SB Nation - Mason Raymond

Canucks Rumor Du Jour: They Are Interested In Ilya Kovalchuk

Sean Zandberg — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 21:28:35 -0000

Tweeted by NHLSourcesSay, who writes for HendricksHockey.com:

The Thrashers may want a D-man instead of Cory Schnieder. The Canucks offer would then be a 1st round pick, Demitra, Grabner, and a D-man.

First of all, it's just a rumor. Secondly...with (especially) Ryan Kesler and Mason Raymond's contracts ending after this season (plus several d-men), the Canucks are going to need to pony up the cash to keep them here. Kovalchuk is making $7.5 million this season and is looking to make Ovechkin-type money next season ($9 million). Tell me where the Canucks are going to find that kind of money. On another super-long-term front-loaded contract? This trade is not going to happen, unless a lot of the current roster is pissed away whether that be now or in the summer..

Just my 2 cents. What's yours?

Grabner Re-assigned To Manitoba, Demitra Going Home

Sean Zandberg — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 20:59:59 -0000

More photos » by Darryl Dyck - AP

Wrong bench, asshole!

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Mike Gillis has announced today that the Canucks have re-assigned Michael Grabner to the Moose. This is reportedly a conditioning stint. Grabner has 2 goals and 5 points in 9 games with the Canucks this season, before he wrecked his ankle playing soccer in a pre game warm-up several weeks ago.

Pavol Demitra is returning to his homeland of Slovakia to see a specialist "that he is comfortable with" about his ailing shoulder.

"He had this massage therapist guy who works with the Slovakian national team and he said the massage therapy helped him out a lot," Mike Gillis said today. "So, he asked if he could do that and we said yes."

It has me wondering if there is something wrong with our medical staff. See: Cody Hodgson.

Was that a great game last night or what? That had the feeling of a playoff game. It made my current headache worth it.

I'm not going to recap the game, but I will say this: Great effort by the Canucks after crapping the bed against the Ducks. They can beat any NHL team when they play like that. Random: A big hat-tip to Aaron Rome, who played so well and really deserves a spot on the Canucks' roster.

Oh, and I'd never forget this guy:

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.

The Hottest Team In The West Comes To Town: Canucks-Wild Preview

Sean Zandberg — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 08:00:23 -0000

Wild (15-13-3) vs Canucks (17-14-0)

Game Time: 7:00 PST

TV: CBC

The Opposition: Hockey Wilderness

Update (2:12 PST): Dan Murphy is reporting on Twitter that Josh Harding will start for the Wild tonight and Canucks 1st round draft pick from 2000 Nathan Smith will take the place of the injured Owen Nolan.

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

The Minnesota Wild may have won 5 of 14 in October and 5 of 11 in November, but they have won 6 of 7 in December, including an 8-1-1 record in their last 10. The only other NHL teams that are cookin' like the Wild are the Capitals and Bruins. I managed to watch the 3rd period and OT of the Wild-Flames game last night. The Wild are still playing well defensively, but are utilizing a super speed and aggressive game as well. You'll see it when they play the Canucks tonight. This is a team that is rising from the Western Conference basement and making a push for a playoff spot.

It's madness. Only 6 points separate 8th place Dallas from 14th place St. Louis, and the Canucks are right in the middle of the dung heap. It further emphasizes the point that the Canucks need to get on a roll...and quick. Once again, Vancouver plays a team that is playing the 2nd game in 2 nights. That is not something to take for granted, as I had mentioned Minny's speed game is intense.

More after the jump...

The Wild are now 6-10-2 on the road this season. That almost mirrors the Canucks' road futility (6-10-0).

Martin Havlat has not found his game in Minnesota yet. However, right when the play-by-play guys were mentioning his 2 goals, 9 assists and -17 rating this season, Havlat bagged the OT winner tonight. He finished with a goal and an assist and a +2 rating against the Flames. How unlike him. He now has 1 goal and 4 assists in his last 8 games. He's slowly heating up.

More Wild player stats over their last 8 games:

-Andrew Brunette has 1 goal and 8 assists

-Mikko Koivu has 3 goals and 4 assists

-Antii Miettinen has 5 goals and 1 assist

Complete list of Wild player stats here.

