Thomas Brilliant, Bruins Trap to 1-0 Victory

The Boston Bruins (5-2-3) were out chanced and out worked, but were able to eke out a 1-0 victory over the hard luck Canucks (4-5-0). Securing a 1 goal lead in the first period, the Bruins, playing their 3rd game in 4 nights, were content to play a 1-4 (1 man forecheck, 4 men on the defensive side of the red line) trap the rest of the night.

Former University of Vermont Catamount (look to notes below) keeper Tim Thomas played well and recorded his second straight shut out for the Bruins.

Once again the Canucks struggled in the first period. With an upcoming holding penalty to Sami Salo, Marc Savard came on as the extra attacker. Savard's pass to the slot was deflected to Luongo's crease where Luongo immediately pushed the puck out to the slot, directly to the circling Michael Ryder, who one timed the puck through the crowd in front, 1-0 Bruins. So called experts may criticize Luongo for not trying to cover up the puck, but he didn't have time as Bruin Marco Sturm was at his doorstop whacking away at the puck.

Steve Bernier once again showed his immaturity in the defensive zone and failed to collapse accordingly to cover Ryder. Legs open, gliding, guilty of watching the play, Bernier knew he should have taken Ryder. Luongo was completely screened on the shot, and didn't have a chance to stop it.

Frustrating to watch, probably more frustrating to play, the Canucks had far more chances than the visitors from Beantown, but couldn't put anything past the 5'11" 201lb Tim Thomas. If Thomas is only 201lb, I have a full head of hair. He has to be at least 225lb!

Asked if he ever had two shut outs in row before, Thomas replied that he thought he did while he played for the Helsinki Jokerit (Jokers) hockey team during the lockout 2004-05 season. Thomas recorded 15 shut outs in 54 games, for 1.54 goals against average, that season for the Jokers.

The Sedins continue to create chances and just cannot finish. Hank and Daniel were dangerous every shift, no matter if they were playing with Bernier, Wellwood or Krog.

The best chances of the night went to Daniel Sedin and Jason Krog. Daniel had a clear cut breakaway, tried to go five hole, but Thomas was up to the task. Krog had an open net from a sharp angle as he tried to one time a cross crease pass from one of twins, but shot wide and hit the side of the net.

With the Bruins playing their 1-4 trap effectively and controlling the pace of the game in the 2nd period, Darcy Hordichuk did his best to change the atmosphere of the game, but Shawn Thornton declined Hordichuk's invitation to dance.

Milan Lucic threw 10 hits, and had a glorious opportunity to score on Luongo as he came in all alone from the left wing but couldn't convert. The 2006 2nd round draft (50th overall) of the Bruins, had a large cheering section for his homecoming. He would look good in a Canuck uniform, but the Canucks didn't have a 2nd round draft pick in '06 and Lucic wasn't projected to go until the 3rd round. Whether then Canuck GM Dave Nonis tried to trade to get Lucic in the 2nd round is not known, nor does it matter. Kudos to the Bruins scouts for seeing the Cam Neely type talent Lucic possessed, a full year before he had his break out season in leading the Giants to the Memorial Cup in 2007.

It's hard to criticize too much about the Canucks on a night when they were the better team on the ice, but came up short on the scoreboard. Yes, they could have hit a little more, and yes on top of their 30 shots, 12 shots were blocked, and 10 went wide, but that is knit picking. If they continue to outchance and outwork the opposition, the victories will follow.

Canucks now embark on a short 2 game stint in SoCal. Thursday night in L.A. against Anze Kopitar and the Kings, and a Friday night tilt against former Canuck Brendan Morrison and the Anaheim Ducks.

Notes:

- Catamount: a large American wildcat resembling a lion

- Another University of Vermount Catamount alum playing in the NHL is Chicago Blackhawk captain Patrick Sharpe, former Montreal Canadien/Philadelphia Flyer John LeClaire is another former Catamount

- Rick Rypien starts to practice again after getting over a sickness, and promptly tears and abdominal muscle and is gone 4-6 weeks. He goes under the knife Wednesday. The Canucks miss his grit.

- With Rypien out, why isn't Mike Brown drawing into the line up? Note to Coach V, sit Pyatt or Krog and get Brown in the line up!

Former Moose Outscore Oil 6-3

Jannik Hansen (2), Mason Raymond (2), Kyle Wellwood, and Jason Krog scored for the Canucks in their full value 6-3 victory over the Edmonton Oilers.

All the goal scorers are former Manitoba Moose. Hansen and Raymond's pre/early season play were the reason why the likes of Matt Pettinger (since claimed on waivers to Tampa Bay), Wellwood and Krog were sent down to the Manitoba Moose. Injuries/sickness (Demitra/Rypien) gave Wellwood and Krog a chance to prove they belong in the show. Wellwood is making the most of his chance.

Out of shape coming into camp, Wellwood may be able to lose the "Wellfed" nickname if he can be a consistent threat. Wellwood has never shown consistency in his NHL career. 29 other teams were given the chance to claim Wellwood on re-entry waivers when he was called up earlier in the week, and 29 teams declined to add Wellwood to their roster. This despite the fact that whichever team claimed him would only have to pick up half his salary.

