SB Nation - Kevin Bieksa

Canucks Hold On To Beat Wild 4-3

Sean Zandberg — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 08:34:21 -0000

Quietly, Henrik Sedin has scored 501 points in his NHL career. With 3 assists tonight he has moved into a tie with Marian Gaborik at 2nd place in League scoring. Individual stats are fine and dandy, but right now the team's stats are more important. The Canucks needed those 2 points:

1. To pull 3 points ahead of the surging Wild in the standings

2. To keep pace with the 6th, 7th and 8th seeds in the West (Coyotes, Predators and Stars). All 3 of those teams earned at least a point tonight. Damn!

The Canucks have now won 2 straight, 4 of their last 6, and 6 of their last 10. Only 3 teams in the NHL have 12 home wins: Phoenix, Chicago and Vancouver (12-4-0). Nobody has more.

-The Wild outshot Vancouver in all 3 periods, finishing with a 41-29 margin. Roberto Luongo was pretty solid.

-I have to give the Wild props. What a hell of a road game for them, even in a back-to-back scenario. Canucks take note! Sure, they lost, but they hardly let up. That is one tenacious speedy team.

-Marty Havlat...hate the guy.... but he scored a goal and 3 points tonight. I believe he is finding his groove.

-The game was entertaining, but too wide open for my liking. How many odd-man rushes did the Canucks give up? Is that how we are going to play? That won't cut it if we are looking for consistency.

-Kesler and Mitchell playing it up for the media pregame was priceless. You can see video footage of the scrum and the brotherly love here.

-No Rypien-Boogaard tilt. I have almost lost hope that it is going to happen. Then again, here are a few intriguing ice times: Hordichuk: 2:57, Rypien: 6:46, Boogaard: 4:13.

I still can't believe Boogaard tried to pull that interference stunt...and then got busted for diving. The guy bounced off Kevin Bieksa like a bus hit him! Are you kidding me? Is this guy a soccer player in disguise? Pathetic. 2 minutes for being stupid. And, Mason Raymond scored on the ensuing power play. On second thought: Dive Boogey dive!

BOXSCORE AND HIGHLIGHTS

NUCKS MISCONDUCT 3 STARS:

1. Henrik Sedin

2. Martin Havlat

3. Roberto Luongo

Next up: The Western Conference-leading Los Angeles Kings. That a misprint? Wow. Remember what I said about "too wide open". It would be best if the Canucks tighten it up a little against the high-octane Kings.

Introducing Your New-found Road Warriors: The Vancouver Canucks

Sean Zandberg — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 09:03:57 -0000

Wow. That is nearly all I can say about this Canucks team. They defied the odds against a well-rested Flyers squad tonight and soundly beat them 3-0 in their own harsh building, leaving Philly with a chorus of boo's as they left the ice. I thought the Canucks looked somewhat sluggish after the first period, but they seemed to gain momentum as the game went on. That was not exactly indicative of a team who was playing the 2nd game in as many nights on the road. Vancouver killed more penalties than the Flyers did, and in the end scored NO powerplay goals but bettered the Flyers 5 on 5 to take this one.

The Flyers are a struggling team that isn't getting any breaks. Hell, how many times did they hit the post or not convert on one-timers in this game? Too many to count. In the end, the Canucks got the game-winning goal from an unlikely source: Willie Mitchell. "Kind of get scared when he wanders off near the other team's net," Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo said with a laugh. "You never know what could happen."

No shit. Luongo was solid in net but the Canucks limited the quality scoring chances against. Where they faltered, Lou was there to stone a helpless Flyers team.

Final shots: Flyers 38 Canucks 29.

Jannik Hansen was promoted to the second line, while Mikael Samuelsson was demoted to the 3rd line to start the game but did not produce. That is unfortunate.

In consecutive nights, the Canucks made the highly touted (or, currently hot goalie) look human. Brian Boucher allowed 3 goals for the first time since October 25th.

The Canucks' top line of Burrows and the Twins combined for 1 goal and 3 assists. So, it really is good having Dank back in the lineup. Burrows is lighting it up since his return no doubt.