The last time the Wild played in a back-to-back scenario, Josh Harding, who's stats are nowhere near as good as Niklas Backstrom's, got the start in a 5-3 win over the Predators on December 5th. I wonder if Harding plays tonight.

COMPARATIVE STATS

GOALS PER GAME AVERAGE: Canucks 4th, Wild 24th

GOALS AGAINST PER GAME: Canucks 8th, Wild 17th

5 on 5 F/A: Canucks 3rd, Wild 27th

POWERPLAY: Canucks 4th, Wild 19th

PK: Wild 8th, Canucks 27th

SHOTS PER GAME: Canucks 10th, Wild 17th

SHOTS AGAINST PER GAME: Wild 8th, Canucks 10th

The Canucks are 2-0 against the Wild this year, winning 2-1 on October 17th and 5-2 on November 5th.

Mike Gillis is not so happy with the Canucks' efforts so far this season, and he let them hear about it on Thursday. He challenged the players to "look in the mirror".

"There was a sense of complacency," he said. "I think our guys thought, OK, let's just get back in the playoffs and redeem ourselves for what happened with Chicago and forgot you've got to play 82 games to get into the playoffs. I think now it's been imparted to them that no one's happy with where we sit today. I believe this team is a better one than we had last year and we've yet to show it on a consistent basis."

Kesler Hits "Rock Bottom"

Sean Zandberg — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 09:33:05 -0000

After the 5-3 loss to Carolina Ryan Kesler told the media:

"When the team loses and you're looked for to provide offence and you're not able to, that makes this loss even tougher for myself," said Kesler, who instantly knew it's been 14 games since he last scored. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't (frustrated). "I think this is rock bottom for me." It's only up from here." I'll keep staying positive and I'll get out of this slump."

Despite his 14-game goal-scoring slump, Kesler still has 5 goals and 20 assists in 29 games, 79 shots on goal and a -1 rating. His 20 assists rank him 17th overall in the NHL. It is fair for him to be a bit hard on himself, but there are others who should perhaps be a little more critical of themselves. Regardless, in his first 10 games of the season, he scored 3 goals and 5 assists. In the next 10 games he registered 1 goal and 8 assists. In his last 10 games he has no goals and 8 assists. While I can understand his desire to score goals, at least he is putting up assists

and decent point totals.

I hate seeing him nearly crucify himself in front of the media when guys like Mikael Samuelsson ( 2 goals and 4 assists in his last 10 games played), Kyle Wellwood (2 goals and 4 assists in his last 10), Steve Bernier (4 goals and 3 assists in his last 10) or Mason Raymond (2 goals and 6 assists in his last 10) are not doing the same. I know it's a contract year for Kesler, but he's not that much worse than several others.

Hang in there, Keslord, you'll bag one soon. Until then, keep up your great efforts.

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.

Canucks-Red Wings Preview

Sean Zandberg — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 09:46:39 -0000

"ATTACK!"

Canucks (10-9-0)

Red Wings: (8-5-3)

GAME TIME: 4:30 PM PST

TV: Canucks PPV

THE ENEMY: Winging It In Motown

UPDATE: 3:22 PM: I forgot to mention that Mathieu Schneider is in and O'Brien is out. C'mon Schneider! Burn your old team! Do it!

UPDATE: 11:12 AM: We told you the top 2 lines, and now the bottom 2 lines:

Glass-Johnson-Bernier

Pettinger-Rypien Hansen

UPDATE: 11:05 AM PST: Chris Osgood and Kirk Maltby are ill and will not play tonight. The newest Wing, Drew Miller, who was plucked off the waiver wire by Detroit earlier this week, will play. Jimmy Howard, who has a 2-2-1 record and a .893 save percentage, will start in goal.

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

Detroit had a few days to think about their 5-1 loss to the lowly Leafs on November 7. On Wednesday they took all that aggression out on Steve Mason and the Blue Jackets, destroying them 9-1. Concerning if you are a Canucks fan who just watched Vancouver lay a rotten egg in St. Louis on Tuesday.

