Canucks Wagonwatch: Game 18 vs Islanders

Throughout the season, the Canucks Wagonwatch series will track how much room is on the team’s bandwagon. In addition, it will also track the completely separate Luongo wagon.

Sure, it was the Islanders, but on occasion the Canucks have been known to have the roadtrip hangover in their first game back on home ice. Additionally, the Canucks have occasionally overlooked a team like the Islanders, instead putting their focus on the next game (which happens to be against the hated Chicago Blackhawks). Tonight the Canucks were full value for a 4-1 win over the New York Islanders.

Canucks Bandwagon: 80% full

It was refreshing to see the Canucks play a full 60 minutes, and there was no 2nd period let-down tonight. The Canucks jumped out to a 1-0 lead early in the first on a neat backhander from Aaron Rome, and didn’t look back. The team set the tone early in each of the period by scoring quick goals to start.

Luongo Bandwagon: 40% full

The Canucks goaltender was excellent tonight, stopping 23 of 24 shots, including all 12 Islander shots in the final period. He made a number of good-looking saves, including one shot off his mask in the 3rd period, moving from left to right. Detractors of Luongo will say he had an easy night, to which I always say: He makes a tough stop look easy, with economy of movement. Roberto Luongo may never remind anyone of Dominek Hasek or Tim Thomas with their insanely acrobatic (read: floppy yet athletic) style, because Luongo’s style is all about efficiency. He made a lot of the stops look routine tonight, and also made a number of big saves in the 3rd when the Islanders turned up the heat and applied some pressure on the Canucks.

#Rome4Norris – Back in full effect

Just when you thought Aaron Rome would fade away after a game misconduct 2 days ago, he pulls off a 3 point night, scoring a goal and assisting on two others. The stats line on Rome tonight was pretty good: 1G 2A +2 1PPP. I don’t think he’ll replace Edler or Salo on the top power play unit, but you never know. Cody Hodgson joked in a post-game interview, “You get the puck to Romer and you go to the net, then you can almost start skating to the bench, because you know it’s going in with him.”

#Coho4Calder – You heard it here first

It’s clear that Cody Hodgson is feeling better after misdiagnosed back problems, and he seems to be going at full speed. He was the First Star at Rogers Arena last night, and was excellent in all phases of the game for a center. I was lucky enough to meet Cody with my kids at Rogers Arena earlier this season, and he seems like a great guy. It’s nice to see him take advantage of some real ice time this season, and even nicer to see him enjoying himself out there. Sure, he might not be as sexy of a Calder vote as Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, but the kid has skills. Hodgson happens to play on the Canucks, who are loaded with top end depth, and he wasn’t drafted first overall, so he doesn’t see as much of the rookie hype as The Nuge. There is no denying that Cody has great hands, and excellent hockey sense. To be continued!

Canucks Wagonwatch: Game 17 @ Ducks

Throughout the season, the Canucks Wagonwatch series will track how much room is on the team’s bandwagon. In addition, it will also track the completely separate Luongo wagon.

Tonight the Canucks lost a tough one 4-3 against the Ducks in Anaheim. Down 4-0 to start the 3rd period, the boys staged a nice comeback effort that ultimately fell short by a goal.

Canucks Bandwagon: 70% Full

The Canucks played the night before in Los Angeles, and picked up a 3-2 win. Last night they built a 3-0 lead after one period, and coasted to the 3-2 final. Tonight, they slow-played the first period, and melted down in the 2nd, allowing 4 goals. To their credit (and my surprise!), the Canucks came roaring back in the 3rd, scoring 3 goals of their own, earning a power play chance late in the game, but still lost by a goal. It was an entertaining finish and gave the fans something to cheer for – at least for the fans that hadn’t shut off their TV by then.

Luongo Bandwagon: 30% Full

Luongo didn’t necessarily play a horrible game, but allowed 4 goals on 19 shots. All 4 goals came in the 2nd period, and Luongo did not return for the 3rd. There is an old hockey adage that says the goaltender needs to be your best penalty killer; unfortunately that wasn’t the case tonight. Luongo’s wagon might have even less people, but Schneider only had to make 2 saves in the entire 3rd period as the Canucks spent the entire period pouring on the offensive pressure. The Luongo Bandwagon exodus was also tempered by the fact that he picked up a pretty good win the night before.

