Ah... Maybe its because I haven't used the blog in forever. Or maybe its because the canucks look like they dont have Any Heart out there.
What A disappointment, 7 Straight, and 8 straight at Home losses. GM Place is No longer feared, Any team can waltz in and blow out the canucks. Just like the lowest scoring team in the League did last night. Sigh... I just cant watch this team any more. They have the star power. Roberto Luongo, The Sedin Twins, Newly acquired signing Mats Sundin. But why cant we do anything?
Defense? No I dont think it is entirely this, I mean, our D-men for years have been praised as one of the best in the business, but we just keep letting too much slide. Such a shame.
Offense? Partly. We cant score, why not, I have no clue.
Coaching? NEVER. AV is doing the best, its just the team is weak, and Rusty. Dont blame the coaches. As someone told me, though, if the canucks loose saturday, AV is in the boiling water, strictly because its Business.
Mats Sundin? The Honeymoon is Over Mats, we are not going to lie, you havent been worth the money we spent on you. 1-5-2 while you've been here? I dunno you tell me whats going on.
Whats going on here?! Its Crazy. It sucks. We need some jolt. Some spark. Something to help them get a freaking win. Gosh.
Anyways,
Keep Rattling The Boards!
Jessander
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Canucks Week!!
Well this week is Canucks week on The NHL Arena and Todays post is about canucks History.
I will post here what i posted there.
History Bites:
1970 - Vancouver's hockey roots go deep, one of the strongest teams in the old Pacific Coast Hockey Association was the Vancouver Millionaires who the Stanley Cup in 1915, and lost in the finals to the NHL Champions 4 other times before the PCHA disbanded. With the NHL's westward expansion it was inevitable that Vancouver would get a team. After failing to land one of the first expansion slots in 1967, Vancouver was awarded an NHL team in 1970. The Canucks would play their first game on October 9th losing to the Los Angeles Kings at the Pacific Coliseum 3-1 in a National Televised game. The Canucks would beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 2 nights later for their first win. The Canucks would go on to finish their first season which they played in the Eastern Division by finishing in 6th place with a typical expansion like record of 24-46-8.
1982 - sitting in 2nd place in the Smythe Division they were heading for their 4th straight playoff appearance, when their season took a strange turn on March 20th. Facing the Quebec Nordiques on the road Canucks Coach Harry Neale gets involved in an ugly brawl with Nordiques fans behind the bench. The NHL would suspend Neale for the playoffs forcing assistant Coach Roger Neilson to take over. Under Neilson the Canucks would suddenly play their best hockey of the season as they swept the Calgary Flames in 3 straight for their first ever playoffs series victory. In the Smythe Division Finals the Canucks would stay hot as they beat the Los Angeles Kings in 5 games to reach the Campbell Conference Finals. The Canucks magic rider under Roger Neilson would continue as they knocked off the Chicago Black Hawks in 5 games. Facing the 2-time defending Champion New York Islanders the Canucks had a chance to steal Game 1 on the road, as they went into overtime tied at 5. However, just a little over a minute into overtime the clock struck midnight on the Canucks Cinderella season, as Mike Bossy scored to give the Islanders a 6-5 win. The Islanders would go on to sweep the series in 4 games to win their third straight Stanley Cup.
Also 1982 - The tradition of "Towel Power" was started by the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League (NHL). During the 1982 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Canucks were playing the Chicago Black Hawks when Vancouver coach Roger Neilson, fed up with the performance of the officials in the game, placed a white towel on the end of a hockey stick and held it up in mock of Surrender (white flag).The Canucks players sitting on the bench followed suit, placing towels on the ends of their sticks until the bench resembled a laundry line. Although the Canucks lost that game 4–1, Neilson's actions inadvertently began quite a trend as, when the teams returned to Vancouver for the next game, many fans brought white towels to the game and began waving them above their heads. Referred to as Towel Power, this sparked the Canucks to win the next three games and the series, taking them to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in franchise history, which they eventually lost to the New York Islanders.
Red and blue towels, waved by fans of the Calgary Flames and Toronto Maple Leafs respectively, followed the Towel Power trend. For the playoffs, fans of the Anaheim Ducks also wave "Fowl Towels". Now, towels are used by nearly every NHL team during the playoffs to create a sea of waving towels.
This tradition has since spread to other sports, and around the world.
