The Canucks are now 8-2 in their last 10 games, which would officially be considered on a roll. The question though, is what is the main reason for this sudden turn for the better?
Schneider has been starting recently, taking advantage of Luongo's mysterious "upper body injury", and now he has played himself into a full time gig. At the same time, All the slumbering Canucks, (Kesler, Burrows, Booth) have turned it on as well, scoring at a pace more towards expectations. So is it Schneider's emergence of dominance that sparked this team? Forcing players to step it up in front of him? Or is it the rise of our two-way players that is making defensive life on Schneider much easier? As well as putting the puck in at the other end?
Everything just seemed to all come together at the same time, which is exactly what happened last year to this team. After a mediocre start, the end of November sparked an historic run of 17-1-2. This year seems to be trending towards the same result. Kesler is looking more like himself of last season, with 7 points in 5 games. While newcomer David Booth is showing flashes of his past 30 goal campaign, with 2 goals in his last 3 games.
Standings as of November, 29, 2011
So which came first? The chicken or the egg? The dominant goalkeeping from an unlikely source? Or everybody playing well as a collective unit at both ends of the ice? Or does it even matter? Some people are just happy that Vancouver is within 1 win of first place in the Western Conference, no matter the reason for it. Schneider is a big reason for this sudden surge of offense, giving the forwards the confidence to cheat just a little bit. But it's more likely the players just working the bugs out. Whether it's adjusting to a new team and new city, or shaking off the cobwebs after a long recovery from injury.
A win is a win, and they all look the same on paper.
My congratulations to Cory Schneider, getting his 3rd straight win and putting up numbers that would make Tim Thomas' stat line look pitiful in comparison. Schneider is making it pretty well impossible to get a puck past him, yet the Canucks need to bench him. Here's why.
Schneider's salary this season: $900,000(restricted free agent next season)
Luongo's salary this season: $6,716,000(he's here for a while)
This season's goalie situation is looking quite similar to Boston's a couple years ago, when Tuuka Rask took the number 1 spot away from Thomas, but then Timmy T earned back his rightful spot and put up record breaking numbers. Is that what the Canucks are hoping for this year? I don't think so. I don't think they're willing to have Luongo sit on the bench the majority of the season. As good as Schneider is playing, he is the back up and should be, as long as we have Luongo on the same roster. Roberto is the type of goalie that you can put into a situation cold, and expect him to perform. He needs to play, and play lots. Remember him in the middle of last season? Remember that run of 17-1-2 the Canucks went on exactly 365 days ago? That wasn't out of no where, that was a giant snowball effect. Luongo got some momentum behind him and basically bulldozed his way into super human territory. That's the Luongo we need right now.
Here's some situations:
1. We keep Luongo and Schneider, play them 50/50 and then hope for some trade offers on Schneider by the trade deadline (maybe a first round pick or a top-6 forward).
2. We keep them both again, but play Luongo about 60-70% like a regular number 1 goalie would play. Still hope for some attractive trade offers for Schneider.
3. Schneider stays as number 1 for this season and hope he can get us deep into the playoffs. Luongo will have to earn his spot back. Hopefully re-sign Schneider at the end of the season.
4. This is the most unrealistic scenario: We play the hell out of Schneider, snubbing Luongo of any credit and playing time. Try to force him to waive his no-trade clause so we can trade him, keeping Schneider as our new number 1.
I don't see any way that the Canucks are going to be able to keep both goaltenders starting next season. The longest I see us keeping Schneider is after the playoffs. Then Vancouver could go the Kyle Turris route, and re-sign him then trade him after showcasing his skill. There is no way that Schneider is going to want to be a back up for much longer. You don't think he isn't loving this opportunity he's getting right now? This minor Luongo injury is probably the best thing that's happened to his career. Now that he's had a taste for it, he's going to want to be a number 1 goalie. You don't go to an all you can eat rib buffet, just to have a single mouthwatering hickory rib and then sit there and watch everyone else eat...