#Rome4Norris Campaign Suffers Setback

Aaron Rome had made some mistakes earlier in the game, but the team was able to get out of the 1st period still in a scoreless tie. Rome took a 5-minute major for elbowing, which came with a game misconduct in the 2nd period. The Ducks scored twice on the ensuing power play, and the Canucks were forced to play the rest of the game with 5 defencemen. If Rome isn’t Shanabanned by the League for that elbow, he’ll have to score at least 2 more goals to make up for tonight’s game.

 

Canucks Wagonwatch: Game 15 @ Blackhawks

Throughout the season, the Canucks Wagonwatch series will track how much room is on the team’s bandwagon. In addition, it will also track the completely separate Luongo wagon.

Canucks Bandwagon: 70% Full

Special teams were surgical tonight. The power play converted 5 out of 6 chances, and the penalty kill was a perfect 5 for 5. The second period has been a big let-down for the Canucks this season, but they outscored the Hawks tonight 4-1 in the middle frame, and sustained a decent pace throughout the game. It was a big win in tough enemy territory, so the wagon has a few more folks on it.

Luongo Bandwagon: 50% Full

The Blackhawks first goal tied the game at 1. It really was a bad goal – Frolik beat him with a long wrist shot from 55 feet out along the boards. Deflected or not, Luongo should have had that one. After the Blackhawks first goal, I’m pretty sure the Luongo haters were calling for Schneider, and the Hawks fans were salivating hoping that Luongo would cave, however, to his credit, he settled down really nicely after that. Luongo made some solid saves when the score was 4-2, and again at the end of the 2nd period to hold a 3-goal lead heading into the intermission. Despite making 38 saves, the first goal prevented fans from climbing back onto the wagon tonight. Solid performance though.

“Familiarity Breeds Comtempt”

Tonight the Canucks posted a 6-2 win over their Western Conference rivals in Chicago. The Canucks might say that they have more contempt for Calgary, and the Hawks number one rival will likely always be the Red Wings, but it’s not hard for either team to get up for this game – they’ve met in the playoffs for the last 3 years running. Each time, the winner has gone to the Stanley Cup Final.

Tonight the Canucks looked like they finally played a game where they had more answers than questions.

 

Canucks bandwagon: Full. Luongo bandwagon: Vacancy.

Is there a more polarizing figure in Vancouver sports than Roberto Luongo?

People either vehemently defend him, or scrutinize every goal that gets by him. There is a long list of reasons people love him and hate him. Tonight, the Canucks lost 4-0 to the New York Rangers. And another chapter in Vancouver’s love-hate relationship with Luongo is written in 140chars or less on Twitter.

@farhanmohamed: I foresee a night of Luongo-hating comments, as usual. #Canucks

In case you thought tonight’s game was pretty bad, the last time the Rangers won in Vancouver, Wayne Gretzky was playing for the Rangers, and Mark Messier wore the captain’s “C” for the Canucks. Think about that for a moment. Those were dark days in Canucks history – Trevor Linden was stripped of the C and driven out of town. Goaltenders included names like Kirk McLean, Corey Hirsch, Arturs Irbe, Kevin Weekes, Felix Potvin, and Dan Cloutier.

One characteristic that is common among all of these guys – none were real winners. Don’t get me wrong – some of them won some games. However, most of these guys had a habit of letting in a soft goal, usually once per game.

In hockey, the object of the game is to score more goals than your opponent. The team that scores the most goals wins.

@kohmcradu: Remember that one time when the goalie couldn’t win the game for the entire team? Defense, anyone? #Canucks

@causticchick: Here we go again with the Luongo hate. He’s not the only one on the ice, people. You win by scoring goals. We haven’t done that. #Canucks

Despite the basic object of the game, and the Canucks not scoring any goals at all tonight, or 2 games ago in Detroit, people will continue to blame Luongo for the loss.

One of the biggest reasons I love hockey is because it is an ultimate team game. There are rare individuals that can dominate a shift, but when hockey is played as a team – a unit of players with a common goal – that is when hockey is the greatest. The team that plays together has a synergistic effect, and wins games.

In hockey, it is rarely one player that loses a game for a team, and so the performance of a hockey club should be assessed with an eye to the team – not to just one player.

One of the greatest goaltenders in NHL history, Patrick Roy once said, “For goaltenders everything is playing between your ears.   If you can believe it, you can do it.  If you’re not confident when you start, it makes a difference.“

@DanielKhatkar: I think if this city showed a little support for #1 his mind would be in a completely different place

@AY604: You know how you build confidence in a goalie, you give him the Bronx cheer at home! Good work #Canuck fans!

