Vancouver Canucks Hockey Stuff

The Vancouver canucks play against the ducks tonight in what will be a battle for the Canucks to keep their impressive preseason 6 game undefeated streak alive.  They came close to losing last night, however with a dramatic third period that saw Mason Raymond come out firing, and then Alex Edler and Tanner Glass both scored 42 seconds apart with under seven minutes to play in the third period to give the canucks the big 3-2 win over the San Jose Sharks.  Roberto Luongo let in three goals in 27 shots in his third preseason game.

Andrew Raycroft will play in net tonight against the Ducks, Raycroft has a 1.96 GAA and 93.0 save percentage so far in his two preseason games.  Kyle Wellwood will play, as will the Sedin twins, who each have five points in their two preseason appearances.  Both Cody Hodgson and Michael Grabner will also lace up, hoping to convince alain vigneault that they deserve a spot on the roster.

Tonights game is against the Ducks, in Vancouver at GM Place, and the puck drops at 7pm.  The game can be watched live online via streaming video at Canucks.com and will not be televised.

Popularity: 9% [?]

The Vancouver canucks have gone 2-0 in the pre-season after beating the Anaheim Ducks last night in a 3-0 shut-out.  Roberto Luongo was in net for the Canucks for the first two periods and stopped all 19 shots tossed his way, while Cory Schneider took over in goal for the third and stopped all 9 shots to preserve the shut-out.

Canucks goal-scorers included Steve Bernier, Kevin Bieksa, and Aaron Rome.  Bernier looked great on the ice, having lost 20 pounds in the off-season, he appeared to be in mid-season form.  Kyle Wellwood was buzzing around as well, and looks like he wants to be cemented into this organization for a long time to come.

The Canucks play again tonight in their 3rd preseason game, this time against the San Jose Sharks, in san jose, and the puck drops at 7:30pm.  You can watch the game live online at Canucks.com.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Huge goal by Sami Salo with less than two minutes left in the third period stopped a rally by the Chicago Blackhawks in game one of the second round of  the Stanley cup Playoffs.  The Canuck win game one 5-3. 

The Vancouver Canucks looked a little slow out of the gate in tonights game against the Chicago Blackhawks, but the continous line-up by the blackhawk players to the penalty box ended up helping the Canucks beat the Blackhawks tonight.  Vancouver ended up ahead of the Blackhawks by a margin of 3-0 by the start of the third period.  The Sedin line looked amazing through the first two periods, making dazzling plays, finding each other and Burrows all over the ice.  Henrik potted the 2nd goal in for the Canucks after a nice feed from daniel on the sideboards.

Fast forward to the third and the Blackhawks score one only 2 minutes into the period, and the young guns in the Chicago line-up were set on fire.  Chicago dominated the third period, finishing their checks, getting pucks on Luongo, and tying up the game.  GM Place was dead.  You could hear a pin drop.  That was until 2 minutes left, when the Canucks broke out of their zone, with a  four on one.  Khabibulin made an initial save, and the rebound came out to Salo who popped it into the wide open net.  Mayhem was about again in GM Place. 

Three stars for tonight, third star was Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhakws, second star was Kyle Wellwood, and first star, Sami Salo, who had the game winner tonight.

The Canucks take a 1-0 lead in the series, and they will play again Saturday May 2nd 2009,  in Vancouver at GM Place, game time is 6pm and you can watch the game live on CBC, or listen live to streaming online radio at the Team1040.ca

Popularity: 53% [?]

Canucks slip to 2nd in Northwest battle

I don’t have alot of time to blog tonight, so this one will be short and sweet.  The Canucks were down 2-0 after the first period, and climbed to a 4-2 lead early in the second period.  The Sedin twins and Alex Burrows had another great game again, providing alot of highlights and action in the Ducks zone.  The Ducks did however, tie the game up at 5-5 before the end of the second period.  The game ended up going to the shoot-out, and after Pavol Demitra missed  and hit the post on the Canucks first shot attempt, they never did score.  Ducks win it in the shoot-out.  If you ask me, they need to shake up the 2nd and 3rd lines.  Demitra looks more and more like a slug out there, and the only player making a whole lot of action happen on the 2nd line is Ryan Kesler.  I’m not “feeling it” when it comes to the 2nd line right now.  The third line, on the other hand, is playing great.  Maybe promote Wellwood up to the 2nd and send Demitra to the third, I’m not sure.  Just something has to be done.

The Calgary Flames played the Dallas Stars as well, and won in regulation.  With the Canucks now tied in points with the Flames, the Canucks slip to 4th in the Western Conference and 2nd in the Northwest Division.  With the single point though, the Canucks do clinch a playoff spot.  The Canucks play the Flames on tuesday, which could end up being, the must win game of the season.  It sure is matching up to be that way.

The Canucks play again on saturday night April 4 on the road against the Edmonton Oilers, the game starts at 7:00pm, and can be seen on tv on CBC, and listen live online streaming radio at Team1040.ca

Popularity: 26% [?]