You can't teach great hands, which Wellwood has. His power play goal, where he held the puck, made a nice move, and wristed a shot top shelf displayed his offensive talent. Hopefully, the Canucks will be able to teach Wellood a good attitude.

Coming into the game with the 29th (out of 30) ranked power play in the league, the Canucks managed to score 4 power play goals! The Canucks special team struggles in their first 7 games has been well documented. Coach V told reporters after the pregame skate that he was being asked about special teams wherever he went. He explained that he quoted player-coach Reggie Dunlop (played by Paul Newman), from the legendary movie "Slapshot", in his reply; "We're working on it, we're working on it". (Look for a little known "Slapshot" fact in my notes at the end of this post.)

Steve Bernier struggled defensively against the Oil. Twice guilty of not picking up the late trailer on Oil rushes that resulted in goals. He's young, and still learning, but his two mistakes were blatant. I like Bernier playing with the Sedins, though, and don't want to see them broken up. Mark my words, this line will breakout.

The Kesler-Burrows-Hansen line are still the Canucks most effective line. I can't stand when this line is called a checking line. Checking lines very rarely are an offensive threat. This line is. This line is an all around line that is effective all over the ice. Note to Mike Gillis, sign Kesler and Burrows to extensions a.s.a.p.

The Oil did their best to run the Canucks. Kudos to Rob Davison and Mattias Ohlund. Davison for taking on Oil behemoth Steve MacIntyre, after MacIntrye ran Ohlund. Davison lost the bout, but love how he went right after Oiler enforcer.

Sometimes a fella can only take so much. Ohlund was getting run a lot and when he just got out of the way of Eric Cole's high open ice hit attempt (looked like Cole's elbow came up), Ohlund lost it. I can't remember a time when Ohlund became so incensed that he actively challenged somebody to drop the mitts. Ohlund went after Cole and clearly won the fight.

Did anyone notice how the Canuck bench reacted? Go to the link below and take a look at Kevin Bieksa's face after the camera turns to the Canuck bench after the fight. CBC announcer Jim Hughson said it best, "When Ohlund gets mad, he is a bear of a man".

http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=xzOardhZeCY&eurl=http://www.hockeyfights.com/forums/f9/edmonton-vancouver-10-25-08-a-107175/

Cole is going to have a beauty of a shiner on his left eye, courtesy of one of the many upper cuts Ohlund threw.

Luongo let in a terrible goal on Oiler's Robert Nilsson's snap shot from far out. But came up big on Sam Gagner's penalty shot. Luongo has yet to show his "A" game since his opening night shut out. Despite this, there's nobody else in the league that I want in the Canucks net.

Despite the win, there will be people pointing fingers to the snake bit Sedins. They are not being rewarded for their hard work. Don't be fooled by the lack of production, they aren't playing badly. If the Canucks are .500 without much production from them, look out when they start to bury their chances.

Notes:
- Will be quite the homecoming for former Vancouver Giant Milan Lucic when the Boston Bruins visit the Canucks Tuesday night. Lucic is the toast of Beantown with his Cam Neely like play. Lucic scored the first hat trick of his career Saturday night versus the Atlanta Thrashers. Bruin faithful littered the ice with hats after Lucic buried his third.
Interesting note from this game, the face off dots in one end were a few feet closer to the goal line than the dots in the other end. Teams switched ends at the 10minute mark of the first period to make things even.
- Carolina Hurrican Brandon Sutter got rocked by an open ice hit by the New York Islanders Doug Weight. Sutter was taken to the hospital for a observation and tests. No word as to his condition, however, no doubt that he was concussed.
http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=mhepQWlvQKs
Canadian icon Don Cherry equated the hit on Sutter to the hit that preceded the famous attack by then Canuck Todd Bertuzzi on then Colorado Avalanche Steve Moore. In the game previous to the attack on Moore, Moore elbowed a vulnerable Marcus Naslund as Naslund was on one knee. The Weight hit on Sutter was different. Sutter was completely upright and Weight used his shoulder, not his elbow. I disagree with Grapes on this one.
- The Flyers-Devils game featured something that you don't ofter see anymore, simultaneous fights. Very "Slapshot" like.
http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=Pi6PPnUpRdE

- Canuck Darcy Hordichuk and MacIntyre, both 28, were teammates on the 1998-99 Saskatoon Blades and then opponents the next season when MacIntyre moved on to Red Deer and Prince Albert.

Hordichuk on MacIntyre:
"Let me tell you about Steve MacIntyre, I fought him three times to make the Blades. He actually chipped my teeth in the first fight. I know him well. He's a big farm boy and he's definitely a tough kid. He gets the respect he deserves. But my job is to fight and, if he is running around, then I have to do my job."
- A little know fact regarding the movie "Slapshot". Filmed in Syracuse, NY, and loosely based on Syracuse's minor league team, directors liked the look of then Syracuse player Bruce Boudreau's apartment. So much so that they used it in the movie as player-coach Reggie Dunlop's (Paul Newman) apartment. Bruce Boudreau is presently the head coach of the Washington Capitals.

