Canucks Need Break....Or Do They?

With the Canucks in the midst of a 6 game losing streak, it would seem it is a good time for the team to take a break and regroup.....or is it?

A quick look at the standings and you will see the Canucks presently sit in 8th, the final playoff spot, in the Western Conference. A closer look at the standings and you will notice that along with the streaking 5th place Phoenix Coyotes and the 7th place Anaheim Ducks, the Canucks have played the most games (48) in the Western Conference. The teams (Columbus, Minnesota, Colorado) trailing the Canucks and the teams the Canucks are chasing have at least 2 games in hand. Alarming, to say the least.

All teams have to deal with the break, one way or the other. I am sure most of the players, not taking part in the all-star game, appreciate the 4-5 hiatus away from the game. Seems as though some of the Canucks, most likely the single guys, flew to Maui after the San Jose game. Am I the only one who is jealous?

However, a break is not what is needed for three very important players on the Canucks roster. These three players, that have missed a lot of playing time this season, are Luongo (groin injury), Sundin (self imposed soul searching) and Salo (the latest injury a broken rib).

It is next to impossible to come back from an extended lay off and play at the top of your game. Columbus Blue Jacket coach Ken Hitchcock is of the opinion that it takes players at least a month to be in top form when returning from a lay off. While a month seems to be a little long, it does take time to readjust to the speed of the game and for players to regain their timing.

These three very important players do not need the break. Salo.... a very important player you say? Yes, a healthy Sami Salo is extremely important to the Canucks' success. The top four D on the Canucks are Mitchell, Bieksa, Ohlund, and Salo. Edler and O'Brien round out the top six. Without Salo, fringe defencemen Davison or Nycholat make their way into the line up. Salo makes the all important good first pass to get out of the defensive zone and has the best howitzer from the point on the Canucks. While the problem is him staying healthy, him in the line up makes the team far better.

Sundin missed half the season before it dawned on him that he would like to play. It will take him at least 10-15 games to get into game shape and get his timing back. A break after his first 7 games, which have been mediocre at best (2G, 1A, -3), is not what is needed. He needs to play games. I am concerned that a break will just stagnate his comeback.

Luongo travels to his his hometown to participate in the All Star game. Playing a period in a game that is just glorified shinny, will not help his progress. The team would be better served if he would stay in town and work out with goaltending coach Ian Clark and strength and conditioning coach Roger Takahashi. Pray that he doesnt get hurt.

Notes:
- Will people please stop harping on Bieksa. So what if he's had a couple of give aways, hasn't played that well of late. He is a top 4 defencemen on any team in the league. Who would you play in his place? Davison? Give your head a shake, he's a good defencemen, and like every player, he will have the odd poor game.
- Same goes for Alex Edler. Edler is only 22 and the youngest Canuck d-man. He will have his struggles, but the Canucks scouting staff (kudos to European scout, former Canuck stand out, Thomas Gradin) for nabbing this kid in the 3rd round, 91st overall, in the 2004 draft. FYI, the Canucks traded up to take Edler because Detroit was set to take him 6 picks later......but don't feel bad for Detroit, they got a good one in Johan Franzen with the 97th pick.
- Has anybody seen Kyle Wellwood?

NY Road Trip

On my recent trip to New York, I saw three hockey games. Pittsburgh Penguins versus New Jersey, NY Rangers versus NJ (in NJ) and the Carolina Hurricanes versus the NY Rangers at Madison Square Garden.









There were three of us that went to the Pens/Devils game. We had two tickets, courtesy of Sarge's company, about 10rows behind the Devils net. We though we would go out and trade for three together, and split the cost. We were surprised when we arrived at the Prudential Center (downtown Newark) to hardly find a scalper in sight. We ran into a NJ Devil jersey wearing guy with lots of tickets. I asked him if he was "sellin" and he said "No, but I'll give you guys some free ones"!

Well, I couldn't believe it. This guy had a mitt full of upper bowl tickets to a game which had two of the best players (Crosby and Malkin), and was giving them away for free! Of course we took them, but we didn't sit in them.

We went down to the area where our original tickets (2) were and sat down there. The upper bowl was packed with people enjoying the game for free, while the lower bowl had a lot of empty seats.

The Devils and the Pens are both really, really good teams and they were giving away tickets for free. This does not bold well for the NHL.

The next 4-5 years will be very difficult times for the NHL. For the most part, all the of the season tickets sold were sold before the present economic downturn. For the NHL, it's the calm before the storm. Very rocky times ahead.

We made a late decision to attend the Devil/Ranger game, but glad we decided to go. It was a 8-5 win for the Devils with the Rangers making things interesting by comin back from a 5-1 deficit to tie the game at 5, before the Devils came back. And there were 3 fights!