St. Louis Comes to Town

Another big game tonight for the Vancouver Canucks. The St Louis Blues will be in town to play the Vancouver Canucks tonight at 7pm, and if Vancouver can pull out another win, it will be 11 wins in a row at home, which will break the franchise record set on Tuesday night.  The Canucks are still sitting in 4th in the Western Conference, the importance of a win tonight can not be understated.

Looks like Pavol Demitra may not play, as he had x-rays done this morning on his knee, and did not particpate in the morning skate.  Taylor Pyatt will move up to the second line with Sundin and Kesler, and Hansen will fill in for Pyatt.  I’m not sure of Pyatt’s move up, I’d rather see Hansen or Wellwood up with Sundin and Demitra on the 2nd line, but i’m not Vigneault, so I can’t make those calls!

Anyways, the game, Canucks against Blues, starts tonight at 7pm and is on Sportsnet, and live streaming online at the Team1040.ca

Popularity: 8% [?]

Vancouver Canucks try to go 11 and 2

Another big home game tonight for the Vancouver Canucks, against the Minnesota Wild.  The Wild will try to come in and break their curren losing streak, and gain 2 points to make it into the 8th and final playoff spot in the western conference. Meanwhile, the Canucks will look to gain the 2 points to stay in 5th spot, and ahead of the Wild who would then be on the outside, looking in, on the playoff standings.  If the Canucks pull out another win tonight, they will be 11 and 2 in their last 13 games, after getting points in 16 of their last 20 games.

Hopefully the Canucks can get more offensive production from their defensive corps tonight against the Wild, as Kevin Bieksa has gone 4 games without a point, yet still leads the Canucks defenseman in points.  Mats Sundin had two assists against Columbus, so look for him to produce again tonight as well.  Ryan Kesler has been on fire, and hopefully can start a consistent string of points during the next few games.  The Wild have lost 3 of their last 4 meetings against the Canucks, and have lost their last 3 consecutive starts.

The Wild have a much more defensive oriented game than the Canucks, so look for Vancouver to hit hard and hit early, to try to get on the scoreboard, and make the Wild pay for their defensive play. 

The big question with this game, is the fact that this could be the last game with the current roster, heading into tomorrow trade deadline.  Several Canucks have rumours swirling around them, the biggest being around Alex Burrows, who may be shipped if he can’t sign a contract extension.  Hopefully this rumour, is just that, a RUMOUR, as Burrows leaving the Canucks would throw a large wrench into this teams on ice chemistry.  One big development heading into tonights game is the fact that Brendan Morrison has been placed on waivers by the Anaheim Ducks.  Will the Canucks pick him up?  He would be a great third line center, pushing Wellwood down to the fourth line, as Wellwood sure hasn’t been producing.  We will know by tomorrow morning if the Canucks pick him up, I think it would be a SMART move for the Canucks, bringing back local BC talent that has a proven ability to play and put up big numbers.

Make sure to see the Canucks game live on Sportsnet Pacific at 7pm.  You can also listen to the game on live streaming online radio at The Team, team1040.ca.

Popularity: 12% [?]

Big win in the Big Apple

After a great first period, the canucks scored 2 more to make it 4 nothing before the rangers poured on the offense, however it wasn’t enough to beat the Canucks.  The Canucks beat the Rangers  6-3.  This was Markus Naslund’s first game playing against the Canucks, and he was largely ineffective, a few nifty plays but finishes with just one assist.

The first period saw Alex Burrows with a short-handed goal to make it 2-0 for the canucks, after Kyle Wellwood scored just over 4 minutes in to open the game’s scoring.  The Canucks dominated the first period play, spending alot of time in the Rangers defensive zone.    The Canucks left the 1st leading 2-0.

In the second, the Canucks should have had the game with a score of 7 or 8-0.  This is just how many chances they had, especially with a long 5 on 3 five minutes into the second period.  The Canucks had what appeared to be a goal on a slap by Sami Salo (you could clearly see the puck cross the goal line in the overhead camera view and the TSN announcers also called it a clear cut goal) however it was called a no goal, keeping the score at 4-1.  Shortly after the play resumed the Canucks were still on a 5 on 3 powerplay, and Demitra buried it behind Lundqvist, who pulled himself from the net without any orders from NY coach Tom Renney.  Something I have never seen during NHL play.

The third period was dominated by the NY Rangers, who came out hard against the Canucks trying to catch up on the scoreboard.  NYR scored a goal at the 7:45 mark of the third to make it 5 – 3.   Shane o’brien had a very poor night for the canucks, ammassing 5 minor penalties, costing the canucks a goal in the 2nd, and stressing the team out late in the second who had to have a great penalty kill after he got a double-minor for boarding and unsportsmanlike conduct.  Roberto Luongo was sharp throughout the third period, stopping everything NY shot at him.  Daniel Sedin put the icing on the cake with an empty net goal with 6 seconds left in the third period.

