Canuck players defend Vigneault / news links

You won't catch any players bad-mouthing Alain Vigneault's system in these tough times. When asked if AV was to blame Alex Burrows belted out:

"I think it's completely, bull****," said Burrows.
"We've lost seven or eight in a row, but he's not the problem. We've been in some different games where we've had penalty trouble, some other games we haven't been able to score, some others we couldn't keep the puck out of our net. So he's not the problem. He's not why we're losing. We just have to go back to work just like we did today and . . . get ready for Saturday and have a good game against the Wild."

Bernier chimed in:

"We all know it's the players on the ice who are doing the job," said Bernier.
"It's a good system. We just need to follow it. If we do it, we'll be back to where we were before these struggles. It's not the coach's fault. Sometimes you try to do somebody's job, and that's where you get caught. It's the same system we were winning with at the start of the season."

The anger from the fans and the rumors don't affect Ryan Kesler.

"I don't order the paper, I don't listen to the radio, and I don't watch TV, so it's not affecting me at all," said Kesler

. More at the Province.Hey this coach-defending is cute and all, and I think the players are going to do their best to come together. But if they don't succeed, the coach usually gets the axe.

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Some arenas have questionable rules in regards to taking pictures. For example, you can snap pics at a Canucks game but you can't have a superzoom lens. I almost had my camera confiscated at a Prince George Cougars game because I wasn't allowed to take pictures AT ALL. Suckers.
Earlier this month, a 17 year old volunteer at an Ontario arena was banned from the building after taking pictures of Don Cherry and talking to him. He is hoping Grapes will say something about it on Coach's Corner.

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Does Columbus' Mike Commodore know when to shut up? First he bad-mouths Mike Babcock and now Senator's GM Bryan Murray, who he played for in Ottawa.

"Bryan Murray said some things to the media that he shouldn't have," Commodore told the Dispatch in Columbus. "I'd have a meeting with him and he'd end up saying things to the media that he wouldn't say to my face.
I'm struggling, the team's struggling, and Bryan's telling the media that I'm a player with no hands and no ability. Then they'd come to me and I'd have to spin it somehow, or try to laugh it off."

Oh, but there's more.Way to start burning bridges, you idiot.

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Old news: Unlike his bald buddy from Sweden, Peter Forsberg has made it clear that he will not play in the NHL this season due to his nagging foot injury. He will play for Modo instead. Actually, he signed there today.

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From the Toronto Sun:

Several weeks ago, Brian Burke described the trade offers being presented to the Maple Leafs as "garbage."

That is not the case any more.

The Maple Leafs general manager admitted last night that talks are "heating up" as the March 4 trade deadline looms closer.

"I've had a couple of interesting calls in the past 48 hours," Burke said. "The talks are not boiling. And I would not say anything is imminent. But things definitely are heating up right now."

I wonder if Mike Gillis is one of the guys doing some inquiring. He may as well bring in Antropov and Ponikarovsky so Sundin has linemates that he can gel with. Send Bernier and Bieksa the other way. Did I say hat out loud? I'm kidding. We don't need Antro-karovsky here.

T Tags: Canucks+defend+Vigneault Mike+Commodore+bashes+Bryan+Murray jackass Brian+Burke Leafs+trade+talks Don+Cherry

Canucks period-by-period vs the Blue Jackets

FIRST PERIOD

It could have been a devastating start for Vancouver. Kevin Bieksa coughed the puck up to Kristian "The Weasel" Huselius who went in all alone on Luongo but lost control of the puck. This was very early into the game.
Then the Canucks shrugged that off and went on the attack for a long stretch, with Taylor Pyatt scoring a goal top shelf on Steve Mason. Both Sedins assisted on that. There is why Pyatt is on the top line. He used his size to get open. In fact, I thought Taylor Pyatt was pretty good in period 1.
The Jackets tied it almost 4 minutes later with a beauty 3 way passing play with Manny Malhotra tapping the puck past Luongo, who is sporting his ugly "V" mask tonight.
It seemed like the Canucks were on their heels after that. They repeatedly could not get the puck out of their zone and lost battles for the puck or failed to clear. That being said, they remained composed in front of Luongo, limiting the decent scoring chances against. Luongo did make a super save at one point however.
The Canucks are playing more physical yet have not had a penalty against yet. It was Columbus who gave the Canucks 2 PP chances, but no goals ensued.
You can see Sundin getting better as the game goes on. He has tremendous size and speed.
Wellwood is playing very well after being benched.
The Canucks came on late in the first. Let's see if they can carry that over.
Ohlund took a puck off the ankle I think and has not played since. A big loss if he doesn't come back.

Shots after 1: Canucks 9 Jackets 4.