Urgency Shown Too Late, Nucks Lose 3rd Straight

Winding up a long 6-game road trip in Columbus Tuesday night, the Canucks came up short in a 4-2 loss to the equally banged up Columbus Blue Jackets. Losers of 3 straight before the contest, one would think that a sense of urgency would have been shown earlier than it was. The Canucks were, at best, average through the first 2 periods.



6'2" 215lb Edmonton, AB native Jason Chimera opened the scoring by flying down the left wing, blasting a perfect slap shot over Luongo's left shoulder. Chimera is a talent and is finally getting more ice time. The goal gave him 6 points (3G, 3A) in his 6th game of the season. Look for the 29 year old to have a career year. The Jackets were smart to sign him to a 3 year deal in the off season.

Kristian Huselius loves playing the Canucks. The off-season free agent signing (ex-Calgary) has had more points against the Canucks than any other in the league. He found success again, redirecting a nice feed from Blue Jacket captain Rick Nash to make it 2-0 just over 6 minutes in to the first period.

Once again, the Canucks found themselves down early.

The Canucks went on the power play soon after the Huselius goal. Waiver wire reject, Kyle Wellwood found himself as the recipient of a beautiful Ryan Kesler pass, and easily put the puck in a yawning cage. The whole Blue Jacket team was drawn to Kesler, and nobody bothered to pick up the out of shape Wellwood.

Mike Brown played his second game of the season for the Canucks, and promptly got into his second fight. Taking on Blue Jacket rookie Derek Dorsett, just over a minute after "Wellfed", I mean Wellwood, potted the Canucks first goal. When Brown fights, he only fights one way....rapid fire. This kid can skate, the Canucks will be well served to keep giving Brown ice time.

Alex Edler had a poor game. Maybe the security of a new 3 year contract extension has him thinking that he can take shifts off. With the play on the right wing boards in the Canucks zone, Edler blindly threw the puck around behind the Canucks net. Problem is, no Canuck had a chance of receiving the puck on the left wing. Jacket d-man Mike Commodore pinched and threw the puck in front of the net to Dorsett, who Edler failed to cover, 3-1 Jackets.

Kevin Bieksa laid out 2008 6th overall draft pick Mikita Filatov with a clean, solid open ice hit shortly after Dorsett's goal. Blue Jacket Alexandre Picard took exception to hit, and immediately challenged Bieksa. Bieksa looked as though he asked Picard if he really wanted to dance when Picard dropped his gloves. Picard should have declined. Bieksa started feeding the outmatched Picard off the get go. I love the way Bieksa fights. He stands up straight, grabs the other player's jersey and throws 'em.

http://www.hockeyfights.com/fights/47924

Bieksa potted his first of the season in the 3rd. Wellwood picked up the puck behind the Blue Jacket net and made a nice flip pass to Bieksa to make a 3-2 game. Can't deny that Wellwood has hands.

The Canucks played with desperation in the third, but ran in to a very hot keeper in Pascal LeClaire. After a beautiful Sedin goal mouth feed, how he got over to stop Bernier's shot, who was all alone, is beyond me. The Canucks couldn't solve LeClaire and Nash ended it with an empty netter.

Vancouver's top line is snake bit. While ending the night as a minus, they were a threat on almost every shift. It is only a matter of time until they get out of this funk. I only hope Coach V doesn't break up this line. Bernier is a faster Taylor Pyatt who can play with a bit of a mean streak. This line is looking good, but just not converting.

What can you say about Ryan Kesler? He has been the best Canuck this season.

The naysayers will come out with daggers after the Canucks 3rd straight loss. I say, it's too early to throw knives. The first line is close to burying their opportunities. The Kesler line has been excellent. The Pyatt, Raymond, Demitra/Wellwood line is a work in progress.

It will be interesting to see if Wellwood can continue to be in the right spot at the right time. Wellwood has great hands, but obviously has commitment issues, both on and off the ice. He better make the most out of his present opportunity, it may be his last.

Canuck PPV Fiasco, Demand Your Refund!

This morning, I called Shaw Cable to make sure I would not get charged for the Canuck-Blackhawk pay per view game last night. The Shaw customer service agent offered me a credit of 1/2 the cost or the next PPV game for free. I told her I had left after waiting 15minutes and I should not be charge at all. She tried explaining to me that it was "Orca Bay's" fault, not Shaw's. I told her it had nothing to do with me and that I should not be charged for the game. She spoke to a person of authority and came back and said my account would not be charged.
Note to Shaw: Orca Bay no longer exists, it's Canuck Sports and Entertainment (CSE) that owns the Canucks.

Young Hawks Prey on Canucks

Led by the Patricks, Sharp and Kane, a speedy, promising, young Chicago Blackhawks came in waves against the Canucks, and were fully deserving of their 4-2 victory over the road weary Nucks. The victory gave new head coach Joel Quenville his first victory in second game behind the Hawks bench.

The Canucks lost more than just the game. Just as Kevin Bieksa was making his return after injuring his knee against Calgary a week ago, d-man Sami Salo went out with a strained groin and tough guy Darcy Hordichuk with a hurt knee, both early in the first.

