Vancouver Canucks Hockey Stuff

This game went back and forth all night like a yo-yo with a bad attitude.  The first period saw the Canucks go down by a goal early, when Luongo was caught out of position and former canuck Brendan Morrison threw the puck into the wide open net.  The Canucks would tie it up on a goal by Ryan Kesler on a sweet pass from Mats Sundin.  Later in the first there was one heck of a scare when Daniel Sedin was clipped by a high stick in the face, and lay bleeding on the ice.  He stayed on the bench, and got a goal on a skate deflection on the ensuing powerplay.  He then left the bench to get repairs in the dressing room.  The Canucks finished the first period up 2-1.

The second period was a rough and tumble period, featuring lots of hits and lots of penalties for both teams.  It started off with a goal 1:38 into the second period by Henrik Sedin, putting the Canucks up 3-1. Highlight hits were Steve Otts hit as he walked out of the penalty box, taking out Taylor Pyatt who ended up laying on his head.  Pyatt was fine but took a penalty.  Later in the period, Darcy Hordichuk was chasing a breakaway pass into the Dallas zone, when Marty Turco came out to play the puck.  Hordichuk plastered Turco into the side boards and a riot ensued.  Co-incidental penalties were called against both teams.  Another scary moment when Ryan Kesler was knocked down onto the ice and one of the Dallas players hopped over Kesler and caught his skate along the back side of Keslers head.  Kesler looked to be in considerable pain, laying on the ice grabbing the back of his head.  He later returned to play in the third period.  No scoring in the second period.

Early in the third Turco made a huge save to stop a weak backhand attempt by Alex Burrows, trying to make it 4-1.   Not much after, Kesler breaks into the Dallas zone, Darryl Sydor plays Kesler for the puck, but Kesler makes a great move around him and slides the puck in past Turco, to make it his second of the night and a 4-1 lead for the Vancouver Canucks.  Ossi Vannanen gets his first point as a Vancouver Canucks with an assist on Kesler’s goal.  With 11 minutes left in the third period, Oneill gets a nice blueline pass, breaks past the D and after Roberto Luongo fails on his poke check, O’Neill pops the puck into the net.  Dallas keeps the game close at 4-2.  Shortly after the Dallas goal, Willie Mitchell takes a bad retaliatory penalty to put the Canucks on the penalty kill.  After a few shots, the Canucks penalty kill went to work and they successfully killed it off.  The Stars pressured heavily with less than two minutes left in the third period, but Luongo made a few huge saves to keep the Canucks in front.  Henrik Sedin made it 5-2 with an empty net goal with less than 30 seconds left in the game.

Ryan Kesler was the first star, and Daniel was the second and Henrik the third star.

The Canucks continue their road trip with a game on Thursday against St Louis Blues, in St Louis.  they are 1-1-0 on this road trip so far, and the Thursday game will be broadcast on Sportsnet and live online radio via Team1040.ca

Popularity: 25% [?]

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% [?]

New 3rd Alternate Jersey Unveiled

The new Canucks jersey was unveiled today.  It is the classic blue home jersey, but instead of the Orca on the crest, it features the redesigned “stick in the rink” logo without the Vancouver wordmark across the top.  It also features the a new shoulder patch which is a V with Johnny Canuck at the top of it.  Also, Roberto Luongo has a new mask design to wear with the alternate jersey’s, which is similiar to the vintage mask he wore two seasons ago.

Popularity: 24% [?]

Canucks Lose in Buffalo to go 3-2 on Season

After a disastrous first period, the Canucks couldn’t seem to crawl out of the negative column to beat the Sabres in tonight’s game at Buffalo.  The Sabres came out fast and quick with three goals in the first 13:10 of the first period, after the Canucks had some serious troubles with penalties, including a double-minor for  roughing against Shane O’Brien that cost the Canucks one of Buffalo’s early goals.