Tonights goals were scored by Kyle Wellwood (Mattias Ohlund, Taylor Pyatt), Alex Burrows Shorthanded (Jannik Hansen), Alex Burrows (Jannik Hansen), Ryan Johnson (Taylor Pyatt, Mattias Ohlund), Pavol Demitra (Henrik Sedin, Sami Salo), and Daniel Sedin (Ryan Kesler, Mattias Ohlund).  The three stars for tonights games were 1- Alex Burrows, 2- Kyle Wellwood, and 3- Jannik Hansen, as picked by the Hockey Writers Association.

Th Canucks play again tomorrow night against the Minnesota Wild, in Minnesota, and the game starts at 5:00pm and is broadcast live on Sportsnet Pacific, and streaming live on online radio on Team1040.ca

Popularity: 10% [?]

Thanks Roberto, Another Canucks Win!

If it wasn’t for Roberto Luongo’s impressive first period, including almost a solid two minutes of 5 on 3 penalty killing time, the Vancouver Canucks would not have won the game tonight against the Toronto Maple Leafs.  The Canucks netminder was stellar in the new Canucks 3rd jerseys,  while the offensive players scared away Toskala from the Leafs net after scoring 4 goals on 9 shots through a period and a half.  pavol Demitra returned to the line-up tonght, making a three assist effort.  Kyle Wellwood opened the scoring on a beautiful deflection into the net, against his former team.  Wellwood leads the Canucks in goals scored.

Tonight’s goal scorers included Kyle Wellwood (Pavol Demitra, Shane O’Brien), Ryan Kesler PP (Mattias Ohlund, Pavol Demitra), Willie Mitchell (Alexandre Burrows, Jannik Hansen), and Daniel Sedin (Laurence Nycholat, Pavol Demitra).

The Canucks found themselves in the penalty box alot again tonight, especially in the third period when the Leafs tried staging a comeback.  The Leafs scored on one of their third period power plays while pulling Curtis Joseph (who replaced Toskala in net half way through the second) for the extra attacker, making it a 6 on 4.  Overall, the Leafs were one for eight, and the Canucks were one for five on the power play.

Tonight’s three stars were picked by CBC’s Hockey Night In Canada and were 1- Roberto Luongo 2- Willie Mitchell and 3- Pavol Demitra.  The Canucks ended their six game home stand with a 4-1-1 record.

The Canucks now head out on a four game road trip, playing their next game agianst the New York Islanders on Monday night at 4pm, the game being broadcast on Sportsnet Pacific and streaming live online on Team1040.ca

Popularity: 10% [?]

Columbus Blue Jackets 4 – Vancouver Canucks 2

The Canucks could not pull out a win in Columbus tonight, after falling behind 3-1 after the first two periods, and down 2-0 only 7 minutes into the contest.  They came out very solid in the thrid, throwing twelve shots at Columbus’ Pascal Leclaire, though leclaire stopped 11 of thoe to seal the victory, with Columbus netting an empty-net goal late in the third to make it 4-2.

Kyle Wellwood looked impressive in his first game back after being recalled from Manitoba, scoring a goal and assising on Kevin Bieksa’s marker.  Things to note during tonight’s game was the impressive third period play of Steve Bernier and the Sedin twins, however they could not put one in the Columbus net, and therefore Daniel Sedin is now pointles through his last five games.  On the other hand, Ryan Kesler’s point streak has gone onto four games with 2 goals and 2 assists within that time.

Both teams finished with identical power plays, going 1 for 4.  The Canucks came close on the power play late in the third period but couldn’t pull the trigger.

Tonight’s goals were scored by Kyle Wellwood power-play goal (Ryan Kesler, Mason Raymond), and Kevin Bieksa (Kyle Wellwood).

Also today, after attempting to recall Matt pettinger from the Manitoba Moose via re-entry waivers, and having him picked up by the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Canucks recalled Jason Krog, and he is now playing with the big club.

The Canucks next game is on Saturday against the Edmonton Oilers at GM Place starting at 7pm.  They play two home games before hitting the road for another road trip.  Saturday nights game will be televised on CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada in HD High Definition, and you can also listen to it live online streaming on Team1040.ca

Popularity: 9% [?]

Doesn’t clear waivers, gone to Tampa Bay

Today the Canucks’ Matt Pettinger was claimed off waivers by the Tampa Bay Lightning, meaning the Canucks have lost him and have another hole to fill for tonight’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets.  The Canucks will be required to pay half of Pettinger’s one million dollar salary, and it will count against the Canucks salary cap.  The Canucks will be short a forward for tonight’s game but it is expected that defenceman Rob Davison will plug one of those holes.  Also, Canucks forward Kyle Wellwood has cleared waivers and will play in tonights game.

Popularity: 10% [?]