How about them Canucks!

[Kreskin]

Ed Jovanovski was on team 1040 yesterday. It sounded to me like those guys in Pheonix are on a deserted island awaiting rescue, and when HNIC comes to town it's like they're going to Disneyland. Pretty much anything can happen with the right motivation. A HNIC telecast helps them.

Having said that, Luongo was brutal. He has to play better than that.

 

[talloola]

Ed Jovanovski was on team 1040 yesterday. It sounded to me like those guys in Pheonix are on a deserted island awaiting rescue, and when HNIC comes to town it's like they're going to Disneyland. Pretty much anything can happen with the right motivation. A HNIC telecast helps them.

Having said that, Luongo was brutal. He has to play better than that.

I guess so, although I thought Jovo's goal was a great shot, but others are
saying luongo should have had that one.

He wasn't pulled because of his play last night, vineault said that, he has to
play lots on this road trip, so he gave the rest of the game to la barbera.
It seemed like the right move, cause the flow of that game was pretty
obvious by then, and la barbera needs the work, and the first goal by him
was brutal too, but can't blame him, first game in many, then he settled
down.
I really miss Jovo on our team, I think Nonis should have re signed him, but if he
had, then we wouldn't have Luongo, it is all about money, so, take your pick of
players, I think Luongo was the right choice, as our defense is great, but we still
don't have that fast puck carrying defenceman, and he is it, he scored lots of goals,
and came in on the play at the right time, and was fast enough to get back into the
play too, very valuable asset, he would have been our captain by now, very emotional
and tough and dedicated, and he said that he wasn't even approached by nonis at the
time, so he 'just' walked away as a free agent, didn't take phoenix long to snap him up.
Jovo had his little mishaps too, but his value overshadowed any of that.

Maybe Luongo shouldn't play on HNIC.;-)

 

[#juan]

That's a complete 'about' turn juan, and I would only agree with you if they
lose many more games.Their record has been stellar, and for many games,
it is a team game, and they have won even with luongo making the 'odd' mistake,
and it's not as though he has gone out there and stunk the place out

Yes it was an about turn, but it was also an about turn for the Canucks. Luongo should have stopped the first three goals. Then there was that disaster when Sedin coughed up the puck at the blueline. A little bobble and the Vancouver player couldn't catch the puck before it was in the net. I thought Luongo stunk last night. maybe the team is demanding too much of Luongo.

 

[talloola]

Yes it was an about turn, but it was also an about turn for the Canucks. Luongo should have stopped the first three goals. Then there was that disaster when Sedin coughed up the puck at the blueline. A little bobble and the Vancouver player couldn't catch the puck before it was in the net. I thought Luongo stunk last night. maybe the team is demanding too much of Luongo.

Yeah, I'm giving luongo more credit than some others, I am hearing quite a
bit of criticizm about him, I didn't think he was as bad as some others think.
I agree about the sedins, poor unthought-out passes, don't like that part of
their game, and they better smarten up from here on in, as this is crunch
time, and if they don't raise their games, I think they are gone on July 1.
I don't think the team is demanding too much from Luongo, but I do think
all of the media and many hockey people put him on a pedestal and describe
him as the best goalie in the world, and I have never agreed with that, even
when he was playing his best, he has to go deep into the playoffs and show
that level, before I would agree, and do it on a consistent basis.
But I do think he is better than the average goalie out there, this has been
a rough year for him, and he has to bring his opinion of himself down to a
more realistic level too, without losing confidence in himself at the same time.
One bad game isn't an about turn, let's see how they bounce back, or not.
Every game is 'hard', not 'easy'.

 

[#juan]

On that empty net goal, Sedin made a pee wee blunder. If hockey had a set of ten commandments, one of them would be that if you are last man back you don't leisurely skate around and stick handle with the puck in your own end....You make sure you get the puck out of your end as soon as you can.....Ice the puck if you have to but get it out.

 

[talloola]

On that empty net goal, Sedin made a pee wee blunder. If hockey had a set of ten commandments, one of them would be that if you are last man back you don't leisurely skate around and stick handle with the puck in your own end....You make sure you get the puck out of your end as soon as you can.....Ice the puck if you have to but get it out.