PERIOD 2

The Canucks did carry momentum into the 2nd frame, scoring 2 goals by Mats Sundin (nice backhander) and Steve Bernier. But a bogus call on Jannik Hansen got the ball rolling for Columbus and the fragility shattered for Vancouver. Jason Williams scored on the power play and almost 2 minutes later with 1 minutes left on the clock, Rick Nash scores a beauty wrap around goal, as Kesler could not contain him. Nash's goal was the result of the Canucks once again not getting the puck out of their zone.
Nash has a goal and 2 assists so far. The score is tied at 3.
The Canucks were looking quite poised weren't they? Well now we'll see how they can deal with adversity this time around. This will not sit well with the media or fans if they lose like this. The game was in their hands.
The Jackets' forecheck remains tenacious. The Canucks' is passive.
Nice fight between Hordichuk and Boll. A true heavyweight tilt.

Shots in the second: Jackets 9 Canucks 8.
Overall: Canucks 17 Jackets 13.

Pyatt and Bernier have 3 shots each, leading both teams. Both have a goal.
The Sedins are going tonight. Good to see.

PERIOD 3

Yeah, the fragility really showed to start the 3rd period as the Jackets scored 2 goals (Commodore and Torres) in the first 2:11. That added up to 4 goals in about 5 minutes going back to the 2nd period. Commodore's goal was the result of a comedy of errors, as Luongo had dropped his stick, the Canucks couldn't clear the puck (again) and Hansen was trying to hand Louie his stick back. Commodore 64 just shot it in past the distracted Luongo.
Torres' goal was just lousy defensive coverage. I think 3 Canucks chased him behind the net. Lame-o.
But the Canucks came back. We thought they were a 'goner' but the Canucks came back, they just couldn't stay away. A power play goal 2 minutes later sparked the team. Less than 2 minutes after that Kevins Bieksa scored one off Nash's butt.
Then the game settled down a bit after that.

Shots in the 3rd: Canucks 12 Jackets 12

OVERTIME

The story in overtime was Kevin Bieksa, and not in a good way either. He coughed the puck up while heading past center leading to a golden Jackets chance. Then he took hooking penalty as he lost the foot race with a Jacket player who streaked by him. The Canucks killed that power play off quite effectively. The Sedins had a glorious chance and over-passed on the play. This game went to a shootout.

Shots in OT: Jackets 3 Canucks 1

Shots overall: Canucks 30 Jackets 28

SHOOTOUT

Not even close. Both Jason Williams and Nash made it look easy on Luongo and Wellwood and Sundin missed their chances.

6-5 Jackets. At least we looked better in general and got 1 point on this 5-game homestand.
It still stings though, doesn't it?

-Pavol Demitra left the game at some point and didn't play in the 3rd period. Not sure what happened there. **UPDATE** Groin injury. Big fucking surprise.
Too much excitement for him I guess. Glass Joe 2. Sami Salo is Glass Joe.

-Pyatt played over 17:00, scored 1 goal and had 5 shots. He was an even 0 for +/-
-Sundin played over 19:00 and scored 1 goal on 2 shots. He was a +1.
-Bieksa, despite his Jovo-like cough-ups scored 2 points and was a +1.
-Is Huselius any good or what? I didn't think weasels were all that dangerous.
-Nash is an immovable object out there.

BOXSCORE AND HIGHLIGHTS

Player interviews post game.

Tech Tags: Canucks+Blue+Jackets+game+review losing+streak+continues Sundin Demitra+injured shootout January+18+2009

Canucks-Blue Jackets preview: Vigneault finds the cure

-Word on the street is that Kyle Wellwood will draw back in and Mason Raymond will sit out. No confirmation of that yet.
**UPDATE**
This was quoted from somewhere at the CDC Forum:

Mason Raymond will be the odd-man out tonight as Wellwood returns to the lineup in a role on the fourth line. Raymond has scored nine goals in an inconsistent season. He definitely needs some work on his game but won't be getting that in the AHL.
Raymond has played 95 NHL games. After 80 he lost his waiver wire exemption.
"Without a doubt he couldn't clear waivers" Vigneault said. "He needs waivers to go down an that's just not an option anymore"

-Rick Nash, who has missed the last 4 games with a lower body injury is expected to play. Damn. C Jiri Novotny (upper body), C Derick Brassard (right shoulder surgery), LW Jason Chimera (groin), D Rostislav Klesla (bruised foot), and G Pascal Leclaire (ankle) are all on the injury reserve for Columbus. The Canucks will probably still be without Sami Salo. Salo tore a butt muscle when he sat down on the toilet to poop.
**UPDATE**
From the Province:

He should finally make his return tonight against Columbus.
"He's done everything in practice and it looks like he's pain free," head coach Alain Vigneault said.
Salo was coy Saturday and said his status hasn't changed.
"The bone has to be fully healed," Salo said. "You don't want to go out there if you can't do everything on the ice."