1988 - Canucks draft Franchise Player: Trevor Linden
1994 - Amidst the cloud of Petr Nedved's season long holdout the Canucks would play mediocre hockey all season. Eventually Nedved would be traded to the St. Louis Blues for Jeff Brown, Martin Gellinas, and Nathan LaFayette at the trade deadline. The Canucks would enter the playoffs as the 7th seed in the Western Conference after finishing 2nd in the newly rechristened Pacific Division with a record of 41-40-43. The Canucks appeared to be heading for another quick exit as they fell behind the Calgary Flames 3 games to 1. However, the Canucks would make a stunning comeback winning the next 3 games in overtime on goals by Geoff Courtnall, Trevor Linden, and Pavel Bure to extinguish the Flames in 7 games. Buoyed by 3 straight overtime wins the Canucks cruised past the Dallas Stars in 5 games to reach the Western Conference Finals. In the Conference Finals the Canucks would get off to a shaky start as they dropped Game 1 on the road to the Toronto Maple Leafs in overtime. However, the Canucks would bounce back to take Game 2 on the road before establishing a 3-1 series lead with back-to-back shutouts by Goalie Kirk McLean. Game 5 would also be in Vancouver as the game went into overtime tied at 3. After a scoreless first overtime the Pacific Coliseum would be thrown into a frenzy 14 seconds into double overtime when Greg Adams beat Leafs goalie Felix Potvin to send the Canucks to the Stanley Cup Finals for the 2nd time in franchise history. In the Stanley Cup Finals the Canucks were a heavy underdog facing the New York Rangers. However, the Canucks would steal Game 1 on the road by scoring late in the 3rd prior to tie the game, and send it to overtime where Kirk McLean would keep the game tied before Greg Adams delivered the game winner with 34 seconds left in the first overtime. After the Rangers rebounded to take Game 2 the Canucks got off to a fast start in font of a loud Pacific Coliseum as Pavel Bure got the Canucks on the board early. However, Bure would take a bad penalty and would be given a game misconduct as the Rangers roared back to win 5-1. The Canucks would rebound to a take and early 2-0 lead in Game 4. After the Rangers got within 2-1 the Canucks continued to control the game, however, they could not get anything else past Rangers goalie Mike Richter, including a failed penalty shot by Bure late in the 3rd period. The Penalty Shot would end up being the turning point as the Rangers tied the game and won 4-2 to take a 3-1 series lead. However, the Canucks would not go down without a fight jumping out to a 3-0 lead in Game 5 in New York. The Rangers would battle back to tie the game at 3. . However the Canucks would reestablish their 3-goal lead by with 3 quick goals of their own to win 6-3. Back at the Pacific Coliseum for Game 6 the Canucks had all the momentum as the Rangers looked tired. The Canucks would win easily 4-1 to force a 7th game as Vancouver partied like they won the Stanley Cup. Mocking the Rangers as they went home shaken tied at 3 games apiece. However, back in New York for Game 7 the Rangers would take a 3-1 lead into the 3rd period. Trevor Linden would quickly cut the lead to 1 with his second goal of the game. For the last 15 minutes the Canucks threw everything they could at Rangers Goalie Mike Richter however, they would be unable to get the tying goal as the Rangers barely hung on to win the Cup with a 3-2 win. Sadly fans in Vancouver who partied like they won the Cup a few days earlier would riot giving the city an unneeded black eye, and tarnishing a great Canucks run.
1998 - Trevor Linden Traded to the New York Islanders for Bryan McCabe, Todd Bertuzzi and a third round draft Pick
2002 - Canucks trade 2002 first round to Washington for canucks Franchise player Trevor Linden
05/06 - Fan Favorites Ed Jovanovski signs with Phoenix Coyotes, and Jarkko Ruuto signs with Pittsburgh Penguins. That season was one of the worst in canuck history with the injury to Cloutier and Alex Auld doing the best he could filling the top spot. Canucks failed to make the Playoffs that season and prepared to make drastic changes to the team in the upcoming off-season.
06/07 - Dan Cloutier Traded to LA Kings, and General Manager Dave Nonis Trades Fan Favorite Todd Bertuzzi and Bryan Allen to Florida Panthers for Franchise Goalie: Roberto Luongo (AKA Luuuuu) arguably one of the best trades if not in Canucks history but NHL history. That season the canucks made team history by shattering many records with newly acquired goaltender Roberto Luongo. Breaking the all time Win record by a goalie previously held by Kirk McLean, also tying the NHL All-time record for most wins by a goalie at 47, tying Bernie Parent, only to have one less of the newly-set-that-season record of 48 by Martian Brodeur. The Canucks also shattered the all time most points by the team at 105 with 49 wins 26 Losses and 17 overtime/shootout losses. In only his first season as a Canucks, Roberto was nominated for the Hart MVP trophy, and the Vezina trophy, unfortunately loosing those to Sydney Crosby(Hart) and Martian Brodeur(Vezina).