Of course, nobody who paid for the Canucks pay-per-view, saw any of the action in the first 10minutes of the 1st period. According to Shaw, they were having trouble with the feed from Chicago. I urge everyone to phone Shaw Cable, tell them that you left to watch the game at a bar when the game did not come on as scheduled, and demand you receive a refund.

While we didn't miss any goals, we did miss Shane O'Brien take on Blackhawk Adam Burish. The whole pay-per-view cash grab by the Canucks irks me, missing the first 10 minutes after paying $16 for the HD feed, made me livid.

Let's see, where should we start?

Should we start with the dismal special teams? Off the top of my short haircut, I believe the Canucks are approximately 2- 28 on the power play this season, 1-20 on the road and haven't scored in 15 straight power play chances. Not to mention giving up at least 2 power play goals against in the each of the last five games.

Or maybe we should talk about the poor defensive zone coverage?

Or should we discuss the average goaltending?

Or the all too many odd man rushes against?

No, let's talk about the fully deserving Chicago Blackhawks. Chicago $7million man Brian Campbell looked like Paul Coffee, the way he was flying and ragging the puck.

How about the talented youth of the Hawks? Patrick Sharp had 2 goals and an assist, Patrick Kane had a goal and 2 assists. It seemed Jonathan Toews was dancing around Canuck defencemen (Mitchell, O'Brien) at every whim.

I thought Hawk sniper Martin Havlat looked uninspired, but d-man Duncan Keith was often a threat. Dustin Byfuglien is a horse, who knows how to stand in front of the net on the power play (please take note Taylor Pyatt) and did anybody notice Kris Versteeg?

The Lethbridge, Alberta native, and former Lethbridge Bronco, was acquired by the Hawks in a 2007 trade that sent Brandon Bochenski to the Bruins. Versteeg payed 13 games with the big club last year but this season is considered his rookie campaign, and he has started it off with a bang. He is a talented kid, and with the aid of playing with last year's rookie of the year Patrick Kane and the young talented Hawk captain Jonathan Toews, his 2 assists Sunday night versus the Nucks now gives him 6 pts (1-G, 5-A) in the first 6 games of the season.

Back to the Canucks......

The Team 1040 will be inundated with naysayer's tomorrow. Common complaints will be "we have a team of 3rd liners", "d-men are overrated", "Luongo is uninterested", "Coach V has to go", etc. etc. etc.

Patience people, patience.

This team is still finding it's way. The only forwards that played together with any type for regularity last year were Great Grandma's favorite players, the Sedin twins, and Kesler/Burrows. Therefore there is not one line that is in tact from last year. While the KBH (Kesler, Burrows, Hansen) line is showing cohesion, and the Hank/Danny/Bernier line has shown flashes of brilliance, the line combinations are still a work in progress.

Let's talk about a positive. You've heard me mention Mike Brown's name before, and he finally was able to draw into the line up with Rick Rypien falling ill. With 4th line teammate Darcy Hordichuk getting injured early in the first, Brown hardly saw the ice (3:16 ice time) after that. Despite this, the 2004 5th round Canuck draft pick made his presence felt in the second period. After Hawk Ben Eager shot the puck at Luongo, albeit wide, well after an offside whistle, the Northbrook, Illinois native Brown immediately challenged Eager on the ensuing face off. Brown delivered 3 lightning quick rights, on his way to a unanimous decision in the short, but spirited bout. It was nice to see Brown draw into the line up in Chicago, in fornt of family and friends, after Coach V decided to sit him when the Canucks played their last season.

It's only 6 games into the season, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that Coach V is feeling the heat. Despite getting a year extension on his contract, Coach V is not Canuck GM Mice Gillis' guy. Don't be fooled, Coach V knows he is under the gun. I very much doubt Gillis will have patience for the group that he has assembled to gel. If the Canucks struggle, look for Coach V to be sent packing, and a Gillis confidante to be given a short track to a head coaching job in the NHL.

*Tatonka Trample Nucks 5-2

Back up goaltending is now a question mark with the Vancouver Canucks. Playing their second road game in two nights, the Canucks decided to give Curtis Sanford the start, and rest Captain Roberto Luongo.



Poor penalties, even worse goaltending, gave the Sabres a 3-0 lead from which the Canucks never recovered.



1:10 into the 1st, Willie Mitchell starts of the game by shooting the puck over the glass, in his own end. 6 second into the Mitchell delay of game penalty, Jaroslav Spacek one times a cross point feed from young Slovakian d-man Andrej Sekera, and blasts it by a screened Curtis Sanford. Ohlund thought he had a chance to block the shot, stuck out his knee, but missed. Mitchell makes a bad mistake in shooting the puck over the glass, Sanford is in a poor position, Ohlund tries to play goalie, 1-0 Sabres.