Niklas Kronwall scored 2 goal and 1 assist in the win. Justin Abdelkader scored twice. Pavel Datsyuk, Todd Bertuzzi, Daniel Cleary and Henrik Zetterberg all had 2 points each. Despite the loss to the Leafs, the Wings have won 4 of their last 5. They now return home, where they have a stellar record of 5-1-1. The Canucks, as Mike pointed out in terrific, terrifying and in-depth fashion below, are lousy on the road with a 3-7 record. They have not found a consistency in their game at all away from GM Place. Slow starts are killing them.

On October 27, the Wingnuts beat the Canucks 5-4 in Vancouver. It was a great game despite the loss, from an entertainment perspective. AV's boys blew 2-0 and 3-2 leads. They were outshot 42-26. Generally, the Canucks 'get up' for games against Detroit, and we should see a much better effort from them tonight.

Roberto Luongo returns! Let's see if he has any rust on him after missing several games with a rib injury. The biggest factor is the team. They have a style of play that works. Now they have to, to a man, go out there and play that game.

We'll keep you updated on any roster adjustments. It looks like Darcy Hordichuk will serve his 1-game suspension tonight, even though he feels he is innocent, saying Cam Janssen dropped the gloves first. We could very well see Jannik Hansen make his regular season debut tonight.

The Province reported yesterday that AV was employing the following top 2 lines in practice:

Mason Raymond-Henrik Sedin-Ryan Kesler

Alex Burrows-Kyle Wellwood-Mikael Samuelsson

Burrows and Wellwood are being given a chance to shake their offensive futility. They had better get it going and quick.

Datsyuk: "I gotta...I gotta stop and go to the bathroom!"

Zetterberg: "Just go, man!"

Price / Halak - The Stats - October 2009

Chris Boyle — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:15:02 -0000

Entering the 2009 season the Canadiens franchise had plenty of unanswered questions. The goaltending question is an eternal one in Montreal and with both Price and Halak entering RFA years, 2009 should offer no reprieve. Late 2009 has mimicked early 2009 as inconsistency has plagued Carey Price. Jaroslav Halak although solid on nights, has also not taken the opportunity presented to him by Jacques Martin and cemented the number one job.

With neither goalie grabbing the hammer, the majority of fans have aligned themselves on one side or the other. I refer to them as Team Price and Team Halak. Both teams seemingly rise and fall with each performance. Both teams rally to attack one side should they falter and boast and offer, "I told you so's" when they excel. The 2009 campaign got off to a rousing start for Team Price as he opened the season 2-0 and was outstanding leading the Canadiens to a 2-0 start despite being out shot 81-44 and having 148 shots directed at him in 128 minutes. When Halak faltered in Calgary, the attacks on Halak and the management team for not starting Price were loud. Then Price was bombed in Vancouver and after Price lost 3 straight the controversy was back and Halak was awarded another start. Team Halak struck back. Halak offered up two strong starts in a row and Team Halak was now mounting their high horse. After 14 goals in 229 minutes the lines had once again become blurred. So what has changed?

Not much. Both goaltenders continue to fail to elevate themselves from an approaching platoon. Price and Halak have almost identical save percentages, while Halak holds the edge in goals against average. Halak also has a superior record at 5-2, but it has been accrued against inferior opposition as his opponents winning percentage is .545 (25-20-10) while Price's 2-5 record was accrued against a .650 opponents winning percentage (25-13-3).

Note: records reflect the team record when the goaltender faced them. I did not reference the Islanders as 5-4-5, but as 1-3-3 (their record when Halak faced them on Oct 22 and 1-4-4, their record on Oct 26). It would be disingenuous should Atlanta slow down to reference an under .500 record in April when they were hot and 4-1-0 entering Montreal on Oct 20.)

I used the Roy/Hayward duel as an analogy before the season, but I do not remember really caring who played in 1988, just that I hoped the Canadiens would win. This recent controversy has taken on a life of it's own. I get the feeling that some fans have begun to put their personal vindication of their opinions above the success of the team. It is why I refer to the divide amongst Canadiens fans as different teams. It is utterly exasperating because to this point it is the equivalent to arguing who is crazier, Amy Winehouse or Courtney Love? They are both batshit crazy.