I have seen hockey games at the old Montreal Forum, the Montreal Bell Centre, Toronto's ACC, Anaheim's Pond, LA's Staple Center, Vancouver's GM Place, Phoenix's Jobbing.com arena, Madison Square Garden, and now New Jersey's Prudential Center. I have yet to see an arena more beautiful than New Jersey's, Prudential Center. With open concourses in both ends, extremely wide hallways, great sight lines, two levels of private suites in the middle, they did everything right when they built this arena.

Unlike the Penguin game, the place was packed with Blueshirt fans which made for a great atmosphere. There was four of us that went to this game. We sat in $140 seats which we bought for $60 each.

The Rangers beat the Hurricanes 3-2 in a shootout in the last game we saw. Nothing like seeing a game at MSG. At every New York ranger game, you hear somebody start whistling to prompt the crowd to say "Potvin Sucks". Yes, they still say that at every game. Quite the tribute to the Islander hall of famer.

We ran into hall of famer Glenn Anderson in between periods, and had our picture taken with him. My buddy Craig seems to know which players have the best looking wives, because his only comment to Anderson was "You're wife is gorgeous!" Anderson laughed and said he should wait around cause she'll be along soon.


The boys with hall of famer Glenn Anderson.




Carolina Hurricanes versus New York Rangers, Madison Square Garden, Dec. 13, 2008

Sundin For Half Year

New York GM Glen Sather could not shed salary, Sundin signs with Canucks. Sundin would only sign for one year, as was previously predicted here. Unless the Canucks win the Stanley cup, Sundin will be a Ranger next season.

Slats Trying to Dump Salary to Gain Sundin

Quick blog for those of you going thru withdrawl over the last month.

New York Ranger GM Glen Sather has been told by the Sundin Camp that Sundin wants to be a Ranger. Contract details have been agreed to. However, it depends on if Slather is able to dump salary to make enough room under the salary cap to accomodate Sundin. Slather is presently working to do this. If Slats can't, Sundin is a Vancouver Canuck.

If he becomes a Canuck, it may only be for this season. Sundin wants to be a New York Ranger, and will be before he retires. You heard it here first.

Lest We Forget

Vimy Ridge
April 9, 1917, 4 Canadian divisions fought together for the first time and took the heavily fortified, strategic ridge at the cost of 3600 killed, 7400 wounded.

Juno Beach (Canadian Landing Beach, June 6, 1944, D-Day)

Normandy, France

This house was liberated at first light on D-Day (June 6th, 1944) by the men of Queen's Own Rifles of Canada. The house overlooked part of Juno Beach where 100+ Canadian troops were killed or wounded.

Canadian WWII Cemetery, Normandy, France

Captain Lui Leads Nucks Again

“Luongo doesn’t want to be in Vancouver. Luongo wants to be traded back to the East. Luongo’s wife doesn’t like it in Vancouver, he wants out.” These are the types of idiotic comments we have had to endure during the Canucks struggles last season, and during the early part of this season.

Last season the Canucks defence was decimated by injuries. Bieksa, Ohlund, and Salo were out for extended periods of time. The Canucks were giving up far, far too many quality chances and there is nobody in the league that could have done any better than Luongo. Does anybody remember that we had Mike Weaver (acquired via the waiver wire from the L.A. Kings last season) patrol the blue line for 55 games in front of Luongo last season? Mike Weaver!

Luongo has been perfect the last 3 games and now leads the league with 5 shut outs. That’s 5 shutouts in 14 starts!

Luongo led the Canucks to their 3rd straight victory, 5th in 6 games, Saturday night, with a superb performance in the Canucks 2-0 victory over the Minnesota Wild.

Two saves, both off the dangerous Pierre-Marc Bouchard, exemplify the brilliance of Luongo. 20seconds into the 2nd period, Wild winger Benoit Pouliot raced down the left wing and made a great cross ice pass to Bouchard, who one timed a slap shot. Luongo slid clear across from the right side of his crease to get his left pad on the shot. The beauty of this save was not just the agility and quickness that Luongo showed, it was where his left pad stopped the shot. His left pad was actually behind his body at about a 30degree angle. He made the save as the puck was passing him!

Luongo robbed Bouchard again 7 minutes later. A point shot was deflected directly to Bouchard who was skating to the right side of the net. When the puck reached Bouchard’s stick, the challenging Luongo was at the top of the crease. As Bouchard was releasing the puck, to what looked like an open net and a sure goal, Luongo once again stuck out his left pad to cover the open left side of the net and take away a sure goal from Bouchard.

While Ryan Kesler has been excellent so far this season, Luongo continues to lead the Canucks, as good Captains should.

Notes:
- Mateo “Mad Dog” Fulkco scored his first goal of his hockey career Saturday morning for the Victoria Grizzlies. Asked how he scored, Fulkco replied “I stood at the open side of the net and my friend passed me the puck and I put it in”.
Another first, and equally as impressive, was the fact that Fulcko did not go offside the whole game.

