Yes, obviously. And no, where it matters. In the short term, at least.

What a Week

There was a full season's worth of roller coasters in the past four games. It was set off by spoiling Edmonton's home opener for them, for which they returned the favour in spectacularly ridiculous fashion. Then a team some of us Olds remember as a rival in Calgary. We finished off the week with a team those same Olds think of as "just started last season": the Vegas Golden Knights.

It was wild. It was fun. It was...good?

ANSWER ME!

Before the season started, there were the usual questions:

What would Manny Malhotra's coaching style be? Could Elias Pettersson the Forward make a comeback of any kind? How would the defensive pairings sort out, and are too many of them too inexperienced? Where the heck would the goals come from? How big a role will injuries play?

We got a few answers already, but only because they're the questions we kinda didn't want to have resolved this early.

Filip Chytil and Thatcher Demko being out before the season started is disturbing. The only clue that Demko wouldn't be ready was how far into training camp he went without skating as part of the club. And Chytil... Well, at least it wasn't a concussion this time? I guess?

Leevi Meriläinen coming in was a pleasant surprise. He is a better goaltender than Nikita Tolopilo, and a bit younger to boot. It bumped Aku Koskenvuo down to Kalamazoo again, which has got to annoy him. Unfortunately, there's only so much room in the AHL right now, and Ty Young won the coin toss.

The team has decided to carry eight defencemen and thirteen forwards early on, which seems fine. Guillaume Brisebois understands that he's up as that eighth man and is unlikely to see the ice before Victor Mancini does. On the other hand, they are heading out on a six-game East Coast roadie, and that's not a bad spot for a spare. Either blueliner can play up front in a pinch, but I wouldn't be thrilled to see Aatu Räty man the blue line.

Speaking of which, Räty was scratched for two, in for two, trading off with Jake DeBrusk. Not directly, but the usual bumping up the lines - which is where we get to talk about Paul Cotter.

Cotter-izing the Wound

What a find, eh? A feisty, big American with surprising speed and underappreciated scoring gets his chance in Vancouver as a free agent, and we get the rewards! Here's Cotter, this year's Kiefer Sherwood, who was that year's Dakota Joshua, scoring the Canucks' first goal of the season. And then he just kept going, now with four goals and six points in four games.

Those offensive numbers can be laid partially at the feet of the Oilers, who took a couple games to realize the season had started. Vancouver scored 13 goals against them in two games, kickstarting their offence and making a lot of players - and fans - very happy. A sudden discovery of scoring depth meant that, as of now, only two regulars are missing points: Brendan Gallagher and Zeev Buium.

Gallagher's no surprise, given he's a fourth-liner, but Buium is, given his primary partner is Mister Everything Filip Hronek. Hronek has five assists so far, but no seconds for Buium yet. It'll come, but "soon" rather than "now". There's very little anxiety among the fans this time out, and no one is screaming for the sophomore's head. And do we need to talk about Pettersson the Forward leading the team in not just points, but hits?

Now, giving up 14 goals in those same two Oilers games wasn't great, but it was fun. Which is the crux of the question.

Are the Canucks Good?

If you wanted to win this season, no. Holy smoke, no. Holes abound through the lineup; the youth on defence is regularly exposed; and the competition hasn't been the league's finest. But isn't that kinda the point?

Anyone watching the Canucks give away a third-period, three-goal lead in the season opener had to be a little disappointed. But that was leavened by the team having a third-period, three-goal lead! The Oilers were supposed to be taking this season seriously, after all, what with their hiring of Mike Babcock. Sure, they wanted Bruce Cassidy, but Babcock is just as serious! And Vancouver won in overtime, 6-5, which was unexpected.

Speaking of Game Two...

Down 4-0 after one is a miserable feeling. Being down 8-2 before the game is halfway done, on the other hand, is hilarious. There is a certain type of Canucks fan who is inured to losses to such a degree that when the numbers start racking up, there's a morbid delight to it. Just how deep can this hole go? Grab a lantern and let's find out!

Then a funny thing happened. Vancouver held them off, and Arshdeep Bains got through with less than a second left. It's always a great feeling when a local boy gets one for the home team, so that was a nice buzz to the break. And after that, well, I don't know if I've ever heard a crowd be so happy to be down two goals in the third. They still lost, but MAN, that was fun!

By the time the Calgary Flames came in, fans knew this one could be a win. And when the Flames tried playing their heavy game, they got a surprise right back. And if Vancouver had gotten their power play going, it would have been a lot more lopsided than 4-1.

Vegas is a second supposed Cup contender, and Vancouver was on their fourth game in six nights. What in theory should have been an easy win was instead a scrappy, penalty-heavy slog against a surprisingly resilient squad. The line of Cotter - Liam Öhgen - Brock Boeser got crushed, but the other three held up pretty well. And fans were happy.

No and Yes

And that last line is the kicker. The fans were happy. Yes, it's only a week in, but even at the worst moment, down 8-2 against a contender, there was little anger. Last season? Fans raged against the team. And for good frikkin' reason.

They hated management's repeated decision to walk tightropes instead of rebuild. They hated the choices made of which players should stay and which should go. They hated the repeated hollow reassurance that "we're almost there!" Even worse were the stories of dissent in the locker room, the obvious exasperation from the players, the rumours of infighting from people all over the league. Agents were talking about what the team refused to address.

The fans out here aren't idiots, but were treated like such. And after a decade of being patted on the head and told we just didn't understand, the anger finally broke through. It took one of the best players this team has ever had requesting a trade to do so, but it finally reached the white-collars that fans were pissed.

So they burned it down. They have former players who care about not just the team, but the city, in positions of power. They promoted from within. They moved out a third of the team and shifted to youth. They've started collecting draft picks. There is a renewed emphasis on community participation. And they told us the truth.

Is this a good team? If you're asking if they are going to have another 50-win season any time soon, then no. No, it is not. But we knew that going in, and know that the team trusts us enough to say so. The plan is for a couple more top-five draft picks, then hopefully a couple top-ten ones. Then maybe we'll get there.

If you're asking if this is a good team, then you know what? Yeah. Yeah, right now it is.