@korvan: We had one of the best goalies in the league when we got Luongo, now we have a basket case. I wonder what caused that? #Canucks

Even Patrick Roy tells us that confidence is an important characteristic in a goalie. When Luongo was traded to Vancouver, he was lauded as one of Canada’s greatest goaltenders. Drafted by the Islanders, traded to the Panthers, he was stuck on horrible teams, but got to play for his country in the World Hockey Championships. Luongo coming to the Canucks was supposed to be a marriage made in Hockey Heaven.

What happened?

In September 2009, the Canucks signed Luongo to a 12-year contract extension worth $64 million. With salary comes expectations.

@TheFalconer: I think the entire team got deked out of their jock straps on that one. But we’ll just blame Luongo, it’s easier.

Many fans in Vancouver believe that Luongo is one of the highest paid players in the NHL. In fact, he is the 62nd highest paid player in the NHL, in terms of salary cap hit, at $5.3 million. This puts Luongo right behind James Wisniewski and Phil Kessel, and slightly ahead of Corry Perry and Ryan Getzlaf.  He has the 7th highest cap hit this year among goaltenders, just behind Mikka Kiprusoff and Ilya Bryzgalov.

The expectations on Luongo are likely not realistic. No one player will bring about a dynasty of championships, despite what the haters will have you believe. And to win games, the team has to  score goals – this is hockey at it’s most basic.

So this brings about the burning question: 

@wilsons618: Why is it everyone loves McLean when he hasn’t won us anything, but hates Luongo, who’s probably the best goalie that the #Canucks have had?

The answer is somewhere between expectations and results. With McLean (admittedly, my favourite Canucks goaltender of all time), expectations were low. He was a good goaltender, but he was not supposed to carry the Canucks to the Stanley Cup Final. The Canucks in 1993-94 were the 7th seed in the Western Conference. They were underdogs in each of their series, and should not have made it out of the first round. Yet they defeated the Flames, Stars and Leafs on an unlikely run to face the Rangers in the final. The Canucks that year shouldn’t have pushed the series to 7 games, but they did against a heavily favoured Rangers team. And they left it all out on the ice, and came within a goalpost of a Stanley Cup.

With Luongo, expectations were high to begin with, and higher every year since. Win games. Sign a long term contract extension. Make the goaltender the captain of the team. Win games by shutout. Take the C away to relieve the pressure. Start him in less games to get him rest. Change the goaltending coach, change his style. Win playoff series. Win more playoff series. Win the Stanley Cup – is there anything else?

Is this a tweet from the future?

@PabloP74: I see a ‘Roy’ situation in Vancouver where Lu gets hung out to dry then demands a trade only to win Stanley cup with new team! #ProfoundLoss

It’s possible. It happened with Roy – widely viewed around the NHL as one of the great goaltenders in the game, he won Stanley Cups, multiple Vezina and Jennings trophies, and even two Conn Smythe trophies, but it still wasn’t enough for Montreal fans, who gave him the Bronx cheer in a lopsided 11-1 game during the 1995-96 season.

It was a different situation and in a different era, but Roy demanded a trade and was dealt to the Colorado Avalanche. That very season, Roy helped the Avalanche win their first Stanley Cup.

For all the October Luongo-haters out there – see you back on the wagon in November! And be careful what you wish for!

Canucks Advent Calendar: It Starts Tomorrow!

This is it fans! The Vancouver Canucks begin their 41st season tomorrow October 6 when the Pittsburgh Penguins come to Rogers Arena.

Over the last month this series of posts has looked at a handful of the moments that made last season so awesome, and some of the players that made it happen.

Today’s blog post focuses on #1 in your program, Roberto Luongo – the best goaltender the Canucks have ever had.

You may have some doubts about this statement, people either love Luongo or want to trade him. There really isn’t much grey area on the topic. Every goal scored against him, you can guarantee that someone on Twitter will tell you he should have had that one.

Don’t think he has been the Canucks best goaltender in history? Here’s a chart of some of the most relevant Canucks starting goaltenders and their statistics in their best seasons:

Goaltender	Season	GP	W	L	T	OTL	GAA	SV%
Roberto Luongo	2010-11	60	38	15	–	7	2.11	.928
Kirk McLean	1991-92	65	38	17	9	–	2.74	.901
Richard Brodeur	1981-82	52	20	18	12	–	3.35	.891
Dan Cloutier	2003-04	60	33	21	6	–	2.27	.914
Arturs Irbe	1997-98	41	14	11	6	–	2.73	.907
Corey Hirsch	1995-96	41	17	14	6	–	2.93	.903
Cesare Maniago	1976-77	47	17	21	9	–	3.36	–
Félix Potvin	1999-00	34	12	13	7	–	2.59	.906

You can argue that the Canucks have had the best defence they’ve ever had, which explains the wins that Luongo has been able to post, and maybe the Goals Against Average (GAA). But Luongo has posted numbers like these in every single season he has played in Vancouver. The goaltenders listed above had far worse averages over the course of their Canucks tenure.