If you would like to comment Please come Rattle the boards at The NHL Arena (Link found on side bar)
~Jessander
I will post here what i posted there.
History Bites:
1970 - Vancouver's hockey roots go deep, one of the strongest teams in the old Pacific Coast Hockey Association was the Vancouver Millionaires who the Stanley Cup in 1915, and lost in the finals to the NHL Champions 4 other times before the PCHA disbanded. With the NHL's westward expansion it was inevitable that Vancouver would get a team. After failing to land one of the first expansion slots in 1967, Vancouver was awarded an NHL team in 1970. The Canucks would play their first game on October 9th losing to the Los Angeles Kings at the Pacific Coliseum 3-1 in a National Televised game. The Canucks would beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 2 nights later for their first win. The Canucks would go on to finish their first season which they played in the Eastern Division by finishing in 6th place with a typical expansion like record of 24-46-8.
1982 - sitting in 2nd place in the Smythe Division they were heading for their 4th straight playoff appearance, when their season took a strange turn on March 20th. Facing the Quebec Nordiques on the road Canucks Coach Harry Neale gets involved in an ugly brawl with Nordiques fans behind the bench. The NHL would suspend Neale for the playoffs forcing assistant Coach Roger Neilson to take over. Under Neilson the Canucks would suddenly play their best hockey of the season as they swept the Calgary Flames in 3 straight for their first ever playoffs series victory. In the Smythe Division Finals the Canucks would stay hot as they beat the Los Angeles Kings in 5 games to reach the Campbell Conference Finals. The Canucks magic rider under Roger Neilson would continue as they knocked off the Chicago Black Hawks in 5 games. Facing the 2-time defending Champion New York Islanders the Canucks had a chance to steal Game 1 on the road, as they went into overtime tied at 5. However, just a little over a minute into overtime the clock struck midnight on the Canucks Cinderella season, as Mike Bossy scored to give the Islanders a 6-5 win. The Islanders would go on to sweep the series in 4 games to win their third straight Stanley Cup.
Also 1982 - The tradition of "Towel Power" was started by the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League (NHL). During the 1982 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Canucks were playing the Chicago Black Hawks when Vancouver coach Roger Neilson, fed up with the performance of the officials in the game, placed a white towel on the end of a hockey stick and held it up in mock of Surrender (white flag).The Canucks players sitting on the bench followed suit, placing towels on the ends of their sticks until the bench resembled a laundry line. Although the Canucks lost that game 4–1, Neilson's actions inadvertently began quite a trend as, when the teams returned to Vancouver for the next game, many fans brought white towels to the game and began waving them above their heads. Referred to as Towel Power, this sparked the Canucks to win the next three games and the series, taking them to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in franchise history, which they eventually lost to the New York Islanders.
Red and blue towels, waved by fans of the Calgary Flames and Toronto Maple Leafs respectively, followed the Towel Power trend. For the playoffs, fans of the Anaheim Ducks also wave "Fowl Towels". Now, towels are used by nearly every NHL team during the playoffs to create a sea of waving towels.
This tradition has since spread to other sports, and around the world.