I'd love to see us keep Schneider and get rid of Luongo, I believe - and always have - that you can win a Stanley Cup with a good goalie and heavy firepower. My dream scenario would be to trade Luongo, re-sign Scneider for anywhere between $3-5M (remember, Niemi signed a new contract after winning the Stanley Cup that had a cap hit of $3.8M). Then use the extra money that we saved from Luongo's contract to get a top-6 forward. There would have to be a lot of things to go right (or terribly wrong) for that to happen, but it'd be interesting.
What's your dream scenario? Let me know what you think the Canucks should do or are going to do in the comment section. (I read them all and really appreciate it)
Some say that there are no easy wins in the NHL, you have to battle in every game and fight for every loose puck. Most of the time, that's true, against Colorado...not so much.
Last nights game against the Colorado Avalanche could have been the easiest win I've ever seen. It was exactly what they Canucks needed to jump start their season (it happened at this exact time last year), and it couldn't have come against an easier opponent. I grew up watching Joe Sakic, Adam Deadmarsh, Peter Forsberg, Patrick Roy, all those guys. You did not want to play the Avalanche because they were a force, similar to what the Canucks were like last year. The only team to really give Colorado a run for their money was Detroit, because, well, it's Detroit.
Jump ahead 10 years, now you look forward to playing them because it's like having a light practice and coming away with 2 points. The only good thing about Colorado right now, is really their power play and their goaltending (kinda). An example of how bad they were. After it happening quite a few times, I noticed that the Avalanche were turning the puck over quite a bit. At first I thought it was because of the forecheck of the Canucks, but I thought wrong. Colorado would get one pass in, from D man to D man, then as soon as they entered the neutral zone, they would just blindly throw it up the boards, and it would be intercepted. Or they would try a lead pass, but it would be 4 feet ahead of the intended target. I couldn't believe how terrible they were. They went a full 5 minutes in the second period, not completing one pass, and it wasn't due to relentless pressure from Vancouver either. It was just pure and utter awfulness.
Take a look at Kesler's 3-0 goal. What was Hunwick thinking? Sure, the guy he's passing to should have been looking, but he wasn't looking for a while. This is just a quick example of what happened all game long.
Now, I say all this to put some perspective on the coming up games this weekend. This game could have been won by almost any team in the league right now. The Canucks didn't play particularly well, but they didn't have to. Hopefully, it gives them some confidence and momentum going into this weekend because when it comes to San Jose, they will actually complete a couple passes.
Sure, Cory Schneider beat the Senators. The Canucks, however, didn't.
As a team, Vancouver has probably been outplayed in 75% of their games so far. The fact that the Canucks are sitting only 6 points out of first in the west (who is Minnesota, by the way), is almost a miracle. Too many times have the Canucks been out worked and beaten to the puck. They know this too, it's not like they think everything is going well, and they're playing to the best of their ability, they know that they need to play better. They know, that if they do, they would have only a handful of losses this season...maybe not even that many. Take the Ottawa game for example, the Senators outplayed us almost the entire game. There was the odd Sedin shift where it would be about 3 minutes of pure domination, but that's only two of the five players on the ice. It's hard to win all the time when you have two forwards and a goalie playing and the rest watching.
When Crosby first had the press conference at the beginning of the season, and all the doctors and staff came out and explained what was what, they made a good point. Crosby is like a Ferrari, so his 75% might be better than other players 100%, because he is that good. That's kind of how I see the Canucks. Right now, they aren't playing to their full potential and they still have a winning record. Imagine, if they played like they did in mid-January.
Brooklyn Decker
Part of it is injuries - Kesler coming back, Raymond is out, Manny isn't quite right yet - but I think the main reason for their lackluster start to the season is desire. They just came off one of the top two most exciting seasons in franchise history, now they have to come back and try to match that? It's like going from being with Brooklyn Decker with no strings attached, to being on a deserted island with nothing but Good Housekeeping magazines. It's hard to keep your energy and spirits up when you know that it's damn near impossible to replicate near perfection. That's what separates good teams from great teams, and great teams from storied franchises.
Look at the Detroit Red Wings, what they have been able to do over the last 10 years is nothing short of amazing. It's because they have the desire year after year, to compete to be the best in the league every season. It starts from the top, all the way down to the Zamboni driver. Now, I'm not saying that Vancouver is lacking passion - the Canucks are probably one of the more passionate franchises in the league - it's just they don't have the drive and desire at this point, to sacrifice what is needed to be dominant. That's all.
