How about them Canucks!
- Thread starter #juan
- Start date
David Booth has been cleared to play, (last week), so maybe we will see him tomorrow.
Vineault said he is just waiting for booth to tell him he feels ready.
watched chicago/detroit earlier today, all detroit till the last period, then all
chicago, went into overtime, detroit won, 3-2
those games are so exciting, as good as any playoff game, in fact I find many games
reaching those heights, the league is so close, teams are ramped up now, to make
sure they don't fall behind. Lots of intensity and emotion in many games.
canucks will have to be ready tomorrow, against anaheim, as they have played much better of
late, perry is awake now, and the team looks more interested in trying to win, instead gliding around at 3/4 speed.
they have lots of good players, no reason for them to be so far down the board.
Vineault said he is just waiting for booth to tell him he feels ready.
watched chicago/detroit earlier today, all detroit till the last period, then all
chicago, went into overtime, detroit won, 3-2
those games are so exciting, as good as any playoff game, in fact I find many games
reaching those heights, the league is so close, teams are ramped up now, to make
sure they don't fall behind. Lots of intensity and emotion in many games.
canucks will have to be ready tomorrow, against anaheim, as they have played much better of
late, perry is awake now, and the team looks more interested in trying to win, instead gliding around at 3/4 speed.
they have lots of good players, no reason for them to be so far down the board.
LIVE ON SNET-P(HD) Radio: 1040 Ducks Sun 15/01/2012 6:00 PM Canucks
Preview Surging Ducks face stern test in VancouverMatthew Mankiewich - NHL.com Stats
TV: KDOC (HD), SNET-P (HD)
Last 10: Anaheim 5-3-2, Vancouver 7-2-1
Season Series: Two out of four season meetings – both at the Honda Center – are in the books. The second was handled easily by the Canucks, in just one of many setbacks in the Ducks' 3-9-2 slide to start the tenure of coach Bruce Boudreau.
Big Story: The Canucks might be surprised to see a different team when they welcome the Ducks into Rogers Arena. The uniforms are the same, as are the guys wearing them. What's different is the confidence a team can get only by racking up a few wins. The Ducks are 4-0-1 in their last five games and have regained a little swagger, something the Canucks – with their League-leading 59 points – are rather familiar with.
Team Scope:
Ducks: Let's not get too giddy -- the Ducks' recent wins have come against the Islanders, Blue Jackets, Stars and Oilers, none of whom occupy playoff spots at the moment. But wins are wins, and the latest one in Edmonton on Friday – a 5-0 whitewashing that made people wonder where this team had been all season – has everyone thinking positive.
"I didn't see one bad play out there today," Teemu Selanne said. "It was overall a very solid effort by everybody. It was the best game we've played all season. We're gaining so much confidence as a team right now.
"The last four or five games, that's the way we were supposed to have played all season. Hopefully, we can keep pushing."
Canucks: The Canucks have also won four of five, but to them it's just another day at the office. Actually, Vancouver’s been traveling for business more than anyone so far this season (26 games), particularly in the last few weeks, when they played 12 of 18 away from Vancouver. They went 12-4-2 overall and 8-3-1 on the road.
This last four-game, six-day trip was probably the most arduous as it led off in Boston with a Stanley Cup Final rematch with the Bruins and ended with a hard-fought overtime win in St. Louis. The schedule rewards them, however, with four home games in the next 12 days and a week off thanks to the All-Star break. Defenseman Alex Edler has already made plans.
“Lie on my bed,” he told the Vancouver Sun when asked what he was going to do with the free time. “Lie on my couch. We've played a lot, but you kind of get into it and sometimes it's nice to play and play. But it has been a lot of hockey.”
Who's Hot: All-Star Corey Perry has five goals and seven points in his last five games for Anaheim, a point total he shares with Selanne and Saku Koivu. Of the Sedin twins, Henrik has had the hotter hand lately, with a goal and six points in his last five, but Daniel came up with the overtime game-winner in St. Louis and has a 12-game points streak (10 goals, 12 assists) against the Ducks.
Injury Report: Ducks goalie Dan Ellis (torn groin muscle) says he might be out longer than the original estimated four weeks, while Devante Smith-Pelly is back in Anaheim for rehab after breaking a bone in his left foot playing for Team Canada in the World Junior Championship. … Canucks forward David Booth (knee) has been cleared to play, but does not want to return until he is 100 percent healthy. Defenseman Sami Salo (concussion) missed his third game, and Andrew Ebbett underwent surgery to repair a broken collarbone suffered last Saturday in Boston. He is not expected back until the playoffs at the earliest.