Don't look now! The Canucks have won 5 of their last 7 games, including 3 straight wins on the road. I believe they are now 6-8 over all on the road. It just keeps getting better and better. Look at the Western Conference standings. Woo!

BOXSCORE

HIGHLIGHTS

My 3 Stars:

1. Roberto Luongo

2. Henrik Sedin

3. Kevin Bieksa

OK, Canucks fans...are you stoked yet? I have a few questions for you:

- would you leave the current forward lines intact as they are? Does Hansen get another chance on line 2?

- how do you rate Shane O'Brien's play over the last 2 games? Has he earned another game in a Canucks uni over Mathieu Schneider?

- Raycroft is probably going to play against the Canes on Saturday. How much faith do you have in him and the teams' ability to play in front of him?

My answers:

- YES I AM STOKED. I would leave the current forward lines as is. Shane OB has looked just fine to me. I would leave him in the lineup and old man Schneider can sit. He has earned it. No minor penalties for him?? Nice!

- I have already said that if the Canucks beat the Flyers that they would lose to Carolina on Saturday. I will stand by that. Faith-less aren't I?

Game 25 Preview: New Jersey Devils vs. Vancouver Canucks - 12/2/2009

John Fischer — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 05:00:16 -0000

by Bill Kostroun - AP

New Jersey Devils' Patrik Elias and Brian Rolston had huge afternoons against the Islanders on Saturday, racking up 4 points each. What will they do tonight against the Canucks? (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)

View full size photo »

The Time: 7 PM EST

The Broadcasting Info: MSG+ for the TV; 660 AM WFAN for the radio

The Matchup: The New Jersey Devils (17-6-1) vs. the Vancouver Canucks (14-12-0)

The Last Devils Game: Think of a snowball at the top of the mountain. Think of something - say a Richard Park slapshot - causing said snowball to start rolling. Think of the New York Islanders being in the way of that snowball. The Devils grew to dominate the game and blow out the Islanders 6-1 at the Rock, the biggest win of the season so far and their third straight win.

The Last Canucks Game: The Vancouver Canucks drew the league leaders, the San Jose Sharks, on the second half of a back-to-back set. It didn't end well. The Canucks kept it close until Manny Malhotra broke the deadlock late in the third period; and so the Canucks went onto lost 4-2. Sean Zanberg of Nucks Misconduct recapped the game, describing it as a "snoozfest" and the GM Place crowd as "lifeless."

The Goal: Discipline. Vancouver is a team that will make anyone pay for taking dumb calls. Sure, they didn't show that off against the San Jose Sharks. But they have the third best power play success rate at 24.3%, just behind Anaheim (24.5%) and Columbus (24.8%). While the Devils are disciplined in terms of penalties (9.6 PIM/G is third best in the league), I'm also referring to being disciplined on defense. The Canucks in general are a high scoring team, averaging 3 goals a game - the ninth highest average in the league. While Devils fans can be confident in new U.S. citizen Martin Brodeur between the pipes, leaving him out to dry or having him bombarded with high quality shots could lead to disaster against Vancouver.

For a Vancouver perspective on tonight's game, Nucks Misconduct is a good place to check on. Read on for my thoughts on tonight's game.

The big story in the run up to tonight's game is that New Jersey Devils are getting healthier. Rob Niedermayer, Jay Pandolfo, and Johnny Oduya all returned to practice earlier in the week. Per Tom Gulitti's reports, Oduya returned to practice on Tuesday whereas Niedermayer and Pandolfo came back on Monday. While a return to games hasn't been set in stone outside of Oduya not playing, Jacques Lemaire hopes to have Niedermayer back in the lineup for tonight's game against Vancouver. Actually, Gulitti reported that Lemaire thinks both Niedermayer and Pandolfo could be ready for Vancouver, but both players' comments suggest otherwise.

Of course, it's not all good news. No, apparently, Jamie Langenbrunner "tweaked" something and didn't practice on Tuesday. According to Gulitti, it's apparently something with his back - something that has long been suspected as a back injury. Now, he's presumably played with that nagging issue so far and he's done pretty well regardless.