Absolutely, and they make those kind of passes to each other all the time,
they work most of the time, but when they are the last man back, they have
to think differently, and sometimes they don't, and are far too casual.
That has to stop, and I'm sure they are the first ones to admit that, I hope,
after seeing those passes on the videos, after the fact, which
they do all the time.

 

[talloola]

I didn't watch the 'after hours' interview with luongo on sat., but from what I have
heard, he mispoke, so now the fans and media are up in arms, (at least half of
them) according to the 1040 poll.
I guess they asked him 'about' staying with the canucks through a new contract, and
he said that he wants to win a cup and will play with whatever team he thinks will
do that.
He should have kept those thoughts to himself for now, it didn't go over too well.
He isn't playing well enough to take that 'i'm that good' I will pick my team any time
I want, so even though, it might be taken to a level that he didn't mean, he said
the wrong thing on HNIC interview.
Luongo certainly isn't showing the loyalty to the canucks that burrows and kesler
have both done, and I'm not referring to 'money', I am referring to loyality and
the wish to stay here and 'help' them build the stanley cup contender together.
His first concern should be getting his game to a level 'where', a team would
want him on their team to go for the cup, as it works both ways.
The rest of his team 'now know' that if things aren't as 'he' wants them, he is
gone, and no new contract.

 

[talloola]

today at 5:30

For the Canucks…

If the Canucks intend to snap out of their four-game winless streak on the road tonight, they’ll need every member of their roster to channel their inner road warriors and so far this season, there’s been no bigger road warrior than Alex Burrows. The 6’1”, 190 lbs. left winger, who has been having a Cinderella season already with career highs in goals (24) and points (42), has been even more effective in games away from GM Place. The 27-year old leads the team in goals scored on the road with 13 – one ahead of Pavol Demitra’s 12 – while 23 of his 42 points on the season have come in enemy territory. He was the only player who managed to score a goal in Saturday night’s forgettable outing against the Coyotes.

The Pincourt, Quebec native clearly has had the hot hand lately with nine goals in his last 10 games and having been held point-less in just two of those outings. However, he will be looking to do something he has never done in his career tonight – register a point against the Dallas Stars. In 14 career games against the Stars, Burrows has zero points and a minus-two rating to go with 37 penalty minutes.

Dallas's coach today said that they are going to be much more aggressive
in this game, as they cannot lose another game, they are struggling to
make the playoffs and their chances are slipping.
This tactic could get them a win, or it could backfire and they could lose
badly, we'll see, however, don't forget to recognize the ability of Dallas,
they are an excellent team, and if they didn't have the injuries they have
at present, they would not be struggling, they could be ahead of us in
the standings, so as I mention from time to time, 'injuries' are a major
part of any teams success/failure.
Brad Richards came back from a broken wrist in their last game, played
a couple of periods, and broke the 'other' wrist, so he is gone for the
season. Zubov is out, injured, and so is Morrow, their captain, 3 huge
vacancies on that team, so we should take advantage of that.
Not sure about Modano, he was out, might be back, I don't know.
Vancouver are healthy, lets hope they play with desperation as well, as
we are striving for home ice advantage in playoffs.

GO CANUCKS GO

 

[talloola]

Good game, good win, canucks are still rolling along.
Sedins were very strong tonight, they need to do that for the rest of the season,
and kesler was awsome.
St. Louis on Thursday.

GO CANUCKS GO

 

[Cannuck]

I'm not much of a Canucks fan but, my least favorite team is the Shames. I therefore have been one of the Canucks biggest boosters the last few months.

 

[dumpthemonarchy]

Go 'Nucks go!!! This is the year for the Stanley Cup!!! It is time to believe!!!

