The Vancouver Canucks

As I wrote yesterday, any time your powerplay is 4 for 5, chances are, you’re going to win the game.  Consequently, if in the follow-up game, your powerplay goes 0 for 4, AND you give up three straight powerplays to the opposition in the second period, AND if that opposition is the league-leading San Jose Sharks (who’ve scored 77% of their powerplay goals this season on the road), well…you can kind of see what’s coming, right?

The Canucks were in the game for the first 20 minutes, but then seemed to be content on sitting back and watching the Sharks walk all over them.  In fact, the 4-2 final is pretty flattering to the Canucks.  Down 2-1 late in the game, they allowed a pair of really soft goals to put the thing completely out of reach.  In fact, I turned the game off after the fourth Sharks goal.  I was more than a little surprised to find out that the Canucks had actually scored with 7 seconds left in the game.  Minus the easy ones they gave San Jose, and we would have had a tie game and maybe a different result.  Ah, well, not to be.

To be honest, it was tough to find anyone really worth mentioning in the recap if all you had seen were the final 40 minutes.  Roberto Luongo didn’t play badly, except for the couple of lapses late in the game which handed the decision to the Sharks.  Sure, the Canucks did have moments of looking like they might tie it up, but unfortunately those were just moments in the game.  There was no real extended periods of domination by the locals.

So they finished up the home stand at 3-2 and now get to jet off to face the east coast for a few games.  Devils and Flyers should be good games, although not easy ones.  The Preds and Hurricanes should be a little easier, but certainly not to be taken for granted.

Also, according to Canucks.com, the team has also assigned both Alex Bolduc and Aaron Rome to the Manitoba Moose.  Considering the fact that pretty much everyone except Pavol Demitra is back from injuries, it’s not really that surprising.

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Any time your power play is effective 80% of the time, it’s a pretty safe bet that you’re going to wind up with two points for the win.  Which is exactly what happened last night.  The fact that it happened against the Oilers made it even better.

While having a four goal lead after the first 12 minutes of the game is great, it’s not always the best position for the Canucks to be in.  Once they have a lead like that, they can have a tendency to try and sit on the lead, which is a dangerous tactic to try, regardless of whether you’re playing San Jose or Toronto (okay, maybe not so dangerous against the Leafs).

After Gilbert Brule gave the Oilers some vague hope of at least scoring, Tanner Glass restored the four goal lead, and that appeared to be the end of the Oilers.

Then the second period started.  And in a span of just a minute and four seconds, the Oilers were within two, and I’m sure the tension was starting to creep back into GM Place.  They couldn’t really blow a four goal lead, could they? 

Thankfully, that didn’t happen, with Alex Edler and Mikael Samuelsson contributing to the effort to put the Oilers away, for the Canucks’ fourth win in five games. 

It was a night when a number of players got the scoring monkey off their backs.  Daniel Sedin finally got his first of the year, Edler got his first dating back to last year, and Alex Burrows seems to have benefited from Daniel’s return, scoring his second goal in as many games.

A lot was made about the fact that the Oilers were a tired, injured team, and while that might be the case, I don’t remember hearing the Canucks using the injuries as an excuse when they had a lot of regulars out of action.  They just sucked it up and kept playing.  Did pretty well, too, if I recall.

The game against the Sharks tonight should be really interesting, as San Jose had an emotional win over the Oilers themselves a couple of nights ago.  The Sharks are looking like the scary team that they were at the start of last season, although maybe not quite as completely dominating, but you still can’t dispute their record.  If the Canucks want to show what they’re capable of doing, tonight’s the night.

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I’m the first to admit that I get a little lax when it comes to covering the PPV games.  I don’t pay for them, and don’t feel that I can offer as much just by watching the highlights and commenting on what Sportsnet chooses to show.

But I have to admit to being a little pissed off hearing about the fact that people were actually booing when they heard that what was initially thought to be Kyle Wellwood’s first goal of the season had been taken away and given to Tanner Glass.  Look, I understand that people want Welly to get his first goal, but for God’s sake, don’t boo Glass because the on-ice officials made a mistake.  Does it really matter who scored the damn goal?  Wellwood wants to start scoring too, but do you think he’d whine about it?  No.  He wouldn’t.  At least he got his first goal later in the game, so now people can get over it.

The other thing I wanted to mention was the incredible goal line save Roberto Luongo made on Teddy Purcell, throwing his glove back to pull the puck off the line.  There’s no way that they could have called that a goal because there was no way to see the puck, seeing as how it was covered by the glove.  Was the puck across the line?  Possibly, but without proof, they couldn’t have called it a goal.  Only Luongo knows for sure.

From the reports I’ve heard, the first half of the first period would pretty much put you to sleep, but then the Canucks came out flying to leave the Kings in the dust in the third period.  But it was good to see that Henrik Sedin hasn’t slowed down since Daniel’s return, and that putting Alex Burrows back on a line with the twins has paid off with him opening the scoring.