1988 - Canucks draft Franchise Player: Trevor Linden
1994 - Amidst the cloud of Petr Nedved's season long holdout the Canucks would play mediocre hockey all season. Eventually Nedved would be traded to the St. Louis Blues for Jeff Brown, Martin Gellinas, and Nathan LaFayette at the trade deadline. The Canucks would enter the playoffs as the 7th seed in the Western Conference after finishing 2nd in the newly rechristened Pacific Division with a record of 41-40-43. The Canucks appeared to be heading for another quick exit as they fell behind the Calgary Flames 3 games to 1. However, the Canucks would make a stunning comeback winning the next 3 games in overtime on goals by Geoff Courtnall, Trevor Linden, and Pavel Bure to extinguish the Flames in 7 games. Buoyed by 3 straight overtime wins the Canucks cruised past the Dallas Stars in 5 games to reach the Western Conference Finals. In the Conference Finals the Canucks would get off to a shaky start as they dropped Game 1 on the road to the Toronto Maple Leafs in overtime. However, the Canucks would bounce back to take Game 2 on the road before establishing a 3-1 series lead with back-to-back shutouts by Goalie Kirk McLean. Game 5 would also be in Vancouver as the game went into overtime tied at 3. After a scoreless first overtime the Pacific Coliseum would be thrown into a frenzy 14 seconds into double overtime when Greg Adams beat Leafs goalie Felix Potvin to send the Canucks to the Stanley Cup Finals for the 2nd time in franchise history. In the Stanley Cup Finals the Canucks were a heavy underdog facing the New York Rangers. However, the Canucks would steal Game 1 on the road by scoring late in the 3rd prior to tie the game, and send it to overtime where Kirk McLean would keep the game tied before Greg Adams delivered the game winner with 34 seconds left in the first overtime. After the Rangers rebounded to take Game 2 the Canucks got off to a fast start in font of a loud Pacific Coliseum as Pavel Bure got the Canucks on the board early. However, Bure would take a bad penalty and would be given a game misconduct as the Rangers roared back to win 5-1. The Canucks would rebound to a take and early 2-0 lead in Game 4. After the Rangers got within 2-1 the Canucks continued to control the game, however, they could not get anything else past Rangers goalie Mike Richter, including a failed penalty shot by Bure late in the 3rd period. The Penalty Shot would end up being the turning point as the Rangers tied the game and won 4-2 to take a 3-1 series lead. However, the Canucks would not go down without a fight jumping out to a 3-0 lead in Game 5 in New York. The Rangers would battle back to tie the game at 3. . However the Canucks would reestablish their 3-goal lead by with 3 quick goals of their own to win 6-3. Back at the Pacific Coliseum for Game 6 the Canucks had all the momentum as the Rangers looked tired. The Canucks would win easily 4-1 to force a 7th game as Vancouver partied like they won the Stanley Cup. Mocking the Rangers as they went home shaken tied at 3 games apiece. However, back in New York for Game 7 the Rangers would take a 3-1 lead into the 3rd period. Trevor Linden would quickly cut the lead to 1 with his second goal of the game. For the last 15 minutes the Canucks threw everything they could at Rangers Goalie Mike Richter however, they would be unable to get the tying goal as the Rangers barely hung on to win the Cup with a 3-2 win. Sadly fans in Vancouver who partied like they won the Cup a few days earlier would riot giving the city an unneeded black eye, and tarnishing a great Canucks run.
1998 - Trevor Linden Traded to the New York Islanders for Bryan McCabe, Todd Bertuzzi and a third round draft Pick
2002 - Canucks trade 2002 first round to Washington for canucks Franchise player Trevor Linden
05/06 - Fan Favorites Ed Jovanovski signs with Phoenix Coyotes, and Jarkko Ruuto signs with Pittsburgh Penguins. That season was one of the worst in canuck history with the injury to Cloutier and Alex Auld doing the best he could filling the top spot. Canucks failed to make the Playoffs that season and prepared to make drastic changes to the team in the upcoming off-season.
06/07 - Dan Cloutier Traded to LA Kings, and General Manager Dave Nonis Trades Fan Favorite Todd Bertuzzi and Bryan Allen to Florida Panthers for Franchise Goalie: Roberto Luongo (AKA Luuuuu) arguably one of the best trades if not in Canucks history but NHL history. That season the canucks made team history by shattering many records with newly acquired goaltender Roberto Luongo. Breaking the all time Win record by a goalie previously held by Kirk McLean, also tying the NHL All-time record for most wins by a goalie at 47, tying Bernie Parent, only to have one less of the newly-set-that-season record of 48 by Martian Brodeur. The Canucks also shattered the all time most points by the team at 105 with 49 wins 26 Losses and 17 overtime/shootout losses. In only his first season as a Canucks, Roberto was nominated for the Hart MVP trophy, and the Vezina trophy, unfortunately loosing those to Sydney Crosby(Hart) and Martian Brodeur(Vezina).
If you would like to comment Please come Rattle the boards at The NHL Arena (Link found on side bar)
~Jessander
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Whats going on in the canucks world...
Despite the loss to the canucks on Monday night, i must say i am VERY pleased with how the canucks are doing so-far!
The canucks hold a current record of 2-1-0, which at this point in the season isnt very great, but its still very good in the sense of how many goals the canucks have actually been able to produce. The Canucks, in three games, have scored 12 goals. 12! This is Awesome! I really enjoyed the games against the flames only because it actually showed a sign of what is to come. I am Especially happy with the Sedin- Bernier line, they have a total of 14 points between them which is really good for just the beginning of the season!
Now on to other canucks news.