I have gone over EVERY goal in October and 80% of them were unstoppable, they have both let in some suspect goals, but none more so than the other. Neither has significantly outplayed the other. One seems to be the Tortoise, one seems to be the Hare. Price at his peak has been dominant (Maple Leafs, Sabres, Blackhawks), but he has a tendency to nap and crash back to reality (Canucks), while Halak goes out, saves the pucks he should (Thrashers, Islanders), doesn't stop the ones he shouldn't (Flames, Penguins, Rangers) and offers a steady compliment. At the end of the day, their statistics are not that different. It was the same story last season. The goaltending is NOT the problem, it is the easy scapegoat. It is the simple corollary.

My opinion? If this team was a legit contender I could understand the cry for consistency and the Halak argument, but with a team that looks to be middle of the pack I would ride out the inconsistencies of the goaltender with the higher ceiling. The fanbase seems to have settled on goaltending as it's scapegoat and is happy to ignore the lack of secondary scoring, abysmal defensive zone coverages and atrocious special teams. The goaltending is but a symptom of a greater issue; targeting the symptom of anemia by drinking 5 red bulls a day does nothing to cure lymphoma. As each issue is addressed individually, the goaltending will miraculously improve.

For those who want to jump to emotional conclusions, this is probably not the article for you. I don't believe in simplistic judgments based on flawed statistical categories, so I have pieced together as many statistics I could for you to make your own judgments. I have tracked every goal. I have tracked where the shots are coming from, how many are blocked, how many are wide, where they are being scored from on the ice, where they are being scored on the goaltender, even strength, powerplay and save percentage from each distance. My intent is to track these things all season and give you a comprehensive month to month look and offer a comparable for Price and Halak, as well as eventually a comparison to their league leading peers.

I avoided statistical manipulation, there is no "remove the seven goals Price gave up against the Canucks and his SV% is.....". If you chose to ignore the winning percentage of the teams faced to make your argument, so be it. If you want to ignore the video evidence of each individual goal, be my guest. I have provided as much information possible in one place and hopefully through this research and presentation, Eyes on the Prize will be able to offer you a more rounded look for you to form your opinions.

SHOTS AGAINST

Price and Halak's statistical achilles heel is that they play behind a porous Montreal defense. A defense in transition and minus its best player, struggled in October to limit shot attempts. Beginning with the season opener when the Leafs directed 92 shots at the Montreal goal (46 shots, 21 missed shots and 25 blocked shots) Price and Halak have been faced with a consistent barrage. Price has been facing almost a shot attempt per minute on the ice (412 shot attempts in 436 minutes). Compare that to Tim Thomas who has faced 444 shots attempts in 542 minutes or Martin Brodeur who has faced 502 in 672 minutes.

The basic assumption behind these charts is the closer the shot to the net, the more likelihood of it resulting in a goal. The short charts below would reinforce this assumption as the majority of goals given up by Halak and Price increase the closer they move towards the goal and their save percentage also declines with each one.

Looking at his charts, Price has been almost flawless from 50+ ft and has really struggled from 20 ft and in. He only surrendered 3 goals in October outside of the slot and almost half (12 of the 25 goals) were scored within 10 ft of the net. Contrast that to Tim Thomas who only faced 8 shot attempts in all of October from within 10 ft. and Martin Brodeur who faced only 12 shots AT THE GOAL in 236 more minutes (almost 4 full games).

Depending on your perspective, his struggles could also be blamed on terrible special teams as 12 of the 25 goals he allowed in October occurred on the penalty kill (some may blame the penalty kill struggles on Price, I believe the video evidence below proves otherwise) resulting in a massive drag on his save percentage. The results between his even strength save percentage and penalty save percentage is a staggering .268. From .935 five on five to .667 shorthanded.

Halak has been very dominant between 20-40 ft. allowing only one goal all season, but he has also been victimized by the Canadiens soft defense down low as his SV% below 20 ft. is only marginally better than Price's .692. Where Halak has outdistanced Price is his consistency. His penalty kill SV% and regular strength percentage have not suffered from wild swings like Price. Although his 5 on 5 is not in the .930s, he has maintained an .850+ special teams percentage, a huge improvement on Price's .667. Halak has been a much more consistent option for the Canadiens through October 2009-10.

