Feb 252012
Feb 202012
Feb 202012
[Every week, Caylie King reviews the Canucks week that was and previews the Canucks week ahead. You can follow Caylie on Twitter (@cayking).]
Despite playing some inconsistent hockey over the last month or so, the Canucks have managed to keep pace with the NHL-leading, Detroit Red Wings. Now, things seem to be turning around as the Canucks won all four games this past week, including a 6-2 spanking of the Toronto Maple Leafs on Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday and a 5-2 beating of the Edmonton Oilers in Edmonton on Sunday. The Canucks haven’t lost in regulation in 9 games this month, boasting an impressive 7-0-2 record.
Yup, totally overrated.
Canucks Record
59 GP, 38-15-6, 82 points (1st in Northwest Division, 2nd in Western Conference)
Who’s Hot
Before the weekend, talk around town was how the Sedins were in a slump and how neither had produced much since the Bruins game in early January. That all changed this past weekend as they combined for 12 points against the Leafs and Oilers.
On Saturday night against the Leafs, Daniel had a goal and 3 assists, while Captain Hank potted 4 assists. Then on Sunday, both potted a goal and an assist each against the Oilers as they continue their domination against Edmonton.
Their production isn’t as high as when they each won the Art Ross Trophy in back-to-back years, but they’re hanging in with the league leaders. As of this morning, Hank is 4th in the NHL in scoring (64 points) and Danny is in 7th (61 points). Hank leads the Canucks in points and assists (51); Danny is right behind him in points (61) while also leading the team with 26 goals.
Who’s Next
Tuesday, February 21, 2012 vs. Nashville Predators (5:00 PM start, away)
Alex Edler got the shootout winner two weeks ago as the Canucks took 2 points in Nashville. Since then, the Preds have gone 2-2-1 and are sitting in 5th place in the Western Conference.
This will be the last meeting between the two teams in the regular season. Vancouver has won 2 of the 3 games, with Roberto Luongo backstopping in all 3 games. Colin Wilson leads the Predators with 5 points (2G-3A) in the season series; Daniel Sedin leads the Canucks with 6 points (3G-3A).
Mike “Mr. Underwood” Fisher is having a commendable season with 17 goals, 17 assists and a plus-4 rating so far this season. He is 5th in team scoring and tied with Patric Hornqvist for the team lead in goals (17). Fisher has 11 points (9G-2A) in his last 12 games.
Thursday, February 23, 2012 vs. Detroit Red Wings (4:30 PM start, away)
In case you’ve been living under a rock, the Detroit Red Wings are taking home ice advantage to a whole new level. The Canucks head into Motown in an attempt to try and end Detroit’s amazing 23-game winning streak on home ice. The Red Wings have a fantastic record of 26-2-1 at Joe Louis Arena and are currently in first place in the NHL with 84 points through 60 games.
Detroit has won 2 of the 3 meetings so far between the two teams. Danny Cleary has 3 points (1G-2A) while Jimmy Howard has played in all 3 games and stopped 68 of 75 shots. It’s still unknown whether or not Howard will play as he is still out with a broken finger that he suffered in the last meeting against Vancouver.
Johan Franzen leads the Red Wings in goals (23) and is currently second in team scoring (47 points). Franzen has 4 goals and 2 assists in his last 8 games.
Friday, February 24, 2012 vs. New Jersey Devils (4:00 PM start, away)
The Devils are having a great month of February going 7-1-1 and are currently sitting in 4th place in the Eastern Conference. That said, they haven’t had much success against Northwest Division opponents going 1-3-0 so far this season. This is the first and only meeting between the two teams. Last season, Roberto Luongo shutout the Devils in their only meeting, a 3-0 Canucks win.
Ilya Kovalchuk is having another great campaign leading the Devils with 58 points (25G-33A); he is also 12th in NHL scoring. Kovy has been hot recently – he last 18 points (6G-12A) in his last 10 games.
Sunday, February 26, 2012 vs. Dallas Stars (12:00 PM, away)
Sitting in 10th place in the Western Conference, the Dallas Stars are currently on the outside looking into the playoff race. They haven’t had much luck lately, going 1-3-2 in their last 6 games – all close games.
It’s hard to believe, but the Stars and Canucks haven’t played each other yet this season; this will be the first of 4 meetings in the next 5 weeks.
Michael Ryder is having a great season in Dallas. He leads the Stars in goals (23) and is also 3rd on the team in points (42), both of which surpasses his season totals in the last 2 seasons. He is currently riding a 6-game point streak with 4 goals and 2 assists.
Feb 192012
Feb 102012
Feb 082012
Feb 022012
[Inspired by Arsenio Hall's "Things That Make You Go Hmmm…", Clayton Imoo talks about Canucks-related things that make him go hmmm… You can follow Clay on Twitter at (@canuckclay) or on his website, Clay's Canucks Commentary.]