 

[talloola]

The team they have this year gives us reason to 'hope' for a more successful
playoff run, but I won't think of winning the stanley cup, until we are playing
for the stanley cup, as there are other teams out there with better season
stats than ours, and although we are playing well right now, they are too, so
we'll see how it goes, at least we know we are in the first round of the playoffs,
something we haven't been able to realize for two years.
When the playoffs start, it is the beginning of a brand new short season, with
16 teams, all wanting the same result, good luck to all, but especially, 'you know who'.

GO CANUCKS GO

 

[talloola]

today at 5:30 p.m.

On a night when Ryan Johnson is expected to appear in his 600th career NHL game, it seems only fitting that he gets to do it against the team that he has spent the majority of his NHL career with. The 32-year old has played 298 of his 599 career games with the St. Louis Blues from 2002.03 to 2007.08 and he was a part of the last Blues team that managed to advance to the Stanley Cup playoffs in 2003.04. The shot-blocking specialist, who last season led all NHL forwards with 105 blocked shots, will be making just his second return to St. Louis after joining the Canucks as a free agent over the summer.

The Thunder Bay, Ontario native has definitely been fulfilling his end of the bargain on the defensive side once again this season. His 73 blocked shots this season lead all forwards on the team despite having missed 20 games earlier this season due to injury. He has also been a big part of a resurgent Canucks’ penalty kill unit recently that has surrendered just three goals on 41 times shorthanded over the last seven games. Johnson has never registered a point against the Blues in his career, going point-less in nine career outings along with two penalty minutes.

We beat st. louis last week at home, but they have since played very well, and
can sneak into the playoffs with a couple more wins, so tonight they will be
fighting hard to do that. Canucks need the win too, as we are fighting to
get past chicago. All of the top teams are playing well again, the slumps seem
to have disappeared, so we have to keep winning to keep our place in the
standings or move up a little, not an easy task at all.
Chicago beat San Jose last night, and showed that they have their early season
form back again, so now they can beat anybody again, so it is a toss up now
for me, if chicago or columbus will be tougher in the playoffs, maybe it is
still columbus in my mind as they have hitchcock coaching, and he will be
well prepared, but chicago are so talented and fast and young, that they
can blow away teams any time, so it is 6 of one 1/2 dozen of the other now.

GO CANUCKS GO

 

[talloola]

From about the 7 minute mark in the first period, the st. louis blues took over this game, and outshot us 11 to 0 for the rest of the first period, and they outshot
us for the rest of the game.
Luongo was great, played a very solid game.
The young very talented players for the blues rose to the occasion, especially t.j.
oshey, young, big, very strong, and so talented, put ohlund on his butt, with not
much effort.
Canucks took too many penalties, especially sundin's late penalty, which took away
our possibility to pull our goalie and tie it up.
Burrows had a good game, scored a goal, now has 25.
They lost to us in our rink last week, and it seems they were determined to reek
revenge for that, and did not allow us to do it again.
They were just too strong for us tonight.
Dimitra played a very poor game, and so did sundin.
Our point guys couldn't hit the net, so the power play was dormant.
And, we let in a short handed goal to add to our misery.
I didn't think this was a good game to pull raymond for hannson, as we
needed raymond's wheels to get us out of trouble, and hansson is rusty, and
showed it.
We couldn't afford to have slackers on the ice against this team, and we did
tonight, kesler had no help from his line at all, and he can't score and defend
all by himself.

On to Colorado tomorrow, have to win that one, as we play chicago Sunday and
that will be just as tough as tonights game.

GO CANUCKS GO

 

[talloola]

tonight at 6:00 p.m.

For the Canucks…

With just one goal in the last nine games coming from a defenceman, the Canucks undoubtedly need their D-men to start stepping up offensively again and Sami Salo definitely fits into the category. The 6’3”, 215 lbs. blue liner, despite still sitting third in goals by a defenceman this season, has not found the back of the net in 11 games and is mired in his longest goal scoring slump since the start of the season when he did not have a goal in his first 12 games played. If the 34-year old does not manage to score in the final nine games of the regular season, it would mark his fewest single season goal total since becoming a Canuck. His previous season low as a Canuck was seven tallies back in 2003.04.