The internet has leaked a photo of the Canucks Third Jersey
Thank you to Chris of Icethetics for this wicked photo!
I really like this jersey. Like REALLY like it. The Stick-in-Rink logo looks really good with the colours. Though with the colours, they could be reversed, i would have rather seen a third jersey of Green, rather seeing the same old Navy Blue... Getting a little boring Canucks.... Johnny Canuck! Love it. Simply Love it! I think the jersey would look better with the Johnny Canuck logo on the Front instead... but hey, its all good.
Finally i would just like to Finish with Luc Bourdon
Luc Bourdon night was really awesome. It was super nice for his family to be there, and it really was a great cerimony. For those who havnt seen it yet, i advise you to youtube it.
Well thats it for me, But if you would like to participate in further canuck dessisons i would love to see some readers join us at TheNHLArena!
Keep rattling the boards!
~Jessander
Monday, October 13, 2008
I'm so confused!!
Why can't all Canucks games be like the season opener?
This team, man... this team!
What the hell was that?
I didn't even bother watching the 3rd period of tonight's game against the Capitals. That was the first time I turned off a Canucks game early in as long as I can remember. 3 shots on goal in 2 periods? 3? Seriously? Blah. They all looked so confused in their own end, and even more confused when they tried to break out of their own end. This is not the same team that beat the Flames 6-0 a few days ago, is it?
This is going to be a veeeeerryy long season if the team ends up going back and forth between awesome and suck every few games. I guess Saturday's game against the Flames was the bridge between the "awesome" and the "suck". I guess I'll call it the "meh". So what will we see next game? What will the pattern be? Awesome - meh - suck - meh - awesome? I guess we'll have to wait until Thursday in Detroit to find out...
Any theories? Come on over to The NHL Arena and speculate with us!
This team, man... this team!
What the hell was that?
I didn't even bother watching the 3rd period of tonight's game against the Capitals. That was the first time I turned off a Canucks game early in as long as I can remember. 3 shots on goal in 2 periods? 3? Seriously? Blah. They all looked so confused in their own end, and even more confused when they tried to break out of their own end. This is not the same team that beat the Flames 6-0 a few days ago, is it?
This is going to be a veeeeerryy long season if the team ends up going back and forth between awesome and suck every few games. I guess Saturday's game against the Flames was the bridge between the "awesome" and the "suck". I guess I'll call it the "meh". So what will we see next game? What will the pattern be? Awesome - meh - suck - meh - awesome? I guess we'll have to wait until Thursday in Detroit to find out...
Any theories? Come on over to The NHL Arena and speculate with us!
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Its Been a while but...
Ok so I understand that it has been a while since i have put some input to the canucks, but i am sure the readers know this that there really hasnt been much to talk about. Canuck wise that is.
Well now i can post a few things, such as my thoughts on the Canucks Pre-season so far.
Firstly, the Canucks rookie games. What can you say? I freaking love Cody Hodgson. He has the talent that we are looking for and frankly, i can see him playing a line with Eric Johnson and Jeff Cowan. He, in my mind is ready for the NHL.
Now. I to be honest after watching the two pre-season games against Edmonton (which we won BTW!) and i have to say, with out the services of "The Great Undecided One" that we are a To 6 West Con. team. I really like where we are with the team, in likes of the sedins, rookies, and new additions. Though it will be interesting to see how well the lines that AV set, match up. Such as the Sedin's and Bernier, and the Demitra pyatt raymond line. Guess we will have to wait and see.
Yeah so I think the canucks are looking really good.
Ok thats it for the Canucks today. I will post more in the upcomming month.
Keep Rattling the Boards!
~Jessander
Friday, September 19, 2008
What's going on in Canucks-town,,,
So I notice it's been a while since I checked in last. So what's happened lately in Canucks-town?
Well, Curtis Sanford has decided on whose design he will wear on his mask for this season. Typically, there's some controversy over it because most fans believe the design to be unoriginal, and this fan definitely saw better designs in the mid-stages of the competition. Still, whose decision was it other than Sanford's? (Rhetorical question!)
The prospects have been in action TWICE against divisional rivals' prospect teams. Now, you can say I'm not a hardcore fan if you like, but I didn't manage to see either of the games. I swear that's a combination of the time difference and early morning starts at work (life is hard), not because I didn't want to watch.