Stat Pack: Daniel Sedin's overtime winner in St. Louis was his 700th career point. It was also the ninth OT goal of his career, tying the franchise record. Perry scored twice in the Edmonton game to give him 20 goals for the fifth consecutive season. Ryan Getzlaf had a season-high four assists in the Edmonton game. He had only one goal and one assist in his previous 10 games.
Puck Drop: "I've got to believe it's better than it was two weeks ago and better than it was a week ago. I don't want to put the cart before the horse. We've got a long way to go and we play the best team in the National Hockey League, I think, on Sunday. (They) will have been rested for three days. We'll see where we're at." – Boudreau, in the Orange County Register, on his team's recent surge
Preview Surging Ducks face stern test in VancouverMatthew Mankiewich - NHL.com Stats
TV: KDOC (HD), SNET-P (HD)
Last 10: Anaheim 5-3-2, Vancouver 7-2-1
Season Series: Two out of four season meetings – both at the Honda Center – are in the books. The second was handled easily by the Canucks, in just one of many setbacks in the Ducks' 3-9-2 slide to start the tenure of coach Bruce Boudreau.
Big Story: The Canucks might be surprised to see a different team when they welcome the Ducks into Rogers Arena. The uniforms are the same, as are the guys wearing them. What's different is the confidence a team can get only by racking up a few wins. The Ducks are 4-0-1 in their last five games and have regained a little swagger, something the Canucks – with their League-leading 59 points – are rather familiar with.
Team Scope:
Ducks: Let's not get too giddy -- the Ducks' recent wins have come against the Islanders, Blue Jackets, Stars and Oilers, none of whom occupy playoff spots at the moment. But wins are wins, and the latest one in Edmonton on Friday – a 5-0 whitewashing that made people wonder where this team had been all season – has everyone thinking positive.
"I didn't see one bad play out there today," Teemu Selanne said. "It was overall a very solid effort by everybody. It was the best game we've played all season. We're gaining so much confidence as a team right now.
"The last four or five games, that's the way we were supposed to have played all season. Hopefully, we can keep pushing."
Canucks: The Canucks have also won four of five, but to them it's just another day at the office. Actually, Vancouver’s been traveling for business more than anyone so far this season (26 games), particularly in the last few weeks, when they played 12 of 18 away from Vancouver. They went 12-4-2 overall and 8-3-1 on the road.
This last four-game, six-day trip was probably the most arduous as it led off in Boston with a Stanley Cup Final rematch with the Bruins and ended with a hard-fought overtime win in St. Louis. The schedule rewards them, however, with four home games in the next 12 days and a week off thanks to the All-Star break. Defenseman Alex Edler has already made plans.
“Lie on my bed,” he told the Vancouver Sun when asked what he was going to do with the free time. “Lie on my couch. We've played a lot, but you kind of get into it and sometimes it's nice to play and play. But it has been a lot of hockey.”
Who's Hot: All-Star Corey Perry has five goals and seven points in his last five games for Anaheim, a point total he shares with Selanne and Saku Koivu. Of the Sedin twins, Henrik has had the hotter hand lately, with a goal and six points in his last five, but Daniel came up with the overtime game-winner in St. Louis and has a 12-game points streak (10 goals, 12 assists) against the Ducks.
Injury Report: Ducks goalie Dan Ellis (torn groin muscle) says he might be out longer than the original estimated four weeks, while Devante Smith-Pelly is back in Anaheim for rehab after breaking a bone in his left foot playing for Team Canada in the World Junior Championship. … Canucks forward David Booth (knee) has been cleared to play, but does not want to return until he is 100 percent healthy. Defenseman Sami Salo (concussion) missed his third game, and Andrew Ebbett underwent surgery to repair a broken collarbone suffered last Saturday in Boston. He is not expected back until the playoffs at the earliest.
Stat Pack: Daniel Sedin's overtime winner in St. Louis was his 700th career point. It was also the ninth OT goal of his career, tying the franchise record. Perry scored twice in the Edmonton game to give him 20 goals for the fifth consecutive season. Ryan Getzlaf had a season-high four assists in the Edmonton game. He had only one goal and one assist in his previous 10 games.