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2009 - Jamie Langenbrunner	24	5	17	22	8	6	1	1	1	0	68	7.4

It's not clear whether that will mean he can't play against the Canucks. After all, Langenbrunner had this to say to Gulitti:

"I’ll see how I feel when I wake up in the morning," he said. "I didn’t think it was going to be an issue today, so. I would assume that I’ll be bettter tomorrow., I worked with [team massage therapist] Tommy [Plasko] today and I feel better.

...

"I practiced yesterday and felt fine and felt fine all days yesterday," he said. "I woke up this morning and I didn’t feel so good and I wasn’t able to loosen up like I wanted to."

I think Chere summed it all best in his headline: Niedermayer and Pandolfo are probable, Langenbrunner is questionable, and Oduya is out. With respect to the roster size, the Devils can activate one of Niedermayer and Pandolfo without making any moves. Should Langenbrunner just get scratched and the Devils want both Pandolfo and Niedermayer active, someone has to go to Lowell. Most likely Vladimir Zharkov to start, as he can go freely between New Jersey and Lowell without waivers. So keep an eye on Chere and Gulitti during the day. If the Devils make a roster move, you can bet on both Niedermayer and Pandolfo returning.

As far as my guess for the lineup, I'm going to assume that those moves do happen and that Langenbrunner is good to go. I really hope he is, the Devils really can't afford more injuries to their top 6 forwards.

Zach Parise - Travis Zajac - Niclas Bergfors
Brian Rolston - Patrik Elias - Jamie Langenbrunner
Jay Pandolfo - Rob Niedermayer - Dean McAmmond
Andrew Peters - Rod Pelley - Matt Halischuk

Andy Greene - Bryce Salvador
Colin White - Mike Mottau
Mark Fraser - Matthew Corrente

Martin Brodeur
Yann Danis

If only Niedermayer is activated, expect Dean McAmmond to slide to that left wing position and either Zharkov, Ilkka Pikkarainen, or Eckford would be scratched. Likewise, if Pandolfo is only activated, McAmmond would likely center that third line and play with Halischuk on his right wing. Should Langenbrunner not play, I'd guess Zharkov would be back in the lineup in some way. Of course, these are all guesses and I will most likely be wrong in some way.

Either way, it'll be up to the top two forward lines to crack a pretty good Vancouver defense (28.7 shots against per game average, 11th in the league) and Roberto Luongo, the other high-profile goaltending candidate for Team Canada.

	GP	MIN	W	L	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
2009 - Roberto Luongo	20	1124	10	9	48	2.56	531	483	.910	1

OK, they aren't great numbers, but he's very talented all the same. When he's on, he's frightfully Brodeurian in how difficult he is to beat. Sure, Brodeur and Lemaire says this game

Moreover, the Canucks don't have a big pairing to lead their defense. Kevin Bieksa (22:10), Willie Mitchell (22:04), Christian Ehrhoff (21:44), and Alexander Edler (21:31) have very similar time on ice averages, which suggests to me that Alain Vigenault doesn't like to have one pairing or one line carry a heavy workload. Looking at Behind the Net's even strength numbers notes that Willie Mitchell, far and away, faces the highest quality of competition. So I assume he's the "#1" on the blueline. That said, none of these four really stick out in shots against/60 differential when they are on and off the ice. The biggest positive is Edler with 1.1 less shots per 60. But all of Vancouver's defensemen have a shots against/60 of 27 or less when they are on the ice, which speaks to an overall good effort by the blueline.

Either way, the Devils forwards probably won't have a weak defensive pairing they can pounce on unless one of those four defensemen is having a bad night. On the flipside, Vancouver may need those four defensemen to have equally good nights due to the Devils' top 6. I think it's fair to say that Zach Parise and Travis Zajac will be big players on offense for the Devils, but I would pay additional attention to how Patrik Elias and Brian Rolston play tonight. Both enjoyed 4 point games against the Islanders and showed some real good chemistry between each other. If they can showcase some of that again, it won't be just useful (if not important) for tonight's game but further evidence that it wasn't some flash-in-the-pan, everything-just-clicked moment. Hopefully, they'll get some points and command attention.

