SB Nation User Blog: Yankee Canuck

My Vancouver spies insist that Trevor Linden will play a significant role of some kind in the flame...

Yankee Canuck — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 21:39:21 -0000

My Vancouver spies insist that Trevor Linden will play a significant role of some kind in the flame lead-up at the 2010 opening ceremony and I sure hope that’s not true. Linden’s presence does not resonate outside Vancouver and if he’s significant in this, it will make the organizing committee look small and all too local. This is a world, international event, not a celebration of the rather inept history of the Canucks.

Steve Simmons via Kuklas Korner.

Thank goodness this clown has spies; I would hate to think he did his own thorough investigative journalism.

And did this blowhard call out Li Ning during the summer Olympics opening ceremony too? Fairly certainly he wasn't a household name worldwide either.

It's the host city's choice, deal with it.

Every once in a while, you see an obvious innovation in a game that makes you wonder why it wasn't...

Yankee Canuck — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 19:54:10 -0000

Every once in a while, you see an obvious innovation in a game that makes you wonder why it wasn't obvious to every single player. Rick Rypien of the Vancouver Canucks has brought one to NHL fighting: he actually protects his face while he's fighting. Most fighters in the NHL try to block head shots, but Rypien actually does a great job of it. The net result is that he dominates fighters who are way out of his weight class.

Gabe from Behind The Net takes a look at Rypien and included videos links for all his fights so far.

In Soviet Russia, Road Forks You: Canucks & Thrashers

Yankee Canuck — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 18:34:23 -0000

Next Game

Atlanta Thrashers
@ Vancouver Canucks

Thursday, Dec 10, 2009, 7:00 PM PST
General Motors Place
Opposition Blog: Bird Watchers Anonymous

Complete Coverage >

Tonight is the tenth time in Vancouver history they will stare across the ice and see the Atlanta Thrashers. That is far and away the least amount of times they've seen any team in their history.

Last season the teams met in Atlanta where the Canucks fell behind in the first, took the lead in the second, coughed it up again needed the third to tie it up again before finally falling in the shootout. Not scoring first? Coughing up leads? Surely that isn't Vancouver now.

The Thrashers are good and ice one hell of a potent Russian top line in Kovalchuk, Afinogenov and Antropov and other guys like Peverley, Enstrom and another Ruskie Kozlov can cause their own level of havoc. Atlanta has the firepower, so Vancouver needs to get their defense responsibilities in order or this game can run away from them faster than you can say "Bernier missed another open net."

Is tonight a must win? Of course not. Is it a fork in the road? Nope, but it's getting close to that. They have yawned through two hat trick-laced losses in a row. They can't possibly go three. No way. Not back at the garage. Bank on it.

Here's your game thread. Best Yakov Smirnoff one-liner wins.

Festivus For The Rest Of Us

Yankee Canuck — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 16:47:35 -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?

Rick Rypien Reads SBN!

Yankee Canuck — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 12:41:02 -0000

In case you needed a reason to love him more, it's very cool to hear our very own Rick Rypien has been actively checking out the SBN network. Sadly no word if it's our lovely little neck of the woods (WHERE HE IS LOVED AND ADMIRED) but definitely over at MMAmania:

"... Rypien is an avid mixed martial arts fan. In 2006, at the Canucks summer conditioning camp, he got to try his hand at some basic technique of the sport.

MMA is a full contact sport that combines several forms of martial arts that rivals boxing and wrestling. The sport is growing quickly and becoming one of the most popular sports with it becoming almost ubiquitous. And to keep up with the sport, Rypien has his go-to.

'The last website I went to was MMAmania.com. I go on it everyday and it covers MMA all over the world. I like following all that stuff because I find it very interesting.'

Why Don't You Have A Seat Over There? Canucks & Predators

Yankee Canuck — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 19:04:00 -0000

Next Game

Vancouver Canucks
@ Nashville Predators

Tuesday, Dec 8, 2009, 5:00 PM PST
Sommet Center
Opposition Blog: On The Forecheck

Complete Coverage >

Just about a year ago - when, just like now, Vancouver was trying to keep their heads above water - you may remember a certain game between these two teams. Mr. Everything stood out just a bit:

The Canucks would go on to win this game 3-1 with Burr adding an empty-netter. Fast forward a year later and Mr. Burrows has scored four in his last seven (currently on a three-game goal streak) as he tries to recapture his glory from last year. Look for him to be one of the main guys out there, chucking pucks at Rinne or chucking his body at anything in gold and black. And look for a strong response after their lackluster showing in Carolina three days ago.

With Nashville just two points up on Vancouver, there's no better time to catch a predator. Though perhaps we can do it without the strange chat logs?

Here's your game thread. What is going on in your mind?

I've got to go play some hockey. I'm a hockey player. I'm okay. No big deal.

Yankee Canuck — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 22:15:30 -0000

I've got to go play some hockey. I'm a hockey player. I'm okay. No big deal.

That is Brandon Witt after getting hit by a car in Philly. Take THAT baseball players.

Dan Cloutier Suspended For Hitting Guillaume Desbiens

Yankee Canuck — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 19:11:32 -0000

The Vancouver Canucks (or at least their minor league team) continue to haunt their once-formidable netminder Daniel Cloutier. But at least he still has some spunk left.

From Sun Media:

IceHogs goalie Dan Cloutier received a one-game suspension for his actions in Sunday's game against the Moose.

Cloutier, playing his first game in over a year after recovering from a pair of hip surgeries, lost his cool during the second period after Guillaume Desbiens was pushed into him.

Cloutier, who signed a pro tryout offer after going to training camp with the Detroit Red Wings, punched Desbiens with his blocker and was given a match penalty at the time.

"I came here to get some minutes and play," Cloutier told the Rockford Register Star. "I would have liked to have played more minutes. I've been known for being a guy who sticks up for himself. It's hard to change that part of my game. At the same time, it was a selfish play on my part because I did come here to play and took myself out of the game."

Christian Ehrhoff is not fazed by the King. Not even slightly. Larger image is here, more from...

Yankee Canuck — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 03:37:32 -0000

Christian Ehrhoff is not fazed by the King. Not even slightly. Larger image is here, more from canucks.com.

On This Day In Canucks History: December 4

Yankee Canuck — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 22:25:03 -0000

December 4th, 1996: Jyrki Lumme tops Doug Lidster as Vancouver's all-time leading scoring defenceman after a first period tally against the Buffalo Sabres. Lumme's record would stand for almost 13 years before Mattias Ohlund passed him in March last season. Ohlund's record now stands at 325 points whereas both Lumme and Dennis Kearns have 321 each. The closest roster player with a shot at Ohlund's record is Sami Salo who has 179 points, good enough for 9th best in team history.