Oh what a difference 10 days makes. From going into Chicago and spanking them, to having them come into Vancouver and return the favor.
The first period was nice, we scored first, Sedin to Sedin to Hansen with the easy tap in goal. That's what we like to see. Then the second half of the second period comes along and just saps all the life out of the Canucks. They were flat, they almost seemed content just keeping pace with them. There was the odd break here and there, but nothing really substantial. I think the turning point - or the counter turning point - was the short handed breakaway that Hansen had. Unfortunately, Crawford stretched out to make a nice save with the right pad. You get the feeling that if that was Burrows instead of Hansen, he would have been able to get that puck up and tuck it underneath the bar. Regardless, it was a nice save on Crawford's part.
Vince was happy about the Hawks game, I'm sure
The third period just seemed to unravel. Hossa pretty well dismantled the entire team, single handedly. You saw his speed when he smoked Edler to the loose puck, which eventually set up Toews. His vision when he did a nice little spin-back pass to Montador, who scored on a shot that Schneider probably should have had.
The biggest part about this loss that bugs me, is the fact that there was no passion. There was zero emotion in this game, until Kesler got hit in the face off the face-off. He felt like there was a missed call, so he went on a mini rampage, taking out Leddy with a clean bodycheck. That was about 12-minutes into the third period. That kind of emotion needs to be gushing out of everybody from the second the puck is dropped on the opening face-off. This is your biggest rival you're talking about! You're going to let Steve Montador walk in and slap it in the back of the net? You see what happened when one of the Sedin's went up to Corey Crawford for a rebound and gave him a little jab? Three Blackhawks came to his aid, and all three of them smothered Sedin. There was none of that from the Canucks this game.
Chicago played like they were defending their sister's honor. Vancouver played like they were the little sister. It was actually brought up when I was watching the game, it's times like this where you miss Raffi Torres. Somebody who goes out, smashes a couple people, swings the momentum over by getting the crowd into it a bit. When we were down 2-1, I thought that we would have seen a lot of the Sedin's and Kesler (which there was). When we got down 3-1, I thought there would have been more Volpatti and Lapierre (which there was not).
On a side note, Kesler is due. I'm not convinced everybody is playing at 100% right now. Either mentally or physically, there is something a little off. I know the Sedin's are near the top in scoring, but what about Kesler? What about Booth? These guys should be generating offense on a consistent basis, but instead, we only see flashes.
I'm not saying that the Canucks don't care, because players don't get to the NHL with this kind of success by not caring. I am saying though, that they need to let everybody know they care a little more. Get angry, throw big hits. You'll be surprised how well you forecheck when your pissed off at somebody.
Most teams in the NHL have their rivalries. In some cases, it's because of proximity, like the Battle of Alberta with Calgary and Edmonton. Other cases involve years of historic battles like Boston and Montreal, or any of the original six teams, really. So how come fans get so amped up when the Canucks play the Blackhawks?
It's becoming 'can't miss hockey', because you know there is deep-rooted bad blood between these two teams. But why?
It all started back in 2008-09. Vancouver rolled over the Blues in the first round, winning the first four games. While the Flames took Chicago to 6 games before the Blackhawks finally put them away. Then it began. The date: April, 30th, 2009. It was a day like every other day, but what people didn't realize, was this was the day one of the most hatred-fueled rivalries was spawned.
The Blackhawks eliminated the Canucks from the playoffs in 6 games. The following year, almost like de-ja-vu, Chicago beat Vancouver in 6 games in the second round. The only thing that helped with the sting of the loss was that Chicago ended up winning the Stanley Cup that year, so nobody was better than the Blackhawks.
Just last season, the Canucks come off of a franchise year. Setting records in almost every statistical category imaginable. The goalies were tops in the league, special teams were pretty well unstoppable/impenetrable. Finished the season with a franchise record 54 wins and 117 points. Things were going well, to say the least. Meanwhile, Chicago barely scraped into the playoffs. The only reason they even made it in was because Dallas couldn't win when it mattered most. If Dallas won their final game, they would have been in, stealing the final playoff spot from Chicago. Regardless though, it worked out for the better.