-No Pascal Leclaire. No problem. The Jackets have a potential rookie of the year in goal named Steve Mason.
-Columbus has won both games against Vancouver this year: 3-2 on December 1st and 4-2 on October 21st. Rick Nash had 2 goals and 2 assists in those games. Kyle Wellwood had 2 goals and 1 assist.
-The Canucks will play more physically, according to Ryan Kesler.

"We are going to take hard-working penalties, It’s the hooking and holding that we’re not going to take. If we play physical and take roughing or whatever, a punch in the head, we’ll kill those off."

Great plan. That part has been lacking in their game. Something needs to spark this club.
-Scoring the first goal wouldn't be a bad idea either. In their last 3 losses, the Canucks gave up the first 4 consecutive goals to Phoenix, 3 goals to New Jersey and 1 to San Jose. They obviously have not held a lead in any of those games.
-Columbus is 7-3-0 in their last 10 games. They are surging. They trail Vancouver by 3 points and can gain a playoff spot with a win tonight. Oh, and they have 2 games in hand.
-Let's see if the bleeding stops tonight. C'mon guys, it's like Yoda, I mean AV said: don't think....do!

The Canucks looked confident today according to the Province. Luongo said:

“You can’t take things for granted. Just because we’re good on paper doesn’t mean it’s going to happen on the ice. Look at Pittsburgh, they have the league’s two leading scorers and they’re not even in a playoff spot. We have to work hard, we have to play hard and we have to play smart. All those things translate into success. We can have the best team on paper, but if we don’t put it together on the ice, it’s not going to happen. “

We are going to turn things around, and when we do, there is going to be a lot of excitement in this city.”

GAME TIME: 5:00 PST
TV: Sportsnet

Canucks.com Fan Zone Live Blog can be found here. Several fans have been granted media passes for this as well as Canucks practices. This is a great thing for the organization to do and so far it is going very well, increasing the trust and relationship between the organization and bloggers.

Just saw this image at CDC under the name ramirez inc:

Beauty! ABC! Easy as 1-2-3! The big difference here is that I don't see one of the Swedes turning black or opening up a kid park.










T Tags: Canucks+Blue+Jackets+game+preview January+18+2008 Nash+returns Canucks+slumping

Canucks remedy some issues but create new ones in loss to Columbus

It's one thing to say that the Canucks are bound to lose a few games after a long undefeated streak, but this is a game they should have won. The 2 goals they scored were on the power play, which remedied that issue, mentioned earlier. But for 3 guys to try take the puck off Nash, who then slid the puck to the Kristian "The Weasel" Huselius for the winning goal, was a complete blunder. The breakaway miss by Daniel Sedin became costly.
All of the hype surrounding rookie Cory Schneider may now have come to a halt. He looked pretty good most of the time, but fell off balance for the tying goal by Andrew Murray. The other 2 goals he could not be faulted on. I thought he seemed a little bit "off" though. There were times where he came far out of his net to make a save and then looked completely out of position. At times I thought he looked slow moving left to right in his butterfly stance. He let out a lot of crazy rebounds as well. His teammates may be having a hard time reading where those rebounds are coming out.
Kyle Wellwood improved as the game went on. He turned the puck over twice earlier in the game and the Jackets had great scoring chances as a result. But then Woody scored the Canucks' first goal and created more chances after that. At least he is making good on his promise to win one for Schneider. Unfortunately, most of the other guys are not helping.
32 shots to 29 in favor of Vancouver. That was a remedied problem as well...getting more shots. Unfortunately, the Jackets are coached by Hitchcock and limited most of those shots to the outside. Other than that, Steve Mason looked pretty great in goal for Columbus...especially robbing Wellwood with seconds left.

Opinion 1: I know Taylor Pyatt is improving his all-round game, but was it necessary to put him on the top line? That was a hunch by Vigneault that did not pay off.
Opinion 2: I thought the Raymond-Jaffray-Brown line played terrific, and deserved more icetime than the 9:44 - 5:50 - 5:18 icetime that they received respectfully.

Curtis Sanford left the game with back spasms after stopping 11 of 11 shots. He was looking pretty solid up to that point wasn't he? Bummer. Hopefully he'll heal up over the next 3 days. The schedule doesn't get easy from there: Detroit on Thursday and Minnesota on Friday. Yikes. Suddenly these losses don't seem kosher. Remember the ideal plan: play at least 500 hockey in Luongo's absence.....

BOXSCORE

HIGHLIGHTS

Photo from ESPN

T Tags: Canucks Blue+Jackets recap highlights boxscore December+1+2008

Canucks-Jackets quick preview

I'm still on vacation in the Lower Mainland. I fly home on Wednesday night. So that is a big reason why you aren't seeing as much content here.

Today I'll head over to the Silver Chalice in Hope to watch the game. I hear Darcy Hordichuk is out with a cracked or broken foot and that Mike Brown is in. All of these damned broken foot injuries! Maybe shot-blockers should wear that extra padding around their skates like Chris Pronger does. Just a thought.

