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Things That Make You Go Hmmm: Training Camp Edition

Blog / Things That Make You Go Hmmm

Things That Make You Go Hmmm: Training Camp Edition

Arsenio Hall is back on TV with his talk show, so I guess it’s appropriate that we bring back this Arsenio-inspired feature on CHB.  This past weekend, I was at two of the three Vancouver Canucks “Open Scrimmages”.  I’ve put a few thoughts together from my observations in this Training Camp edition of Things That Make You Go Hmmm. Who Will Be Our 6th D-Man? First off, I realize that you can only glean so much from a few low-impact training camp scrimmages.  And as coach John Tortorella has pointed out already, the proof in the pre-season pudding will be...

Canucks Practice Notes

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Canucks Practice Notes

I headed to Canucks practice out at UBC yesterday and there was a lot to get excited about. Certain players looked good, others better, and there were certainly a few standouts. There were a few Canucks skaters that were skating well. In particular it looks like Burrow’s off season ball hockey passion has kept him in stride as he looked comfortable out there. Hansen looked to be skating better than I’ve ever seen him. (and I promise there’s no bias in that statement.) Several Canucks looked to still be getting into stride including toothy grinned Willie Mitchell. He didnt look...

Canucks Links for September 16, 2009

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Canucks Links for September 16, 2009

The topic du jour is the Canucks’ depth on defense. With 10 defensemen on one-way contracts, the competition to be one of the top-6 or even top-8 is fierce. And plus, there’s some Cody Hodgson stuff. Alain Vigneault loves the internal competition. Brad Lukowich may be a victim of the numbers game. With Mathieu Schneider and Christian Ehrhoff, the Canucks added some power to their powerplay. Shane O’Brien wants to make it hard on the Canucks to cut him. It’s pronounced Hod-son; the ‘g’ is silent. Cody Hodgson is back skating with the big boys.

Lack of starpower

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Lack of starpower

When the puck drops tonight in Terrace, neither the Vancouver Canucks nor New York Islanders will dress anything close to an NHL roster. From Elliott Pap (Vancouver Sun): Canuck defensive stalwarts Willie Mitchell and Kevin Bieksa flew to Terrace with the team this morning but won’t dress for the contest. Islanders super rookie John Tavares didn’t make the trip from Saskatoon, where the Isles are holding their camp. Canucks captain Roberto Luongo and the Sedin twins were left at home. So were Ryan Kesler, Alex Burrows and Mikael Samuelsson. Vancouver’s nominal first line tonight will be Kyle Wellwood centring Michael...

Canucks Links for September 14, 2009

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Canucks Links for September 14, 2009

The puck finally drops for some preseason action tonight as our beloved Vancouver Canucks take on the New York Islanders in Terrace, BC. Here are today’s Canucks chatter around the web: It’s Hockey Night in Terrace. Willie wants to go fishing in Terrace; Wellwood doesn’t even know where it is. Terrace is excited at being named Hockeyville. And so they should be. (I just wish CBC was just as excited.) Turns out there’s a great view from Terrace. Again, you can check out Joe Pelletier (Greatest Hockey Legends) for the festivities straight from Terrace. Lots of linkage from the Islanders’...

Thoughts from Day 1 of training camp – part 2

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Thoughts from Day 1 of training camp – part 2

Sorry for having to split this post up, but here are pictures and thoughts from Group 2 from Day 1 of Canucks training camp: Plain and simple, Daren Machesney was outclassed. Mason Raymond was probably the most pleasant surprise of the day. He looked bigger and more confident. He made some nice plays and nice reads, and for the most part, it looked like he’s learned not to hang on to the puck too long. Because there were more veterans in this group, it was more interesting to note the line combinations. Raymond, Ryan Kesler and Mark Parrish were together....

Thoughts from Day 1 of training camp – part 1

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Thoughts from Day 1 of training camp – part 1

My brother and I made the trek from Surrey to UBC this morning to watch the Canucks take part in their first on-ice drills of training camp. After a quick pit stop at McDonalds and Blenz Coffee – breakfast of champions, I know – we got to Thunderbird Arena and settled in with about 100 die-hard Canucks fans. (This was at 9:30 AM; the crowd grew to probably close to 600-700 by the afternoon.) The players were split into two main groups (plus apparently a third one in the smaller ice rink that we didn’t see). Some pictures and thoughts...

Canucks Links for September 13, 2009

Links

Canucks Links for September 13, 2009

Photo credit: canucks.nhl.com I’ll be going to training camp today so keep an eye out on my Twitter feed. In the meantime, here are some Canucks-related links on the Interweb: Joe Pelletier welcomes everyone to Terrace, Hockeyville. Move over Ryan Walter, the new Canucks have Stanley Cup rings too. Vigneault is looking for this season’s Kesler and Burrows. Tony Gallagher doesn’t want four more years of Vigneault. Mark Parrish got giddy when he got the call from the Canucks. Raymond and Wellwood need to watch their back. Taylor Pyatt is starting over in Phoenix.

More about Machesney

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More about Machesney

Photo credit: Japer’s Rink Daren Machesney had an up-and-down year for the Hershey Bears last year. He appeared in more regular season games than any Bears goalie, played for Team Canada in the Spengler Cup, and was then unseated come playoff time by Calder Cup MVP Michal Neuvirth. (I’m sure you Manitobe Moose fans remember Neuvirth’s performance.) More on Machesney from Stack the Pads: Daren played in more games during the regular season than any other goalie on the team. He appeared in 36 games and went 19-12-1. That equates to a 52.8 winning percentage (the same as Neuvirth had...

More about Marco Rosa

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More about Marco Rosa

Photo credit: The 3rd Intermission I admit that I didn’t pay too much attention when the Manitoba Moose signed Marco Rosa back in July. Naturally, I’m a bit more curious now that I see his name on the Canucks’ training camp roster. In reading up on him, a couple of things stuck out: one, that he played some of his best hockey in the postseason; two, that he’s a good locker room guy. Rosa was originally an 8th round draft pick in 2001 by the Dallas Stars. He played his entire NCAA hockey career for Merrimack College before bouncing around...

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