Game 1 on Monday September 15th against the Flames was an interesting one by all accounts. Vancouver's youths went down 3-6 in the end, but not before valiantly battling back to a 3-3 tie for the end of the 2nd period. Unfortunately they seemed to run out of steam in the 3rd, or their heads didn't accompany them back to the ice after the break. Either way, a disappointing result but an encouraging display of character from the young stars. Of the lot, I'd have to say Michael Grabner showed himself well, potting two markers in the game. He played alongside two of the brightest Canucks prospects, Cody Hodgson and Dan Gendur. Grabner should be one to watch during this season's camp if his apparent growth is anything to go by.
Game 2 was the very next day, this time against Edmonton's offering. This one turned out to be a much more positive outing, with the Canucks running out 5 goals to 3 in their favour in a game that was much better balanced than the previous night's challenge. Grabner sat this one out, as did Julien Ellis, who twisted his ankle against Calgary. The good thing about that was that Cory Schneider got a starting slot. Standout that night was Cody Hodgson, bagging 1+2, which is encouraging from a guy that is widely expected to be a team leader when he eventually does make it to the NHL. Gendur was also on the scoresheet, giving us Canucks fans someone else to think about during training camp.
So, training camp. That highly anticipated part of the season that acts purgatorially between the slow summer months and the pre-season. Essentially the brunch of the hockey 'day', there should be plenty to chew on for Canucks coaches and fans alike, as the 45 hopefuls are put through their paces to determine who will make the final cut.
Looking down the roster for training camp, I noticed a couple of things:
More players on the roster have birthdays in September than any other month (well, it's the same as in June): seven. Salo, Ohlund, Raymond, the Sedins, Cowan, and Juraj Simek, in that order. Coincidentally, Simek is exactly three years younger than myself (not sure if that makes me feel old or young!), and the Twins are the next players with birthdays. Anyway, I digress a little... What are the odds that players with birthdays this month will all make it to the final cut and play at least one pre-season game? Got to be good long odds on that, I'll bet!
Also, the search for a new team captain has begun. Despite the team's attempts at understating the emphasis on the captaincy, it's certain to be in a dark corner of most players' minds, and surely at the front of big V's, who is adamant that there are plenty of potentials to choose from. On top of that, there is evidence that players are thinking about who they'd like to be lined up with on gameday. Demitra fancies Pyatt (must be the eyes!), saying that he prefers playing alongside big, strong guys who drive to the net and open up ice for him. Queue the line speculations!
Surprisingly, the first news story I came across this evening was--wait for it--Roberto Luongo's new 'do'! Yes, get your eyes rolling folks, because Lui's had his hair cut and that indicates something... well, basically that he's cleaned himself up and is ready to make a fresh start in light of the changes in his personal life. At least he's feeling upbeat, and if Roberto's feeling good, the whole team should feed off of that.
As difficult as it is to believe, I'm feeling upbeat about the season myself, which goes against a deeply ingrained tradition to be constantly pessimistic. But I can't help it, because despite the fact that the Sundin offer is STILL on the table, despite Gillis not doing more to fill in some of the holes up front, there is an atmosphere of positivity around the team for the first team in a long time, and that, I suppose, is infectious.
Well, Curtis Sanford has decided on whose design he will wear on his mask for this season. Typically, there's some controversy over it because most fans believe the design to be unoriginal, and this fan definitely saw better designs in the mid-stages of the competition. Still, whose decision was it other than Sanford's? (Rhetorical question!)
The prospects have been in action TWICE against divisional rivals' prospect teams. Now, you can say I'm not a hardcore fan if you like, but I didn't manage to see either of the games. I swear that's a combination of the time difference and early morning starts at work (life is hard), not because I didn't want to watch.
Game 1 on Monday September 15th against the Flames was an interesting one by all accounts. Vancouver's youths went down 3-6 in the end, but not before valiantly battling back to a 3-3 tie for the end of the 2nd period. Unfortunately they seemed to run out of steam in the 3rd, or their heads didn't accompany them back to the ice after the break. Either way, a disappointing result but an encouraging display of character from the young stars. Of the lot, I'd have to say Michael Grabner showed himself well, potting two markers in the game. He played alongside two of the brightest Canucks prospects, Cody Hodgson and Dan Gendur. Grabner should be one to watch during this season's camp if his apparent growth is anything to go by.
Game 2 was the very next day, this time against Edmonton's offering. This one turned out to be a much more positive outing, with the Canucks running out 5 goals to 3 in their favour in a game that was much better balanced than the previous night's challenge. Grabner sat this one out, as did Julien Ellis, who twisted his ankle against Calgary. The good thing about that was that Cory Schneider got a starting slot. Standout that night was Cody Hodgson, bagging 1+2, which is encouraging from a guy that is widely expected to be a team leader when he eventually does make it to the NHL. Gendur was also on the scoresheet, giving us Canucks fans someone else to think about during training camp.