Luongo started off last season slowly, but by late-November he was back to sparkling form. Around the All-Star break, Hockey Night in Canada, CBCSports.ca and the NHLPA ran a poll among players. Luongo was voted by NHL players as the Goalie Most Difficult to Score On.

The Luongo-Haters out there will say he’s not a big game stopper. He chokes. He cries. Then he chokes on his tears. I am going to present you with some evidence to the contrary.

Remember when Team Canada won the Gold Medal in the 2010 Olympics? Canada would not have been in the Gold Medal final without Luongo shutting the door on his old Canucks teammate Pavol Demitra (R.I.P. Pavol).

Then there was the stop against Patrick Sharp in overtime, in Round 1 Game 7, prior to Alexandre Burrows scoring the game winner.

Still don’t believe Luongo can make a big save? Here are some more that you have to see to believe.

I will admit Luongo showed a touch of inconsistency in last year’s Stanley Cup Final (just a touch) – but I would also say to you that the Canucks would not have made it to Game 7 without Luongo. For those with a short memory, he shut out the Bruins twice in that series. As if you’ve never had a bad day at work. Show him some love, people!

Thanks for following this series of posts – I hope that all the Canucks fans are excited for this season. Here’s to looking back on the best Canucks season ever, and even better times this year!

Canucks Advent Calendar: 3 days to the Season Opener

This series of blog posts will look back on the highest highs of last season, and looks to get the Canucks faithful amped for the season to come!

3 days to get back to playing Canucks hockey. 3 days to get back to winning games.

Just a few short days to the season opener, and excitement is building in Vancouver. A lot of Canucks fans are still upset about the Stanley Cup Final loss; I hope that this series of posts has helped to rekindle some positive feeling – there is a lot to look forward to as Canucks fans this season.

Today’s focus is on Kevin Bieksa’s crazy season. Bieksa started the season most definitely in the doghouse, but finished as a huge fan favourite.

Early in the 2010-2011 season, many Canucks fans were on the Bieksa hater-wagon. The idea was that the Canucks were “too deep” on defence (is that an oxymoron?), needed cap room, and that one of the defencemen had to go. Bieksa hadn’t had a good season in awhile as he had been hampered by a bizarre Achilles’ tendon injuries. However, with Salo on the shelf, and Ballard falling out of favour with head coach Alain Vigneault, Bieksa stayed.

Throughout the course of the season, Bieksa played his way back into the hearts of Canucks fans. He was a natural partner for Dan Hamhuis, whose stay-at-home style allowed Bieksa to roam more freely through the neutral zone.

Then there was this interview with Scott Oake in the playoffs. Bieksa is explaining the Canucks simple plan for the 3rd period against the Nashville Predators.

Soon after that, the tribute videos poured in.

The last great Bieksa moment of the Canucks 2010-2011 moment was probably the series winning goal against the San Jose Sharks, to send the Canucks to the Stanley Cup Final.

It’s these moments that get me excited for this season. Crazy moments when no one sees the puck, and all of a sudden it’s in the back of the net. When the Canucks swarm the opposition zone for 2 or 3 minutes at a time applying pressure so intense that the puck has no choice but to get in the goal.

I can’t wait to see what new memories this season will bring!

Canucks Advent Calendar: 5 days to the Season Opener

This series of blog posts will look back on the highest highs of last season, and looks to get the Canucks faithful amped for the season to come!

5 days to get back to playing Canucks hockey. 5 days to get back to winning games.

Many Canucks fans are still stinging from the Game 7 loss in the Stanley Cup Final, but along the way to the final, there were a number of memorable moments and games. Ask fans what their favourite moment was, and chances are they will tell you about Alexandre Burrows OT winner in Game 7 against the Blackhawks, or maybe Ryan Kesler splitting the Nashville defence to score.

Today’s memory isn’t a series winner, or a first ever goal, and it didn’t happen in OT – but it was still very important. On May 22, 2011, Sami Salo had a clutch game to give his team a 3-1 series lead.

Sami Salo’s 2010-2011 season didn’t start off very well. As usual, Salo’s latest injury was bizarre, and kept him from joining the Canucks at the start of the season. He suffered an Achilles’ injury playing floorball in Finland and would be out indefinitely.