Again, the Canucks were meeting Chicago in the playoffs. Only this time, Vancouver was expected to just flatten the Blackhawks. Boy, were we wrong. Canucks win the first three, Blackhawks win the next three (in very convincing fashion), then it all lead up to Burrows becoming the home-town hero with his phenominal overtime, game 7 goal. That series almost numbed everybody for the rest of the playoffs, because nothing, NOTHING, is more exciting than that playoff series. Everything that led up to it, the roller coaster of emotions, the controversial hits, the scrums after the whistle...literally, everything. That was the last time I remember hugging another man that wasn't my father. Just watch, if this doesn't give you chills, then you're dead inside.
Which leads us to now, Vancouver and Chicago. Kesler vs Toews. Kane vs cab drivers. After three meetings in the amplified playoff atmosphere, these teams have gotten to know one another quite well. Which brings me back to the original point, why is it the best rivalry in the league?
Not only do these two teams legitimately hate each other, but both of them are consistently great teams. They are both near the top of the conference, if not the league. They are both cup contenders, and will be for the next few years. With both teams locking up a lot of their players long term, it compounds the animosity when the same players are facing each other all the time.
Vancouver fans have the pleasure of making the signs with the exhausted looking Vince Vaughn, while Chicago fans can try to drown out a 747 jet in the "Madhouse". Either way, it's a great rivalry, but more importantly, it's even better hockey.
My prediction for tonight: Vancouver kicked Chicago's ass last game, but I can't see that happening two times in a row. I still think the Canucks will win, but Chicago will put up a fight. Schneider is in net for the Nucks, but there is no reason to believe that he is going to get shelled. Final score: Vancouver 4, Chicago 3.
Aaron Rome is continuing his surprising point streak, and in convincing fashion. He isn't just piling on assists, he's getting goals too. Before this season, Rome had 2 goals and 10 assists in 131 career NHL games. This season, in just 4 games since returning from injury, he has 3 goals and 2 assists. Rome has a better points per game average than Daniel Sedin right now, and finishes tied for 5th in the league in that category. Now, we can't expect him to keep up this pace, because remember, he IS a defenceman. Although, there isn't really any reason he can't keep up his goal scoring ways. All his goals so far have been very on purpose. They aren't just shots from the point that find their way in, they are goals you score from being aggressive and being in the right place at the right time. I guess this could be the reason why Vigneault played him over Ballard last year, but who knows.
As for the tilt against the Islanders, that was almost a perfect game. There weren't any brain lapses, just the odd break out or two by New York. Usually led by the first line, which is to be expected with the kind of talent and speed they have up front. Luongo was borderline unbeatable, which is hard to do in a game like this because of the extended stretches of not seeing any action. His best save would have to be the glove save off Grabner, after a quick little give and go, Lou robs him with the glove.
Aside from Rome taking over the water cooler talk, the Canucks played a solid, two-way game. They were responsible in their own end, didn't take any penalties, at all. There wasn't any terrible giveaways, although in the first period, there was a lot of back-and-forth in the neutral zone. Nobody seemed to be able to get anything done.
Hodgson had an excellent game, you noticed him for all the right reasons and not just because he scored. It was a promising game and a win that they deserved. Vancouver should have won that game, and they did. That's how it's going to have to be if they want to finish atop the standings again. They need to win all the games they should, and then most of the games they shouldn't. But if Rome wants to play like this all year, there shouldn't be any reason why the Canucks can't finish first again.
As quickly as the Canucks loved the 5 minute man advantage, they learned to hate it just as fast. What gave them a huge lead against Chicago, killed them in the same fashion. Rome took a 5-minute major and a game misconduct for his elbow - which didn't seem to deem 5 minutes, but hey - and that was the beginning of the end for Vancouver, or was it? (DUN-DUN-DUUHHHHH)
It just wasn't the back ends night, I guess. It's supposed to be Vancouver's strong suit, mobile defensemen moving the puck efficiently and quickly out of our zone and through the neutral zone. The big glaring mistake that seemed to get the ball rolling was the Hamhuis give away to Cogliano, who one-touched it to Koivu and picked top corner.
