After this weekend we're exhausted from trying to figure out the Vancouver Canucks so we'll just get right to the musings and meditations on the world of sports.

? There are 25 other NHL teams who'd kill to have the Canucks' problems but, for this team, the issue this season is the same as it's been for the last four seasons.

They're good, but are they good enough to win the Stanley Cup?

You know they're close and, this half-season, they've addressed some big areas of concern. They're about to add David Booth to their lineup, which makes them deeper than the teams of 2009 through 2012. They're also bigger and tougher, and there is still the tantalizing prospect of what a goalie trade might bring.

But, for everything that's changed about the Orcans, there's still something about them that makes you wonder. Is Alain Vigneault the coach who can bring out the best in this team? Is Mike Gillis the GM who can make the killer move that puts them over the top? Are Henrik and Daniel Sedin exceptional regular-season players but lacking the stuff of a Cup champion? Is Ryan Kesler really the player we saw in 2010-11 or was that simply a career year?

It's the same for virtually every member of this organization. They're good but are they good enough? The Canucks have four tough road games coming up over the next six days against teams from the Central Division. It won't tell the whole story of their season but it will tell us a lot about this team.

? The Canucks have a little over $22 million tied up in their top-six defencemen. That isn't unprecedented. The Flyers weigh in at over $23 million. But it's near the top of the league.

The next question is, are they getting fair return for their investment? The Blues' blueline looks pretty good. They've got about $12 million tied up in their six regulars. The Rangers would be in the discussion of the NHL's best group of rearguards. They're spending about $14 million there.

As for the Canucks' defence, they're paid to be difference-makers and they haven't been. There's also a situation developing with Jason Garrison. Right now, Chris Tanev is clearly the fourth-best defenceman on this team. He's also sixth among the top-six in ice time.

Yes, he's still a kid and he's growing into his NHL body. But, given everything that's happening around him, wouldn't you want to find out if he can handle top-four minutes?

? Just so you know, the Canucks are third in the NHL in fighting majors behind Columbus and Toronto. Make way for the Goons of Griffiths Way.

? Yani Tseng may be the world's No.-1 ranked golfer but the most fascinating figure in the women's game is Lydia Ko. The 15-year-old New Zealander by way of South Korea finished third at the Australian Women's Open over the weekend and is now the 26th-ranked player in the world. To put that in perspective, she's one spot ahead of Hall of Famer Se-Ri Pak and 14 ahead of former wunderkind Morgan Pressel.

Ko doesn't turn 16 until October, She's already foregone over half a million in prize money, including the winners' share from her jaw-dropping performance at the Vancouver Club in the CN Women's Open last August. This story can still go a lot of ways - see Michelle Wie - and Ko insists she wants to play college golf in the States before turning pro. But no matter what happens, you're going to want to stick around to see how it turns out.

? Finally, you may have read where Washington head coach Adam Oates opined the NHL shouldn't be in Sochi in 2014. "I grew up wanting to play for the Toronto Maple Leafs, not Team Canada," Oates said. "Didn't even know it existed."

Oates, for the record, was born in 1962 so there's a good chance he heard about the Summit Series. But the point is, coming off Lockout III, Gary's Nightmare, the NHL needs the Olympics a lot more than the Olympics need the NHL.

This is the best hockey in the world. This is the payoff to fans for enduring Minnesota-Calgary games on Tuesday night. After shutting the game down for half a season, the NHL has to deliver this.

Oh, you'd expect Gary Bettman to try and extract some morsel out of the IIHF at the bargaining table and this time it's supposed to be video, photograph and website rights. So go ahead, Gary, grind away.

But, we all know where this is going so let's just get there.