This wasn't how things were supposed to end for the Vancouver Canucks, not after spending an entire season waiting for another shot at the playoffs.

They spent 10 months trying to get over the sting of coming so agonizingly close to the Stanley Cup, rejigging their team to prepare for another long playoff run in the hopes of coming up with the one extra win they couldn't secure last summer.

Instead their playoff ended with just one win, and a season of promise is over in the first round, leaving the Canucks to console themselves with a second straight Presidents' Trophy that will feel even more hollow this year.

"To be honest, it doesn't matter if you lose the seventh game of the Finals or you lose in five in the first round, it's devastating," Daniel Sedin said. "We have the mindset to win every year. When you end up on the losing side, it's tough."

In a city and organization expecting more -- a lot more -- the fallout could be even tougher this summer. The armchair quarterback analysis started as soon as the season ended, and will continue until the puck drops on the next one, but here are the five biggest reasons Vancouver's playoffs are over after just five games:

VANCOUVER -- "Don't fear failure. Compete 100%. Enjoy the process. Play for others."

Cory Schneider

Goalie - VAN

RECORD: 1-1-0
GAA: 1.02 | SVP: 0.969

The mantra has served Schneider well through consecutive trips to the NCAA championship game, a couple of World Junior Championship tournaments with Team USA and a run to the Calder Cup Final in the American Hockey League in 2009. It was still there, written on masking tape, when Schneider arrived as the Canucks' rookie backup last season, though the frequency with which he referred to it has decreased over the last two seasons as he established himself as a rising star in the NHL.

Cory Schneider

Goalie - VAN

RECORD: 1-1-0
GAA: 1.02 | SVP: 0.969

The question is whether he also ended Roberto Luongo's time in Vancouver with that clutch performance against Los Angeles in Game 4 of the teams' Western Conference Quarterfinal series.

It's a question that probably won't be answered for months -- one with even more moving parts than Schneider showed in Game 4 in making a series of game- and season-saving stops in a 3-1 victory that prevented the top-seeded Canucks from being swept.

The complexity of the question won't keep it from being asked, though. Not with Luongo, a goaltender whose pride runs as deep as his resume and contract, reduced potentially to the role of postseason spectator.

VANCOUVER -- The Vancouver Canucks didn't get one Art Ross Trophy winner back when Daniel Sedin returned to the lineup Wednesday after missing almost a month with a concussion.

They actually got the NHL's last two regular-season scoring leaders back.

Daniel Sedin

Left Wing - VAN

GOALS: 0 | ASST: 1 | PTS: 1
SOG: 3 | +/-: 1

It was one of many inspired plays in the Sedins' reunion.

"It was spectacular again to watch those two get going," associate coach Rick Bowness said after a sparsely attended skate Thursday. "You get Hank back 100 percent with Danny. They are world-class elite players and they'll find a way to get it done."

LOS ANGELES -- Cory Schneider will be back in goal and Daniel Sedin will likely return to the lineup for the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday night.

The Canucks trail the Los Angeles Kings, 3-0, in the Western Conference Quarterfinals. Vancouver coach Alain Vigneault didn't give much explanation at the morning skate Wednesday as to why he picked Schneider over Roberto Luongo.

"Goaltending has not been the issue for us this year, not necessarily," Vigneault said. "We've had great goaltending. Whatever decision I've made would have been the right one. But I'm not getting into the specifics of why Cory is playing tonight."

Vigneault switched to Schneider for Game 3 to try and change momentum. Schneider left a big rebound that resulted in the game's only goal.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. – Daniel Sedin said he is feeling better, but stopped short of saying he would return to the Vancouver Canucks lineup Wednesday night for Game 4 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals against the Los Angeles Kings.

Sedin appeared before a huge throng of reporters Tuesday and said he is doing well one month after he was concussed by an elbow from Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith.

"It's been a tough four weeks and it's good to be back and, first of all, feeling good," Sedin said. "That's my main issue."

VANCOUVER -- How good was Mike Richards in his first playoff game for the Los Angeles Kings?

Forget scoring his team's first goal on a 5-on-3 power play, pouncing on a turnover to set up the go-ahead goal with 3:14 left or adding a third point by assisting on an empty-netter in the dying seconds of L.A.'s 4-2 Game 1 victory in Vancouver on Wednesday.

The true measure of Richards' effectiveness came when Canucks coach Alain Vigneault was asked about his matchup with his own second-line center Ryan Kesler, who also happens to be the reigning Selke Trophy winner.

The incident occurred at 12:12 of the second period. Bitz was assessed a major penalty and game misconduct for boarding. Clifford suffered an injury as a result of the hit.

Vancouver Canucks right wing Byron Bitz will face a disciplinary hearing with the National Hockey League's Department of Player Safety Thursday.

The hearing regards a boarding major Bitz received Wednesday night in Game 1 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals against Los Angeles when Bitz hit L.A.'s Kyle Clifford at 12:12 of the second period. Bitz was also assessed a game misconduct on the play.