After the scoreless first period, I don't think there were very many people guessing that the next two periods would end up like they did. Ducks just dominated the Canucks, combining giveaways and some lucky breaks - and tons of fire power - to score four in the second frame. You see the score, and immediately think that it was a goaltender breakdown, yet Luongo played pretty well. You couldn't really blame him for those goals, although I didn't like the Holland goal, beating Luongo over the glove-side shoulder. Other than that, they were just good goals.
So, the third period starts, Schneider starts in net, and the Canucks take to the ice for the first time in this game. Vancouver decided that they wanted to give their hometown fans - in Anaheim - something worth cheering about. It started with the too-many-men call against the Ducks, when Bieksa capitalized on it with a point shot. I think it tipped off Hodgson's stick, but I don't think anybody really cares. Hansen was next, trying to tell Coach V that it was a mistake taking him off the Sedin line. His first goal was a perfect deflection in front, tipping it through the wickets of Hiller. Hansen's second was just pure hard work, scooping up the rebound and swinging it past Hiller as he was falling to the ice. Now the travelling band of Canuck fans had something to cheer about.
One minute left, Schneider on the bench after only facing 2 shots in the entire period, 6-on-4 after a careless and dangerous slashing penalty on Perry (which should be reviewed in my opinion) and the Canucks are scaring the crap out of the Ducks. Chance after chance, Anaheim didn't have any idea what to do, they were just clogging the middle hoping to block the shots. Kesler had the best chance with about 30 seconds left, tried to beat Hiller backhand, but Hiller stretches out and stops it with the cheater on his glove. One more chance, the Canucks work it around the outside, back to Edler, who tries a one touch pass...and he missed it. The puck slides all the way down to the end, with only enough time for Salo to get a howitzer off from centre. That shot didn't get enough credit by the way. He unleashed all hell into that shot, just think about that from the blue line.
I'm sure the Ducks will take that win and move on, but it can't feel like a win for them after the slaughtering they took in the third. Then again, they did the exact same to Vancouver in the second period, so they did deserve it. The lone reason they won that game, Hiller. If he didn't stop Kesler at the end there, it would have gone to OT, and with the momentum wave that the Canucks were cruising on, there was no stopping them. It was a good finish to a terrible game.
P.S. That slash by Perry on Sedin needs looking into. Perry broke his stick on Sedin's wrist. Looked like a frustration move on his part.
They looked angry, frustrated, plain ol' pissed off.
The Canucks dominated the first period, which led to a coasting of the second and third. The first period should be used video evidence on how to play hockey in the future. Our powerplay was efficient to the point of astonishment. The way the puck was moved - not only around the outside, but through the defense in the middle - was amazing. It all started with the elbowing penalty they took with Trevor Lewis caught Bieksa in the face - Bieksa ended up missing quite a bit of the period getting stitches. From then on, the Kings frustration shone through, especially when Doughty decided to assault Kesler in front. As that was happening, I was wondering what he was thinking. Doughty got a couple punches to the back of Kesler's head, then a couple crosschecks, then looked back to ref as if he was testing him. Finally, one last monster crosscheck and that was enough. Everything Doughty did in that sequence was a penalty, and then when he finally got one, he seemed dumbfounded that he was in the penalty box.
Salo played his first game back since taking some time off to let his tender groin heal (yes I know what I just said, and we will all be adults about this and move along...). The calming presence of Salo was one thing that our powerplay was missing. His goal was a textbook, defenseman goal. Head up, moving forward into the slot, waits for the screen to be in place, then wires it in far side. The scary thing about that show though, is that he didn't hammer it. That was almost a half swing, which makes me scared for the people who are going to block his shots in the future, because if he really steps behind one, you might die. Literally, die.
After the first period, it seemed like the Canucks were putting it on cruise control just a little bit. Didn't have the same type of domination as the first, but still very much in control of the game. I almost got the feeling that if the Canucks went up 4-1, that the Kings would start playing dirty. L.A. looked so frustrated in the first period and it carried over into the second and if the Canucks put the game out of reach, that would have been enough to make them snap.
The third period, the Kings came to play. Luongo was good all night, but the third was when he had to make some of the more unusual saves he will have to ever make. My favorite, was when Bieksa got pushed down into the crease, and at some point during Luongo scrambling, Lou ended up on top of Bieksa and still made the save. The was the most scrambling I've seen Luongo do, but it wasn't the kind of flopping around that he does in October's. It's the kind that he does in January and February, where it seems like you can't get anything past him.