So, training camp. That highly anticipated part of the season that acts purgatorially between the slow summer months and the pre-season. Essentially the brunch of the hockey 'day', there should be plenty to chew on for Canucks coaches and fans alike, as the 45 hopefuls are put through their paces to determine who will make the final cut.
Looking down the roster for training camp, I noticed a couple of things:
More players on the roster have birthdays in September than any other month (well, it's the same as in June): seven. Salo, Ohlund, Raymond, the Sedins, Cowan, and Juraj Simek, in that order. Coincidentally, Simek is exactly three years younger than myself (not sure if that makes me feel old or young!), and the Twins are the next players with birthdays. Anyway, I digress a little... What are the odds that players with birthdays this month will all make it to the final cut and play at least one pre-season game? Got to be good long odds on that, I'll bet!
Also, the search for a new team captain has begun. Despite the team's attempts at understating the emphasis on the captaincy, it's certain to be in a dark corner of most players' minds, and surely at the front of big V's, who is adamant that there are plenty of potentials to choose from. On top of that, there is evidence that players are thinking about who they'd like to be lined up with on gameday. Demitra fancies Pyatt (must be the eyes!), saying that he prefers playing alongside big, strong guys who drive to the net and open up ice for him. Queue the line speculations!
Surprisingly, the first news story I came across this evening was--wait for it--Roberto Luongo's new 'do'! Yes, get your eyes rolling folks, because Lui's had his hair cut and that indicates something... well, basically that he's cleaned himself up and is ready to make a fresh start in light of the changes in his personal life. At least he's feeling upbeat, and if Roberto's feeling good, the whole team should feed off of that.
As difficult as it is to believe, I'm feeling upbeat about the season myself, which goes against a deeply ingrained tradition to be constantly pessimistic. But I can't help it, because despite the fact that the Sundin offer is STILL on the table, despite Gillis not doing more to fill in some of the holes up front, there is an atmosphere of positivity around the team for the first team in a long time, and that, I suppose, is infectious.
Monday, September 1, 2008
Thoughts...
I wanted to get out a few of my thoughts about goings-on in Canucks World lately.
Currently Canucks.com is running a story about Ryan Kesler returning to Vancouver this week. For me, this is good news, as Kesler is a bright star for the team. He's not the youngest guy on the team, but he's still got plenty of growing room on a team that desperately wants offense and grit up front. In addition to that, he's a future candidate for team captain, which is typical of a talented hard-worker. Last season he set a career high for goals and points, thanks largely to his chemistry with linemate Alex Burrows, who also benefited from the partnership.
In-keeping with the tradition of 'armchair coaching', I would look to keep these two guys together, albeit with Kesler putting in more time on the powerplay, since I'm sure he can further improve on last season's numbers given the opportunity. Basically, this is my official petition to give Kesler a bigger role on the team.
Something I've noticed this year is that almost all of the newly acquired players for the team got started early on their training and workouts. I think that's a good sign that they're taking this opportunity seriously. If guys like Steve Bernier and Kyle Wellwood are looking to make a big impression at camp in less than two weeks, then that's a good indication that the same enthusiasm will carry with them onto the ice and hopefully spread to the rest of the team too.
The biggest problem these guys will face is where, or whether, they will fit in with coach Vigneault's systems. I don't think we're at the stage where we can say Vigneault is infamous for his systems--maybe not even famous--but I can't dismiss the proposition that it was partly the coach's fault for there being no scoring in Vancouver last season. If I'm wrong then I'll be happy to be proven so.
Finally, I'm quite appreciative of the minimal noise about Sundin over the past week or two. I suppose when everyone put their expectations on an August 1st decision--which was unashamedly shattered by both player and agent--they stopped expecting a decision on the whole. I hope that Mike Gillis has moved on too. The offer may still be on the table, but I expect the team to be looking towards prospect camp to fill the holes in the roster thus far. Canucks have some solid players, but there's always room for improvement, so whether the few remaining roster spots are filled through training camp or via a trade or two, they need to be addressed with complete conviction that 08/09 is going to be a better season than 07/08 could ever have been.