Puck Drop: "I've got to believe it's better than it was two weeks ago and better than it was a week ago. I don't want to put the cart before the horse. We've got a long way to go and we play the best team in the National Hockey League, I think, on Sunday. (They) will have been rested for three days. We'll see where we're at." – Boudreau, in the Orange County Register, on his team's recent surge
two weeks ago the GM of the anaheim ducks made a statement to the media. He said that with the exception
of selanne and koivu the rest of the team is negotiable, and despensible.
Since then, that team has jumped to attention, and has won the last 5 out of 6, and starting to look like
they should have all year.
On the flip side canucks, with the exception of a couple of players, tonight looked awful, no forechecking,
lots of defensive errors, very few shots on goal, and gave up a game in their own building, without
much of a pushback.
hodgson, burrows, booth looked real good
, luongo could have played better, gave blake too much room on
his goal, and was flopping and crawling around too much, but the loss was not his fault, the rest of
the team was weak tonight.
where is all of that energy we saw in higgins, not there any more, raymond scored a goal because of the
fantastic speed, but his game must pick up too. Fourth line was good.
twins didn't do much, kesler was not up to the pace, those are the players who must lead, and didn't
tonight.
l.a. in vancouver on tuesday, and they will be grouchy because they lost to edmonton tonight in overtime,
after trashing calgary last night, 4-1
So, they are not going to go down with a fight, and since darryl sutter has stepped
behind the bench, they have played much better, and are a threat in every game.
of selanne and koivu the rest of the team is negotiable, and despensible.
Since then, that team has jumped to attention, and has won the last 5 out of 6, and starting to look like
they should have all year.
On the flip side canucks, with the exception of a couple of players, tonight looked awful, no forechecking,
lots of defensive errors, very few shots on goal, and gave up a game in their own building, without
much of a pushback.
hodgson, burrows, booth looked real good
, luongo could have played better, gave blake too much room on
his goal, and was flopping and crawling around too much, but the loss was not his fault, the rest of
the team was weak tonight.
where is all of that energy we saw in higgins, not there any more, raymond scored a goal because of the
fantastic speed, but his game must pick up too. Fourth line was good.
twins didn't do much, kesler was not up to the pace, those are the players who must lead, and didn't
tonight.
l.a. in vancouver on tuesday, and they will be grouchy because they lost to edmonton tonight in overtime,
after trashing calgary last night, 4-1
So, they are not going to go down with a fight, and since darryl sutter has stepped
behind the bench, they have played much better, and are a threat in every game.
Yeah, I watched the first two periods and got a little discouraged and turned the T.V. over to the grand kids. :smile:
Booth showed up and for his first game back played like he was interested in winning-the rest not so much.
yes, i'm sure his adrenalin was very high tonight, so glad to be back in the line up. His skating ability
is amazing, and when he has had a few games under his belt, he will be a very exciting player to watch
in every game, just hope kesler and higgins can rise to the occasion as well, they sure didn't tonight.
canucks vs kings - tonight 7:00 p.m.- rogers arena
Even though his Los Angeles Kings lost in overtime to a struggling opponent in their last game, Darryl Sutter was satisfied with his club's weekend in Alberta.
A win in British Columbia would have him thrilled with the three-game road trip.
Los Angeles looks to gain at least one point for the 14th time in 15 games Tuesday night against the Vancouver Canucks.
The Kings (22-15-9) will be trying to become the second team from southern California to win in Vancouver in three nights following Anaheim's 4-2 victory Sunday, and they'll also be hoping to beat the Canucks for the second time since Sutter took over last month. They cruised to a 4-1 home win Dec. 31.
Even though they fell to 7-1-5 under Sutter with Sunday's 2-1 overtime defeat in Edmonton, the coach forgave his team for a sluggish start after the Kings had won 4-1 the night before in Sutter's return to Calgary.
"That was tough scheduling," he said. "That's a pretty good explanation for our start. We got three out of four points in Alberta. I'm all right with that. I'll take the point."
After an off day, Sutter may expect a more spirited performance in Vancouver. He'll certainly hope to see a revitalized penalty kill.
The Kings have allowed four power-play goals on 12 chances in their last three games - the Oilers went 2 for 3 - after opponents went 0 for 36 in their previous 11 contests. The Canucks were 0 for 4 on New Year's Eve.
Anze Kopitar, who has three goals and three assists in his last four games, ended a 17-game goal drought Dec. 31. He assisted on Justin Williams' goal Sunday, but the Kings generated just 21 shots, their second-lowest total of the season.
