a second assist on Chris football bowl games Higgins(notes) power play goal. It was his third game with the Canucks and his best, but high expectations came along with the former 31-goal scorer from Florida. It s still October, so you can t get down, said Booth, who s still looking for his first of the season. I know it s been a while. You d like to get that first one, and hopefully they ll start going in. We were moving the puck good and football bowl games not giving up too much defensively. There s no need to panic right now. You just play your role and things will come. Kesler played youth hockey and at the national junior level with fellow Detroit native Booth and says the chemistry is improving. It s going well, said Kesler. Obviously, I haven t played with him for a couple of years, so it s going to take some time. But I thought last game we football bowl games were generating chances and he was driving the net hard. jjamieson@theprovince.com Play Fantasy Hockey, now with Pro Leagues! And follow Yahoo! Sports' NHL coverage on Twitter. Updated Nov 1, 1:29 pm EDT football bowl games
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