This was a great start to a back-to-back situation. Vancouver did what they were so good at doing last year - causing frustration. Playing keep away on the powerplay like you do when you play basketball against a younger sibling. Scoring almost at will, like every goal they scored, they knew it was going in. Nobody seems surprised when they score now, it's almost like an acknowledgement that their process was complete, rather than a celebration of an unexpected goal.
Nucks vs. Ducks tonight! Anaheim has one of the scariest first lines I can think of, in terms of size and skill, but Vancouver always seems to handle it, so we will see. My prediction for the score: 4-2 Canucks, with an empty netter at the end.
Raymond being helped off after his injury during the Stanley Cup Finals
The Canucks aren't playing at 100% right now. Both, figuratively and literally. The only reason that Hodgson really has a roster spot at this point, is because of Mason Raymonds broken back. Now, Raymond is set to come back this season (hopefully), which would force Hodgson, essentially, out of a job. Hodgson plays on the wing with Kesler instead of the injured Raymond, alongside Higgins or Booth.
Also, Burrows is out with back spasms, but I can't imagine that being anything more than a couple weeks of slow rehab. So, you have either Booth or Hansen - or anybody for that matter - moving up with the twins. Kesler centering Hodgson and Higgins/Booth, then the third and fourth lines are pretty set. What happens when Burrows and Raymond come back?
Hodgson is a top 6 forward, that's his game. He can't grind like Weise, or skate like Lapierre, but he's got the vision and the hockey-smarts to play in a top 6 role. One option is to have him stay as a wing on the second line, and slowly work Raymond in on the third, but then what happens when Raymond is ready to go? His speed is too much to pass up on.
Another option is to put Hodgson in the centre spot, intermittently, with Malhotra. Manny hasn't been playing like himself ever since coming off the eye surgeries. You have to give Malhotra some slack though because of what he's been through, but how long do you let it go that he has been under-performing?
Another idea is to just trade Hodgson. He has had a decent start to the season, I think he has showcased his skill and his potential enough that other GM's out there have an idea of what he can do - 3 G, 4 A in 15 games. He was a top-10 draft pick, and being a centreman, teams are always willing to move somebody on their roster for a quality, young pivot.
If you have any other ideas, please share. If the Canucks are going to be serious contenders again, then every position on every line has to be as strong as you can make it. Who would you choose to have on the second line: Hodgson or Raymond?
In what is turning into one of the better rivalries, if not the best, in today's NHL, Chicago and Vancouver failed to disappoint. Tonight's game was fast paced, hard fought and didn't lack the scoring, as usual. The game had pretty well everything you could ask for: fighting, goals, big hits, hatred (lots of hatred). The look on Bolland's face after he gets into scrums makes me smile. He has this cranky scowl on his ugly mug, only matched by Brent Sopel's regular face.
The big story in this game, the deciding factor, was Vancouver's power play. Wow. The Canucks go 5-for-6, Booth gets his first goal of the season on it (you could see the relief on his face after he scored). Rome gets one, everybody basically pitched in on the man advantage. The Sedin's were working their twin-magic like they usually do, while Hodgson had a decent night as well. One thing I noticed was that it wasn't our third and fourth lines doing all the heavy lifting. They contributed, but they weren't forced to carry the team across the finish line. Volpatti sparked the team when he tango'd with Dan Carcillo, while the entire fourth line just fore checked the hell out of Chicago.
Now, Luongo did let in that stinker of a goal from Frolik. I mean, that was a terrible, terrible goal to let in. Micheal Frolik came over the blue line along the boards and just kind of flicked it on net, and it somehow found its way through Lou's pads. The first thing I thought was that he was going to be rattled, but I guess it no longer being October actually means something. Luongo was good, he was very good actually. Especially at the end of the second, where he made a splendiferous glove save as the clock was winding down. The refs actually decided to put 1.3 seconds up on the clock after that save forced the puck over the glass. Usually, that's a waste of time, but in this case, nuh uh. Bieksa and Jamal Mayers decided to go at it with the extra time added. It wasn't a pre-planned fight either, it was a hate fueled bout, with Bieksa coming out with the win (according to hockeyfights.com).