I called it in my last blog, Hordicuk went after Peters the first chance he had. Just over 2 minutes in, Canucks down 1-0, Hordichuk knew it was time to send a message.


http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=dzyPLxjacss



You have to love Hordichuk. This guys is taking on the league's monsters, and is not only showing up but getting his licks in as well. A long fight, both exhausted at the end. When a team has a guy that will battle anybody in the league, everybody on the bench is immediately accountable to each other. Sure, they are all professionals, get paid extremely well, but Hordichuk inspires his teammates with his willingness to do battle on their behalf. He knows when, and how, to drop the mitts.


Unfortunately, Canuck d-man Shane O'Brien does not. With the Canucks down 1-0 and just after finishing off a Taylor Pyatt hooking penalty, O'Brien took exception to the Sabres rough play and went after a Sabre after he ran at Pavol Demitra. O'Brien's challenge to a fight went unaccepted, but O'Brien decided to throw punches anyhow. 4 minute penalty for roughing.

On the ensuing power play, Sanford fails to control a Vanek one timer from the left point, MacArthur capitalizes on the rebound, 2-0.

Then the killer. Sanford let a harmless wrist shot from Ales Kotalik, squeak through his pads. As the puck laid motionless behind Sanford's right skate, not knowing where the puck was, he closed his legs, pushing the puck in himself.

Despite being down 3-0, the Canucks kept working. You never got the feeling that they were throwing in the towel. They battled hard to make it 3-1 on a nice Ryan Kesler wrist shot, only to fall 4-2 on Tomas Vanek's league leading 6th goal.

Vanek is starting to earn his huge salary, courtesy of former Oiler GM's Kevin Lowe's huge offer sheet last year. Vanek ended the night with a goal and 2 assists.

Bernier converted a beautiful Henrik Sedin spin around backhand pass from behind the Sabre net to make it 4-2 against his former team. Giving up a 3rd round pick to acquire Bernier is looking like a very good move.

Unfortunately, in the Sabre Zone with the Cancuks pressing, a lazy pass from Pavol Demitra back to O'Brien was deflected out of the zone by the curling Tomas Vanek. While Vanek doesn't need a step to get by O'Brien, he had one on him and raced past him to get a breakway on Sanford. O'Brien hooked Vanek's arm, causing him to lose the puck to the corner. The ref had his arm up to call a penalty,or a penalty shot, on O'Brien but Vanek didn't give up on the play and found a streaking Ales Kotalik in the slot, and he made it 5-2 to seal the deal, and keep the Sabres undefeated with a 4-0 record .

The overall effort of the Canucks was commendable. One never felt that they stopped working. Sanford and O'Brien had noticeable poor outings, but I like the fact the O'Brien was willing to defend his teammates. He will learn from Hordichuk about making sure that he isn't the only one dropping the gloves, it takes two to dance. Sanford, on the other had, was guilty of a terrible first period. While he played respectably in the 2nd and 3rd, if this inconsistent play continues, look for the Canucks to either bring up Cory Schneider, or look for another back up.

The Canucks are 3-2, and 2-2 on their current 6 game road trip. Up next is a Sunday afternoon (4pm pst) tilt against the young Chicago Blackhawks. The Black Hawks will be play their first game under new head coach Joel Quenville in St. Louis tonight. The Hawks will be playing their 2nd game in 2 nights when they take on the Canucks tomorrow.

Notes:
- Look for the Canucks to make a deal soon. They are over the roster limit and keeping Mike Brown in the IR because they will lose him if the put him on waivers. If nobody gets hurt, Pyatt could be the odd man out.

- Fabian Brunstrom, the Swedish player that was so close to signing with the Canucks when Dave Nonis was GM, made his debut with the Dallas Stars against the Nashville Predators Wednesday night. After sitting out Dallas' first two games, he was the NHL's third player to score a hat trick in his debut. This kid would have looked good in a Canuck uniform. Too bad Gillis could not sway the talented Brunstrom to sign with the Canucks.


* Tatonka: Sioux word meaning buffalo

HKB Line Clips Wings

Full marks to the Canucks in their 4-3 OT victory over the Detroit Red Wings last night. After a 6-1 drubbing at the hands of the Washington Capitals Monday night, the Canucks were saying they would be better Thursday night, and they were.

They were many positives for the Canucks in the victory, but none more than the Hansen, Kesler, Burrows Line. Responsible for 3 of the 4 Canuck goals, including the OT great individual effort of Alex Burrows, this line that was put together late in the preseason, continues to impress with their combination of speed, skill and tenacity.

This line is gaining a reputation, as well as garnering respect. The Red Wings put the Draper checking line against the HKB line whenever possible. While most of the NHL knows Alex Burrows for being one of the most hated agitators of the league, they are now starting to learn what most regular observers of the Canucks have known for a while, Burrows has a finesse game to go with the other intangibles of his game.

Asked before the game what it is like to know that he is one of most hated players in the league, Burrows replied, "I have 20 friends on this team, and that is all the friends I need".

The SSB line (Sedin, Sedin, Bernier) line were not awarded with any points, but were a threat throughout. And finally, the line of Raymond, Demitra and Pyatt showed up on the scoresheet with Raymond burying a Willie Mitchell rebound into a yawning cage.