With respect to offense, as mentioned prior to the jump, the Canucks power play is something I think the Devils should avoid as much as possible. Tempting the third best power play in the league is never a smart idea. Leading the forwards for Vancouver is Henrik Sedin and his 14 goals and 14 assists; with playmaking Ryan Kesler following close behind in points with 5 goals and 19 assists. The production, like New Jersey, is shared throughout much of the rest of the line up - namely by Mikael Samuelsson, Mason Raymond, and Alexandre Burrows. Actually, Vancouver's defensemen show up high on the scoring list as well: Ehrhoff has 17 points (tied with Raymond for fourth most on the team), Edler has 16 (tied with Burrows for sixth most on the team), and Bieksa has 11 points. So the attack seemingly can start at the point, or at least the defensemen usually has a hand in Vancouver's offensive successes.

Essentially, on paper, this is a pretty solid Vancouver team in my view. I'm not sure why they are 14-12-0 and stuck behind a 5 teams in the Western Conference (Prior to Tuesday's games, 5th place LA: 32 points. 10th place Columbus: 30 points). Perhaps they aren't very good on the road? A road record of 4-8-0, 29 road goals scored against 40 road goals given up indicates that, yes, they aren't good on the road. What does that mean for tonight? Who knows.

All of this speaks back to Devils needing to show discipline on the ice. They can't just float through tonight's game and hope Vancouver will do the same. They can't take stupid calls or make dumb errors and hope Vancouver won't take advantage. Ideally, the Devils would perform as well as they did on Saturday against the Islanders. I don't think the Devils will explode for 6 goals or dominate in possession by the the third period the way they did. I don't think Vancouver will break down like that, especially after keeping their last game close until the end, despite not looking so good overall. They'll at least want to give a better effort after that game. Maintaining a solid defensive game in their own end while striking ahead and staying out of the box will take discipline. I think if the Devils do that, then they got a good chance on stretching their winning streak to 4 games.

Steve will have the GameThread up later today. Check out Nucks Misconduct to learn more about tonight's opponent. Please feel free to share your thoughts on today's game, today's latest news relevant to tonight's game, and discuss the opposition in the comments. Go Devils!

How Will the Olympics Affect the Canucks?

nucksandpucks — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 16:55:13 -0000

More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP

Soon to be enemies...

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It's less than three months until the 2010 Olympics kickoff, and speculation is rampant about the makeup of the Canadian and other national teams. It appears that a number of Canucks will skate on "home" ice in February, as a few players are likely to make their respective national teams. After the jump I give a rundown of what Canucks we can expect to see skating on GM Place ice during the Olympics, and raise some questions about the impact this might have on the latter part of the season.

Canada

Locks: Roberto Luongo

Other possibilities: none (sorry Kyle Wellwood)

United States

Locks: Ryan Kesler

Other possibilities: Mathieu Schneider (a dark horse, but maybe a PP specialist)

Sweden

Locks: Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin, Alexander Edler

Other possibilities: Mikael Samuelsson

Russia

Locks: none

Other possibilities: Sergei Shirokov? Okay, maybe not.

Finland

Locks: none

Other possibilities: Sami Salo (If he's healthy he should be on the team)

Germany

Locks: Christian Ehrhoff

Other possibilities: none

Slovakia

Locks: none

Other possibilities: Pavol Demitra (if he's healthy); Mario Bliznak (I don't know what Slovakia's depth is like, but hopefully they don't need to dip too far into the AHL ranks to ice a team)

If Only They'd Qualified

Locks: Michael Grabner (Austria); Jannik Hansen (Denmark)

So the Canucks could have up to 10 regulars playing in the Olympics. While it will be awesome to see our boys putting it on the line for their country, how will the team fare coming out of the Olympic break? The Sedins, Kesler and Luongo will all potentially be fatigued. Who will step up for Vancouver? We'll need Raycroft to shoulder a bigger burden, which he has demonstrated the ability to do. Secondary scorers like Alex Burrows, Mason Raymond, Kevin Bieksa and Steve Bernier will need to step up. Wellwood will have spent two weeks laying by the pool, so he should be good to... oh, wait, never mind.