I expect a Canucks win tonight. The Jackets have been so inconsistent, losing 3 of their last 5. However, they shutout Washington 3-0 in their last game. The Canucks are on cruise mode...the wrong kind of cruise mode....losing 2 straight. They know how good they are. They just need to draw motivation from deep within to get back on track. Maybe the sight of the Wild and Flames riding their butts in the standings will help.
I should also mention that the Jackets beat the Canucks 4-2 on October 21. Some punkass named Derek Dorsett scored the winner. In that game, Kyle Wellwood made his return to the lineup and scored his first goal and added an assist.

Look for more shots from the Canucks tonight and a better effort than that last effort against the Flames 2 nights ago. I don't care that they have lost 3 of their last 4 in Columbus. Watch for Jackets goalie to play Steve Mason instead of Pascal Leclaire, as he is red hot.

T Tags: Canucks Blue Jackets Game+preview December+1+2008 injuries Steve+Mason

Jackets 4 Canucks 2: period by period

PERIOD 1

Luongo allows 2 goals on 7 shots and Columbus had an early 2-0 lead. He didn't have much of a chance on those however. But the mighty Kyle Wellwood scored on the power play shortly after. Wellwood looks pretty good. He's even playing defence!
Still though, this Canucks squad is not playing tight. They used to play the defensive style that Columbus has now. Watch and see the difference this game.

Shots after 1: Jackets 7 Canucks 5

Did Kesler just say the Canucks are working their bags off out there? Nice. Kesler wants more Canuck puck luck. I say he's on to something, but at the same time they have to cut back on their defensive breakdowns. The Song Remains the Same.
Period 2 should be good. I smell a comeback, even though the Jackets can trap.

PERIOD 2

Remember how I was talking about odd man rushes against and our defencemen getting caught up ice? Alright, here is a live tally of each of those in period 2.

Odd man rushes against: 2
Defencemen caught up ice: 1

OK, so those stats weren't too bad. A bad stat? Wellwood only played 1 shift that period. Your goal scorer gets no ice time! Yeesh. Way to reward him. There were no Canuck power plays in period 2. Columbus had 1 and the Canucks killed it off well.
Forget about Derik Brassard, how about Derrik Dorsett? He scores his first NHL goal off a rebound.
3-1 Jackets. The Canucks didn't generate much in the 2nd except for the Sedin chance.

Shots in period 2: Jackets 14 Canucks 8.
Not the shot generation a team that is trailing should be putting out. Looks like the Canucks just want to go home mostly. Wellwood doesn't. He wants to prove himself. AV! Give more icetime in the 3rd! Even if it is 5-on-5!

PERIOD 3

Oh look at that. Wellwood gets more playing time and makes a great pass to Bieksa pinching in who scores! I like it.
2 points for Wellwood. How many point does Demitra have in 5 games?

The 3rd turned into a goalie battle as both Luongo and Leclaire were making huge saves, with Leclaire having the edge. Leclaire stopped both Bernier and Ohlund masterfully to preserve the Jackets lead.
Leclaire then absolutely stones the Canucks on their power play minutes later. I think he read the Sedins-Bernier playbook because his save on Bernier was a read. At the same time, Bernier has to roof that chance.
Rick Nash gets the automatic empty net goal and this one is over.
A great effort by the Canucks in the 3rd, but this kind of game-elevation would have been better suited earlier in the contest.

Shots in the 3rd: 12-12
Overall: Jackets 33 Canucks 25

Anyone else notice how good Ryan Johnson played tonight?

Kyle Wellwood was the 2nd star of the game, and didn't get the proper amount of ice time towards the end of the game as the Sedins and Bernier double-shifted, with Kesler being the extra guy with Luongo pulled.

BOX SCORE

Canucks-Blue Jackets Preview

Finally, the last game of the Canucks' road trip that has seen the team be inconsistent in almost every area. Highs and lows.
The signs are there for this Canucks squad to succeed at a more consistent basis but it needs to find an identity, road-weary or not. I was saying after the loss to Chicago that I miss Alain Vigneault's "trap" system of the previous 2 years. I don't like seeing our defencemen get caught up ice over and over again, or all players running around in their own zone, or having skilled players that don't back check. To me, that was the Marc Crawford and his predecessor's regimes.
But now I'm confused. Mike Gillis brought in Pavol Demitra under the impression that the Canucks would play a more wide-open style this season. So now the Canucks play more wide open and surrender more goals against. The fault lies within all the players including Luongo for defensive lapses, but to some degree, this is what you get when you "open up." If the Canucks scored more goals per game consistently then maybe they would have won a few more road games. But this team still isn't scoring enough. Not everybody is rolling. Some that were rolling to start the season (top line) are now mostly silent.
My confusion escalates when I read about Ohlund saying this:

"It would be easy if we could just point at one thing and correct it. The main thing is we can’t get scored on four times a night and expect to win. Scoring goals is great. I think we have a lot of guys this year – maybe more than last year – with the potential to score a lot of goals. But, at the end of the day, I don’t think our identity is to win games 7-6 or 5-4."