Pyatt has a lot of work to do. His lack of speed is hurting the line defensively. After letting his check, Wing D-man Kronwall, walk around him twice in the Canucks zone, Coach V put Pyatt down on the 4th line, where her rode the pine for a lot of the second period. When are the Canucks going to give Mike Brown a shot to crack this line up. The kid's got wheels and is as tough as they come.

Low and behold, the Canuck brass saw the ill of their ways and replaced dough boy Wellwood with Hordichuk in the line up. Rypien, Johnson, Hordichuk have been the best fourth line the Canucks have had in quite some time.

Never again should the Canucks give a chance to a player that comes to camp so out of shape. The Canucks have place Wellwood on waivers, with the hopes that someone will take him, and his 1 mi lion salary, off the Canucks hand. But guaranteed nobody will. Hopefully the Canucks will not send him to the Manitoba Moose. Uncommitted players are like a cancer in the dressing room. I say good riddance and give him his outright release.

The Canucks are in for a tough test tonight against the undefeated Buffalo Sabres. Playing their second game in two nights, the Canucks face off against a fast, tough, highly skilled Sabre team. They will see the rejuvenated Tomas Vanek, who already has five goals this season.

Look for Hordichuk to go with tough guy Andrew Peters if the two get a chance.

Godard vs Cote 10-14-08

These two kids are worthy of making my blog.

http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=RWn5fUUiv0o

Sabres-Islanders 10-13-08 line brawl

http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=WTPudRyyhsE

Sabres can score and fight.

Canucks Tinkering Enable Capital Gain

Tinker with a winning line up, suffer the consequences.




How do you think the Canuck players felt when Coach V put Kyle Wellwood in the line up, at the expense of Darcy Hordichuk. Who's great idea was it to replace a warrior with the pilsbury dough boy?



Note to Canuck coaching staff: "Toughness in line up, team plays bigger and tougher......toughness out of line up, team plays smaller and weaker."


Please, please send Wellwood to Peoria, or wherever Jeff Cowan was sent. Wellwood has zero respect in the Canuck dressing room. How do you think the Canucks feel when they see a guy who arrived out of shape taking the spot of a player that sticks up for every guy in the room.


A "skilled" player, but Wellwood is put on the 4th line until the game is out of hand. Oh, he saw some power play time with Bieksa being out, and Demitra put on the point, but was basically invisible. What the heck were the Canuck brass thinking?


The Canucks win 2 big character building games against a very good Calgary team. Then they tinker with the line up. Absolutely ridiculous.


Note #2 to Canuck brass: "If you want partake in a team building exercise while on the road, get rid of Wellwood".


The Canucks were so bad they were in danger of setting a league record for the fewest shots in a game. 2 shots in the 1st, 1 shot (yes, 1!) in the 2nd and they came on strong (tongue in cheek) in the 3rd and got 7 shots on goal to save themselves the embarrassment of tying, or breaking, the record for fewest shots. Cap goalie Johnson drank coffee during commercial breaks to stay awake.


Let's talk about Pyatt, Demitra and Raymond. Brutal. Demitra has lost a step. Pyatt's lack of footspeed is evident more than ever and he plays way smaller than his size. Time to get Mike Brown into the line up, and now. Put Rypien with Demitra and Raymond (Raymond is a game or two away from being sent down) Put Brown with Johnson and Hordichuk. Where is the fast Demitra of old? Will somebody light a fire under that guy!


Let's not take anything away from the Capitals. They dominated. They are big and very skilled. They will be a force if they can get goaltending. With Theodore and Johnson, they don't have goaltending.


Too bad Coach V (or was it at Gillis' urging?) decided to put Wellwood in the lineup. Look for line up changes in Detroit.

Confident Canucks Get Big OT Win in Cowtown

Who are these guys? 2 games, 11 goals?? 2 games, 4 fights?? How long have we heard, the Canucks can't score....the Canucks can't fight, let alone win a scrap....the Canucks can't comeback when they're down.....the Canucks are the Minnesota Wild of the North.....

Are these guys fun to watch, or what? Come back from 3-1, 4-3 deficits to win one in Calgary's barn! How good were the Mitchell/Iginla and Rypien/Prust fights? How good was it to see a Canuck (Hordichuk) go after the other team's heavyweight (Roy) when the Canucks were down 2 goals? How good was it to see Mitchell/Iginla take off their lids when they were squaring off?

Let's leave the scoring for later, let's talk about about grit. The Canucks are down 3-1 10minutes into the first and what do we see? We see a game Willie Mitchell taking on the heart and soul of the Flames, Jarome Iginla. Two good Canadian kids, droppin the mitts, removing the lids and squarring off and goin at it! Mitchell got the upperhand early, getting Iginla's jersey over Iginla's head, and proceeded to pummel Iggy. Iggy was in trouble, but he never gives up. Iginla escaped the jersey over his head, and landed a good left to the chin of Mitchell and dropped him. Great fight, both did well.

Calgary was fully deserving of their 3-1 lead after one. But after the Mitchell/Iginla fight, the Canucks settled down. You could sense that if the Canucks could weather the storm, the tide could turn.