It will be an interesting time for the Canucks, as it will for other teams with significant international contingents. Throw in Canucks' epic pre- and post-Olympic road trip, which will rival the journeys of Odysseus, and the new year looks like a giant wildcard for Vancouver. How do you think the Canucks will respond? Will the Olympics help us? Hurt us? Make no difference? Hopefully one of our boys can pull the rare Olympic Gold and Stanley Cup feat in 2010. I'm looking at you, Luongo.

Fighting: Just like Chess

Hawerchuk — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:15:19 -0000

by Chris Young - AP

2 months ago: Toronto Maple Leafs' Colton Orr, right, fights with Montreal Canadiens' Georges Laraque during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Toronto on Thursday, Oct. 1, 2009. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Chris Young)

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So how do we figure out who the best fighter in the NHL is? First, we need to know who won every fight that takes place in the league. Hockey-fights.com is an absolutely indispensable resource in this regard - its users vote on who won and lost every fight. But it's not enough - a heavyweight who fights only in his weight class might have a .500 record despite being one of the better fighters in the league.

As usual, chess has the answer we're looking for: the ELO rating system, which handicaps players based on their past performance. Using ELO, the loser of a bout between top-ranked fighters will be penalized far less than if he lost to an unknown or a poor fighter. Here are the rankings for serious fighters using all fights during the 2006-07 through 2008-09 season:

Player	Ft	In	Wt	Fights	W	L	T	GP	Fights/82
Georges Laraque	6	3	253	30	24	3	3	177	13.9
D.J. King	6	3	229	22	16	2	4	89	20.3
Derek Boogaard	6	8	257	29	21	6	2	133	17.9
Donald Brashear	6	3	234	37	23	9	5	220	13.8
Wade Belak	6	5	225	28	17	7	4	165	13.9
Milan Lucic	6	3	228	24	18	4	2	149	13.2
Aaron Downey	6	1	215	15	9	1	5	81	15.2
Raitis Ivanans	6	4	256	39	21	11	7	215	14.9
Colton Orr	6	3	222	52	31	16	5	209	20.4
Eric Godard	6	4	214	44	20	15	9	164	22.0

No matter how you slice the data, Laraque was going to be #1. His 24-3-3 record against no-one but tough guys is unmatched.

And what about the less-frequent fighters?

Player	Ft	In	Wt	Fights	W	L	T	GP	Fights/82
Zdeno Chara	6	9	255	7	5	0	2	237	2.4
Sheldon Souray	6	4	233	8	7	0	1	188	3.5
Gary Roberts	6	2	215	6	5	1	0	137	3.6
Kevin Bieksa	6	0	205	15	13	1	1	187	6.6
Craig Rivet	6	2	210	13	10	0	3	209	5.1

This group definitely includes some solid fighters who've made the highlight of the night with their fists. Just missing the top five were Robyn Regehr and Rick Rypien, who fight less often but have had good success against serious fighters.

And who have been the worst fighters in the league? Presumably, legitimately bad fighters will stay away from fights! But among those who do fight repeatedly, Corey Perry (0 wins in 7 fights), Greg Campbell (1-16), Brendan Witt (1-9), Alex Burrows (0-15) and Tom Kostopoulos (1-23) stand out as particularly poor. Those decisions come from Hockeyfights.com users - if you watch the fight videos yourself, your mileage may vary.

On The Road Again: Canucks-Wild Preview

Sean Zandberg — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:04:26 -0000

GAME TIME: 5:00 PST

TV: CITY TV (Yay Baseball is done, so it may be on Sportsnet as well.)

THE ENEMY: HOCKEY WILDERNESS

UPDATE: 1:37 PM PST: From The Province:

Team general manager Mike Gillis said the team will explore the feasibility of getting vaccinated during the Canucks’ five-game, 11-day road trip through the United States, where H1N1 vaccine may be more available through the country’s private, for-profit healthcare system.

