GAME DAY - Pre-season || September 29, 2011 - vs. SJ Sharks

Welcome to the very first blog post I have ever done.  A quick idea of what I have in mind...

This will be a blog of all things hockey, secifically, the Vancouver Canucks.  Just my thoughts and concerns about what I saw in the game and general news surrounding the Canucks.  Any questions? Good.

Let it begin...

Since it's pre-season, let's start with our line-up.  It's going to change for the next little while, but for now, this is just for keeping tabs.

As of 5:22 pm PST, the line ups are...

Higgins-Malhotra-Hansen
Samuelsson-Ebbett-Jensen
Volpatti-Lapierre-Oreskovich
(blank)-Hodgson-Mancari

Hodgson centering a 4th line isn't a great start, but he has been pretty good so far, so I think it's more to give other players ice time rather than trying him out at different positions.  Good to see Manny play again though.  Here's the defence...

Ballard-Tanev <---I like it
Alberts-Sauve
Parent

Schneider in goal

Alberts might be my favorite defenceman on our team right now, strictly because he goes about his business and nobody really has high expectations.  He can lay you out and - compared to last year - is blindingly quick.

Anyways, that's the quick rundown, lets see how they do against the Sharks sans Heatley and Setoguchi.

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You can definitely tell the difference between an NHL roster and a roster of players that are trying to make the team.  Although, both goalies did really well, Greiss looked unbeatable in the first.

Even though this game means absolutely nothing, the fact that the Canucks were pretty well on par with the Sharks big league roster is pretty impressive.  With the kind of line up Canucks iced, my focus was on both Hodgson and Tanev, since they are both likely to start the season.  Volpatti jumped out at times, knocking out two players in one period.  He almost "Jordan TooToo'd" Brad Winchester by knocking him out before the fight even started.  Volpatti deserved the 3rd star, I'd like to see him start the regular season - and stay there.

You can't really blame Schneider for the goals that he let in.  Luongo on the other hand... This feels like the last couple years all over again.  I like Schneider, but Luongo is regarded as one of the best in the world for a reason.  He isn't going anywhere soon, so no point in complaining about it.  The only goal you can fault Schneider for at all is the back hand from McGinn on a sharp angle.  That's a big MAYBE though.

The one reassuring thing about this though is Malhotra has returned to being the face-off king that he was before the whole eye incident.  That, and Ballard is throwing hip checks, a lot of them.  He did have to throw down because of it, but he won't have to in the future because that's what Volpatti is for!

Final score : Sharks 3 - Canucks 0