Flashback to Thursday night's game, Canucks up 3-0 in the 2nd period, Flame bruiser Andre Roy wants to scrap with Hordichuk, Hordichuk ignores him, not wanting to take a chance on changing the momentum. Roy is frustrated, Calgary goes on to lose 6-zip.

Sat. night, Canucks still down 3-1, 2 1/2 minutes into the 2nd period, Hordichuk challenges Roy. Roy doesn't know what to do. He's too stupid. You could see the look on Roy's face, "Ahhhh, we are winning 3-1, not sure if I should fight, supposed to be the tough guy, but not sure if it's the right time cause we got the lead....ahhh...I don't want to seem like I don't want to go....ahhh, who cares, I'll drop the gloves". Despite it wasn't much of a scrap, the Canucks saw something that they haven't seen in a long time. They see one of their own, challenging the other team's tough guy to dance. Having somebody that will go with anybody in the league, makes everybody on the team play bigger, tougher.

And then the creme de la creme. The first face off after the Hordichuk/Roy fight, Rick Rypien squares off with a fellow very tough middleweight, Brandon Prust. Prust had 248 penalty minutes with the Quad City Flames of the AHL last year. Prust is no stranger to pugilism.

You gotta love how Rypien squares off. There is no bobbin or weavin, he just puts his dukes up, stays still, sees an opening and the fists start to fly. Rypien's fight was a thing of beauty. After the initial charge, Rypien got a hold of Prust's jersey with his right hand. While most just grab the jersey and throw punches with the free hand, Rypien was punching with this right hand, while holding on to his jersey. Prust was getting 1-2's like rapid fire.....Rypien is a fun to watch. We would have seen this last year too, if he wasn't injured for so long.

Of course, I am sure all of the bleeding heart liberals in this country turned the channel when the fights were going on.....

Now, back to the rest of the game.

After Rypien served his fighting major, what does Canuck coach V do? He puts Rypien/Johnson/Hordichuk line on the on the ice. Salo kept the puck in from the right point, Johnson received the pass off the boards taking the puck behind the net drawing two Flames to him and hit Rypien, who was all alone in front of the net, with a beautiful pass. Rypien pops his 2nd goal in two games to make it 3-2.

58 seconds later, off a nice rush from the speedy Burrows/Kesler/Hansen line, Hansen took a shot that squeaked thru Kipper and Kesler pushed it in after forcefully driving to the net. This line looks great and has given the Flames fits for two games in a row. Did anyone see Flames' coach Keenan's face after this goal. Keenan could feel that the Flames psyche wasn't well, and had a face of a very worried man.

Flames Cammeleri made it 4-3, to give the Flames a 4-3 lead that they took with them into the dressing room after 2.

There is a confidence about this Canuck bunch. Down 3-1, down 4-3, you can tell that they feel that they can come back and win. The don't seem fragile at all.

Sure enough in the 3rd, the Sedin-Sedin-Bernier line comes thru. Hank finding Daniel in front of the net from the behind the right side of Kipper's net, Daniel made no mistake. How Hank got that pass thru Giordanno, I don't know. The one thing I do know is Giordanno shound have had Daniel. 4-4.

Then we got Bertuzzi being Bertuzzi. Flame fan is seeing what Canuck fan saw all too often. They see a guy with world class talent, doing something that is border line, and putting his team at the mercy of the referee's discretion. While Bertuzzi had scored on a nice deflection to make it 2-1 in the first, he also took a bad interefrence penalty in the opening period to negate a Flames power play. Now, with less than two minutes to go in the third, he was behind Johnson as the two were racing into the corner for a puck. Bertuzzi, in Bertuzzi-like fashion, nudges Johnson enough from behind to send him hard into the glass. There is no question that Johnson came off the glass flopping like a fish out of water, and definitely embelished the impact of the hit, but by Bertuzzi doing this he is leaving it to chance as to whether the referee's will make the call. And sure enough the ref's called him on it. Bertuzzi cost his team big time.

While the Canucks did not score on the ensuing power play that lasted until 30 seconds in OT, they were all over the Flames.

This is where Flames fan has an arguement. Just under a minute into OT, Burrows was back checking. He dove to try and poke check a Flame from behind. He hit the skate of the Flame and tripped him, no call. Flames fans were rightfully incensed. Especially just after this, Burrow picked up a deflected Cammelleri back pass and rushed up the ice with Pavol Demitra on a 2-1. A 2-1 because Flame d-man Phaneuf was guilty of pinching at the wrong time. Burrows was on the left side, Demitra on the right. D-man Robyn Regehr tried to do what d-men should do on a 2-1, he tried to tie up the open man (Demitra) while letting Kipper handle the shooter Burrows. Burrows went in on Kipper, deked left then went right, but lost control of the puck with Kipper down and out. Fortunately for the Canucks, the puck slide right to Demitra, who wasn't properly tied up by Regehr, game over.

The majority of people thought this team would be boring to watch, more than likely not very competitive. At least for the first two games, the Canucks are proving the pundits wrong.