The Oilers and Sharks should make this an interesting weekend indeed.  A couple of wins would get the Canucks right back into the playoff hunt.  We’ll see what happens.

The only other Canucks’ bloggers with a recap of the game were Sean and Mike at ‘Nucks Misconduct (and this is even with the Yankee Canuck partaking in the American Thanksgiving).  So here’s the link.

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Considering that the Canucks have had almost another week off again, it wouldn’t have been that much of a surprise if they had come out in their rematch against the Avs and laid an egg.

And that’s almost what happened – finding themselves down by a pair before the game was nine minutes old.  After that, though, they woke up and decided that they were going to try and make a game of it.  Five unanswered goals?  Awesome.

As seems to be the Canucks’ way, when those who are expected to score fail to do so, there always seem to be those who step up and fill in the gaps.  With Ryan Kesler, Alex Burrows, and Kyle Wellwood not doing much, it was Christian Ehrhoff who stepped up with the first multi-goal game of his career, scoring a couple and picking up an assist as well.  Steve Bernier, and Mikael Samuelsson chipped in as well.  And of course, Henrik Sedin hasn’t slowed down at all.

Unfortunately I only got to see the third period, but the way they were flying for the final 20 minutes, a complete game like that and the score would have been 8 – 2 again.  They need to remember, though, that playing less than 60 minutes with any regularity ain’t going to get it done.  The Avs might be on top of the division right now, but they’re 1-5 in their last 6, so you know that the teams that are supposed to be above them are going to quickly start closing that gap.

Sunday night’s game against the Hawks should be interesting, as it’s the first time the two have faced off since Willie Mitchell’s  hit on Jonathan Toews, which knocked him out of action for six games.  I still say it wasn’t a dirty hit, too.  A win over the Hawks would go a long way to boosting the confidence as well.  More than a pair of wins over an over-achieving team like the Avs. 

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I couldn’t believe when I heard that that was Henrik Sedin’s first career hat trick.  I mean, I know the guy isn’t as prolific a scorer as his brother, but I certainly would have thought that he’d have gotten a hat trick by now. 

I don’t know which made me happier – the Canucks being up as quickly as they were, or the Leafs already being down by a pair with only four minutes gone in the first period in their game against the Flames.  Pity that a loss like that had to come at the hands of a Northwest division team.  But oh well.

The Canucks more than got the monkey of their recent three game skid off their backs with their performance last night.  Although they did manage to let the Avs make it a little interesting with their two goals before stepping on the gas again and leaving Colorado in the dust.  It was hardly what I’d call a complete game, but this was one of those nights where they didn’t really need to go hard for the full 60 minutes.  It would have been better if they *had*, but you can’t always have everything.

Mason Raymond played a hell of a game, though, particularly on Hank’s second goal, getting down the ice and sending the puck back out into the slot for Henrik to chip both the puck and himself over Craig Anderson.  Also great to see were Mathieu Schneider and Jannik Hansen picking up goals, along with Steve Bernier (with a pair!) and even Tanner Glass.

Now the Canucks have some time off (5 days again?!?) before they start a 5 game western home stand that could go a long way towards helping them make up some ground and get back to where they should be – at the top of the Northwest standings.  Sure, only two of those games are against NW teams (Avs again and Oilers), but it’s safe to say that they’ll probably wind up chasing either the Hawks or Sharks for playoff position as well.  And the Kings aren’t what they were last year.  No pushovers this time around.

Hopefully the layoff will give them a little more time to get the regulars back and ready to play.  Henrik, after all, is more than halfway past his season best mark of 22 goals in a season.  It’ll be interesting to see what happens when his brother gets back on the ice.

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When news broke that Roberto Luongo would be out of action due to a hairline rib fracture, Canuck Nation collectively were ready to hit the panic button. But thankfully, Andrew Raycroft has since pulled everyone back from the ledge with his solid play. Raycroft’s performance in the games he has started since Luongo was injured has given Canucks fans all over a newfound confidence. Last year Luongo missed a total of 24 games when he tore a groin muscle in a game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Over that span the Canucks went 9-12-3 as Curtis Sanford, Jason LaBarbera and Cory Schneider all saw some action. Overall, the Canucks held their own in Roberto’s absence but definitely had a large amount of room for improvement.

Andrew Raycroft

This summer Mike Gillis signed Raycroft as a free agent netminder this summer and it raised a lot of eyebrows. Most had considered Raycroft a bust despite winning the Calder trophy in 2004 as the outstanding rookie of the year. That season Raycroft backstopped the Boston Bruins to 29 victories while holding a save percentage of .926 and GAA of 2.05. The next year was the NHL lockout and Andrew Raycroft landed with Tappara Tampere of the Finnish SM-liiga. He appeared in 11 games, winning four of those games. When the NHL resumed in 2005 Raycroft was nowhere the goaltender he was before as he won just 8 games out of 30 with the Boston Bruins with a 3.70 GAA and .878 save percentage.