No panic. Just cautionary stuff in light of Bernier's flu. Next up: another Elvis sighting, the anti-christ emerges, and the sky falls.

UPDATE: 12:04 PM PST: Here's a little nugget to store in your head: In the 4 games since RyJo went down, the Canucks went 10/12 on the PK... 83.3%. That stat from the Opiated Sherpa on Twitter.

UPDATE: 11:24 AM PST: Oh for the love of Mary, it appears that Steve Bernier is suffering from the flu and will miss tonight's game. The lines, according to Ben Kuzma at The Province look like this:

Burrows-H. Sedin-Bieksa

Raymond-Kesler-Samuelsson

Glass-Wellwood-Rypien

Hordichuk-Johnson-Pettinger

On D:

Mitchell-Ehrhoff

Salo-Edler

Schneider-Rome

Raycroft

No that is not a type-o. Kevin Bieksa on line 1. Wee! This is so fun! Hat tip to vancitydan for the heads up.

*********************************

After a huge and chaotic win over the Rangers on Tuesday, the Canucks hit the road for 5 straight games, including a back-to-back scenario tonight and tomorrow against the Stars. This isn't going to be easy. The Wild have won 2 straight games against the Rangers and the Penguins and have won 4 of their last 7. There is belief out in that neck of the woods that Minnesota has turned their game around.

However they currently sit last in the Western Conference with the Ducks achieving a 5-9-0 record thus far. They are 4-1-0 at home and a lousy 1-8-0 record on the road. This fate, and they sit 13th in the NHL on the power play (Canucks are 6th) and tops in the NHL on the penalty kill (88%). The Canucks' PK is ranked 19th (79%). It's 5-on-5 where the Wild don't succeed, as they rank last in the NHL in that department (Vancouver is 18th). If you analyze the stats by following those links you'll also see that the Wild do not score a lot of goals (2.14 per game average) and allow too many (3.00 goals per game.)

This is a Wild team that is in transition. Under former coach Jacques Lemaire's long-term regime, the Wild were told to play scrutinizing defence. New coach Todd Richards is trying to get them to open up a little.

As for the Canucks, some key players are close to returning. Both Roberto Luongo and Ryan Johnson (edit: AND Jannik Hansen) are on the flight out of Vancouver. With Mario Bliznak being sent back to Manitoba yesterday, there is a chance that Johnson could play. Edit: Apparently Henrik Sedin's foot is fine.

-The Canucks have established themselves as a good team at home (7-2-0) but have not had much success on the road either (2-5-0).

-There is a part of me that wasn't caring much about the injuries anymore the way the Canucks tightened up after the Ducks blowout several days ago. They are playing solid hockey in front of Andrew Raycroft now. Can they keep this intensity up? They'll have to against a terrific goalie in Niklas Backstrom.

-Ryan Kesler's 5 points in 2 games has everyone talking not only about him being a lock for Team USA (16 points in 16 games), but also for the captaincy to be handed to him. Trust me, I thought the same thing after the last game. Not going to happen though. Get over it.

-Can we please see Rick Rypien fight Derek Boogaard?

The Canucks won the first of 6 encounters with the Wild on October 17, 2-1. The next day the Wild traded prospects and a 2nd round pick in 2011 for Chuck Kobasew. He has 2 points and 5 shots in 7 games with the Wild. Ouch.

Canucks Stay Defensive Course and Beat Rangers 4-1

Sean Zandberg — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:23:44 -0000

More photos » by Darryl Dyck - AP

Ref caught in middle of mosh pit: "A little help here!"

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I'll try keep this brief as most of you saw what happened. If you missed the game...well you missed a beauty. There was so much talk about Marian Gaborik pregame and now it's all about Ryan Kesler, Mikael Samuelsson and Andrew Raycroft. Kesler is looking like a modern-day Trevor Linden of sorts, with 3 assists and playing a huge game. He's carrying the team. Word was that Samuelsson was feeling the pressure to score more prior to the game and he responded with 2 goals. He's good in front of the opposing goal. Both tallies came from in close.