Ok, well then one or two things have to happen:
1. They play more wide open, increasing chances against, naturally, and Luongo has to stop more pucks.
2. They tighten up defensively and don't send 2 forecheckers into the zone and the defencemen pinch less, plus Luongo has to play better.
A contributing factor is that the season is still young and the team has new faces that need to adapt. At the same time, don't you think Alain Vigneault would rather play the trap still but is under fire from his boss to do otherwise? That's my read on it.
Yeah, everybody kept saying over the past couple of years that we can't score, but is it worth turning into the late 1990's version of the Canucks just to achieve a higher goal total? Where's the balance here?
Maybe it will come in time. At least line 3 is still there. Right now I'm getting flashbacks of the Crawford Canucks and the Leafs squads of recent years with all of these odd-man rushes against. I would rather see teams have a hard time entering our zone with 4 guys lining up along the blue line or higher defensive pressure in the neutral zone to squeeze off passes. In other words: shut down mode.
Am I off base? Tell you what, every time there is an odd-man rush against us tonight or a Canucks d-man gets caught pinching and the puck is turned over, take a good shot of whatever alcohol it is you're drinking. If you find that you can't get up off the couch anymore, the Canucks probably lost and you've passed out in your own puke. If you can stand up and still make it to the fridge for another, the game is either tied, we've won, you've developed a sickeningly high alcohol tolerance, or you drink cheap low-alcohol beer.
PS: Can we get our power play back on track? We need that. Let's see if the Great Kyle Wellwood will help.

No Demitra, Salo, Hordichuk or Rypien.

For Columbus: No Peca, Malhotra, Torres (yay), Boll, and maybe Pascal Leclaire who got an owy on his thumb.

The Spineless Jacket Weasel Huselius is leading the team in scoring, to the chagrin of poolies everywhere. I wasn't expecting him to flourish either.
Watch out for a guy named Derik Brassard.

CDC Preview here.

Prediction: a hard effort on their last road game, the sleeping technology pays off (see previous post), and the Canucks win 3-2, despite all of my angry ranting.

T Tags: Canucks+Blue+Jackets+Game+Preview October+21+2008+ Alain+Vigneault Mike+Gillis team+defence

Mike Peca says Blue Jackets are a 100 point team

From Craig Custance (and tip to Kukla for finding it):

In case you were wondering, I'm firmly on board the Columbus bandwagon. No, I don't think they're going to win the Stanley Cup anytime soon, but I believe in Scott Howson and what he's doing with the Blue Jackets. I'm already on record as saying Columbus will make the playoffs this season, and you'll see it again when our NHL preview comes out in Sporting News Magazine. But still, I wanted a little reassurance.

I got it today from Michael Peca. He flat out said that this is a 100-point team right now in Columbus. Last year, they had trouble getting the puck to their forwards. That's been solved with a revamped blue line. Rick Nash has never had an equally skilled player to get him the puck. Enter Kristian Huselius.

You know what? I can only describe this article and Peca's prediction with a Photoshop image:



T Tags: Mike+Peca+Blue+Jackets+prediction 100+points playoff+spot cocaine photoshop

NHL bits: Sakic to speak Thurday, Filatov, Celine Dion a Canuck, No-repeat Wings

Slow news day, but here are a few more links and laughs to check out.

Terry Frei is reporting at the Denver Post that Joe Sakic will address the media this coming Thursday and will take on any questions. But don't get your hopes up. He will probably be talking more about his charity golf tournament than whether or not he has decided to play this coming season.

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Blue Jackets' GM Howson to Nikita Filatov: "Stop playing exhibition games in Russia."He doesn't want his rookie star to get hurt.

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Oh sweet lord in heck...check out this photo.....



Ahem...**choke** Check out Sex, Sports and Rock n'Roll for some form of explanation of this, en francais.

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I am not glorifying the Red Wings as potential repeat Cup champs again this year. The Ottawa Citizen's James Gordon provides one example of why this is, and I agree. Something to do with a hangover.

T Tags: Sakic+press+conference+Thursday Filatov+stop+playing+in+Russia Celine+Dion+Canucks Red Wings+repeat+Champs

Blue Jackets sign Pascal Leclaire for 3 more years

From the Columbus Dispatch:

Goaltender Pascal Leclaire has signed a three-year contract worth $11.4 million with the Blue Jackets, The Dispatch has learned.
The deal will pay Leclaire $3 million this season, $3.6 million in 2009-10 and $4.8 million in 2010-11.

T Tags: Blue+Jackets+sign+Pascal+Leclaire 3+years

Blue Jackets close to signing Ryan Malone? Wild and Canucks in mix **UPDATE** Malone sets the record straight

The Columbus Dispatch's sources are saying that the Jackets are trying to make a trade to the Penguins for the negotiating rights to Malone, who will become a UFA July 1.
The paper's sources are also saying that Minnesota and Vancouver are in the running. Malone in Vancouver? I'm in!

