SB Nation - Jannik Hansen

Hurricanes 5 Canucks 3: Sloppy Seconds

Sean Zandberg — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 22:04:59 -0000

I said in the game preview: Should be an automatic win, right? Nope. That depends on how lightly the Canucks take these guys. They have to go out there and pretend those guys are wearing Devils jerseys.

Didn't happen.

A so-so first..outshooting the Canes 14-6 but not capitalizing on 2 power play chances, and bagging one past Manny Legace (Jannik Hansen).

An atrocious 2nd period..getting outshot 13-6, coughing the puck up, hanging Andrew Raycroft out to dry (which Alain Vigneault alluded to after the game), and surrendering 3 goals. Yeah, the refs should have blown the play dead on that Mitchell-Raycroft fiasco, but really, the score could have been 6-1 at that point anyways.

The 3rd period was all Canucks,

as they put the heat on Carolina, who have had a terrible time in 3rd periods this year. It almost worked. The Canucks almost erased a 4-1 deficit and pulled within a goal, but Erik Cole, who, thanks to us, has awoken from his slumber and bagged his hat trick goal into the open net to seal it.

Final shots: Canucks 36 Canes 27.

8 points combined for Erik Cole, Eric Staal and Ryan Whitney.

Can you believe that Christian Ehrhoff finished a +3?

I thought Kyle Wellwood looked alright out there today. He was rewarded with over 15:00 of ice time. His line kickstarted the Canucks in the 3rd, and I thought dominated that period.

You almost can't fault Andrew Raycroft on any of those goals. But then...as myself and others have said many times before: he goes down into the butterfly position so quickly all the time. The Canes picked corners on him. Maybe a tremendous save or 2 were in order. I think it's fair to say that. None came.

BOXSCORE (bring barf bag)

HIGHLIGHTS (stab your eyes out first)

My 3 Stars:

1. Erik Cole. (Rise from your grave)

2. Ray Whitney (1 goal and 2 assists)

3. Manny Legace (Yeah, yeah, 3 goals against but I'm going to throw him a bone for giving his team a chance to win it especially in the first)

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?

Adiose, Devils. Bring On The Flyers!

Sean Zandberg — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 09:04:45 -0000

More photos » by Rich Schultz - AP

Burrows deflects the puck past Marty Sucky Brodeur in Period 1 of the Devils-Canucks game. What followed was pure bliss.

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GAME TIME: 4:00 PST

TV: Canucks PPV

THE BULLIES: Broad Street Hockey

Update: 12:30 PM PST: Roberto Luongo will start again tonight, leading some to speculate that Andrew Raycroft will start against the Hurricanes on Saturday "morning". I'd say that is a fair assessment.

Update: 12:05 PM PST: There is a lot of pressure on the Flyers right now. They had a 4-7-1 record in November after storming out of the gates with an 8-2-1 record in October. Personally, I think they'll snap out of it and make some noise soon.

Update: 9:32 AM PST: Danny Briere, who has missed time with the flu, will return to the Flyers' lineup tonight. Simon Gagne (abdominal -hernia surgery) is still about 3 weeks away from returning.

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

How about that game against the Devils? The Canucks have to be joyous on the quick plane trip to Philly right now. They put on a hell of a clinic against the Devils.

- 5 points for the Sedins and Burrows combined.

- 1 goal and 2 assists for Alexander Edler.

- Sami Salo scores his first goal of the season!

- 1 goal in 12:14 played for Jannik Hansen. Well played, sir.

- Roberto Luongo was better than Martin Brodeur, but don't let that taint your Team Canada starting goalie prediction.

- Martin Brodeur allowed 5 goals against for the first time since the Devils' first game of the season against......the Philadelphia Flyers. True story. How ironic.

- Shane O'Brien did NOT take even 1 minor penalty but was a -1. Still, I thought he played well.

- Patrick Elias: 0 points. Zach Parise: 0 points. So many other goodies here.

The Canucks improved to 5-8-0 on the road, and are now only 1 point away from 8th spot in the West. Now comes a huge test for them: playing the Flyers in a back-to-back situation, where they are 2-3 this season.

-The Flyers have had 4 days off.

- Brian Boucher will play in their net instead of Ray Emery. The Flyers are saying they are "riding the hot hand" by playing him. From the Flyers' site: Boucher played just once in the Flyers’ first 17 games, losing 4-1 to San Jose on October 25 at the Wachovia Center. Since then, he has led the team to a 3-2 win in Los Angeles on Nov. 18; stopped 13 of 14 shots in relief of Emery on Nov. 23 in Colorado; and made 28 saves on 29 shots in a 2-1 win over the Islanders on Nov. 25 in addition to last Saturday’s performance. In his last 4 games played, Boucher has a 2.01 GAA and a .930 save percentage. He is 2-3 in his 5 starts for Philadelphia this season.

- the Flyers are 2-4 in their last 6 games played. They are 1 point out of a playoff spot as well.

- The Canucks went 0-for-1 on the PP against the Devils. New Jersey went 0-for-2. New Jersey, like I mentioned before, don't have a great blueline presence. The Flyers do. Like him or not, Chris Pronger has 4 goals and 18 points with his new team this year. Watch out for him, plus Kimmo Timonen, Braydon Coburn and Matt Carle on the D.

- The Flyers are rough and tough, so I would expect that Alain Vigneault ices the same lineup against Philly, keeping team toughness intact.

Vancouver started their road trip with a bang. Now...can they keep it up? We shall see. More updates to come.

The New Jersey Devils Lose Ugly against Vancouver Canucks, 5-2

John Fischer — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 04:25:32 -0000

More photos » by Rich Schultz - AP

Hey look, it's Colin White standing by as Alexandre Burrows deflected a puck past Martin Brodeur while being right in front of him. This was the first goal of the game and the first of a bad first period. (AP Photo/Rich Schultz)

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Tonight was very disappointing.

The New Jersey Devils opened the month by hosting the Vancouver Canucks. The Devils were coming off 3 straight wins from the last week and won their last 6 home games. In my preview for the game, I raised the question that if the Canucks look good on paper, why are they 4-8-0 on the road? Needless to say, that record and New Jersey's streaks meant nothing tonight. The Devils looked very poor in both ends of the rink, and the Canucks took advantage in a big way to cleanly win 5-2. In a nutshell, that's what happened.

For the Canucks-based reaction to tonight's game, which must be a very positive one, Nucks Misconduct is where you should check out. If you want a straight overview of the game with boxscores and other stats, NHL.com has you covered with this recap. Read on for my further thoughts on the game.

First and foremost, here is a video of all the highlights from tonight's game from NHL.com, including all of the goals and big saves. That is, of course, you would like to see all of these over again, or even for the first time.

Where do I even begin with all of this? Martin Brodeur did not have a good night, period. I will say that up front. He's had better games, he's had games where he stops some of those goals against. This was definitely not a game that helped his stock for Team Canada. Not that Roberto Luongo was great; but Luongo made the game-shifting-in-hindsight saves that absolutely robbed Zach Parise at point blank in the second period (see 3:45 on the above video). Had Parise get one past Luongo - and maybe he should have done better - that would have been the equalizer and tonight could have been an entirely different game.

Of course that didn't happen, Luongo robbed him, and the Canucks maintained their lead through the second. However, Luongo had the help of his skaters playing fairly solid defensive hockey. The defensemen in front of him were generally first for rebounds. On defense, the Canucks broke up their fair share of Devils' passes and collected way more than a few bad Devils' passes and dumps.

That said, while I don't think he played well, Martin Brodeur cannot necessarily say the same of his defense (or backchecking forwards). Sure, Alexandre Burrows' deflection was point-blank and perfect; I get that one going in. While Alexander Edler's shot took a deflection off of Rob Niedermayer (who played tonight, no really, he did, I swear to you he did), the puck did go 5-hole on Brodeur. Regardless of Brian Rolston giving up the puck during a line change that led to the Vancouver attack, I feel that shot should have been stopped.

But the other ones, well, Brodeur can't say the guys in front of him helped him out on those. Not after Mike Mottau tipped in Sami Salo's shot for Vancouver's second goal; not after getting left hung out to dry on a bad line change leading to a goal by Daniel Sedin; and definitely, absolutely, positively not after Colin White made the boneheaded decision to go after a puck carrier on a two-on-one, leaving Jannik Hansen wide open for a beautiful goal against. I don't care if they only allowed Vancouver to 26 shots. When opportunities and deflections like those come a team's way and leads to 5 goals on the scoreboard, the number of shots on net isn't so important.

Really, Colin White? You have a legendary goaltender who can take on any shooter and instead of letting him challenge the shooter, you leave the other man open? Really? I thought that was textbook defending; and you managed to forget that basic . I know it ultimately didn't affect the outcome, the Devils were losing anyway; but the fifth goal against falls on you in my opinion.

This is not to say the Canucks were just fortunate. Oh, no. They played well. They were given opportunities to score and they came through big time. They looked more confident on the ice, they were calmer with the puck, and their passes weren't a mix of "good idea, poor execution" and simply duffing the pass. All traits the Devils did not really show for much of this game.

Thankfully, the Devils got lucky late in the first period and scored their only two goals of the game. Good heads up plays by Niclas Bergfors and Travis Zajac to finish off the opportunities. Good work by Andy Greene and Jamie Langenbrunner for making them happen. They made the game an actual "game." But they were really the benefits of good bounces going the Devils' way. Bounces that didn't come at all in the rest of the game. The Devils had a few more opportunities - Zach Parise being robbed in the second, a 5-on-3 power play where some bad bounces prevented some high quality scoring chances - but Luongo reacted very well to everything and the defense cleaned up the mess the Devils' offense made. What was notable was that Zajac had 8 shots on net, Parise had 5 on net, Patrik Elias looked vigorous but didn't get much for his efforts, and Brian Rolston looked nothing at all like he did in the previous two games and helped Vancouver get their offense going that led to Edler's game winning goal. Everyone else was sort of forgettable outside of the goals.

We may be able to take solace in the fact that in the long run, this game may not be so important. We know that the Devils can do better, we've seen them do better, and they will do better. Regardless, it really was a bad performance and a bad loss to take. It wasn't a failure for 60 minutes, I felt the game was very even in the second period - perhaps some edge to the Devils, but the Canucks clearly won the first and third periods and did so quite easily. But I'm getting the impression that this is leading to a blueprint on how to beat the Devils: Get a 3 goal lead, force New Jersey to keep turning over the puck via clearances or bad passes, keep attacking if they mount a comeback, and hold on. While the Devils have made comebacks from deficits, they have yet to win after going down 3 goals in a game. That appears to be the mark that opponents should be aiming for.

The fans, small crowd as it was due to it being a midweek game against Vancouver, were right to boo, sigh, get indiginant, and/or leave early. By mid-way through the third period, this game was pretty much in the bank for Vancouver. I can't blame them at all, the Devils played very sloppily - far and away different from what Devils fans saw on Saturday against the Islanders. The few Canucks fans in the crowd, as well as the thousands across the continent, have every right to be happy with their team's victory. Jacques Lemaire has already said that the team clearly needs a "good practice," as reported by Tom Gulitti.

Me, I just want to see the Devils I've seen in the past month at the Rock. To me, I was just waiting for the "real" Devils to show up. The Devils team that gave consistently strong shifts even if the situation wasn't in their favor. What I actually saw tonight was just an ugly performance that reminded me of a Buffalo game at the Rock from October 28. That too was a bad loss (4-1) and hard to watch. I don't think that is a coincidence.

Thanks to Steve for the GameThread, the commenters who joined in, and, of course, the readers. Please feel free to leave your thoughts, complaints (and I know you'll have a few), and other feelings about tonight's loss in the comments.

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.

Sharks 4 Canucks 2 In A Snoozfest

Sean Zandberg — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 06:23:41 -0000

It was hard to give the Canucks much hope of winning this game against a superior team and in a back-to-back game scenario. The Canucks started well but started mentally breaking down after the first period. That was quite evident in period 2, where they offered the Sharks 3 consecutive (lazy) penalties in the first 7.5 minutes: hooking, hooking and holding by Samuelsson, Edler and Daniel Sedin respectively. Damned Swedes! (haha) Dan Boyle scored the go ahead goal on the Edler penalty, and the Sharks went into a defensive shell after that. They outshot the Canucks 15-4 in that period.

Canucks were 0-for-4 on the PP. Yes their power play looked lame.

Sharks were 1-for-5.

Lots of turnovers, bad passes, and inability to get the puck to the net by the Canucks after that. If I could single out one player, I'd say that Mathieu Schneider did not look good out there.

On the positive side, the game was close until the 17:25 mark of the 3rd when Manny Malhotra put the Canucks out of their misery. I thought Kyle Wellwood and Jannik Hansen looked especially good tonight. Wellwood scored a goal and an assist and was a team-best +2. Hansen scored once, had 3 shots, and was an even +/-. There was a brief stint where Hansen played with the Sedins and looked good. Might be worth giving him a chance on line 1, AV.

The Big 3 Sharks players (Marleau, Thornton and Heatley) were limited to 1assist (Thornton) and 5 shots.

I've said this before and I'll say it again: The crowd at GM Place sounded lifeless. At one point I swear to God I could hear a Wellwood bowel movement. Sure, there was a wave and a short-lived "Go Canucks Go" chant with less than 10:00 left in the 3rd, but that doesn't cut it, boring game or not. The team was in need of some form of boost and the crowd could have offered that.

"You'll find more cheer in a graveyard"

BOXSCORE

HIGHLIGHTS

MY 3 STARS:

1. DAN BOYLE. 24:34 played, 4 shots, 1 goal, a PP freak

2. JOE PAVELSKI. 2 assists and 5 shots.

3. KYLE WELLWOOD

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!"

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.

Getting Ready For Grabner

Yankee Canuck — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 15:55:14 -0000

What's German for "I need a bathroom break?" Oh here it is: "Ich benötige ein Badezimmer Break". Just in case Michael.

View full size photo »

See this is what happens when you stop a team from playing for five damn days: a first round pick, last seen teetering on the brink of bust city, gets called up because of a slew of injuries and it's a 24 hour media pile on.

In a way this is good stuff. With two forgettable preseasons under his belt, we've wondered if Grabner would ever make his presence felt at the NHL level. After practicing on the first line and with second power play unit yesterday, Grabs said:

I’m just going to try and go out and do what I do in Winnipeg. I’m playing with great players and I have to take the chance. They are great set-up guys so it’s going to be a lot of fun to play with them.

AV played along as well:

Grabs was the best player the last three games Manitoba played and, obviously with two of our top six forwards out in Demitra and Daniel [Sedin], we needed someone to be able to step into that role and assume that job...Michael is an offensive player with great speed and a pretty good touch around the net so we’re hoping he’ll be able to fill that role for us.

This could be the first time I've heard AV say something positive - even neutral - about Grabner. Miracles can happen.

Though always subject to change, the new lines in practice looked like this:

Burrows – H. Sedin – Grabner
Raymond – Kesler – Samuelsson
Bernier – Wellwood – Johnson
Hordichuk – Rypien – Glass

Bieksa – Mitchell
O’Brien – Ehrhoff
Rome – Edler

At least that fourth line will be unpleasant for Calgary. But that third line doesn't inspire too much confidence (certainly not until Wellwood finds his offensive game). So if the second line hits a wall, then the SwedeAlexGrab line will have even more pressure, if not outright end quickly if the Flames take it to 'em.

But let's not be negative. Besides, how often can we celebrate a heralded Vancouver draft pick making their grand entrance onto the hockey stage? A brief history:

Shirokov was also selected in 2006 (sixth round, 163 overall) and his first game (also against Calgary) he finished with no points and a -1.
Luc Bourdon's first game in 2006 was against Minnesota and he also didn't register a point, but was even on the scoresheet.
In 2007 Mason Raymond (2nd round pick, 51st overall in the 2005 draft) notched an assist on three shots in his first NHL start (and coincidentally he played on the top line with the Sedins).
Cory Schneider lost his NHL debut (also against Calgary!) last November in a 3-1 loss. Other picks from 2004 and their first game results: second round pick Alex Edler was pointless in a loss to Colorado back in 2006, fifth round pick Mike Brown was scoreless but received five minutes for trying to destroy Aaron Voros and ninth round pick Jannik Hansen was scoreless in a 3-0 loss to Nashville in 2007.
Ryan Kesler, first rounder in 2003, was scoreless and only registered one shot in his first game, a losing effort to Toronto in November of that year. Nathan McIver, 8th round selection from 2003, was a -3 with 7 PIMs during an Anaheim 6-0 romp in November 2006.
I had to stop at the 2002 draft year because it's so terribly depressing to look at.

So, no pressure at all Mr. Grabner. Hockey history awaits you. How do you think our newest savior will do tomorrow?

Poll

How will Michael Grabner do in his first game?

First star of the night, we all lose our minds

50 votes

Nothing spectacular but no own goals either

98 votes

Jesus Bernier looks like crap out there. Wait, that's who?

29 votes

He's Phaneuf'd in the first period (and true to form Phaneuf skates away from Vancouver retaliation)

32 votes

209 votes | Poll has closed

'Twas the Night Before Puck Drop

nucksandpucks — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 20:53:43 -0000

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Well, it's finally here folks! The Canucks season kicks off tomorrow against our old arch-rival, and season opener punching bag, the Calgary Flames. In honour of this exciting day, I present to you a poem, inspired by "The Night Before Christmas." Originally I was going to mimic the whole thing, but it turns out the poem is pretty frickin' long - so consider this an abridged version.

I'm sure we will all be going to bed tonight with visions of Stanley dancing in our heads. Or visions of Rick Rypien tuning Brandon Prust. Either way, enjoy the poem and LET'S DROP THE DAMN PUCK ALREADY!!!

THE NIGHT BEFORE PUCK DROP

'Twas the night before puck drop, and throughout GM Place

Nothing was stirring - not puck, stick nor skate.

The jerseys were hung in the dressing room, good,

With an XXXL one for Kyle Wellwood.

Hansen's hand was snuggled all tight in a cast,

And Hodgson is sad ‘cause his pro stint didn't last.

MG, wiping his brow, and AV, plotting traps,

Had just got the roster under the cap.

When out in streets there arose such a riot,

Female 'Nucks fans longing for Pyatt -

Sure Luongo is go(o)d, but he's not such a looker.

But we all hope he thrives in this year's pressure cooker.

The moon on the streets of quiet Vancouver

Lit a city that soon would be gripped by 'Nucks fever.

When, what to my wondering eyes should I see?

Swedish twins! (Sadly not of the hot variety.)

And two agitators, Burrows and Kesler,

Who can be more obnoxious than professional wrestlers.

And more rapid than eagles, a speedster named Mason,

Who, along with Steve Bernier ,20-goals will be chasin'.

And another Swede, with Cup pedigree,

As well as a Rocket, a new Russian mystery.

And three solid grinders, who check and who fight,

Who fly under the radar out of the spotlight.

"Now Edler! Now Ehrhoff! Now Salo, Bieksa!

On SOB! On Lukowich! On Mitchell! On Schnieder!

To the boards to make hits! To the ice to block shots!

Now score on the PP, now score lots and lots!"

So cried Vigneault, as he leapt from his bed,

As visions of Stanley danced through his head.

Canucks fans rejoiced, as the dawn finally broke -

Hockey is back, and everyone's stoked.

"The season is here," we yell and we cheer,

And we hope, and we pray, that this is the year.

So I say to Canuckland, as the season starts up:

"GO CANUCKS GO, AND BRING US THE CUP!!!"