A closer look at the teams from Game 1

As the NHL season heads to the quarter pole, here are my impressions on Vancouver and Chicago after watching them play in person Sunday night.

This is a very different Canucks team than what Vancouver fans are used to seeing. The days of hoping to outscore foes are past. Instead, the Canucks are running counter to the NHL trend of more offense. Their defense was stifling against the Blackhawks, limiting them to no more than a handful of quality scoring chances. Particularly impressive to me was the defensive commitment of many of their forwards. ... The top line of Markus Naslund and the Sedin twins controlled play every time they stepped on the ice.

Now the bad news: The top line didn't finish most of its numerous scoring chances, and after that Swedish trio, the Canucks did not appear to have a lot of offense. ... Goaltender Roberto Luongo did what he needed to, but was not stellar.

Chicago, meanwhile, received a fantastic effort from goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin, who appears to have rediscovered his game. Several of the Hawks' younger players (forward Tuomo Ruutu, defenseman Lasse Kukkonen and Brent Seabrook) were their best players. And the Blackhawks, by and large, played hard. ... Like Vancouver, Chicago is hampered by a lack of offense and has even less experience.

The bottom line: Vancouver will have to either add more scorers or hope some emerge from their roster or minor-league system. Playing in the Northwest Division, which I think is the league's most competitive top to bottom, won't help. And the Western Conference is brutal. Making the playoffs will be very difficult. ... Chicago has virtually no chance of the playoffs, but there is hope for the future because the Hawks have a core of young players and work hard. Getting injured forward Martin Havlat back next month certainly will help their anemic offense.