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Game Day Preview Canucks vs. Rangers: The One with the Traded Coaches

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Game Day Preview Canucks vs. Rangers: The One with the Traded Coaches

Vancouver Canucks (13-9-5) New York Rangers (13-13-0) The Vancouver Canucks and New York Rangers meet for the first of two meetings this season. It’s been 2 years since these two teams faced each other; the Rangers won at Rogers Arena back in October 2011 by a 4-0 score. After losing 6 of their first 8 games, the Rangers have started to turn things around. They’ve won 3 out of their last 5 games, and 9 of their last 15. Meanwhile, the Canucks have only won 2 out of their last 5 games, though they did beat the Ottawa Senators convincingly...

Canucks vs. Blue Jackets Game Day Preview: Not Your Older Brother’s Blue Jackets

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Canucks vs. Blue Jackets Game Day Preview: Not Your Older Brother’s Blue Jackets

Photo credit: Globe and Mail Rick Nash was the face of the Columbus Blue Jackets for nine seasons. So it was a bittersweet moment when the only true superstar the franchise had ever had agreed to waive his no-trade clause to go to the New York Rangers. The Blue Jackets had only made the playoffs once in its not-so-storied history. The Rangers boasted some big names in their lineup and had just made the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2007. It was obvious that Nash wanted to go to a team that had a legitimate chance of,...

Out of Town Notebook: Dead Teams Walking

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Out of Town Notebook: Dead Teams Walking

As we wind down the 2011-12 NHL season, it’s only fitting to take a moment and pay our respects to the “dearly departed” – those teams we know will be golfing in a couple of weeks. Here now is a quick look at each of the teams looking ahead to 2012-13 already,  in reverse order of today’s standings. Columbus Blue Jackets What went wrong: Pretty much everything. James Wisniewski’s 8-game suspension crippled the team out of the gate. Coach Scott Arniel tried switching his team’s approach from an aggressive to conservative style mid-season, but the results were too poor to save...

Out of Town Notebook: They Paid Grabovski What?

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Out of Town Notebook: They Paid Grabovski What?

It seems these days not a day goes by that there isn’t something about the mediocre Toronto Maple Leafs that’s making the headlines.  At first blush, the signing of Mikhail Grabovski to a five year, $27.5 million contract seems rather ludicrous. We’re talking about high-end salary for a streaky scorer that’s never put up 30-goals or 60 points.  But is the contract really that far out of whack? Let’s do this arbitration-style, and look at some comparables. Comparable #1: The 2004 NHL Entry Draft – Part 1 Grabovski was drafted 150th overall by the Montreal Canadiens in the 2004 NHL...

Out of Town Notebook: Picking Contenders out of Deadline Mix

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Out of Town Notebook: Picking Contenders out of Deadline Mix

Let’s get this out of the way first. I’m still not convinced Columbus’ interest in dealing Rick Nash wasn’t a creation of TSN and Sportsnet. The two networks needed a big name to speculate about to drive up ratings for their annual Trade Deadline TV marathons. Sadly for those networks, Nash remains a Blue Jacket at least until the draft, where the hype will be built up all over again. I am giddy with anticipation (and by giddy I mean hitting my head with a shoe to make the idea of 24 hour coverage of “The Rick Nash Trade –...

Out of Town Notebook: It’s Time Hitch Wins the Jack Adams

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Out of Town Notebook: It’s Time Hitch Wins the Jack Adams

Ken Hitchcock has more than 500 wins, a .590 career winning percentange and a Stanley Cup to his credit. But he’s never won the Jack Adams Award for NHL Coach of the Year. With all due respect to the great work John Tortorella, Dan Bylsma, Kevin Dineen and Mike Babcock are doing with their respective teams, Hitchcock should win his first Jack Adams Award this year. The impact he’s had on the St. Louis Blues has been incredible. To illustrate this, let’s take a look at how each of this season’s coaching changes have played out. Ken Hitchcock Pre-hiring: St. Louis...

Out of Town Notebook: Why Things Are Looking Up in Columbus

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Out of Town Notebook: Why Things Are Looking Up in Columbus

If someone you know is in a car crash, the first thing you want to know is how badly hurt they are. The 2011-12 season of the Columbus Blue Jackets has been an epic car crash. But in the grand scheme of things, they’re not too badly hurt. Why? Just like someone struggling with addiction, sometimes you have to hit rock bottom to start your way back to the top. For the Blue Jackets, this year has been rock bottom – and the path to the top is pretty clear. Here’s why the future isn’t all that dark in Columbus:...

Out of Town Notebook: The Fourth Line, Turmoil in Columbus, Struggles in Ottawa and Other Thoughts

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Out of Town Notebook: The Fourth Line, Turmoil in Columbus, Struggles in Ottawa and Other Thoughts

[Every weekend, Canucks Hockey Blog goes out of town as Tom Wakefield posts his thoughts on what’s happening around the NHL.] If you live in a wooden house, and you have someone obsessed with fire over to visit, you don’t give them matches.    If you’re a party planner hosting a VIP party you aren’t inviting the guy who streaks naked when he drinks. If you own a bank, and a known bank robber applies to work as a teller, you don’t give him the job. These are all (terrible) metaphors for why the NHL, in the next round of collective...

Out of Town Notebook: Gretzky vs. Lemieux and Early Rookie Chatter

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Out of Town Notebook: Gretzky vs. Lemieux and Early Rookie Chatter

[Every weekend, Canucks Hockey Blog goes out of town as Tom Wakefield (@tomwakefield88) posts his thoughts on what’s happening around the NHL.] Photo credit: Pesonen and the Pens Growing up in the `80s there were two camps: Wayne Gretzky vs. Mario Lemieux. The Great One vs. Mario “Le Magnifique.” To idolize one was to idolize a “great Canadian” – a small-town Ontario boy who grew up playing on a backyard rink. Wayne? He was humble, hardworking and personified brains over brawn. To idolize the other was, at least in my neighbourhood, almost traitorous. Mario? He was arrogant and aloof. He...

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