Raycroft is turning into quite a story. He made some great saves tonight. He has played in 6 games for the Canucks and started 4 of them (3-1-0).

-He leads the NHL in goals against average with a bright and shiny 1.52

-He is second in save percentage with a .937

Tonight he made some decent saves, yes, but let's call a spade a spade here. Raycroft has been solid. He has not had to be great. The teams' play in front of him has been terrific, limiting odd man rushes and quality chances against. Gaborik, who can take over a game on his own,

played over 22:00 tonight, had ZERO points, 1 shot, and was a -1. If that is not a testament to the Canucks' defence then what is? Frustrations mounted in the 3rd as Kesler gave Gaborik a whack with his stick and melee ensued. Kesler and the Canucks, the injury-riddled Canucks, destroyed the Rangers and it was a beautiful sight.

It could have gone either way until some point in the 3rd. Kesler's disallowed "kick in" goal could have been deflating. Chis Higgins' tying goal 6:24 in the 3rd could have spelled doom. But the Canucks kept pressing. About 2.5 minutes later, Ryan Kesler charges into the Rangers' zone to chase a dump-in, draws about 3 Rangers to him and then feathers a beauty pass to Rick Rypien who roofed the puck over the dethroned King Henrik Lundqvist. Geez Ripper, with hands like that how come you don't score more? From there the Canucks scored a powerplay goal and an empty netter to seal the damned deal.

Guess I couldn't keep this brief after all. It's so bloody exciting watching this team spit in the face of adversity and pull out these wins. Yes folks, defence does win. So does a tenacious forecheck and a backup goalie who is playing solid.

Kevin Bieksa on the wing...not bad. Not bad at all.

BOXSCORE

HIGHLIGHTS

QUOTED: "I got jumped and somehow we were on the penalty-kill," Ryan Kesler said. "He (Marian Gaborik) cross-checked me, so I gave him a little shot and the next thing you know I have got six guys on top of me."

Hold on a sec, let me get out my magic Howie Meeker pen.......

Haha! Woo! Canucks win!

The Vancouver Moose Experience Chugs Along

Yankee Canuck — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:20:38 -0000

With Matt Pettinger getting ready to start tonight on the fourth line along with Blackout and Bliznak (this lad need a nickname), it's high time we dole out some praise to the healthy few who are keeping the Canucks remotely relevant less than one month into the season.

This includes Kevin Bieksa and Willie Mitchell, who lead the team in TOI (#1 and #2 respectively) and Mitchell leads in quality of competition category so, shift to shift, he's seeing the best forwards out there. Alex Edler has a fugly -6 and we've seen some fuglier plays, but he's also eaten more TOI and now ranks third on the team.

There are only four guys in double digits for scoring: KesLORD, Sammy, Hank and ErrorHoff. Can't say enough about the forwards really: Hank is without his brother, Sammy gets shuffled around a good deal and Kes is showing he doesn't need Sundin or Demitra to be a force. If they can get Raymond producing consistently and find some life in Burrows and Bernier up front and Salo and Schneider on the blueline, maybe we'll forget they've had ~~nine~~ ~~ten~~ eleven injuries keeping them from icing their full time roster.

And tonight, with shutout diva Raycroft back in net, they welcome Gaborik's groin and the always deplorable New York Rangers. You bet your ass I need to see a win tonight.

I believe Beantown Canuck and I had the pleasure of taking in Vancouver's thorough ass kicking of the filthy Rags last year in MSG, a game in which Lundqvist effectively benched himself. There was so much to like about that game that I ignored (as best I could) the massive hangover in the morning. Few things are sweeter than watching NY lose, especially when it's Wellwood of all people and a Burrows shorty leading the charge.