If the Canadiens can limit the shot opportunities below 20 ft. and improve their penalty kill, you will witness a spike in Price and Halak's numbers. Hockey is a team game and goaltending statistics are a reflection of team play. Can a superstar goaltender overcome defensive shortcomings? Yes, but not to the extent where he will lead the league statistically. Can an average goaltender look like a superstar when insulated in a strong defensive system? History has shown that answer to be yes. Rick Wamsley in 1982, Bob Froese in 1986, Byron Dafoe in 1999 and Roman Cechmanek in 2001 all had huge statistical years that were never duplicated on other teams. When you combine a superstar goaltender with a defensive coach you get Patrick Roy in 1989.

Unfortunately the Canadiens possess neither a superstar goaltender, nor an elite defensive coach. Carey Price has the potential to be a superstar, but at 22 is still midway through a steep learning curve. Halak at 24 has proven over the last 12 months that he is an NHL caliber goaltender, but has not shown that he can make the leap to the next level yet (and for those with short memories, Halak was a major question mark through October 2008).

GOALS AGAINST

The Canadiens goaltenders allowed forty-six goals in October and while watching the games I rarely found fault with either goaltender. I could easily have just referenced my memory to make my points, but I decided I would go through each goal individually and try to assess blame. I tried to assess the goaltenders positioning. Were they playing too deep in the net? Were they over committing to the shooters? Were they over pursuing the play and creating opportunities while scrambling back in to the play? How was their gap control, puck tracking, anticipation and rebound control? Were they exposed because of defensive zone turnovers? Deflections? Poor defensive zone coverages? etc etc.

Through 46 goals I found 1 bad goal and 8 that were suspect. I considered a goal suspect if there was a screen involved but the goaltender hadn't battled through the screen, if a shot from in close was stoppable if the goaltender was at his sharpest (ie. Raymond off the wing in Vancouver. If Price was sharp, he has the ability to make the save. So even though it was a partial breakaway, more often than not I expect Price to make that save from that angle, but it can not be categorized as a bad goal) or if the goaltender made a small technical error.

I also tracked where the goals beat the goaltender. I illustrated it below with the five main zones + the zone across the bottom which represents goals scored into an empty net (cross crease feed or tap-in). It was interesting that all the heat Price takes for his glove hand that Halak was more vulnerable allowing over 30% of his goals high glove-side.

Video evidence below (Goals deemed bad or suspect are in bold.)

1. Gill giveaway behind the net. Ponikoravsky one-time from the slot beats Price low stick side. No chance. 25 ft
2. 5 on 3 PP. Tomas Kaberle slap shot tipped in by Stajan at the side of the net. No chance. 9 ft
3. 5 on 4 PP. Scramble in front of the net. Matt Stajan taps it into an empty net. No chance. 5 ft
4. Point shot redirected. Tim Connolly pounces on loose puck and beats Price low stick side. 25 ft.
5. Ryan Kesler breakaway from the blueline. Great move beats Price along the ice glove side. 2 ft.
6. Mason Raymond in alone off the boards slides it through Price's 5-hole. Stoppable. 5 ft.
7. 5 on 4 PP. Tic Tac Toe to Steve Bernier who had an open net. No chance. 9 ft.
8. 5 on 4 PP. Price makes the initial save. Sedin all alone shovles it into an empty net. 10 ft.
9. 2 on 0 breakaway. Price cheats pass and Henrik Sedin makes him pay beating him high glove side. 8 ft.
10. 5 on 4 PP. Price stops initial point shot, Samuelsson puts the rebound through the 5-hole. 9 ft.
11. Scramble in front of the net. Price commits to one shot and cannot recover. No help from the D. 8 ft.
12. Mike Comrie wrist shot beats Price high glove side. Looked stoppable. 34 ft.
13. 5 on 4 PP. Point shot tipped in low stick side. No chance. 21 ft.
14. Defensive zone turnover leads to O'Sullivan alone in the slot. Beats Price low stick side. 28 ft.
15. Hejduk shot deflected in off Gorges. Price may have stopped it if his stick was in position. 30 ft.
16. Cumiskey throws the puck towards the front of the net. Deflects in off Belle's skate. No chance. 10 ft.
17. Ryan O'Reilly out of the corner untouched, Price makes the save, but cannot stop the rebound. 11 ft.
18. Chris Neil in the slot all alone. High glove side. No chance. 26 ft.
19. Daniel Alfreddson one timer on a 5 on 3 powerplay. Low glove side. 31 ft.
20. Alex Kovalev all alone in the slot. Snapshot blocker side. 30 ft
21. 5 on 4 PP. Alex Goligoski shot from the point on the PP. No screen beats Price high glove side. 55 ft.
22. 5 on 4 PP. Chris Kunitz clear cut breakaway from center beats Price 5-hole. 15 ft.
23. Kris Versteeg behind the goal shot deflects off Bergeron in between Price's pads beating him 5-hole. 8ft.
24. Cam Barker one-timer from the faceoff dot. Price is deep, shot beats him high glove side. 31 ft.
25. Patrick Sharp one-timer from the slot beats Price low glove side opposite to his momentum. 37ft