"We just couldn't seem to get it going until late in the game," defenseman Rob Scuderi said. "Our cycle game, which has been so good for us the last month, just wasn't there. It all added up to a tough night offensively."
Vancouver (28-15-3) had a tough night in several areas against the Ducks, a rarity during a 19-6-2 surge to a commanding Northwest Division lead.
Following a 3-1-0 road trip, which included an emotional win over Stanley Cup champion Boston, the Canucks opened a six-game homestand with a sleepy effort that included three shots on goal in the first period.
"Defensively I stopped counting the turnovers after a while," coach Alain Vigneault said. "I think it was pretty evident to anybody watching the game or at the game that it didn't seem like we had a lot of jump and energy."
Defenseman Kevin Bieksa said there were clear lessons to learn from the Canucks' second regulation loss in their last nine home games.
"Next game we'll come out, we'll be shooting pucks early," Bieksa said. "You get better from it. It's an 82-game schedule. It's a loss, but we'll move on."
Vancouver's potent offense will face a stiff challenge if Jonathan Quick is in net for the Kings. Quick has gone 3-0-2 with a 1.15 goals-against average in his last five road starts, and he beat the Canucks at home with 27 saves last month.
Roberto Luongo wasn't as sharp in that game, allowing four goals on 33 shots, but he has outplayed Quick at Rogers Arena lately. Including a first-round playoff series the Canucks won in 2010, Luongo is 7-1-1 with a 1.39 GAA in his last nine home starts against the Kings.
Even though his Los Angeles Kings lost in overtime to a struggling opponent in their last game, Darryl Sutter was satisfied with his club's weekend in Alberta.
A win in British Columbia would have him thrilled with the three-game road trip.
Los Angeles looks to gain at least one point for the 14th time in 15 games Tuesday night against the Vancouver Canucks.
The Kings (22-15-9) will be trying to become the second team from southern California to win in Vancouver in three nights following Anaheim's 4-2 victory Sunday, and they'll also be hoping to beat the Canucks for the second time since Sutter took over last month. They cruised to a 4-1 home win Dec. 31.
Even though they fell to 7-1-5 under Sutter with Sunday's 2-1 overtime defeat in Edmonton, the coach forgave his team for a sluggish start after the Kings had won 4-1 the night before in Sutter's return to Calgary.
"That was tough scheduling," he said. "That's a pretty good explanation for our start. We got three out of four points in Alberta. I'm all right with that. I'll take the point."
After an off day, Sutter may expect a more spirited performance in Vancouver. He'll certainly hope to see a revitalized penalty kill.
The Kings have allowed four power-play goals on 12 chances in their last three games - the Oilers went 2 for 3 - after opponents went 0 for 36 in their previous 11 contests. The Canucks were 0 for 4 on New Year's Eve.
Anze Kopitar, who has three goals and three assists in his last four games, ended a 17-game goal drought Dec. 31. He assisted on Justin Williams' goal Sunday, but the Kings generated just 21 shots, their second-lowest total of the season.
"We just couldn't seem to get it going until late in the game," defenseman Rob Scuderi said. "Our cycle game, which has been so good for us the last month, just wasn't there. It all added up to a tough night offensively."
Vancouver (28-15-3) had a tough night in several areas against the Ducks, a rarity during a 19-6-2 surge to a commanding Northwest Division lead.
Following a 3-1-0 road trip, which included an emotional win over Stanley Cup champion Boston, the Canucks opened a six-game homestand with a sleepy effort that included three shots on goal in the first period.
"Defensively I stopped counting the turnovers after a while," coach Alain Vigneault said. "I think it was pretty evident to anybody watching the game or at the game that it didn't seem like we had a lot of jump and energy."
Defenseman Kevin Bieksa said there were clear lessons to learn from the Canucks' second regulation loss in their last nine home games.
"Next game we'll come out, we'll be shooting pucks early," Bieksa said. "You get better from it. It's an 82-game schedule. It's a loss, but we'll move on."
Vancouver's potent offense will face a stiff challenge if Jonathan Quick is in net for the Kings. Quick has gone 3-0-2 with a 1.15 goals-against average in his last five road starts, and he beat the Canucks at home with 27 saves last month.