Notes: While Demitra scored the OT winner, he has been invisible for the most part of the first two games. So has linemate Taylor Pyatt. Where has Demitra's acceleration gone? Pyatt looks like he's choked about being taken off the Sedin line. Hopefully the Pyatt/Demitra/Raymond second line just needs some time to get some chemistry.
And from the say it isn't so category, tell me that Bieksa's injury won't be serious. I am afraid it is. He has been sent to Vancouver for tests on his knee, but it's not looking good. Hard luck after last years calf muscle laceration that kept him out for most of the season.

Inspired Canucks Win Big On Bourdon Tribute NIght

Canucks opening night featured a tribute to Luc Bourdon, who was tragically killed in a motrocycle accident this past summer. The tribute was nicely done. Started with Canuck TV rinkside announcer Scotty Rintoul doing an excellent piece on Bourdon. Rintoul did an excellent job and started off the tribute in in a very nice way. Having Tom Cochrane sing "My Boy's Gonna Make It to the Big Leagues" during the video tribute was a nice touch. Touching to see Bourdon's family receive the last game jersey he wore. The family who received the jersey at last year's "Jersey Off Our Back" night, presented Bourdon's mother with it.

One thing that I was disappointed in, was that there was not a moment of silence. I thought there should have been one, and would have made the tribute perfect.

All in all, the emotion of the moment could be felt throughout the capacity crowd.

With the tribute, and it being opening night, the atmosphere was electric. It was time to see if the Cancuks pre-season was a sign of things to come, or if it was a fluke.

The Canucks were possibly too charged up, because they came out lacking cohesion. Calgary dominated the first period and the Canucks were extremely fortunate to come out of the period with a 1-0 lead. With the aid of four Canuck minor penalties, the Flames were all over the Canucks. As he has done so many times before, Canuck Captain Robert Luongo held the fort with his superb play in net.

With just under 4 minutes to play in the 1st period, the twins were on a 2 on 1. Daniel carried the puck down the left wing with Conroy skating hard to try and catch up. The Calgary d-man played the 2 on 1 nicely and Kipper made a nice save on Daniel's shot. The rebound followed Daniel to the end boards, with Conroy guilty of letting Henrik dart over to the left side alone, Kipper had no chance as Daniel quickly fed Hank the puck, Hank made no mistake in putting it over the still down and out Kipper. Conroy made a lazy, lazy play, leaving his check, Henrik all alone. Keenan couldn't have been happy and should have given the veteran an ear full.

Everybody expected Calgary to dominate again in the 2nd, but the Flames came out flat and 23 seconds in, Bernier one timed a nice feed from Hank, who was down low. Kudos to Bieksa for pinching in from the point, getting a step on his check, an unexpectant Bertuzzi, to create havoc for Giordano in front of the net. Giordano didn't know who to take, Bieksa or Bernier, Bernier was open, and Hank found him, 2 zip, complexion of game changed right there.

The Canucks' overall team speed is faster this year, and the line of Kessler-Burrows-Hansen exemplifies that. Burrows potted his first goal of the game on a rebound off a Kesler shot that Kipper tried to steer to the corner, however, he steered it right to Burrows, who put it over a desperate Kipper. This goal seemed to deflate the Flames, coming just a minute 24 after Bernier's tally.

Keenan put out Andre Roy, who is a monster, and Vigneault replied with Hordichuk and the 4th line. Roy and Hordichuk lined up on opposite wings. Immediately after the face off Roy went after Hordichuk and challenged him, Hordichuk didn't want anything to do with Roy. This frustrated the Flame goon, he was looking for a fight in almost every one of his few shifts (6:14 of ice), and tried to goad Canuck new comer, big d-man, O'Brien into a scrap when they lined up across from each other in the Canucks zone, but O'Brien saw no need and just ignored him.

Another Calgary gaffe led to the Canucks 4th goal. In the Flames zone, Conroy headmanned the puck to Cammelleri who was darting up the middle. Cammelleri must of thought he was going to get hit, cause he took his eye off the feed and let it go off his stick directly to another new Canuck, Ryan Johnson. Johnson immediately fed it to the left handed shot Burrows, who turned to receive the pass, and beautifully one timed a slap shot through Kipper. Great to see Bourdon's best friend on the Canucks, Burrows, pot his second of the game.

Burrows was also at his agitating best last night. In the 3rd, as Kipper was freezing the puck, Burrows was alone in front of him, Flame d-man Phaneuf didnt like this and grabbed Burrows from behind and Burrows went down easier than than a cheap hooker on Hastings.

Other notable moments were Bernier taking on Phaneuf after Phaneuf made a hard hit on a Sedin. Phaneuf fed him, as Bernier was outmatched, but good to see the kid go after the tougher Phaneuf. And everybody in the building, including Lombardi was surprised to Jannik Hansen, drop the gloves to go with Lomabardi after Luongo and Langkow exchanged jabs after a whistle, in front of the net. Lucky for Hansen, the linesman had a hold of Langkow, preventing him from really getting at Hansen. Wasn't much of a fight as Hansen got a double roughing and Langkow 2 for roughing. Will have to start callling Hansen "Killer".

Very impressive win by the Canucks. It's only the first of 82, but everything since training camp has been positive about this club. We'll see if it continues......