One of the reasons why the Turku, Finland native may be struggling to find offense is his lack of shot totals. He enters tonight’s game with just 93 shots on goal and would need to average three shots per game over the final nine contests to equalize his mark of 122 shots from last season. He has not had fewer than 122 shots on goal in a season since 2000.01. Salo will be trying to add to those shot totals, and perhaps snap his goal-less drought, tonight against the Avalanche. In 36 career meetings versus Colorado, Salo has recorded 14 points (4-10-14) and 16 penalty minutes.

Hope canucks play better tonight, I lost some respect for them last night,
but I gained more respect for St. Louis. Colorado has lost 5 in a row, so
if we can't get by them, we have problems.
Not sure about Bieksa, game time decision I think.
Hope Raymond is back in the line-up.

GO CANUCKS GO

 

[talloola]

Good and necessary win for the canucks tonight. Uninspiring in the first, but they
were on the backend of back to back games, and also a rough trip to colorado in
a serious snow storm, and the high altitude, so it did take them a period to get
their legs under them, then they were the better team for the rest of the game.
Still two more games with colorado, one at home and one more in colorado, last
game of the season I think.
On to Chicago on Sunday, if Canucks win that one I will eat my shirt, it is at home
for chicago, a must win for chicago to keep them ahead of us, and they have
played their best of late, so I don't expect that to change anytime soon.

GO CANUCKS GO

 

[shadowshiv]

Good and necessary win for the canucks tonight. Uninspiring in the first, but they
were on the backend of back to back games, and also a rough trip to colorado in
a serious snow storm, and the high altitude, so it did take them a period to get
their legs under them, then they were the better team for the rest of the game.
Still two more games with colorado, one at home and one more in colorado, last
game of the season I think.
On to Chicago on Sunday, if Canucks win that one I will eat my shirt, it is at home
for chicago, a must win for chicago to keep them ahead of us, and they have
played their best of late, so I don't expect that to change anytime soon.

GO CANUCKS GO

I will watch this score with added interest now. If Vancouver wins, I will be kind and allow you to sprinkle some seasoning on your shirt so it will be more tasty.;-):lol:

 

[Kreskin]

I will watch this score with added interest now. If Vancouver wins, I will be kind and allow you to sprinkle some seasoning on your shirt so it will be more tasty.;-):lol:

I agree

Regards,

 

[JLM]

Good and necessary win for the canucks tonight. Uninspiring in the first, but they
were on the backend of back to back games, and also a rough trip to colorado in
a serious snow storm, and the high altitude, so it did take them a period to get
their legs under them, then they were the better team for the rest of the game.
Still two more games with colorado, one at home and one more in colorado, last
game of the season I think.
On to Chicago on Sunday, if Canucks win that one I will eat my shirt, it is at home
for chicago, a must win for chicago to keep them ahead of us, and they have
played their best of late, so I don't expect that to change anytime soon.

GO CANUCKS GO

The nemesis now is Chicago- they have to beat them in reg. season play now, especially as there's a good chance they'll meet for the first round. It would be interesting to know who Chicago has beaten and who they've lost to. Chicago might be in a tougher division this year for a change. Hopefully it just comes down to who is the most determined to win the cup.

 

[talloola]

The nemesis now is Chicago- they have to beat them in reg. season play now, especially as there's a good chance they'll meet for the first round. It would be interesting to know who Chicago has beaten and who they've lost to. Chicago might be in a tougher division this year for a change. Hopefully it just comes down to who is the most determined to win the cup.

For me, the two scariest teams are columbus and chicago, I'd rather play detroit
or san jose in the first round than either of them.
Watched a real good game last night between chicago and new jersey, chicago
won it in overtime, and that is a possibility of two teams who will meet each
other for the cup, among others.
I don't see canucks as being on that level yet, but in the playoffs there are lots
of possibilities, 'who teams meet' early means a lot, and 'luck' comes into play,
home ice advantage, injuries, after that it's just each team having to play
their best, and most crucially, the goalies, determination is important, but if
the opposition is more determined and more talented, then so be it, you try
your best and are beaten by a better team, can't hang your head, that's sports.