But expect Lundqvist in net tonight. The Rags other dilemma appears to be who rides alongside Prospal and Gaborik on their first line. Sounds like Higgins - another offseason signing - will get a crack at it tonight. And while they have cooled off recently, the Rangers are still one of the better teams this season, lead very much by the wonky groin who BOUGHT A HOUSE IN VANCOUVER. In 36 career games, Gaborik has 31 points (18-13-31) against the Canucks. Rookie blueliner Del Zotto is having a great start as well (it's true, I have him on the fantasy team). And though Vancouver is 5th on the PP, the Rags are 7th; conversely they're 4th on the PK and Vancouver is (gulp) 22nd.

Do I need to bring up Sean Avery? Not really. Besides the Canucks may not be the most talented group, but they certainly have enough angst to feed Avery his spine if they have to.

Vancouver had a strong win against the Avs and need to follow it up with an even stronger showing tonight. And a small bonus would be winning the game without another injury. Just an idea. Give it a shot, see how it feels.

If you need some Rangers information, check out Blueshirt Banter.

Ducks Look To End Losing Skid; Canucks Look To Stay Alive

Sean Zandberg — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 20:48:19 -0000

More photos » by Darryl Dyck - AP

I think we'll see a bit of this tonight

Browse more photos »

Canucks: 7-6-1

Ducks: 3-6-1

Game Time: 7:00 PST

TV: Sportsnet Pacific

The Enemy: Battle of California (1 Niedermayer vs 1 Sedin. When has that ever happened?)

Anaheim Calling (No more cliches, just start winning)

How time flies. No, not during Canucks games lately. I'm referring to almost exactly a year ago when the Ducks and Canucks played in a freaky Halloween game that took the 13th shooter in a shootout, Mattias Ohlund, to finally end a 7-6 game. It was memorable, make no mistake. What are the chances of that happening tonight? You never know.

Anaheim (3-6-1) is in a world of hurt right now as a team. They find themselves near the bottom of the Western Conference / NHL and at nearly every statistical category. They have had 4 days to think about a 4 game losing streak where they:

-have been outscored 21-9 in the process

-were the team responsible for giving the Leafs their first victory of the season in their last game played.

Jonas Hiller had never allowed 6 goals in a game until that night. He is looking for redemption and will get his chance, as JS Giguere remains sideline with a groin strain.

This game is far from a walk in the park for Vancouver. I'm still scratching my head, creating a bald spot over last night's 2-1 grease win over the Kings. I love the defence and ability to shut down the opposition's top line, but managing only 15 shots isn't going to produce consistent favorable results.

While Andrew Raycroft played admirably last night, he received a lot of help from his mates, who really limited the quality scoring chances against. Like we've said over and over again, Raycroft leaves a lot of the top of the net open when he goes down in his butterfly position (which is all the time). Guys like Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry can expose that real quick. So Vancouver is going to have to play defensive again... but still manage more shots..aka, open it up a little. Is this team schizophrenic or what? You never know what's coming next.

Then again, Kevin Bieksa said today:

"We are just going to continue to try and do what we did last night, play very good defensively and take what they give us," said Bieksa. "We obviously have a lot of injuries right now and we'll play our style of game, a nice exciting brand like last night."

Love his sense of humor!

How about a Rypien-Parros fight? That I'd like to see.

Leafs Fined For Sedin Comments

Sean Zandberg — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 22:07:16 -0000

The National Hockey League has delivered its findings regarding the reported tampering allegations between the Vancouver Canucks and Toronto Maple Leafs' organizations.

In a media release, NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly issued a statement on Wednesday confirming the following:

"That Ron Wilson, Head Coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs, violated the provisions of NHL By-Law 15 relating to inappropriate public comments by speaking generally to his Club's potential interest in negotiating with Daniel and Henrik Sedin prior to such time as those players' existing contracts with Vancouver had expired. The League has imposed a fine on the Maple Leafs' organization as a result;

More of the statement from Daly at TSN. ~~Were the Leafs TV segment and Sedins tampering issue getting mixed up by the media? Or is Gillis pursuing both issues?~~ To clarify, this has nothing to do with the Leafs TV segment which mentioned Kevin Bieksa and Alexandre Burrows in a possible trade with Tampa. The league exonerated Burke for those comments.

Who cares. Drop the puck.