Here’s an image to indicate exactly how crazy Salo’s time on the injured reserve has been (image courtesy of @NucksMisconduct):

Salo did not start playing until half-way through February, and he had a slow start. The playoffs came, and he played 6 games against the Blackhawks, and only 3 against the Predators.

Then came Game 4 against the Sharks. The Canucks had a 2-1 series lead heading into the game. Lose and they would be tied heading back to Vancouver. Win and they would hold a 3-1 stranglehold on the series.

Salo can play in any situation. He’s a dependable defender that can kill penalties, but he also has a heavy slapshot that can blow by goaltenders on the power play.

In a 2-minute span in the middle of the 2nd period, the Sharks ran into penalty trouble. The Canucks opened the scoring when Salo passes quickly around to the left boards for Ryan Kesler, who beat Antti Niemi with a hard slapshot.

Shortly after that, on another 2-man advantage, Salo hammers one by Niemi from the point.

And just 16 seconds after that goal, again on a 2-man advantage, Salo shows a slightly different look skating in from the point to fire a slapshot from high on the left face-off circle.

As if the first two goals weren’t shot hard enough, Salo really stepped into that one. The Canucks won that game 4-2, and went back to Vancouver with momentum back in their favour.

Sure the Canucks were on 5-on-3 powerplays for all of those goals, but it was nice to see the Canucks finally take advantage of those chances and score.

Hockey fans all around the NHL make fun of Salo’s injuries, but most fans wouldn’t mind having that heavy of a shot on their own team’s power play.

Canucks Advent Calendar: 10 days to the Season Opener

This series of blog posts will look back on the highest highs of last season, and looks to get the Canucks faithful amped for the season to come!

10 days to get back to playing Canucks hockey. 10 days to get back to winning games.

With just 10 days to the start of the season, today’s memory is the horrific injury, and inspirational comeback, of the Canucks 3rd line centre, Manny Malhotra.

Although a high draft pick (7th overall by the Rangers), Malhotra was never a big time scorer, and Rangers head coach John Muckler declared that Malhotra would never be any more than a career third-liner.

After some up and down years with the Rangers, he spent time in Dallas, Columbus, and San Jose prior to coming to Vancouver, where he was gladly welcomed as a 3rd-line centre. Until that time, Ryan Kesler was the Canucks shut-down centre. Malhotra’s arrival really offered the Canucks a lot of options and versatility down the middle.

Malhotra lived up to the billing as a great defensive centre – he killed penalties, was the top face-off player in the NHL, and chipped in with a few goals as well. In addition, Kesler was having a breakout offensive season, due in part to the fact that he had fewer top defensive assignments.

Then on March 16, 2011, everything changed. Malhotra was struck under the eye by a deflected puck off of a Christian Ehrhoff clearing attempt.

He had surgery to repair the eye the next day. Who says surgery waits are too long in BC? Just be a hockey player with the Canucks. Instead of depth and all the pieces of the puzzle, the Canucks were left with a large gap at centre, and far fewer options heading into the playoffs.

Very little was said over the next few days and weeks about Malhotra’s eye, other than “we’ll see” – terrible pun intended.

The next glimpse most Canucks fans had of Malhotra was when the President’s Trophy was presented to himself and Henrik Sedin on April 7, 2011. The crowd was supercharged and emotional to see Malhotra back and smiling, even if only for a few moments. The Canucks may have been motivated by seeing Malhotra, as they beat the Minnesota Wild 5-0. Roberto Luongo posted a shutout, Ryan Kesler posted his third hat trick of the season, and Mason Raymond also scored twice.

The next several weeks very little was said about Malhotra at all. In the playoffs, Malhotra was still useful – acting as an assistant coach, and running face-off workshops with the Canucks centres. Malhotra was skating, but no gear on, no contact and with a full face shield. No timetable for a return.

But the longer and deeper the Canucks went into the playoffs (and that’s what she said), the louder the whispers of Malhotra’s possible return became.

In Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final, Malhotra made his return to the Canucks lineup. He started the game at centre, and of course won the opening face-off.

His presence was a boost to the Canucks who won Game 2 that night. I always thought it was clever how Malhotra had been running drills with the other centres – maybe he always thought it was possible to come back, and was actually keeping himself sharp.

Malhotra will be just as important this season to the Canucks: defensively, on face-offs and killing penalties. I can’t wait to see who his new linemates will be, and how his season develops after further recovering in the summer.