1. Eric Nystrom in the slot unchecked. Snapshot beats Halak high glove side. 19 ft.
2. Slap shot from the point. Tipped in front by Nystrom beats Halak low stick side. 13 ft
3. Slap shot from the point off the post. Jarome Iginla bangs in rebound beating Halak high glove side. 19 ft.
4. Kronwall slapshot from the blueline through a screen beats Halak high stick side. 60 ft.
5. Colby Armstrong from the faceoff dot beats Halak low glove side. 25 ft.
6. Halak gives the puck away behind the net to Josh Bailey allowing for an easy tap-in. 5 ft.
7. Halak stops initial shot, Ansimov left alone and beats Halak high glove side. 6 ft.
8. Ales Kotalik left alone in the slot. Beats Halak high glove side. 14 ft.
9. Gilroy slapshot from the point. Halak may have been screened as he is beaten low stick side. 61 ft.
10. Marian Gaborik breakaway from the blueline beats Halak 5 hole. 5 ft.
11. 5 on 4 PPG. Tambellini drives hard to the net. Halak is not set and exposes his 5 hole. 5 ft.
12. 5 on 4 PPG. Spacek giveaway leads to a cross crease feed and an easy redirection for Jeff Tambellini.
13. Turnover. Guerin feeds Crosby all alone at the side of the net. One-timer beats Halak low-stick side. 17 ft.
14. Halak stops initial shot, rebound to Sidney Crosby who beats a sprawled Halak top shelf glove side. 19 ft.
15. Halak stops point shot, scramble in front and Rupp puts home the rebound beating him low stick side. 5 ft.
16. Crosby alone in front, spin-o-rama. Halak makes initial save hits Crosby's skate and trickles in 5-hole. 5 ft.
17. 5 on 4 PP. Point shot rebound to Ponikoravsky in the slot who wraps it home low stick side by Halak. 15 ft.
18. 5 on 4 PP. Lee Stempniak slap shot from the point beats a screened Halak high glove side. 54 ft.
19. Cross crease feed to Ponikoravsky, beats Halak from a bad angle with a perfect shot high stick side. 19 ft.
20. 6 on 5. Kaberle takes a point shot that deflects off Hamrlik and Spacek to beat Halak low stick side. 63 ft

The October verdict: Patience is required. Patience for a Canadiens team integrating 10-12 new players. Patience for a team that is missing its only legitimate All-Star. Patience for a coach who is still installing a new system and approach and finally patience for the two kids between the pipes.

Chris Boyle is a frequent contributor to Eyes On The Prize and goes by the handle Wamsley.
He is a lifelong Habs fan and the editor of fantasysensehockey.net.

When Are We Gonna Score?

Sean Zandberg — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 19:52:58 -0000

"I don't think that team worked that hard tonight," Ryan Kesler said of the Oilers. "And we got out-worked."