**UPDATE**

The Jackets story is apparently untrue. Malone told WTAE TV in Pittsburgh that

"It's UFA for sure."

As for the Columbus rumor, Malone said:

"If Columbus was smart they wouldn't make the trade"

Wow. End of story. Malone will take the highest bid after July 1. Those are his intentions. Malone also stated that Pittsburgh "never made him a real offer."
After a 27-goal 51 point season in 77 games and a good playoff run playing with the likes of Crosby, what is Malone's fair value? Surely his numbers will drop and someone is going to overpay this guy.

T Tags: Ryan+Malone+to+Blue+Jackets Ryan+Malone+to+Canucks trade

Alright stop! Panic Time!

OK, maybe not quite that yet. But blowing a 2 goal lead and losing for the first time all year when leading after 2 periods is a cause for concern.
-Bieksa's terrible coverage of Chimera the Canucks killer on the Overtime goal was cause for concern. Bieksa has been known for defensive errors. I miss Krajicek aready!
-If the Sedins played with the heart of Shannon or Raymond we'd be a lot better off. It's time for the coach to call these guys out. When they don't score, we often don't win. They are the go-to guys. Time to step it up.
-Playing non-playoff teams that are playing with desperation will be a theme this month. If the Canucks don't get it together and stop blowing 3rd period leads, they will be on the outside looking in REAL QUICK. Tonight we just watch and see if the Nucks get bounced out of a playoff spot, and then they have to bury the Hawks tomorrow afternoon, end of story.
“

We’re going to step on the ice on Sunday afternoon in Chicago and we’re going to play hard,” said Alain Vigneault post game last night. “It was a tough game to play tonight, they’re a team that checks really well and there’s not a lot of room; they battled hard. We could of made it 3-0 but we didn’t get that goal, we got another game on Sunday and we going to get ready for it as a group and play hard.”

T Tags: Canucks Blue+Jackets+Review Jason+Chimera Sedins+Suck

Canucks-Blue Jackets Preview

Columbus now stands in the Canucks' way as far as Vancouver putting some distance between themselves and the 9th spot Nashville Predators. The Preds have actually lost 3 in a row, including an 8-4 drubbing to the Sabres a couple days ago. Is Nashville going to slide out of contention?
The Blue Jackets can get into the thick of the race with a clean win over Vancouver tonight, however, they are playing very inconsistent lately, with 2 wins and 3 losses in their last 5 games. Over those past 5 games they beat Montreal and Ottawa after losing to the lowly Leafs 3-1 and the Blues 5-1.
Both the Canucks and Jackets are coming off losses. The Canucks made a costly error within the final minute of the game against the Avalanche and it ended up costing them the extra point. Look for Vancouver to rebound tonight, and beat the inconsistent Jackets 3-1.
Jeff Cowan may return tonight after serving a 1-game suspension. That would probably force Linden into the press box...or fetching Kesler's towel...or cleaning Naslund's protective cup....whatever. I'd rather have Linden in the lineup, in all seriousness.
Aaron Miller will return tonight as well, which means: goodbye Mike Weaver.
Just WIN tonight, Nucks. You gotta beat the teams that are lower than you in the standings.

MORE GAME PREVIEW FROM CANUCKS.COM

T TAGS: Canucks Blue+Jackets Preview Cowan+returns Western+Conference+Standings

Nash goal, Clearly Cleary, O'Ree

Wow. I didn't see Rick Nash's goal against the Coyotes until just now. It looks like the goal of the year so far. What is it about the Coyotes surrending goals of this magnitude. You may remember Ovechkin's goal that he scored upside down and backwards came against the Coyotes as well. Well, if you missed Nash's goal, here it is:



Wow.

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Jimbuff brought up a good point by praising Daniel Cleary in the comments section, and that he was a Newfie and all. Now, I hate Red Wings and most players that play for them. But I just can't find it within myself to hate Cleary. Drafted in the 1st round 13th overall by the Black Hawks in 1997, the now 29 year-old winger had high expectations. But for whatever reasons, he did not put up the offensive numbers for Chicago.
In March of 1999, Cleary was traded to Edmonton along with Ethan Moreau, Christian Laflamme and Chad Kilger in exchange for Boris Mironov, Dean McAmmond and Jonas Elofsson. Cleary's speed and grit was evident in Edmonton, from what I remember, yet his highest out put in Edmonton over 4 years was 14 goals and 35 points in 81 games in 2000-01 (IHDB). Injuries played a negative role in Cleary's career over the next couple years in Edmonton and Phoenix (who claimed him as a free agent in 2003.)
Cleary was not signed by any NHL team in 2004, and ended up playing in Europe for that season, where he registered 11 goals and 37 points in 47 games.
I guess that was enough to impress the Red Wings who signed him in 2005. Cleary played in a checking role behind guys like Shanahan and Yzerman, but when both of those legends left for free agency and/or retired, Cleary got his chance to shine. And that is what he has done since then. A career-high 20 goals and 40 points in 71 games last season, including a strong playoff run proved that Cleary had something more to give. This season, he already has 18 goals and 34 points in 48 games. He looks to hit the 30 goal 60 point plateau. He also looks to be getting a substancial raise as he becomes an unrestricted free agent this summer. How much is Cleary making right now? How about a piddly $662,500 salary. Talk about a steal.
So, I am a sucker for underdogs. And Cleary is an underdog that is now hitting his prime. And regardless of the fact that he wears a stinky Wings jersey, I can appreciate his turnaround and respect that.