Penalties haunted the Canucks all night, with Buffalo going 2 for 5 and the Canucks being ousted with a miserable 0 for 3 on the power play.  Thomas Vanek buried the Canucks with the Sabres 5th goal of the night mid way through the 3rd period, on a beautiful goal with NO defence anywhere around to help Curtis Sanford out.  Sanford played his first start of the season, without a W to show for it.  The night contained a bucketful of defence errors, with Willie Mitchell playing a mediocre game, and several other mistakes all around.  A bright spot again was the Kesler Burrows Hansen line, however they couldn’t pull anything together in the third after Burrows was given a 10 min misconduct half way through the third period.  One bright light on Defence was the play of Alex Edler, who looked good all game long while he was on the ice.  The Sedins were broken up this game half way through, and didn’t play as linemates through the end.  Will Vigneault pair them up again?  We will have to see in Chicago on Sunday.

Tonight’s goal scorers included Ryan Kesler (Alexander Burrows, Willie Mitchell), Steve Bernier (Henrik Sedin, Mason Raymond).

The Canucks continue the road trip, flying into Chicago to play the Blackhawks at 4pm on Sunday.  The game will be broadcast on TV on Canucks PPV ( Pay Per View ) and if you don’t want to pay, you can always listen to the game streaming live on the internet at team1040.ca

Popularity: 11% [?]

Burrows scores winner 27 seconds into Overtime.

After a “get back to earth” loss to the Washington Capitals on Monday night,  The Vancouver Canucks had alot to prove tonight as they played in Detroit against the defending Stanley Cup Champion Red Wings.

The Canucks got on the board first, and it was the grit and character of the third line that got the job done (really, they got the job done for the Canucks all night long).  The Red Wings came back and tied the game with a power play goal by Holmstrom, only for Vancouver to come back four minutes later halfway through the first to take the lead on a goal by Ryan Kesler.

The Canucks fell behind 3 -2 halfway through the second period when Cleary scored a beautiful breakaway goal for the red wings, having received the puck just as he stepped out of the penalty box, going in for the breakaway goal.  It wasn’t until 2:23 of the third period that the Canucks tied it up at 4-4 when Mason Raymond followed a 2 on 1 play with Willie Mitchell and Pavol Demitra, and sent the puck flying into an empty net behind Chris Osgood.

It only took 27 seconds for the third line to strike again in overtime, when Alexander Burrows errant shot off the end boards came right back to his stick and he one-times it past Osgood for the game winner.

Tonight penalties were very costly to the Canucks, having given up 2 goals on 5 penalty kills, while going 0 for 4 on the power play themselves.  Robert Luongo got the win in net tonight stopping 32 of the 35 shots he faced.  Osgood let in  4 goals out of 29 shots.

Tonight’s Canucks goal scorers included Jannik Hansen (Alexander Burrows), Ryan Kesler (Shane O’Brien, Sami Salo), Mason Raymond (Willie Mitchell, Pavol Demitra), Alexander Burrows (Alexander Edler, Willie Mitchell).

The Canucks are now 3-1 on the season, and the meet up against Buffalo on Friday at 4:30pm.  You can see the game on Sportsnet, or listen to it streaming live on Team1040.ca

Popularity: 11% [?]

Though Partially Against NHL Rules, Canucks Name Roberto Luongo Their New Captain

It was announced today that Roberto Luongo is the new captain of the Vancouver Canucks.  Though it is against NHL rules to have a goaltender wear the C on their jersey, the Canucks are permitted to name him captain.  Three alternate captains have been named and they include Ryan Kesler, Willie Mitchell, and Mattias Ohlund

The Canucks were left without a captain after Markus Naslund was not offered a contract this summer, and left to play for the New York Rangers.  Naslund wore the C from 2000 to 2008.

Popularity: 9% [?]

First game of the preseason for new Canucks team, facing the Oilers in Edmonton.

The first preseason game for the Canucks begins tonight at six pm, in Edmonton aginst the Oilers.  The Canucks will put Cory Schneider in net for the duration of the game, and Alternate Captain duties will be shared between Matthias Ohulnd and Willie Mitchell.  I fully expect Willie Mitchell to be named captain within the next 8 – 10 days.

The odd part of the game tonight, is the seperation of the Sedin twins.  Daniel will play tonight, and Henrik will stay in Vancouver and play against Edmonton tomorrow night for the next preseason game.  The top line tonight will feature Daniel Sedin and Taylor Pyatt centered by Kyle Wellwood.  Other players getting a shot to play tonight include Jason Krog, Juraj Simek, Jason Jaffray, Pierre-Cedric Labrie, and Dan Gendur.

Popularity: 13% [?]