Roberto Luongo wasn't as sharp in that game, allowing four goals on 33 shots, but he has outplayed Quick at Rogers Arena lately. Including a first-round playoff series the Canucks won in 2010, Luongo is 7-1-1 with a 1.39 GAA in his last nine home starts against the Kings.
we've noticed that higgins doesn't have the jump he had previously, it is because he is still on a
medication for the staph infection, which is zapping some of his energy, and until the medication
is finished, he will remain that way.
that statement is from the interview with vineault this morning.
medication for the staph infection, which is zapping some of his energy, and until the medication
is finished, he will remain that way.
that statement is from the interview with vineault this morning.
with the exception of the top line juan, I thought the canucks played a good game, much better than in
the recent past.
san jose hasn't been outshot in the first period for a long time, canucks did that tonight, by a big margin.
san jose had some push back in the last period, but so did canucks.
we kept them in their own end much of the game, and when in canucks end, they were kept to the outside
much of the time.
it is obvious to me that the two days of practice they had, was just what they needed, as on the road trip
they don't get to practice, just game day skates.
and I think they also needed some well earned rest after so many games, and the road trip on top, now
they can catch their breath in between games, enjoy the all-star break, and start fresh after that.
The twins are the ones who are having the most trouble, not sure how they will come out of it, but
they need to, burrows is playing very well, but can't do much scoring without the twins chipping in,
but burrows is very good at the point on the power play, I like him there.
The Canucks got two goals from their rookie, Cody Hodgson. Kesler and Booth scored the
other two goals. I had the feeling that the game could have gone either way. Hodgson
scored a goal late in the third to win the game.
hodgson is improving in leaps and strides, and is having a very good rookie season, and is sitting third
in the rookie scoring right now, but with hopkins coming back for edmonton, that will knock him back to
fourth.
Hodgsons's second goal was a lucky one, bounced in off of someone's leg, but that is the way the game goes,
some go in that way many times.
Because the score was close, sure it could have gone either way, never know when a goal will be scored
in any game, just like the hodgson one went in.
If you heard vineault's post game interview, he said it very well, just how the canucks played in this
game, and how they were much better than previous few games, and how the play had been at both ends of
of the ice, and how canucks dominated the first period with many more shots than san jose, those are all
important stats and showed just how much improvement canucks had made compared to the previous 3 or 4
games where they were 'not' good at all.
Good to see them getting back to where they should be.
Don't get me wrong. I'm glad the Canucks won. Hodgson's second goal was one of those "goalie's nightmares". It bounced in off
the goalie's leg. I think Hodgson might have shot it from back of the red line. My neighbor and I were discussing Hodgson after the
game and we agreed that he could have thirty goals by the end of the regular season. Booth is another young player that seems to have all the tools to be a real help to the Canucks by the start of the play-offs.
yeah, I like booth a lot, what a nice trade that was. And kesler had a bit of a positive game last night,
got a nice goal, maybe he will settle down now, not try so hard, not shoot every time he gets the puck,
he has had so many blocked shots, he's not thinking very well on the ice, but last night he looked a tad
better.
the twins have to figure it out too, they are 30 now, and i'm wondering if they are over the peak of their
careers and now will just be good players, but not top players. They are a different sort, so talented,
but have never been great skaters, so, if they don't come thru with their amazing play as they have been,
they will fade fast.
I mean, all players begin to lose their effectiveness at some point, hope its not that way with them yet.
Been thinking much the same thing m'self-how time catches up with us all and how poignant it is to see it happen to someone so much younger.
One reason the Sedins are suffering, is because the better teams are sending a man out to get between them to
ruin their picture perfect passing plays. I thought this would happen a lot earlier.
their game has to be much more thorough, than just 'drying up' because that is happening, and that little
cycling routine has changed long ago, they don't do that much at all any more, that is why burrows was so successful with them, because he became the third man in the
cycling process,and they have ramped their game up since then, they do play off of the rush much more
in the past couple of years, than before.
They do get stuck sometimes, and don't see others, and look for each other first,
but I don't see that in the cycling thing, I see that away from the boards, out
in the zone, but they don't do that all the time, and do see others as well, and
put out some nice passes.
They are very intelligent players, and have known long ago that their game must have much more, than cycling the puck between each other, and they changed a long time ago, but their intelligence can only go as far as their
bodies will take them, as it is the physical ability that concerns me, not sure if their bodies are
capable of achieving as much as they have in the past.