---

Speaking of respect, I can understand a bit all the hooplah surrounding the 50th anniversary of Willie O'Ree being the first black person to play in the NHL. It was a ground-breaking event given the times no doubt. But forgive my harshness when I say: I don't really care about it. I don't get all teary-eyed over it. But I guess I wasn't even near being born during the racist years of the early 1900's. So I can't even begin to understand what O'Ree went through. Personally I find Inge Hammarstrom and Borje Salming's arrival into the NHL just as or more important.
What I mostly think of with this O'Ree situation is: when is a black player going to step up and become a dominant offensive/defensive player? Pokey Reddick and Kevin Weekes are/were decent goalies, and Anson Carter had a decent short offensive NHL career. But not one black man has yet to come along and make a serious impact, unless I am mistaken somehow. And no, Iginla doesn't count, because he is half and half. Just a thought.

T Tags: Rick+Nash+goal+of+the+year YouTube video Daniel+Cleary+profile Willie+O'Ree

Canucks-Jackets Preview

Yeah, unfortunately, it's Pam Anderson of all people representing the Canucks on Jay Leno. She is one of BC's best-looking exports, but has the brains of a retarded chicken. Oh, and speaking of chickens, remember her big campaign against KFC because of the way they treat their chickens? Almost laughable.
Back to hockey... The Canucks' stinky schedule takes them into Columbus tonight against a Jackets squad that has won 5 straight at home and is extending a franchise record home wining streak. Both teams have won 3 of their last 5. Both teams are 6-4-0 in their last 10.
What is motivating the Jackets in a big sense now is that they are only 3 points out of a playoff spot, sitting in 10th place. The Canucks on the other hand are now in 5th place because the Northwest Division AND the Western Conference is such a dog fight. They are 4 points away from falling into 9th spot. So a win here is mandatory.

I think we'll take this one tonight, but it should be close. We are facing Pascal Leclaire afterall. He's damned good ( 5-1-0 with a 1.78 goals-against average in his last seven starts). I say we win 2-1 in a shootout.

-The Canucks have won both game against the Jackets this season by scores of 4-1 (October) and 2-0 (November).

-Taylor Pyatt needed over 20 stitches to put his mouth back together after taking a puck in the face from Eric Brewer. He also had to have a splint inserted in his mouth to hold his teeth in place. Lovely. Taylor ain't so pretty anymore is he, ladies?

-For the Jackets, apparently Sergei Fedorov will be out of the lineup with a hip pointer. Adiose, sucka.

-Kris Beech will be extra motivated tonight as he faces the team that put him on waivers last week. Look for him to play a strong game.

T Tags: Canucks Blue+Jackets Preview Taylor+Pyatt+mouth+injury Kris+Beech

Canucks 2 Jacket Men 0

This game kind of delivered as planned: tight defence, with the Canucks winning 2-0. Luongod was god again, and now holds the record for the longest shutout streak in Canucks' history. From Yahoo sports:

Luongo, who had consecutive shutouts three times with Florida, passed his personal best of 182:37, set with the Panthers in 2004, in the third period. He then eclipsed a 32-year-old franchise record of 184:20, moving past Ken Lockett, a backup who played 55 games over two seasons and set the mark in April 1975.

Luongod had plenty of help from his teamates, who played very well in front of him for the most part, which he acknowledged post game.
It didn't come down to special teams at all, besides PK. The Canucks did not score on the powerplay (0-for-4), but got both their goals from defencemen pinching in: Ohlund and Krajicek. I guess Ohlund misses the net so much he may as well try deflecting the puck off a skate. Adam's Foote put the Jackets down 1-0 and the Canucks never looked back.
Luongo was especially superb in the 2nd period, when the Jackets outshot the Nucks 15-6.

Rick Nash was all over the ice and had 3 shots, but was kept in check.
A sound victory for Vancouver as they continue to roll.

-How funny was it to watch that goon Boll miss his check on Krajicek and crash into the boards? Classic foolery.

-Is Jeff Cowan really all that necessary to have on our roster anymore? He isn't scoring or even coming close and he is a lousy goon who looks outmatched every time he fights. Mike Wilson, however, seems to have the fighting goods, plus the hustle.
I think Cowan is expendable right now...sorry bra-barian.