The Vancouver Canucks came out of the All-Star break the same way they headed in: with a 3-2 victory. They beat the Edmonton Oilers in a shootout in the last game before the break. On Tuesday, they beat the Chicago Blackhawks in overtime. I was at Rogers Arena to watch the game and upon reflecting on it and the rivalry between the two teams, there are a few Things That Make Me Go Hmmm:
1. Craziness in overtime. You might remember the last time the Canucks and Blackhawks went to overtime. Game 7 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals on April 26, 2011 is considered one of the most exciting games in Canucks history.
Tuesday night, the stakes were nowhere near as high, yet the entire extra frame had the crowd buzzing, screaming, jeering and ultimately cheering. And sandwiched between a mesmerizing Sedin shift and their game-winning goal came 30 seconds of madness.
The craziness started when all-star Jonathan Toews put a sweet outside-inside move on all-star Alex Edler, leaving the big Swede on the ice. The play started innocently enough, with the crafty Toews luring Edler to the outside boards before darting between Edler and a barely-backchecking Kevin Bieksa. Thankfully for the Canucks, Cory Schneider made a good save.
Just 15 seconds later, after a brief foray in the Blackhawks zone, Viktor Stalberg used the EXACT SAME outside-inside move, this time on Dan Hamhuis, albeit with way more speed than Toews. Again, it was Bieksa who was slow getting back to help, and again Schneider was forced to make a big save. Perhaps Stalberg would have scored if he wasn’t impeded by a Bieksa hook and a Hamhuis slash. Both went uncalled.
The lesson learned: dart down the right wing before cutting inside on Canuck defenders. And make sure Bieksa is the other d-man.
Then, after another 15 seconds had elapsed, Brent Seabrook absolutely plastered Ryan Kesler from behind into the boards, leaving the crowd grasping for its collective breath for the third time in 30 seconds.
The Sedins’ skillful give-and-go play to win the game just 30 seconds later seemed anti-climactic by contrast.
2. Comparing rivalries. Soon after the conclusion of Tuesday night’s game, I saw a few tweets from people favourably comparing the Vancouver-Chicago rivalry to the Vancouver-Boston rivalry. The latter is obviously a more recent one that is still fresh in our memories, while the former goes back three consecutive playoffs. The two are tough to compare. The Canucks-Bruins game in early January was a complete gong show with penalties and shenanigans galore. I remember the actual game was just okay but the atmosphere was unbelievable. Contrast that to Tuesday night’s tilt: the Canucks-Blackhawks game wasn’t particularly intense (until the third period and overtime) but it was actually better hockey. Thus, both games were very entertaining in their own right. And in the end…who really cares about which is the more heated rivalry…it’s just good to know that we have at least one strong rival in each Conference.
On the topic of good hockey…the best game I’ve seen this season start-to-finish was the Canucks’ 4-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings back on December 21, 2011. The game was memorable not only because of the CHB get-together prior and the fact that I missed my daughter’s 4th birthday for the game, but because of its frenetic pace for the entire 60 minutes. There were only four penalties the entire game (all to the Canucks) and the Red Wings outshot Vancouver 40 – 25. For my money, Vancouver-Detroit may not be the best rivalry per se, but it produces the best hockey.
3. Navigating through Rogers Arena. One other thing I noticed Tuesday night was just how hard it is to get from point A to point B, especially during a 17-minute intermission. I had grand plans to meet Bruce (@transcendwebs) for the very first time after a few months of friendly Twitter exchanges. My first mistake was suggesting we meet outside of section 104 (which I didn’t know was in the River Rock Club Section and thus inaccessible). My second mistake was using the stairwell at gate 8 (by section 329) instead of the stairwell outside of section 304. By the time I met Bruce outside of section 101 (after a quick change of plans over the phone), we had a grand total of 3 minutes to meet, chat, affirm each other’s good looks and blogging skills, and find a solution for world peace before we headed back to our respective seats (his in section 110, mine in section 303). I made it back to my seat just as they were dropping the puck to start the second period…and that was without a bathroom or concession stop.
So I ask you, loyal CHB readers: what are some of your tips for quick and easy navigation through the Rogers Arena concourses?
Feb 012012
Jan 262012
[Inspired by Arsenio Hall's "Things That Make You Go Hmmm…", Clayton Imoo talks about Canucks-related things that make him go hmmm… You can follow Clay on Twitter at (@canuckclay) or on his website, Clay's Canucks Commentary.]
The Vancouver Canucks head into the All-Star break sitting in second place in the Western Conference after an exciting 3-2 shootout win over the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night. While the majority of the NHL may be taking a break, I’m certainly not as I proudly present to you the latest Things That Make You Go Hmmm.
1. The shift. You may recall a powerplay shift in a game between the Canucks and Oilers from October 2007. On that shift, the Canucks controlled the puck for a full two minutes (at least 1:45 of their powerplay plus another 15 seconds afterward) culminating in a Henrik to Daniel scoring play at even-strength.