They know what they have to do, they say what they have to do, but when they are trying to do it, it
just doesn't seem to be happening, they are looking a bit 'behind' the flow of the game recently, sure
hope that can change.
The reason they get too many hooking penalties, is because they, at times, can't keep up, and start
reaching from behind, hence - hooking.
I hope i'm wrong, and they come out soon and begin to take over games again, like they have done in the
past. I wonder.
The Vancouver Canucks teamed up with the bantam A1 Seafair Islanders to put on quite a show Sunday at Rogers Arena in their annual Superskills event.
Split up into two squads, Team White and Team Blue, as they took part in six head to head competitions that showcased their skill and agility that enables them to sit atop the Western Conference. Events included puck control relay, fastest skater, accuracy shooting, hardest shot, a breakaway relay and a power play event.
CANUCKS EXTRAS Highlights
Kesler bomb 2.0
Both teams battled hard, with Team White jumping out to a big lead but it was Team Blue who laughed last as they slowly but surely chipped away at Team White’s lead to come up with a 14-10 victory in front of a boisterous sold out crowd.
The event kicked off with the Canucks Alumni playing a game of shinny that included color man John Garrett in the net making several big stops and hamming it up for the crowd. The game ended in a draw with blue knotting up the score with their goalie pulled for the extra attacker.
Next it was on to the main event where Canucks present stars pitted their skills against one another. The Puck Control relay was first with the Sedin brothers and Manny Malhotra going up against Ryan Kesler, David Booth, and Dan Hamhuis. It was tight the whole way, the only difference being a tiny slip up by Kesler, paving the way for an early Team Blue lead.
That lead was short lived as Chris Higgins beat out Alex Burrows for the one on one challenge of the event, to put Team White on the board.
The much-anticipated fastest skater event was up next, and on a team built around speed there was no shortage of candidates. Keith Ballard surprised everyone, posting the fastest time, including the sold out crowd that all but gave the crown to speed demon Mason Raymond even before he went with a deafening roar.
“Yeah, I thought Mase was going to be the one to beat…I don’t know, with D-men you don’t really get to see us at full speed,” Ballard said with a smile. “Forwards are up and down the ice and you can see their speed more, where as D-men it’s there every now and then but you don’t really do the big end to end rushes or the hard back check plays like forwards so we don’t get up to full speed very much.”
When asked what he thought his chances were coming into the event, Ballard had this to say;
“I knew I had a pretty good chance, I think I can hold my own with most guys.”
Ballard didn’t want to rub it in either, instead taking the high road to avoid hurting his speedy winger’s feelings after narrowly beating him out with a time of 13.444.
“I don’t want to make him cry, after all it’s kind of his event,” laughed Ballard. “I’ll let him win next year, I just needed to do it once to prove that I could do it.”
The hardest shot competition was up next and thankfully for the fans it included Sami Salo, who’s been out with a concussion ever since he was submarined by Brad Marchand of the Boston Bruins. And he didn’t disappoint either, posting the two hardest shots, putting up a winning speed of 102.7 MPH on his second attempt.
Salo’s appearance was all the buzz in the room, especially after it was misconstrued that he may retire at the end of this season. But Salo quickly put an end to that notion saying that he simply meant Alex Edler let him win this year because his career is winding down.
“He gave it back knowing I’m near the end of my career,” said Salo.
Daniel Sedin, last year’s winner over Patrick Kane in the All-Star festivities in Carolina, looked to be the favorite to win the accuracy shootout but it was fellow Blue Team member Alex Burrows who went four for four destroying all of his targets.
“I had two great passers in Manny and Hanky so it made it easy,” said Burrows who showboated a bit afterwards in an attempt to mock Kesler who had pre-maturely celebrated his four out of five effort.
The last two events were the first to showcase arguable the best goalie tandem in the NHL and they didn’t disappoint. The Blue team edged Team White four to one in the power play event and then two to one on the breakaway relay. Roberto Luongo was just far too stingy allowing just two goals in both events combined.
In the end Team Blue walked away with a 14-10 victory and bragging rights over Team White.
The Superskills challenge, which also included face painting, pictures with several mascots on hand and the opportunity to see their team in a different light, was another remarkably successful event as the players put on a great show for their loyal fans. But it was the players themselves that were impressed with the great fan turnout.
“I’ve had a couple skills competitions on other teams but they didn’t really compete,” said Dale Weise. “To be honest with you I thought there would be like 2,000 people here. I had no idea it was that kind of magnitude or that many people would show. It just goes to show you how passionate the fans are here and it’s just fun to be a part of.”