Gretz Disappoints, Turris Sits for Homecoming

We can talk about Lui's 2nd straight shut out and 4th of the season. We can talk about the Canucks 4th win in 5 games. We can talk about how the Canucks look to be taking full advantage of their home stand, currently standing 8-6 on the season.





However, I want to talk about Phoenix Coyote head coach, and hockey legend, Wayne Gretzky deciding to sit 2007 1st round draft pick (3rd overall), Burnaby native, and former Burnaby Express super star, Kyle Turris. Whether you play or not, visiting your hometown for the first time as a member of an NHL team, only happens once.

The 19year old Turris, who played last year for the University of Wisconsin Badgers (36GP, 11G 24A for 35pts), played in every one of the first 9 games of the season. 1G 4A = 5pts, minus 4 in those 9 games, Turris was a healthy scratch for Tuesday's tilt against the Flames in Calgary. In what Gretzky called his team's best effort of the season, the Coyotes beat the streaking Flames 4-2.

Every player wants desperately to play in front of his family and friends, especially when it's the first time his career his team passes through his hometown. Sure, the Coyotes were coming off their best effort of the season and the unwritten rule is to keep the same line up after such an effort. However, in this case, I think Gretzky made a big mistake.

The Coyotes have decided to build through youth. Besides Turris the following players make up the Coyotes very talented young players:

Kevin Porter, 22yrs old, 2004 4th round
Martin Hanzal, 21 yrs old, 2005 1st round, 17th overall
Keith Yandle, 22yrs old, 2005 4th round
Peter Mueller, 20yrs old, 2006 1st round, 8th overall
Mikkel Boedeker, 19yrs old, 2008 1st round, 8th over all
Viktor Tikhonov, 20 year old, 2008 1st round, 28th overall, grandson of legendary USSR coach of the same name.

Because the Coyotes have chosen to go with these youngsters, they will need to be careful on how they handle them. I question Gretzky's decision to make Turris a healthy scratch in a game that he had definitely had circled on his calendar. With 100+ friends and family in attendance, and all of Vancouver awaiting his homecoming, I am saying Gretzky's decision was classless, and potentially damaging to his relationship with Turris.

Players have a long memory. Especially highly sought after, very talented players. Players remember the little things. Turris will always remember that the Coyotes sat him for his homecoming. How can he play Turris in 9 straight games out of the gate, then sit him for 2 in a row, especially since the 2nd was in his hometown? The classy move would have been to insert him into the line up against the Canucks.

Obviously, Gretzky's point in making this decision was to show his team that a winning line up stays together for the next game. Big deal....

A much bigger point would have been to find a spot in the line up for a young kid, who they chose to have on the team this year, for his first game in his home town. The rest of the team would understand and would most likely feed off of Turris' excitement.

If Gretzky's worry was that he didn't want the team to feel that Turris was getting special treatment, he has far bigger problems on his hands. Good teams are unselfish. If Turris' teammates weren't hoping for him to be in the line up, for Turris' sake, then there is a huge attitude problem on the Coyotes.

Last year, when the Canucks visited Chicago, Coach V did the same thing to Mike Brown. Brown is an energy player that will drop the gloves with anybody, anytime. Coach V chose to sit him, with family and friends in the stands. He should have played that night. Finally this year, Brown got to make his debut in Chicago, and promptly got into a fight, and was one of the Canucks better players in the loss. He has been in the line up almost every night since.

Ever wonder why the Capitals made such a huge turn around last year after they fired then head coach Glen Hanlon? Very simple, players will go through a wall for head Coach Bruce B0udreau for the things that he does for his players. Look no further than what he did during the Caps visit to Calgary on Oct. 21.


Boudreau had coached the Capital's farm club, the Hershey Bears, prior to taking over for Hanlon. Boudreau called up career minor leaguer (7years), former Kamloops Blazer, and Calgary native Tyler Sloan for the game. On his third shift, Sloan proceeded to make a huge hit on Flame Damon Langkow, after which Flame Rene Bourque tackled Sloan, threw punches and recieved 19minutes in penalties to give the Ovechkin and the Capitals a 9 minute power play.

But how things transpired in the game, are not as important as what Boudreau did for the player. Sloan and family have suffered personal tragedy with the death of Sloan's sister. What a moment for the Sloan family to see their son play in his hometown. All the players in the organization remember things like this, and this is one of the reasons why players love to play for Boudreau.

Gretzky was trying to send a message Thursday night. Unfortunately, it was one that showed they don't care about special nights for their players. Turris and teammates will always remember this. An obviously crushed Turris refused interviews after the game and who can blame him? The Coyotes chose to go with the kids, they better remember how to treat the kids properly.

A highly questionable decision by Gretzky and one of the few times I have really been disappointed in him.


Notes:
- Congratulations to Igor Larionov on being chosen for induction to the Hockey Hall of Fame. A player who always played with skill and carried himself with class, it is well reserved. Thanks to Sarge for sending this great picture.