Fast forward to Tuesday night’s game where the Sedins were part of another memorable shift that included 30 different touches by Canucks players spanning over 90 seconds. While the Canucks didn’t score on that shift – actually they only recorded one shot – Daniel Sedin scored on his very next shift just a few minutes later undoubtedly full of confidence. I present to you, loyal CHB readers, a detailed breakdown of the 32 touches:
- Salo retrieves the puck in his own zone with the clock reading 13:02 remaining in the first period
- Pass to Edler behind the Canucks net
- Edler quick pass to Kesler who starts to skate it out of the zone
- Pass up to centre to Higgins
- Touch pass to Booth who gains the Oilers blue line
- Drop pass to Higgins
- Pass back to Booth who carries it around the net
- Back pass through the slot misses a diving Edler but winds up on Bieksa’s stick back in the Canucks zone
- Bieksa skates behind his own net allowing for the second line to change for the first line, he passes to Henrik at centre
- Henrik to Burrows over the Oilers line
- Burrows back to Henrik in the corner
- Henrik nearly loses it after colliding with the referee but Daniel gets to it
- Only to push the puck back to Henrik who continues to battle in the corner
- Daniel helps out a second time by again passing it back to Henrik (who at this point might be murmuring to himself “Can’t my brother find someone else to pass to?”)
- Henrik is tripped up but Burrows comes to get the puck
- Burrows back to Bieksa at the point
- Bieksa’s slap shot goes wide and is retrieved by Hamhuis on the opposite boards
- Hamhuis slaps it behind the net to Henrik
- Henrik leaves for Daniel who skates out to the corner
- Daniel drop pass to Henrik (same corner)
- Henrik drop pass to Burrows (still in the same corner)
- Burrows leaves for Henrik on the right face-off dot
- Henrik passes it to Daniel at the side of the net
- Daniels centering pass is just out of the reach of Burrows who retrieves the puck on the left face-off dot
- Burrows to the corner to Henrik
- Henrik behind the net to Daniel
- Daniel with a quick feed to Burrows again at the left face-off dot
- No shot for Burrows, instead he wheels and sends it behind the net to Henrik
- Henrik shovels it to a pinching Hamhuis
- Hamhuis back towards the point to Daniel (covering Hamhuis’ spot)
- Daniel gives to Henrik on the right boards
- Henrik back to Daniel completing the give-and-go…Daniel shoots on net…Dubnyk saves it right his right pad and the Oilers finally get possession of the puck with 11:30 showing on the clock – 92 seconds after Salo first touched it
That’s right: 32 different touches by 10 different Canucks over 92 seconds! Amazing. I got tired watching it (and even more tired typing it out); imagine how the Oilers felt!
2. Revamping the Canucks Superskills Competition. I took my family to the annual Superskills exhibition at Rogers Arena this past weekend and we had a good time. As a bonus, I was able to see my cousin Dusty play in the Canucks Alumni game prior to the Superskills (even though Dusty has never played for the Canucks and he was playing as a winger instead of his usual goaltender). I got a kick of seeing the name “IMOO” on the back of an actual player wearing a Canucks jersey.
As I was watching however, I started to think of ways the Canucks could keep this event fresh and I wondered about adding a bunch of new events. Imagine contests for Hardest Hipcheck, Shot Blocking, Spitting, and Best Hairdo. I had enough ideas that I was able to do a Clay’s Canucks Commentary about it.
Then I got to thinking about the way they split up the Canucks players into the “Blue” and “White Teams”. They were certainly even enough, with the Sedins together on one side and Kesler and Booth on the other. But wouldn’t it be neat if they had themes to their teams? I think it would add a bit more “umph” to the event and make it a tad bit more competitive…at least for the bragging rights.
Imagine Canada (Luongo, Burrows, Hodgson, Bieksa and Hamhuis) vs. The World (Schneider, Sedins, Kesler, Booth and Ballard). 30 years-old and over (Luongo, Sedins, Burrows, Bieksa and Salo) vs. 29 and under (Schneider, Kesler, Booth, Hodgson, Hamhuis and Edler. Gingers (Schneider, Sedins, and Sulzer) vs. everyone else.
The possibilities are endless.
3. Daniel Alfredsson’s All-Star Picking Strategy. According to Bruins forward Milan Lucic, fellow Bruin Zdeno Chara will not pick either of the Sedins during today’s All-Star Fantasy Draft. But that’s easier said than done…and it’s all up to Alfie.
Chara would be forced to take one of the twins if they are the two last players to be picked. Alfredsson could actually take this into account when drafting his own team if he truly believes that Chara won’t pick either Sedin. In essence, it gives Alfredsson two free picks that he won’t have to use on the Sedins; then he could take one brother with his penultimate pick and the other with his final pick. Add Edler into the mix and using the same theory, Alfredsson could have three free picks. Look for all three Canuck Swedes to wind up on their fellow Swede’s squad and one of the Sedins to go home with a car.
Seems silly and rather petty to me. The only thing that could be worse is someone skipping out on a visit to the White House to meet the US President. Oh wait…
Jan 252012