-Markus Naslund was great again even though he didn't score. What are this guy's plans in the future? Is this his last year, or is he over-playing in a contract year to maybe re-sign here or somewhere else? Expect the latter.

-Does anyone miss Kevin Bieksa? I don't. The team is playing so well without him. That's not a bad thing.

-Isn't it kind of sad that no Canucks goalie has ever had 3 consecutive shutouts until Luongo achieved that tonight?

GAME SUMMARY (NHL.COM)

HIGHLIGHTS



T Tags: Canucks Blue+Jackets review

Canucks-Blue Jackets Preview

It's hard to imagine seeing a better Canucks game than what we saw against Anaheim. The Jackets are a hot/cold team now. The Jackets are coming off a 3-1 loss to the Oilers Monday night. They have won 2 and lost 3 in their last 5 games. The Canucks are better, winning 3 of their last 5 and now coming off 2 shutouts by Roberto Luongo.
A big plus for us is that the shutout master Pascal Leclaire injured his hamstring against Edmonton, and so Fredrik Norrena will play for Columbus tonight. Norrena's stats are not that impressive this year.....

Stats to Ponder

The Jackets are 19th in the NHL on the power play
The Canucks are 11th

The Jackets are 3rd in the NHL on the penalty kill.
We are 23rd.

Streaking Jackets in the last 5 games

Rick Nash: 4 goals 3 assists
Nicolai Zherdev: 2 goals 4 assists
Ron Hainsey: 1 goal 5 assists

Streaking Canucks in the last 5 games

Markus Naslund: 5 goals 3 assists
Ryan Kesler: 4 goals 1 assist
Hank Sedin: 5 assists
Dank Sedin: 1 goal 3 assists
Alex Edler: 1 goal 3 asssists

Man, I am loving the play of Ryan Kesler lately. Sure, Naslund is cooking too. But Kesler is so gritty and a great checker as well. He's an all-round player. 2 words: CONTRACT YEAR. Don't matter. Kess is proving to provide great secondary scoring and I fricking love it. I'm crowning him King right now. He's the Jan Bulis of last year, except with 40% better checking ability, 100% better faceoff ability, and 90% better scoring touch.

So what about tonight's game?
Let me make a guess. I'd say it will be more of a boring style as we have 2 defence-first teams under Vigneault and Hitchcock, playing tight and waiting for the other team to screw up. This game could be decided especially on special teams due to its tightness.
Well, we do have Kesler shadowing Nash.....so we should be fine in 5-on-5 situations. Hopefully we can stay out of penalty trouble. Leave the rest to Luongod, who is on a tear right now.
I say it's going to be close. 2-1 Canucks.

Game Time: 7:00 PST
TV: Sportsnet Pacific (high def if you please!!!!)

T Tags: Canucks Blue+Jackets Preview Kesler+is+King Luongo+is+God

Canucks / Blue Jackets Preview

What the hell, this game comes on too early (2:00 PST). I'll miss most of it as my wife and myself are going for a cruise out into the boonies to see a shoe house. It's about an hour drive from here. You probably are wondering about the shoe house, but I'll post pics of it later.

So....the game is on PPV. Forget about it. The Jackets are on a roll and have found a winning identity..finally. The shakey Canucks can loosen up a little mentally now that they are on the road and hopefully put a few wins together.
I say they start today and barely beat Columbus 4-3 in the shootout.
As I will be missing most or all of it, let me know how it goes whoever of you has the gonads to buy this game.

New Islanders / Blue Jackets / Hurricanes jerseys?

I pulled that one off a Canucks Board. Not sure if I like it. Too much going on in the front with the number added there.

The following is from NHL 08, not yet released. It could be a true glimpse at the new Canes jerseys.

New Blue Jackets jerseys.




T Tags: New+Islanders+Blu+Jackets+Hurricanes+jerseys

Who the heck is new Blue Jackets GM Scott Howson???

-A former Oilers Assistant General Manager. His duties included overseeing personnel decisions and contract negotiations, including salary cap issues. Spent 7 years at this post.
-The six previous seasons, he was General Manager of the Oiler's AHL affiliate teams: Hamilton BullDogs and Cape Breton Oilers.
-In his playing days, Howson was a center who played for:
*the Kingston Canadiens of the Ontario Hockey League from 1978-1981.
*the Toledo Goaldiggers (IHL) for one season (1981-82). (Rookie of the Year, 2nd in IHL League scoring.)
*the Indianapolis Checkers (CHL) from 1981-1984.
*the Springfield Indians of the AHL (84-86).
*the New York Islanders from 1984-86. He played 18 NHL games and scored 5 goals and 8 points.

-in 1990, Howson graduated from the Osgoode Hall Law School at York University in Toronto.

T Tags: Scott+Howson Blue+Jackets New+GM