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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.

Canucks Advent Calendar: 14 days to the Season Opener

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

14 days to get back to playing Canucks hockey. 14 days to get back to winning games.

With just 14 days to the start of the season, today’s memory is dedicated to Twitter’s @BurrowsGirl – and the focus is on the versatility of the often overlooked and under-rated 3rd member of the Sedin line, Alexandre Burrows.

Burrows started the 2010-2011 season on the injured reserve, but when he returned it didn’t take long for him to take his familiar spot lining up next to the Sedins. He has occasionally been accused of biting off more than he can chew, especially with referees (Stephane Auger controversy anyone? Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?), but Vancouver Canucks fans can’t get enough of Burr – it’s his heart, and his love for the game.

Haters around the league say that anyone could play with the Sedins and put up the kinds of numbers Burrows does. What most haters don’t realize is that the audition for the Sedin’s linemate was about 6 years long before Burrows. The closest thing to chemistry the twins had was with Anson Carter on the Triplets line. The resemblance is obvious.

Burrows is a reliable guy who can finish what Henrik or Daniel start. This setup by Henrik Sedin is nothing short of amazing – he passes between Antti Niemi’s  pads to find Burrows on the other side. Although you might think that’s an easy goal, Burrows doesn’t have much time to spot the puck and move his stick to shoot. A great example of why soft hands are important for a goal scorer.

It was this next goal that sent Canucks fans into a high Cup Fever last season. Burrows showed quickness gloving the puck to the ice, speed to skate to the slot, and a decent slapshot on a tough rolling puck. I will never tire of watching this, and to this day it is saved on my PVR.

Despite the finger biting controversy, Burrows elevated his game again in the Stanley Cup Final, scoring this beauty in Game 2. The more clutch the situation, the greater the chance that it’ll be Burrows that scores the Canucks next goal.

Should the Canucks ever find themselves trailing the opposition going into the 3rd period, the #Canucks hashtag inevitably turns to tweeting #Windaturd and #PeanutButterBurrowsTime. Did I forget to mention Burrows excellent interview skills, and his sense of humour?

Haters around the league consider Burrows to be a finger-biting, diving whiner. He is the type of agitator that teams love to hate, but with surprisingly soft hands and a nose for the net. He is an excellent penalty killer with great wheels. The Canucks have played him in every situation in the past few seasons, and this year looks to be no different.

Thanks to Trevor Presiloski (Follow on twitter: @nettrashcan) for the great Sedin’s linemate post.

Canucks Advent Calendar: 23 days to the Season Opener

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

23 days to get back to playing Canucks hockey. 23 days to get back to winning games.

Today’s memory: The Keslerbomb.

It started with Ryan Kesler in the Canucks locker room. It spilled out onto twitter timelines everywhere.

Also known as the Kesler Interview Bomb, Kes-lurking, and Kesler Cameos, the Keslerbomb even has an entry in Urban Dictionary:

Kesler-bomb (24 thumbs up)
Sweeping in behind a teammate, friend or family member to intentionally – and unintentionally – appear in video footage or photographs.

Vancouver Canucks center Ryan Kesler has become good at this as of late, magically appearing in post-game interviews behind teammates.

Mark is about to Kesler-bomb Joe and Tina in their wedding portrait. This will not end well.

This clip shows lots of the popular, earlier Kesler bombs. This is by no means exhaustive:

That is all that #Canucks fans on Twitter needed. Favourite local puppet and sports columnist for 24Hours Vancouver – Guts McTavish – began the movement by Keslerbombing his own Twitter avatar, and offering to provide services to anyone that wanted their own avatar Keslerbombed. Pretty soon, nearly every Canucks fan on Twitter had their very own Keslerbombed profile photo. Anyone that had reasonable Photoshop skills (myself included!) pitched in for the insane demand for Keslerbombs.

It was a more than a fad – it was a movement, a rallying cry, and yet another awesome way for Canucks fans to become even closer as a community.

Canucks Advent Calendar: 26 days to the Season Opener

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

26 days to get back to playing Canucks hockey. 26 days to get back to winning games.

Today’s memory: Canucks Round 1, Game 7 win over the Chicago Blackhawks to advance to Round 2 of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

You remember how it goes: Canucks jump out to a 3-0 series lead. Canucks lose Game 4 in Chicago, and Game 5 in Vancouver. Coach Vigneault starts Cory Schneider for Game 6 in Chicago, who looks great, but is pulled after going down awkwardly late in the game (and that’s what she said).  In comes Roberto Luongo, who was shelled in Games 4 and 5. The Canucks ultimately lose Game 6, setting the table for a Game 7.

All-star goalie, shelled in 2 games in the series, passed over in Game 6, gets the Game 7 start. Hawks have eliminated the Canucks for the last 2 seasons in a row.

The hashtags on twitter went from a confident #Canucks #3venge to #3demption to #Hawks #3peat in less than a week.

In Game 7, the Canucks jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a goal from Alex Burrows – a beauty from Ryan Kesler and Mason Raymond. This really shows how fast the Canucks skaters can be, and how quickly they can strike for a goal.

Jonathan Toews ties the game with less than 2 minutes late in the 3rd period, on a shorthanded goal. Although this goal gutted me as a Canucks fan, as a hockey fan, the skill and desire that Toews showed late in the game was amazing to watch.

Is there anything better than overtime in a Game 7? You can’t make this stuff up. The kind of storyline that is played out on driveways, streets and backyard rinks all across the country.

Next goal wins! The highest high, or the lowest low.

The Canucks take a penalty early in OT, giving the Hawks a chance to make their own history. Toews from behind the net finds Patrick Sharp alone at the bottom of the faceoff circle. Luongo shows why he is arguably the toughest goalie to score on in the world.

Then, with just over 5:00 gone in 1OT, Burrows picks off a clearing attempt from Chris Campoli, skates to the slot and buries a rolling puck over the shoulder of Corey Crawford.

After this goal, I think I pulled a hammy jumping up from the ground, celebrating with my wife in front of our TV. Such a great memory for Canucks fans!

Canucks Advent Calendar: 30 days to the Season Opener

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

The Vancouver Canucks are only days away from their 41st season. It’s like Christmas up in here (up in here, up in here), so why not an advent calendar to build the antici … ! Partly because of the high expectations after the greatest season in Canucks history, and maybe partly to help to dull the pain of the Stanley Cup Final. And to apply a new Band-Aid to the festering wound known as the riots. #LoveVancouver

30 days to get back to playing Canucks hockey. 30 days to get back to winning games.

Today’s memory: Last season on March 31, 2011, the Canucks won the President’s Trophy with a 3-1 win over the L.A. Kings.

It was a memorable night! I was actually at this game with my wife, rocking a Canucks team-signed jersey courtesy of @canuckscorner and @nicolevanzanten.

With half the fans already running for their next beer, the Canucks took a 2-1 lead late in the 2nd period with this beauty on the rush by Christian Ehrhoff. Jannik Hansen drove end to end, and fed Ehrhoff a great pass into the high slot. Thankfully I make a point of not paying $10 for beer in a plastic cup, even if it does have a super-sippy lid.

Ryan Kesler added the insurance goal on a 2-man advantage, from Daniel Sedin and Sami Salo. Surprisingly, this was the Canucks first goal in the entire season on a 2-man advantage.

Anyone else out there have any memories of this game?