All in all, this was a game that needed to happen. Vancouver played to their potential. They looked like themselves of yesteryear, with the power play going almost 100%, and everybody did their part to a T. Except, Luongo did let in that stinker, but he is semi-forgiven for it because he stood on his head after that.
My favorite part, how quiet it got in the "Madhouse" after the Canucks scored a few. I love hearing crickets in that place.
Canuck fans know that we should be blowing all of these teams out, we know that Vancouver isn't playing close to their potential. When they do, it's a blow out. Look at the Calgary game. We played probably, 90% of what we could, maybe less. It wasn't even close. That's what we, as fans, are used to seeing.
So when we watch games like this one, against the Blues, where we know that we can be playing better - it hurts us. Especially coming off of the teams self-proclaimed "worst game they've ever played". Although, the Canucks are a special team right now, we have some of the most potent offensive tandems - not flashy necessarily, but potent - and we have maybe the best goalie pairing in the league. Although, for the latter point, sometimes it doesn't seem that way, but in reality, we do. St. Louis are one of those bubble teams for making the play offs, yet we can't seem to figure them out right this season. Vancouver can't seem to figure out themselves at this point.
Yes, this game was a fast paced one, I barely noticed the whistles it went by so quickly. You can't really pin it on Luongo, because he did his part. It was the team as a collective whole, everybody just wasn't clicking. Too many people are trying to make things happen by themselves rather than doing what they did so well last year, which was a 5-man unit moving up the ice like a tidal wave. Teams couldn't stop them. The Canucks was the best team in the league last year when it came to the quick transition game. It was so efficient and flawless that, when you see them struggle to do it now, you wonder how anybody does it...ever.
The only real positive thing to being a Canucks fan right now - and in that case, Bruins fans too - is that you know that you are going to play better. The team is so good that it is almost physically impossible not to play better than they are now, on a consistent basis. Bruins fans though, not so much, you guys just bullied your way into a championship. We all know that if the...ANYWAY, I digress.
Vancouver will find it's groove. They will dominate the league, maybe not like last season, but they will finish on top again. Vancouver will be one of those teams that other teams don't want to play because it would be like playing a machine on auto-pilot. There is no stopping it. However, that's just not happening right now, which is the frustrating part. You know, as fans. I'm sure the Canucks have their own problems to deal with.
Well that certainly wasn't the same Minnesota Wild team we played last time. Rather than trying to bore us into submission, they came out guns a blazing. Now they weren't exactly flashy guns, but they did beat us handily. It seemed like the Canucks were expecting the same team that they played back on October 22. Canucks scored first, which is a positive, but that was about the only good thing to come out of this game. Oh, that, and Corey Schneider standing on his head, more on that in a bit.
Vancouver looked alright in the first five minutes of the first period, and then all of the sudden, they just turned themselves off. The forwards couldn't get through the neutral zone cleanly, the defense was cracking under pressure from the Wild fore check. The team that we witnessed for the previous two games was but a mere glimmer in the past. The second period alone was probably the worst period of hockey every played by the Canucks - this season at least.
Enough of the bad though. You could try and take positives out of that game, but the reality is, every skater was practically invisible. The only sustained pressure of any sort came from the fourth line (again), while the defense pinched in well? I don't know, take from it what you will, it was bad. OK! Enough!
On to the good stuff. The lone shining star in this game was Corey Schneider. Despite letting in 5 goals, he did have 40 saves. Heatley alone had more scoring chances than all of the Vancouver team combined, and he stopped them all. The one game that Schneider really shows up for - and I mean REALLY shows up to play - and the team in front of him thought it'd be a good idea to try and let him do it himself. If it wasn't for Schneid's, it would have been easily 10-1. I know I've said this before, but every time Schneider plays, he makes a very strong case for him being a number 1 goalie. John Garrett commented on Corey's play, while somehow subtly trashing Luongo all at the same time. He said (after Schneider made the save off his shoulder that deflected off the crossbar), "That's the advantage of coming across with your shoulders up and square". Oh, Mr. Garrett...