Currently Canucks.com is running a story about Ryan Kesler returning to Vancouver this week. For me, this is good news, as Kesler is a bright star for the team. He's not the youngest guy on the team, but he's still got plenty of growing room on a team that desperately wants offense and grit up front. In addition to that, he's a future candidate for team captain, which is typical of a talented hard-worker. Last season he set a career high for goals and points, thanks largely to his chemistry with linemate Alex Burrows, who also benefited from the partnership.
In-keeping with the tradition of 'armchair coaching', I would look to keep these two guys together, albeit with Kesler putting in more time on the powerplay, since I'm sure he can further improve on last season's numbers given the opportunity. Basically, this is my official petition to give Kesler a bigger role on the team.
Something I've noticed this year is that almost all of the newly acquired players for the team got started early on their training and workouts. I think that's a good sign that they're taking this opportunity seriously. If guys like Steve Bernier and Kyle Wellwood are looking to make a big impression at camp in less than two weeks, then that's a good indication that the same enthusiasm will carry with them onto the ice and hopefully spread to the rest of the team too.
The biggest problem these guys will face is where, or whether, they will fit in with coach Vigneault's systems. I don't think we're at the stage where we can say Vigneault is infamous for his systems--maybe not even famous--but I can't dismiss the proposition that it was partly the coach's fault for there being no scoring in Vancouver last season. If I'm wrong then I'll be happy to be proven so.
Finally, I'm quite appreciative of the minimal noise about Sundin over the past week or two. I suppose when everyone put their expectations on an August 1st decision--which was unashamedly shattered by both player and agent--they stopped expecting a decision on the whole. I hope that Mike Gillis has moved on too. The offer may still be on the table, but I expect the team to be looking towards prospect camp to fill the holes in the roster thus far. Canucks have some solid players, but there's always room for improvement, so whether the few remaining roster spots are filled through training camp or via a trade or two, they need to be addressed with complete conviction that 08/09 is going to be a better season than 07/08 could ever have been.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Why won't the season start already? I need new things to whine about!
For my first post on the blog... I present to you some whining, and not much else.
I'm impatient. I'm also bored from the lack of hockey. I'm sick of hearing about Sundin. I want to see what the young guys on the Canucks will do this year! I want to know who the Captain and Assistants will be! I want to see if Vigneault will allow for a more open style of play! I want to see Bieksa! Ha.
It's been a long, frustrating summer... I need new things to whine about! Hurry up, October!
Oh, and unrelated, but many thanks to Jessander for setting up this blog. What a great idea! It'll be rocking by the time the season starts up! :)
I'm impatient. I'm also bored from the lack of hockey. I'm sick of hearing about Sundin. I want to see what the young guys on the Canucks will do this year! I want to know who the Captain and Assistants will be! I want to see if Vigneault will allow for a more open style of play! I want to see Bieksa! Ha.
It's been a long, frustrating summer... I need new things to whine about! Hurry up, October!
Oh, and unrelated, but many thanks to Jessander for setting up this blog. What a great idea! It'll be rocking by the time the season starts up! :)
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Franchise Best
Well it was an interesting read, from the Arenas own ESPN insider.
The best forward in Canucks History was Pavel Bure over Trevor Linden. I would have to agree with this, only because of Bures potential, I mean for his short time that he played with the Canucks before retiring due to injury, he racked up a crap load of points to put him Fifth of all time. Imagine what he could have done if he hadn't have been injured? I bet he could have had more points than both Markus Naslund and Trevor Linden. This i think was a good Choice.
Best Defenseman, Mattias Ohlund. I dont think there really is any other choice, I mean having spent his entire career with the Canucks is pretty good, and Hopefully Next Seasons Captain is quite an accomplishment for this Swede.
Best Goaltender: Kirk McLean. I think i will have to agree with this as well. I mean, he helped lead us to a Stanley Cup Final game 7!! I mean, i think roberto has potential to live up to that, but he has only been in Vancouver coming up to 3 years now. And from what i have seen, I am convinced that Lu will Be the BEST goaltender in Canucks History. But not at this point. Potential.
Well thats all for now.
Keep Rattling the Boards!
~Jessander
Ready Set GO!
Ok well it looks like everything is A GO!!
Holliday will be joining us sometime Thursday and we have Phantoms on board, Unfortunately we wanted Imber to join us but he is very occupied with collage and that is much more important that this so we will let him do his thing. Hopefully he can post when he is able to do so.
I would also like to take this time for to mention that the blog will be used as a link for non-arena members to join the boards and help rattle them. I will also keep mentioning every so often as this blog progresses and perhaps gets more popular to ask them to Join.
Keep Rattling the Boards
~Jessander
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