Raycroft was eventually traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs for the rights to Tuuka Rask. Things did not improve for Raycroft in Toronto despite a decent first season that saw him pick up 37 wins in 72 games. Things got worse in 2007 when Raycroft was relegated to the backup role when the Leafs acquired Vesa Toskala from the San Jose Sharks. Raycroft appeared in only 19 games that season while winning just 2 of them. He was subsequently bought out by the Leafs and promptly signed a 1-year contract with the Colorado Avalanche as a backup to Peter Budaj in hopes of getting a clean slate. But yet again, things did not go well for the 29-year old Belleville native as he won just 12 games in 31 appearances with an .892 save percantage and goals against average of 3.14.

So jump to this past offseason, Jason Labarbera signed a contract with the Phoenix Coyotes while Curtis Sanford left to join the Montreal Canadiens. This left the Canucks with their 2004 first round draft pick, Cory Schneider, as their only option as a backup to Luongo. As a result, on July 6th, Raycroft was offered a contract by GM Mike Gillis and signed the 1-year deal with the Canucks. Reaction around the hockey community was mostly of confusion or mockery, particulary from fanbases of the Maple Leafs and Avalanche who had seen how poorly Raycroft had played on a regular basis. But after five starts, the ones getting the last laugh are Mike Gillis and the Vancouver Canucks.

Andrew Raycroft has compiled a very solid record of 4-1-0 in Luongo’s absence. He also leads the NHL with a 1.60 GAA and is tied for first with a .936 save percentage.

Has Raycroft regained the form that saw him win the Calder trophy 2004? Only time will tell as it is still just five games but he is off to a great start. Raycroft has given Canucks fans the confidence in the backup goaltender that has been missing since Alex Auld was still a Canuck. Auld, of course, was a part of the trade with Florida that involved bringing Luongo to Vancouver. Dany Sabourin, Curtis Sanford, Jason Labarbera and Cory Schneider have all tried and have not been able to perform as well as fans would have liked. Raycroft came in this summer with low expectations and has far surpassed those expectations. What happens from here is left to be seen, but surely should Luongo struggle or once again get injured, Canuck Nation will not need to hold their breath.

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November 3, 2009 marked for me, and for many out there, the coming out party of Ryan Kesler. That game against the New York Rangers at GM Place solidifies the letter on this man’s chest.  Question is: Is it the ‘right’ letter?

We’ve been seeing the improvement in Ryan’s game over the last few years, especially after the Canucks matched a qualifying offer the Philadelphia Flyers made to him in 2006. Ryan Kesler is, as they say in Toronto, “The Straight Goods”.   The man has not only has proven to be a good defensive forward, (good enough to garner himself a nomination for the Selke Trophy) but he can put up some good numbers.  The passion and intensity that Ryan Kesler brings to the ice each and every night is unmatched on this roster.

I’ve always liked Kesler, but it wasn’t until about a season and half ago I really believed he should have succeeded Markus Naslund as Canuck captain; instead it went to Roberto Luongo.   When I see Ryan Kesler, I see a guy who sticks up for his teammates, even if they were in the wrong (the Kelly Backes incident). I see a guy who can approach the officials and be listened to and taken seriously.  His diplomacy with the media showed in his younger years has been honed to near perfection in the present day.

So why isn’t Ryan Kesler the Canuck captain? I’m not sure.  Don’t get me wrong, I like Roberto Luongo a lot, and I like the move that Canucks management did to make him the Captain on a marketing, news-making, and intra-locker room level, but I think it’s time to give it to someone who doesn’t stay on blue ice.  I think it’s time that Ryan Kesler wears the “C”.

Here’s why:

• Ryan Kesler hates to lose. You see how angry he gets when the Canucks have lost a game or are put in a losing situation. He will do everything he can to make sure he does his part to make it better.
• Ryan Kesler plays hard each and every shift. If he’s on the ice, he’s doing something and moving, and trying to create chances.
• Ryan Kesler is an excellent two-way player. Tell me who on the team is better than Kesler in terms of a two-way game?
• Ryan Kesler has improved something about his game each and every year he’s been on the roster.  At this point in the season, he’s 20^th overall in scoring and is on pace to have having a career year hitting an 82pt total.

How can anyone argue any of these points? In all honesty, I suppose, if someone tried really hard and dug really deep they could, but on many other teams, Ryan Kesler is a shoe-in for team captain.  In fact, I am sure many feel as I do, he should be our captain.  All the ‘what ifs’ have been answered, and resoundingly, Ryan Kesler is a bona fide leader.  So maybe our franchise player should be just that, and let the captaincy go to the heart and soul of the team.

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