Near the end, you could tell the Canucks had enough. They must have just been out of gas, because they didn't care to take the game into their hands, just the frustration came peeking through. Minnesota's Cal Clutterbuck (dangerous name to say while enjoying one too many adult beverages) had been running around all game, as he is known to do - he even took a shot at the linesman. So, with about 5 minutes left in the third, Ballard decided it was enough. Clutterbuck went in for a check on Ballard, head on. Ballard see's him coming and ducks under him, almost like a hip check, but in a defensive fashion. It was a bit of a dirty trick, reminded me of what Brad Marchand did in the playoffs - that dirty rat. Anyway, that hit by Ballard, to me, summed the mood of the game up. It seemed like they knew they were beat, they knew from the very beginning, and all they could do was get their shots in while they could.
You'd never expect that from a Minnesota team that tries to play possum for as long as possible, to score 5 goals on any given night, but stranger things have happened.
Vancouver can try and redeem themselves Friday evening/afternoon, when they go visit St. Louis to try and claim some revenge. Look for Kesler to step his game up, I predict that he will go into beast mode like he did against Nashville in the playoffs, and carry the Canucks on his shoulders across the finish line.
That's a little better. Almost like clockwork, the Canucks seem to have worked their way out of the October funk, and right back into mid-season form. With twelve goals in the last two games, they are boosting their dismal plus/minus numbers, as well as closing in on the point gap left by Ehrhoff. Alex Edler has 6 points in two games, while Vancouver's obvious leading goal scorer - ahem, Chris Higgins - continues his hot streak.
It just seemed to be Vancouver's night tonight. Most of the passes had eyes, like Hodgson's goal from Lapierre and Daniel's goal from Hank. There is no way that Lapierre's blind centering pass should have made it to Hodgson (see video), but it did, because it was just one of those nights. The Sedin's connected (again), which pretty well put the game away. Burrows' goal from his rear-end was just pure, old fashioned hard work. That's exactly what he needs to be doing when he plays with the Sedin's. You can't match the twins for skill, all you have to do is sit in front of the net and swing your stick wildly, hoping you connect with the puck. And of course, Edler. Ahhh, Eddie, what would we do without you? Alex Edler continues to tear up the score sheet, this time with a couple assists and a goal. The latter coming from a wrist shot from the point, bouncing and deflecting it's way past Kipper.
Burrows doing his best Tomas Holmstrom impression
Then we get to Luongo. Always a hot topic in this fair city of ours. Actually, he played really well. Looked sharp, never seemed to lose sight of the puck. The only thing was, he let in one of his famous last minute goals. How many times last year did he have a shutout going, then with less than a minute to go, he lets one in. I'm sure he would have been leading the league in shutouts last season if it wasn't for the 5 or 6 goals that snuck past him with 30 seconds left. Either way, shutout or no shutout, he played really well. He stopped more pucks than the other goalie (isn't that the real goal?), and showed more confidence than he has in the games earlier this season.
One final thing, notice when Booth had his stick slashed right out of his hands. Instead of throwing his hands up in the air and looking at the ref's, he just thought nothing of it, and played the puck with his feet. I've said this before, that it seems like the Canucks - mainly Kesler - have been looking for calls more often than not. Why not just play the puck? This kind of goes hand-in-hand with what Don Cherry recently said. That the Canucks can be seen as whiners sometimes. I don't think were whiners, but I also don't think that throwing your arms up in the air and giving the ref's puppy eyes helps with that image either.
Anyways, Vancouver is looking a whole lot better than what their record shows. Yes their last two games have been really good, but their record is far from it. If they keep this kind of record throughout the season, they probably won't make the playoffs. Now, that won't happen, but I'm just saying. October is over, November is here, let's start winning some hockey games.
Schneider has been starting recently, taking advantage of Luongo's mysterious "upper body injury", and now he has played himself into a full time gig. At the same time, All the slumbering Canucks, (Kesler, Burrows, Booth) have turned it on as well, scoring at a pace more towards expectations. So is it Schneider's emergence of dominance that sparked this team? Forcing players to step it up in front of him? Or is it the rise of our two-way players that is making defensive life on Schneider much easier? As well as putting the puck in at the other end?