Weise was the last player to leave the ice as he stayed in the tunnel signing what seemed like a never-ending supply of fans jerseys, towels and programs.
Split up into two squads, Team White and Team Blue, as they took part in six head to head competitions that showcased their skill and agility that enables them to sit atop the Western Conference. Events included puck control relay, fastest skater, accuracy shooting, hardest shot, a breakaway relay and a power play event.
CANUCKS EXTRAS Highlights
Kesler bomb 2.0
Both teams battled hard, with Team White jumping out to a big lead but it was Team Blue who laughed last as they slowly but surely chipped away at Team White’s lead to come up with a 14-10 victory in front of a boisterous sold out crowd.
The event kicked off with the Canucks Alumni playing a game of shinny that included color man John Garrett in the net making several big stops and hamming it up for the crowd. The game ended in a draw with blue knotting up the score with their goalie pulled for the extra attacker.
Next it was on to the main event where Canucks present stars pitted their skills against one another. The Puck Control relay was first with the Sedin brothers and Manny Malhotra going up against Ryan Kesler, David Booth, and Dan Hamhuis. It was tight the whole way, the only difference being a tiny slip up by Kesler, paving the way for an early Team Blue lead.
That lead was short lived as Chris Higgins beat out Alex Burrows for the one on one challenge of the event, to put Team White on the board.
The much-anticipated fastest skater event was up next, and on a team built around speed there was no shortage of candidates. Keith Ballard surprised everyone, posting the fastest time, including the sold out crowd that all but gave the crown to speed demon Mason Raymond even before he went with a deafening roar.
“Yeah, I thought Mase was going to be the one to beat…I don’t know, with D-men you don’t really get to see us at full speed,” Ballard said with a smile. “Forwards are up and down the ice and you can see their speed more, where as D-men it’s there every now and then but you don’t really do the big end to end rushes or the hard back check plays like forwards so we don’t get up to full speed very much.”
When asked what he thought his chances were coming into the event, Ballard had this to say;
“I knew I had a pretty good chance, I think I can hold my own with most guys.”
Ballard didn’t want to rub it in either, instead taking the high road to avoid hurting his speedy winger’s feelings after narrowly beating him out with a time of 13.444.
“I don’t want to make him cry, after all it’s kind of his event,” laughed Ballard. “I’ll let him win next year, I just needed to do it once to prove that I could do it.”
The hardest shot competition was up next and thankfully for the fans it included Sami Salo, who’s been out with a concussion ever since he was submarined by Brad Marchand of the Boston Bruins. And he didn’t disappoint either, posting the two hardest shots, putting up a winning speed of 102.7 MPH on his second attempt.
Salo’s appearance was all the buzz in the room, especially after it was misconstrued that he may retire at the end of this season. But Salo quickly put an end to that notion saying that he simply meant Alex Edler let him win this year because his career is winding down.
“He gave it back knowing I’m near the end of my career,” said Salo.
Daniel Sedin, last year’s winner over Patrick Kane in the All-Star festivities in Carolina, looked to be the favorite to win the accuracy shootout but it was fellow Blue Team member Alex Burrows who went four for four destroying all of his targets.
“I had two great passers in Manny and Hanky so it made it easy,” said Burrows who showboated a bit afterwards in an attempt to mock Kesler who had pre-maturely celebrated his four out of five effort.
The last two events were the first to showcase arguable the best goalie tandem in the NHL and they didn’t disappoint. The Blue team edged Team White four to one in the power play event and then two to one on the breakaway relay. Roberto Luongo was just far too stingy allowing just two goals in both events combined.
In the end Team Blue walked away with a 14-10 victory and bragging rights over Team White.
The Superskills challenge, which also included face painting, pictures with several mascots on hand and the opportunity to see their team in a different light, was another remarkably successful event as the players put on a great show for their loyal fans. But it was the players themselves that were impressed with the great fan turnout.
“I’ve had a couple skills competitions on other teams but they didn’t really compete,” said Dale Weise. “To be honest with you I thought there would be like 2,000 people here. I had no idea it was that kind of magnitude or that many people would show. It just goes to show you how passionate the fans are here and it’s just fun to be a part of.”
Weise was the last player to leave the ice as he stayed in the tunnel signing what seemed like a never-ending supply of fans jerseys, towels and programs.