I don't know if that assessment by the Keslord is quite accurate. I thought the Canucks worked hard last night, but are having a tough time scoring. The loss of Daniel Sedin stings now doesn't it? Thinking Pavol Demitra would be a big help right now (god forbid)? Well I wouldn't blame you. As the Province put it today:

Whether the Canucks ran into a hot goalie in Nikolai Khabibulin or not, it's evident skill and goal-scoring are not their strong suits. Not with Pavol Demitra and Daniel Sedin sidelined, along with their 480 career goals. Without finesse, the Canucks, especially their remaining forwards — who have 512 career goals combined — need elbow grease.

Sure, Khabibulin was playing great last night, but there were numerous occasions where the Canucks could have buried their chances and didn't. The Samuelsson chance to stuff it in comes to mind. He put it right into Khabby's pads and not into the open net.

The Canucks seem to be finding identity one step at a time. Their defensive game is there now, which gives them a chance to win (and many of you a chance to go to sleep), but blaming their woes on "running into hot goalies" isn't going to cut it. If you look down the list of the Canucks scoring leaders there are too many players beyond Henrik Sedin, Mikael Samuelsson, Ryan Kesler, Christian Ehrhoff, Alex Burrows and even Willie Mitchell who are not contributing at the expected level.

-Alexander Edler: 0 goals and 3 assists in 8 games.

-Kyle Wellwood: 1 assist in 8 games.

-Mason Raymond: 1 goal in 8 games

-Shane O'Brien: 0 points in 8 games.

Michael Grabner cannot find the back of the net yet. In my opinion, if he bags his first goal his confidence level will rise and he'll score more. He has major league skill but is leaving us scratching our heads right now.

Yeah, I'll finally bag on Roberto Luongo's performance now. Both Oilers goals against last night, Lou poked the puck past his teammates and onto an Oiler player's stick. A poll was put up during our chat with CBC today, and I think the results are fairly accurate:

Now, the team that is having a hard time putting the puck is about to face a Hawks team that has no problem doing that whatsoever. It's making me nervous. However, if the Canucks can turn it around against Chicago, I think they will have righted their ship.

0-4-0 on the road now. This isn't pretty....at all. But I have faith. Oh yes I do.

Canucks Shut Down Wild

Sean Zandberg — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 10:15:05 -0000

That's a lot more like it. This is how the Canucks have to play in order to be successful. I know many people love that run and gun exciting hockey and tonight's defensive effort from the Canucks may have kept the GM Place crowd mostly quiet, but they still won. This is the style that Alain Vigneault wants them to play. You know it's good when they not only outshoot the opposition 39-18, but they also limit the higher quality chances against. Roberto Luongo had an easy night. Niklas Backstrom however, did not. He tried heroically to keep the Wild in it but Vancouver was too much for him to handle on his own.

Although Mason Raymond didn't factor in on the scoresheet, I thought that was the best game I've seen him play in the NHL. He played like a man possessed. I love it when he shows no fear and drives to the net like that. He played over 17:00 tonight and had 6 shots. Ryan Kesler led the team with 8 SOG.

Kyle Wellwood must have eaten the right kind of wheaties after the first period, because he got better as the game went on, and had his best game of the season.

I thought he clicked well with Alexandre Bolduc. I thought Bolduc looked better out there than Tanner Glass did in recent games. Bolduc may as well stay on the roster.

I get the feeling that all Michael Grabner needs to do is pot just one goal and his confidence will soar. There is a lot of pressure on him right now. He played just over 14:00, had 3 shots, and still missed the net several times. I think he is on the verge. Alain Vigneault is liking his play. I'm loving Line 2 right now. So much speed there.

Thank you Mikael Samuelsson for scoring the winning goal. Gotta admire how this guy loves to shoot the puck.

I hate to say this, but Steve Bernier has hands of stone, and I really wonder if he ever will score at a consistent level.

The Canucks finally did something that they had not done all season which was play that whole 60 minutes. Hopefully they get it now. Consistency is key.

BOXSCORE

HIGHLIGHTS

VIGNEAULT POST GAME

Kevin Bieksa on After Hours: