SB Nation - Vancouver Canucks

Oh My..The Canucks DO Have A Pulse!

Sean Zandberg — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 06:21:39 -0000

That was a game the Canucks didn't have to win, but needed to. I'm sure they had a bit of fatigue issues themselves, having arriving in Vancouver the day after the Preds game, but they still took it to the Thrashers, who were playing in a back-to-back situation. I'll keep this in point form.

-I don't think Ilya Kovalchuk liked being limited the way he was. His anger boiled over at Ryan Kesler late in the game. Kovalchuk played 27:03 (wow), had 1 assist and only 3 shots and a -2. Rich Peverley continued his point-producing ways, tallying 2 assists, 2 shots and was a +1. Nik Antropov scored a goal, was a -2, and played over 23:00. Many of those minutes he was on the ice too long, to the dismay of Atlanta coach John Anderson. John Shorthouse and John Garrett said he looked like the Leafs version of Antropov more than the Thrashers version. I laughed. Nothing doing for Maxim Afinogenov either. The Thrashers tried for the stretch passes all night long to spring breakaways but the Canucks would have none of it.

More after the jump

-Thanks to yoata, Steve Bernier's middle name is now "Almost". That guy just can't bury his chances lately. Not consistently anyway. He still finished with 1 assist, 3 shots and a +1.

-It's all about the Sedins tonight. When they play games like that, we win. Daniel had several chances to score 4 goals. He finished with a hatty and 10 bloody shots! Whoa!

-Brother Hank had 2 assists. He is now 3rd in NHL scoring with 38 points, 1 behind Marian Gaborik and 4 behind Jumbo Joe Thornton.

-2 assists for Alex Burrows tonight. He could have scored a couple but was either snake-bit or missed the net.

-This game could have been a worse result for the Thrashers if not for Ondrej Pavelec. I thought he looked pretty good after the Canucks scored a few flukey ones on him earlier in the game.

-With Kyle Wellwood benched, Darcy Hordichuk got the call. But all he did was get into a fight, show some hustle, and play a MERE 4:29. Huh.

-For a supposed tired team...the Thrashers looked pretty quick throughout the game, but mentally their game was not there.

-Look at the shots on goal (click on the BOXSCORE link). The Canucks never let up on these guys.

Great game!

-For the record: the Canucks PPV channel (once they go off the air) turns into a "fireplace" channel. That's so smart. Now I can cozy up all by myself to a fake fire because my wife left me because I watch too much hockey. Thanks, Canucks! How about you put a vintage Canucks game on instead? You know...so I can get the best bang out of my $13.00?

BOXSCORE

HIGHLIGHTS

MY 3 STARS:

1. Daniel Sedin...duh

2. Henrik Sedin

3. Rick Rypien. That's throwing the champ a bone. He didn't get a lot of ice-time, but was a force every time he was on the ice. Ripper...I love you man! Is his killing of Boris Valabik on YouTube yet? Why yes it is. Here ya go:

And just to throw in a screen capture...check out the Van fans after the Ripper fight...

Yeah..don't EVER eliminate fighting from the game. Ever.

Home Sweet Home: Canucks-Thrashers Preview

Sean Zandberg — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 08:08:51 -0000

Thrashers (15-10-3) vs Canucks (16-14-0)

GAME TIME: 7:00 PST

TV: CANUCKS PPV

AERIAL NEMESIS: Bird Watchers Anonymous

Update (2:39 PM): AV is pissed. From the Province today: Every time so far this year when I think we're getting on a roll and we're getting traction, we sort of find a way to piss me off again,” Vigneault said following the Canucks' morning skate. “So it's what we're faced with right now. Talk is fine but we need actions. They're a strong group, we believe in them and we have to let their actions speak for themselves with their play on the ice.”

Yeah, you tell 'em, Viggy! You get the feeling the Thrashers are walking into a lion's den tonight? I hope so.

Update (11:55 AM): MindRoom Science and the power of positivity for your Vancouver Canucks? Oh for f**k's sakes. How about my foot in your ass?

Update (11:51 AM): "Looks like meat's back on the menu boys!" OK, not always. There's an entertaining piece up at Canucks.com about what the Canucks eat, or can't eat, etc. Check it out.

Update (8:48 AM): A great piece in the Province today about knee-jerk reactions, slow start trends and how little ice-time the Sedins get. Here is an excerpt:

What never seems to change, however, is the Canucks' dependence on a strong second half. Since Alain Vigneault took over as coach, Vancouver's seasons have followed a remarkably similar script. His team point totals on Dec. 9 in his four seasons have been 29, 35, 33 and, this year, 32. Those reflect mediocre first halfs which force a mad dash for the playoffs. It's worked two of his three seasons. If it's to work again, the Canucks need to use this eight-game homestand as a springboard.

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

The inconsistent Canucks return home to play 8 straight games at GM Place in the span of 17 nights. With a 10-4 home record this season, this is their big chance to get on a roll and figure out what it takes to win consistently. Rather than beat the Predators and get into a playoff spot last game, they lost in angering fashion and now sit in 12th spot in the West, 3 points out of a playoff spot. The Flames, who own top spot in the Northwest are now 9 points ahead of us. I'm not going to say any more about the Nucks. I thought all of your inputs in Mike's "Grievance" post below were excellent.

The Thrashers are better on the road (9-4-1) than they are at home (6-6-2). They sit in 6th spot in the East, 3 points up on the 9th place Rangers. This game will not be easy for them (or will it?) Vancouver is the final stop in their 4 game road trip. They have won once and lost 2 so far on the trip. They have played (in order) Florida, Toronto and Calgary. This will be their 2nd game in 2 nights after losing 3-1 in Calgary last night. A perfect chance for the Canucks to take advantage of a tiring team.

More after the jump...

Atlanta had a 6-4-1 record in October, a hot 9-3-2 record in November and a 1-3 record in December. Their management is trying their best to keep Ilya Kovalchuk in Atlanta. Kovalchuk wants to be sure that the team is headed in a winning direction before committing. I can't blame him. Long have the Thrashers toiled in mediocrity. Their success this year caught me by surprise. They have been without their #1 goalie Kari Lehtonen for the entire season due to back surgery. But they seem to have been getting decent goaltending from the 22-year-old Czech Ondrej Pavelec, and excellent results from The Moose Johan Hedberg. Remember him? He was part of the Canucks' goalie graveyard.

A real like-able guy. The crowd always chanted "Moose!" when he made a stellar save. After playing 13 games this season, Hedberg is making a strong case to backup Henrik Ludqvist for the Swedes at the Olympics. His save percentage and GAA rank 2nd and 5th best in the NHL.

We most likely won't see Hedberg between the pipes against the Canucks. He played last night in Atlanta's loss to the Flames.

The Thrashers have several decent weapons in their arsenal. Kovalchuk is still his kick-ass ol' self with 16 goals and 27 points in 22 games. I wonder if the Predators have any regrets for putting Rich Peverley on waivers last January. He has 10 goals and 27 points in 28 games this season. He is making $500,000. His $1.3 million earnings kick in next season. Maxim Afinogenov has found a home in Atlanta. His role was being diminished in Buffalo due to bad defensive play (among other things I'm sure) and they didn't renew his services after his contract expired last summer. You can't be a -16 player in Buffalo. Maxim (cool name or what?) went unclaimed ALL SUMMER. I thought he was heading back to Russia. Atlanta took a chance on him on September 29th and signed him to a 1-year $800,000 contract. I like this kid. He looks and even skates like Pavel Bure. He will definitely be noticeable on the ice tonight. He currently has 11 goals and 15 assists in 27 games this season. He is also a +4. Not bad for a guy that nobody wanted.

Watch out for that Colby Armstrong guy. He doesn't look like a guy that can demolish players with devastating hits, but he can! He reminds me of Mike Peca. Check out some of the carnage here.

More Thrashers player stats here.

The last time the Canucks played the Thrashers was January 2nd. Atlanta beat the Canucks 4-3 in a shootout on home ice. Jason Labarbera, cursed in shootouts, was in goal for Van. The last time the Thrashers played in Vancouver was February 7, 2007. The Canucks shut them down and won 3-2, powered by 2 Brendan Morrison goals.

COMPARATIVE STATS

GOALS PER GAME AVG: Thrashers 3rd overall, Canucks 5th.

GOALS AGAINST PER GAME: Canucks 9th best, Thrashers 18th.

POWER PLAY: Canucks 5th, Thrashers 9th.

PENALTY KILL: Thrashers 6th, Canucks 27th. Uh-oh...

SHOTS PER GAME: Canucks 11th, Thrashers 24th

SHOTS AGAINST PER GAME: Canucks 10th, Thrashers 29th.

Festivus For The Rest Of Us

Yankee Canuck — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 19:04:11 -0000

The holiday includes novel practices such as the "Airing of Grievances", in which each person tells everyone else all the ways they have disappointed him or her over the past year.

Wikipedia

I've abused this Seinfeld plot at least once a season for the past four years because sadly, once every season Vancouver looks so adrift and uninterested in playing up to the level of the best teams (to speak nothing of playoff bound teams) that I need Frank Constanza to get involved.

Botchford touches on a lot of the recent spat of weaknesses the team has shown, among them are poor defensive reads and horrific penalty killing. We may as well add in a snake-bitten power play and questionable shot decisions. Or, as Vigneault put it, the lack of timely goals. Or, as Sean said this week, Vancouver is the only team without a loser point in overtime. And how bad does this truth sound -

"I’m a goaltender, I can’t score," Roberto Luongo said.

No he can't. Bottom line - though the record may not reflect it, Vancouver is barely a .500 team and there's a lot in there to be concerned about.

They'll eventually string together a winning streak here and there, but they are setting themselves up to need exactly what they did last year: an unbelievable second half to narrow the gap between them and the elite Western teams. Only now they'll have to do it with less star power, an epic road trip and under the assumption they can stay healthy from here on out, including their best players laying it on the line in the Olympics.

It's tough to go from such a high (overpowering NJ and Philly in back to back games) to such a low like the past two losses, so perhaps this airing of grievances if premature. But after watching Nashville - a team they need to beat in order to get to the playoffs - not just be better on the puck at both ends of the rink but flat out dominant, my Constanza voice started screaming.

So I'm curious, what grievances might you have?

Poll

Air your grievance: which of the following Vancouver truths concerns you the most so far?

Martin Erat's hat trick leads Nashville to 4-2 win over Vancouver

Dirk Hoag — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 04:17:02 -0000

More photos » by Mark Humphrey - AP

Nashville Predators left wing Martin Erat (10), of the Czech Republic, shoots and scores his third goal of the game as Vancouver Canucks center Henrik Sedin (33), of Sweden, tries to block him in the third period.

Browse more photos »

This is the type of game that David Poile and Barry Trotz have been referring to when talking about Martin Erat developing into an offensive leader for the Nashville Predators. With an empty-net goal, Erat completed just his 2nd career hat trick as the Preds knocked off the Vancouver Canucks 4-2 in a hard-fought game.

After the jump you can check out the video highlights, recap, and advanced even-strength statistics...

This was easily Erat's best game this season; he was opportunistic (banking in his first goal from behind the net), showed great speed (as on the breakaway that led to his second goal) and moved the puck decisively (shown on the power play goal by Hornqvist midway through the 3rd). If Nashville can get him scoring on a consistent basis, it could add enough punch to make the Preds a more dangerous team over the long haul of the regular season. In his last four games, the Czech winger now has 5 goals and 3 assists.

Erat wasn't the only star, however. Pekka Rinne was very solid, stopping 34 of 36 Vancouver shots and giving up very few rebound opportunities. Ryan Kesler and Daniel Sedin each scored once and led the charge up front, with 8 and 6 shots apiece. Steve Sullivan and Jason Arnott each got two assists as the new top line of Erat, Arnott and Sullivan provided constant pressure. The game-winning goal came on a slick tic-tac-toe passing play that led to an easy tap-in for Patric Hornqvist, his first score since November 12 at St. Louis.

Jerred Smithson was sent off in the 2nd period, receiving a major and a game misconduct for a hit on Alex Burrows. The refs called it Charging, but it was basically Boarding; a shoulder-to-shoulder hit that spun Burrows nastily into the dasher from a couple feet out. Burrows shook it off and was back in action two minutes later, but initially the hit looked pretty dangerous.

A Hornqvist penalty a few minutes later led to a 5-on-3 power play for Vancouver, and a goal for Kesler. In general the Nashville penalty killing was very strong. Team discipline also played a factor, as the Preds enjoyed 5 power plays to Vancouver's 4 (and one of those lasted only 1 second due to overlapping penalties).

In the third, Nashville stretched their lead to 3-1 on the Hornqvist power play goal, but the Canucks drew to within 3-2 as Daniel Sedin scored just after killing a penalty. From there on it was mostly about the Preds playing it safe with the puck and waiting for Vancouver to pull Roberto Luongo out of the next for the extra attacker, after which Erat completed his hat trick. It was the first hat trick for Nashville since February 28, when Jason Arnott pulled off the feat in the memorable 8-0 victory over Detroit.

Looking at the advanced even-strength stats, Shea Weber and Ryan Suter had strong efforts (Shea playing for the hometown fans watching on TV back in BC?), as did the new third line of Jordin Tootoo, Marcel Goc, and J.P. Dumont. David Legwand and Joel Ward had the tough task of dealing with the Sedins, and were able to minimize the damage despite giving up a fair portion of shots. Alexander Sulzer looked fine in his first NHL action since November 7 at Los Angeles.

Even Strength		Individual Totals					Team Totals While Player Is On Ice
Player	Pos	EV TOI	Shots	Shts Blkd	Missed Shts	Blocks	SOG For	SOG Ag	SOG +/-	Tot SF	Tot SA	Corsi
Martin Erat	R	14:24	1	0	2	0	9	6	3	16	8	8
Jason Arnott	C	15:28	0	2	0	0	8	8	0	16	12	4
Steve Sullivan	L	14:31	0	0	1	1	8	6	2	19	9	10
David Legwand	C	13:48	1	1	1	2	5	8	-3	13	21	-8
Jerred Smithson	R	7:32	0	0	0	0	1	3	-2	2	8	-6
Joel Ward	R	13:29	1	0	0	0	3	10	-7	8	21	-13
Marcel Goc	C	12:20	0	1	1	2	5	6	-1	16	11	5
Jordin Tootoo	R	8:41	0	0	2	0	2	6	-4	12	9	3
J P Dumont	R	10:14	2	2	1	0	4	5	-1	16	8	8
Cal O'Reilly	C	7:27	0	0	0	0	2	5	-3	4	9	-5
Patric Hornqvist	R	8:31	3	0	0	1	3	6	-3	5	11	-6
Ryan Jones	L	8:06	0	0	0	0	4	3	1	9	9	0
Shea Weber	D	18:23	2	4	2	0	8	7	1	23	11	12
Ryan Suter	D	17:17	2	0	1	1	8	8	0	23	13	10
Kevin Klein	D	15:10	0	0	1	1	2	8	-6	7	18	-11
Francis Bouillon	D	14:09	1	3	2	1	8	9	-1	17	17	0
Dan Hamhuis	D	16:32	0	0	1	3	3	11	-8	8	23	-15
Alexander Sulzer	D	10:05	3	0	0	0	6	5	1	11	10	1

Poll

Who is your Predator of the Game?

Martin Erat, 3 goals 1 assist

92 votes

Patric Hornqvist, game-winning PP goal

0 votes

Pekka Rinne, 34 saves

6 votes

98 votes | Poll has closed

Predators Game Day Preview: Vancouver @ Nashville

Dirk Hoag — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 19:31:14 -0000

More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP

Two-time NHL All-Star goaltender Roberto Luongo leads his Vancouver Canucks into Nashville tonight to battle the Predators.

Browse more photos »

It was a year ago tomorrow when the Vancouver Canucks came into Nashville and roughed up the Predators in a 3-1 game that derailed the Preds for weeks afterward. Rob Davison nailed Scott Nichol, concussing him and causing a lengthy absence from the lineup, and Alexander Burrows left his feet for a head-shot on J.P. Dumont that seemed to leave the Preds' leading scorer with lingering effects.

The question tonight, then, is whether the Predators allow the Canucks to push them around once again on their home ice, or will Barry Trotz use the nuclear option? Having gone 2-2-1 in their last 5 games, can Nashville get back to the winning hockey they played throughout the month of November?

UPDATE: As a supplement to your pre-game, the Thom Abraham Show passed along an an interview with Pete Weber, in which they dig into exactly what's working and what's not with the Preds right now. Good stuff...

Meet the Enemy

Tonight wraps up an eastern road trip for the Canucks (16-13-0) that has seen them win 2 out of 3 so far, having won at New Jersey and Philadelphia before losing at Carolina. Winners of 6 out of their last 9, Vancouver is gathering steam after a slow start. There is some complaining that perhaps they score too many meaningless goals, and haven't produced well enough in clutch situations, but I expect that will sort itself out over time. The Canucks will contend with Calgary for the Northwest Division championship, and if they fail on that front, should likely earn home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

The big guns to watch out for are the Sedin twins, Henrik (#33, normally the playmaker but leading the team with 14 goals) and Daniel (#22, normally the goal-scorer but with 9 assists in 11 games). Ryan Kesler is a lock for Team USA at the Winter Olympics, and was a Selke Trophy finalist last season. Mikael Samuelsson has provided scoring depth, and on the back end, Alexander Edler and Christian Ehrhoff make things happen from the blueline.

Nucks Misconduct has the preview from their perspective, and is well worth a visit to acquaint yourself with all things Vancouver.

Meet the Good Guys

With word that Cody Franson will be scratched tonight in favor of Alexander Sulzer, we'll have a slightly different look on the back end for Nashville (16-11-2). Up front, Barry Trotz has hinted at multiple changes to the forward lines, so the following is a guess based on reading the tea leaves lately. The big question in my mind is whether, based on what happened last December, Trotz gives Wade Belak a chance to make Vancouver's night a miserable one:

Forwards

Sullivan - Arnott - Erat

Ward - Legwand - Smithson

Tootoo - Goc - Dumont

Jones - O'Reilly - (Hornqvist or Belak)

Defense

Suter - Weber

Bouillon - Klein

Hamhuis -Sulzer

Even Strength Play

	5-on-5 data from Behind the Net
TEAM	GP	GF	GA	GF/60	SF/60	Sht %	GA/60	SA/60	Save Pct.	+/- per 60
Vancouver	29	61	48	2.7	30.5	9.0	2.2	28.5	.924	0.6
Nashville	29	46	52	2.0	29.1	6.8	2.2	28.9	.922	-0.3

The Canucks are tied for 2nd-best in the NHL in 5-on-5 play, and fare well in pretty much all aspects here; they're above average both in terms of the quantity and quality of shots for and against. Nashville has, over time, gotten closer to the break-even point for +/- per 60 minutes, but are still held back by the lowest shooting percentage in the league.

Vancouver PP vs. Nashville PK

Even though they missed Daniel Sedin for an extended period of time with a broken foot, the Canucks power play has remained effective, with a 4th-best 22.7% success rate. The Predators have been solid on the PK, but will have their hands full tonight.

Nashville PP vs. Vancouver PK

Despite scoring in the 1st period against Minnesota Saturday, the Nashville power play has been in a funk of late, and has sunk to 26th in the NHL, at 16.2%. Vancouver's PK is a middling 21st, at 78.4%.

Goaltending

Vancouver's got a pretty good one going for them tonight...

Roberto Luongo

#1 / Goalie / Vancouver Canucks

Height: 6-3

Weight: 205

Born: Apr 04, 1979

	GP	MIN	W	L			GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
2009 - Roberto Luongo	22	1244	12	9			50	2.41	598	548	.916	2

For Nashville, Pekka Rinne gets a chance to rebound from some poor outings lately:

Pekka Rinne

#35 / Goalie / Nashville Predators

Height: 6-5

Weight: 206

Born: Nov 03, 1982

	GP	MIN	W	L			GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
2009 - Pekka Rinne	20	1102	11	6			48	2.61	519	471	.908	2

Summary

Both teams have had a few days off to rest up and practice, so we should see a strong, spirited game from each side. Will the Preds try to establish physical dominance on home ice, or play it straight, stay out of the penalty box, and eke out a win?

For discounted tickets to this, or any Nashville Predators home game, you can follow this link and use the special offer code "PREDS".

The Madness Hits Music City: Canucks-Predators Preview

Sean Zandberg — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 04:00:16 -0000

Canucks (16-13-0) vs Predators (16-11-2)

GAME TIME: 5:00 PST

TV: Sportsnet

THE OPPOSITION: On The Forecheck

Update: 11:45 PST: If the Canucks beat the Preds in regulation and the Stars beat the Ducks tonight, Dallas will hold 7th spot and the Canucks will be in 8th in the West. The ~~Coyotes~~ Predators would fall out of a playoff spot. Just adding a little more fuel to the fire.

Update: 9:38 PST: Preds coach Barry "Melon" Trotz would have benched nearly his whole team last game if it was possible. After his team's 5-3 loss to the Wild he is threatening lineup changes. (The City Paper via Dirk Hoag @ On The Forecheck)

Update 9:24 PST: Martin Erat is heating up. He has 2 goals and 4 points in his last 3 games, and has 4 goals and 6 assists in his last 11 games against the Canucks.(Sportsnet Preview)

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

The Canucks really didn't want two days off before playing in Nashville.

"It’s almost maddening now that we have this little break before we go play," Ryan Johnson told the Province. "If we had our choice we’d have been playing [Sunday] night to get back and be able to erase this [loss to the Hurricanes]." Well you won't have to worry about that for a while, Ryan. The Canucks play every second night until the 22nd. No more Canucks hockey starvation until XmasTurkey Dinner.

Now, the Canucks have to beat the Predators to make their 4 game road trip a "respectful" 3-1 record. A win over Nashville (who are in 7th spot) in regulation will finally vault them into the top 8 of the Western Conference. Has that even happened yet this season? I can't even remember.

So how are those Predators doing lately?

6-3-1 in their last 10. They have lost 3 of their last 5

and 4 of their last 6. Prior to the 3-1 loss to the Blues 6 games ago, the Preds had won 7 in a row. They won 9 of 13 games in November after winning only 6 of 13 in October. Their last game was a 5-3 loss, where the wheels fell off early. They had 4 consecutive power plays in the first period but were outshot 10-7 and outscored 2-1. The Wild blew it wide open in the 2nd, scoring 3 consecutive goals, out-shooting Nashville 18-9, and never looked back.

Nashville ranks 28th in the NHL in goals per game average. If you look at their team stats you can see why that is. That being said, it appears players beyond the top 6 can strike occasionally as well.

With low-scoring issues, the Preds have to limit the goals against, obviously. They rank 11th in the League in that category.

More intriguing Preds stats: they rank 26th in the NHL for power play efficiency, about the same as the Canucks on the PK (23rd), and about the same as Vancouver in shots for and against average per game. Vancouver ranks higher than Nashville in all these stats but still sits 11th in the West! Scratch my back with a f*cking hacksaw! What gives?

Oh, irony, fate, and no overtime losses! Just think: the Stars, who are 2 points of the Canucks and hold the 8th spot in the West, have 8 overtime/shootout losses. The Avalanche, who are 6 points ahead of the Canucks and hold 5th spot in the West, have 6 of them. Vancouver has to win more games and get the close games that they are losing into overtime more often. They are now officially the only team in the NHL who has ZERO OTL points.

So much madness abounds. Who would have thought that they Canucks would go 4-for-5 on the power play in 1 game after Daniel Sedin returned to the lineup and then 0-for-19 in the 6 other games? There may be a reason or two for that. Here's a big one.

You'll see most of the Predators sporting mustaches tonight. They have made a pledge to grow out their 'staches until December 15th in order to honor of global awareness for testicular and prostate cancer.

Conspiracy Theorists Unite: Is The Orca Going Extinct?

Sean Zandberg — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 20:29:54 -0000

Icethetics, probably the best jersey concept/update site on the web, posted a piece last week about the possibility of the Orca Whale logo on the Canucks jersey going bye-bye. The site manager, Chris, had received an email from a Canucks fan who mentioned that he thought the Orca extinction was a possibility because of:

1. In January 2008, the Acquilini Investment Group changed the name of Orca Bay Sports and Entertainment to Canucks Ports and Entertainment.

2. The direction noticed in Canucks marketing.

Chris mentioned that the Sabres and Canucks will be celebrating their 40th year in the NHL in 2010-11, and that the Sabres have already talked publicly about reverting to their classic logo and that the Canucks may follow suit.

Who knows for sure. It's speculation at this point. Check out two Icethetics posts on that here and here.

Now, let's hear YOUR opinion. What logo would you prefer to be the dominant one? Here are your options (more or less as is being dictated by the current market)...

Poll

Which logo would you prefer to be the dominant Canucks jersey?

Best Managed Teams of the Last Decade

The Falconer — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 12:00:16 -0000

Puck Daddy wrote a piece on the "10 Best GMs of the Last Decade" which is pretty good. I've enjoyed his retrospective series on big stories of the 2000s. My biggest complaint about the list is the omission of David Poile who is nothing short of amazing in terms of contending on a budget. Rather than just complain about Puck Daddy's list, I've decided to come up with a list of my own. I will rank all 30 organizations over the last decade (as opposed to individual GMs) to see which ones were the best managed in that time frame. I will use two criteria 1) salary efficiency and 2) post-season success.

Salary Efficiency Rankings

Every GM competes against every other GM to build a team that can accumulate enough points to qualify for the post-season. The very best organizations get the most for their money. Some organizations bludgeoned their way to the post-season by out-spending the rest of the NHL on a 2-to-1 basis pre-lockout. Other organizations were extremely careful with their money and still qualified for the post-season. I prefer to give credit to those organizations that received the biggest return on their payroll investment. So the first ingredient is regular season salary efficiency which is basically Total Points Accumulated 2000-2010 divided by Total Accumulated Payroll 2000-2010. (For the 2009-2010 season I used projected final point standings and projected final salary numbers from www.capgeek.com).

So which teams have gotten the most for their money? (See the chart below.) The Nashville Predators not only lead this list but have a huge margin over the #2 team. David Poile is simply a master at contending on a small budget (doing it again this year after a rough start). The top three organizations in Wins/Payroll are Predators, Wild and Senators. Most of these teams are clubs that had small payrolls over the last decade. At the bottom are the NY Rangers--which should come to no one's surprise to anyone who followed the team pre-lockout.

Rank	TEAM	WIN:$$$
1	NAS	2.76
2	MIN	2.54
3	OTT	2.51
4	BUF	2.39
5	VAN	2.35
6	SJS	2.34
7	NJD	2.29
8	CGY	2.26
9	EDM	2.22
10	PIT	2.22
11	ATL	2.20
12	TBL	2.17
13	PHO	2.12
14	CBJ	2.11
15	CAR	2.06
16	BOS	2.05
17	NYI	2.01
18	MON	1.98
19	WAS	1.97
20	FLA	1.96
21	DET	1.96
22	LAK	1.93
23	COL	1.92
24	CHI	1.92
25	DAL	1.92
26	ANA	1.91
27	PHI	1.83
28	STL	1.79
29	TOR	1.79
30	NYR	1.54

Playoff Success Adjustment

Now salary efficiency is just part of the job of a NHL organization. Once you reach the post-season you want to win as many games as possible and putting together a team that wins in the spring also matters a great deal. How should you account for post-season wins? Clearly a post-season win is worth more than a regular season win, but how much more valuable? There is no perfect answer to this question, so I'm just going to copy what Nate Silver did over at Baseball Prospectus a few years ago and count post-season wins as double a regular season win (4 points instead of 2). It is crude perhaps but seems reasonable to me.

First let's look at which organizations racked up the most post-season wins. Cup Winners dominate the top of the list: Detroit Red Wings, New Jersey Devils. Colorado Avalanche, Anaheim Ducks, and Pittsburgh Penguins. At the bottom we see three teams which had zero post-season wins in the last decade: Atlanta Thrashers, Florida Panthers and Columbus Blue Jackets.

Rank	TEAM	Playoff Wins
1	DET	72
2	NJD	64
3	COL	54
4	ANA	49
5	PIT	46
6	SJS	44
7	PHI	44
8	OTT	43
9	CAR	39
10	DAL	39
11	TOR	32
12	BUF	28
13	TBL	24
14	VAN	23
15	CGY	23
16	STL	23
17	EDM	20
18	MON	17
19	BOS	16
20	WAS	15
21	CHI	14
22	NYR	14
23	MIN	11
24	LAK	10
25	NSH	6
26	NYI	6
27	PHO	2
28	ATL	0
29	CBJ	0
30	FLA	0

Now let's see what happens when we include playoffs wins (worth four points, x2 a season win) into our salary efficiency formula. This should provide a bonus to teams with a strong post-season and a penalty for those who were unable to contend on a budget.

The new top 10 includes cup champs Devils, Penguins and Detroit and a few teams that reached the finals (Senators and Flames). But it also includes teams there were extremely well managed in the regular season but came up short in the playoffs like the Predators, Sharks, Sabres, Wild and Canucks. Personally, I think this is a pretty accurate list of well managed organizations over the last decade. It also suggests to me that the Ottawa Senators and the Nashville Predators organizations have probably been under-rated because of their lack of post-season wins.

Who sits at the bottom? Teams that spend a lot of money and fail to win in both the regular season or post-season. In light of the cash expended the Rangers, Leafs, Blackhawks, Leafs, Capitals don't have much to show for it. Then there are the plain old terrible teams like the Blue Jackets and Panthers, Islanders. This part also passes the smell test for me. Some of these teams received a lot of attention because they threw money at problems while more efficient teams flew under the radar. Thrasher fans might wonder why Atlanta doesn't fall into the bottom 10 with 0 playoff wins? The answer is incredibly small payrolls back when Time/Warner/AOL owned the team--the Thrashers actually got some decent "bang-for-the-buck" when they were only spending $18-22 million on payroll before the lockout.

Rank	TEAM	adj. WIN:$$$
1	OTT	2.99
2	NJD	2.91
3	NSH	2.84
4	SJS	2.79
5	PIT	2.75
6	BUF	2.70
7	MIN	2.68
8	VAN	2.60
9	DET	2.52
10	CGY	2.52
11	CAR	2.49
12	TBL	2.45
13	EDM	2.45
14	COL	2.40
15	ANA	2.38
16	DAL	2.25
17	PHI	2.21
18	BOS	2.20
19	ATL	2.20
20	MON	2.16
21	PHO	2.14
22	WAS	2.12
23	CBJ	2.11
24	TOR	2.07
25	NYI	2.07
26	CHI	2.07
27	LAK	2.03
28	STL	2.00
29	FLA	1.96
30	NYR	1.65

Perhaps I should have made playoff wins worth even more. If they are valued at 3 times a regular season win (worth 6 points each) Carolina sneaks into the top 10 and Calgary falls out. The Devils move up into a tie with Ottawa, and the Thrashers slip down into the bottom third of the rankings (21st) while the Leafs climb into the middle third. Not a huge change but a few modest shifts result.

Conclusion

This organizational ranking is far from perfect. I have tried to anchor this evaluation in more objective data analysis rather than simply give my own personal impression.

Up next: Erik Cole, Eric Staal and the Carolina Hurricanes

FrankD — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 11:00:15 -0000

More photos » by Gene J. Puskar - AP

Might as well get this out of the way now. Not like we won't hear it throughout the night regardless...

Browse more photos »

[SBN Carolina Hurricanes blog - Canes Country]

To put it gently, the Carolina Hurricanes are struggling this season. Posting records of 2-7-3 in October and 3-10-2 in November, the Canes find themselves with a league-worst 17 points that may already have the team sitting in a position that is far beyond repair. But hey, injuries can do that to a team, especially when sustained by a team's starting goaltender.

Carolina have been without Cam Ward since November 7th when the Team Canada hopeful met Columbus's Rick Nash in an awkward skate-through-pads collision. I know we covered it here as part of a links post, but if you haven't seen the injury yet here's the link to a clip on YouTube. I'm not 100% sure of his progress as of late. If I recall correctly the initial prognosis called for Ward to be out up to three weeks, so that timetable has already been extended. Obviously our friends over at Canes Country could fill ya in more on that.

In the meantime, Carolina will continue to rely on Manny Legace and Michael Leighton in net, more so the former than the latter. Legace is 3-4-2 since joining up with the Canes a little over a month ago, while Leighton is just 1-4.

The month of December has already kicked off on the right foot for Carolina, as the Canes took down the Canucks 5-3 on Saturday night. Erik Cole picked up a hat trick as part of his first multi-goal performance of the year that also, in one night, doubled his season total. He now has six goals, pinning him in a four-way tie for second most on the team.

Other names you want to keep an eye on: Ray Whitney (7g, 11a), Matt Cullen (7g, 9a) and Tuomo Ruutu (6g, 11a). You may also know of some sort of Staal brother who missed most of November with an injury. His 11 point total shouldn't be overlooked, especially since he's registered six of those 11 over the last five games.

Puck and thread drop at 7:30. Come by and chat it up as the Pens look to extend the point streak to nine.

Canucks' Sloppy Second Periods: A Closer Look

Sean Zandberg — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 11:10:01 -0000

So, how bad have the Canucks been in the 2nd periods this season, since everyone keeps talking about it?

Let's break it down a little, and remember that these stats are only from the 2nd periods of Canucks games this season.

In their past 5 games:

-4 goals scored, 5 goals against

-42 shots on goal, 65 shots against

-5 power plays for, 13 power plays against

Record: 3 wins 2 losses

In the 5 games prior to that:

-4 goals scored, 0 goals against

-43 shots on goal, 48 shots against

-9 power plays for, 8 power plays against

Record: 3-2

In the 5 games prior to that:

-4 goals scored, 4 goals against

-43 shots on goal, 60 shots against

-3 power plays for, 6 powerplays against

Record: 3-2

In the 5 games prior to that:

-1 goal scored, 4 goals scored against

-38 shots on goal, 56 shots against

-7 power plays for, 7 PP's against

Record: 3-2

In the 5 games prior to that:

-3 goals scored, 5 goals against

-62 shots on goal, 32 shots against

-8 power plays for, 4 against

Record: 3-2

And finally, the 4 games prior to that:

-5 goals scored, 4 goals allowed

-47 shots for, 39 shots against

-7 power play chances, 7 power plays against

Record: 1-3

GRAND TOTAL:

-29 games played

-21 goals scored, 22 goals scored against

-275 shots on goal, 300 shots against

-39 power play chances, 45 power plays against

-The Canucks were outshot in 15 of the 29 games played.

So what am I saying?

1. Statistically, the numbers don't show an atrocious failure in 2nd periods by the Canucks. But stats never tell the whole story. There is style of play and momentum plus stats that I left out that also come into play. I'd post them all, but I don't have that much time to spare. I just wanted to paint you a bit of a picture.

2. I have too much free fucking time on my hands and suffer from insomnia.