Vancouver Canucks

Did Mike Gillis Jinx His Players?

February 1, 2011

Click here and enter the code "checkingline" to take advantage of this offer! --------------------- It’s bizarre how an innocuous comment, statement or sentence can sometimes come back and haunt a person. On January 11th 2011 the Canucks were due to start a 5 game road trip and had just won four of its previous 5 games, the only loss was in the shootout to an injury plagued Detroit side. Until this point in the season Vancouver had managed to only endure a few minor player injuries. A year earlier the team was struck by the injury bug that for a while meant that there were a total of eight players in the sickbay at any one time. Then on January 11th Mike Gillis recorded...

Canucks recall top prospect Cody Hodgson

January 31, 2011

Jonathan Szekeres

1 Comment

The Canucks have recalled prospect Cody Hodgson from the Manitoba Moose. Hodgson, who just returned from injury after getting whacked in the face with a stick, will probably suit up Tuesday night in Dallas, although no word on what line he will be on. It's exciting news for a fanbase that has rabidly been awaiting Hodgsons arrival. He has tantilized with early success at the junior level, yet injuries have kept him from the Canucks roster for two years. Now, he has his chance to crack a Vancouver roster that has had difficulty with secondary scoring. Will Cody Hodgson have an Alex Edler-like debut for the boys from Van city? Or will it be more of a Sergei Shirokov? Tune in t...

Canucks Blue Line hurting.. again

January 27, 2011

Jonathan Szekeres

5 Comments

So, today the Canucks announced that Alex Edler would potentially miss the rest of the season after requiring back surgery. So what else is new? The last four or five years have been a revolving door to the injury ward for Canucks defencemen, and this season is no different. Keith Ballard, Christian Ehrhoff, and Dan Hamhuis have already missed time with injuries this season, Sami Salo has yet to play this season, and the Canucks will now be without the services of Aaron Rome, Andrew Alberts, and Edler, who was the top pairing defenceman. Kevin Bieksa has only missed one game, due to the flu, but even he is nursing a swollen eye going into the allstar break. Abracadbra. All the...

Canucks V Predators Preview

January 26, 2011

James C Edgington

0 Comments

Nashville (27.16. 6) Points 60 When these two clubs lock horns it will be the first of four meetings, last season both teams met on four occasions with each side winning a game at home and once on the road. Nashville took to the ice on Monday 24th January against the Flames, where they tried to extend their three game winning streak. Calgary had other ideas by handing the Predators a 3-1 loss. David Legwand got the lone goal for the visiting Predators, goalie Pekka Rinne made 24 saves but it wasn’t enough. This month Nashville currently has a road record of 6-3-0. A win would mean that they were just two points behind Central Division leading Detroit, also extending the lead they have o...

Vancouver destroys Dallas 7-1

January 25, 2011

Jonathan Szekeres

4 Comments

Vancouver Canucks fans took a collective sigh. The Canucks shook off some rust, the players shook off some slumps, and the Canucks skated away with a 7-1 thrashing at the expense of the Dallas Stars. The Canucks came into the game with several players mirred in slumps. Mason Raymond hadn't scored a goal in twelve games, Mikael Samuelsson in fifteen, Dan Hamhuis in twenty five, and Alex Burrows in six. However, that all changed Monday night. Alex Burrows was the first to get the monkey off his back, as he unloaded a slapper 1:18 into the game. The puck dipped under Stars netminder Kari Lehtonen glove and into the back of the net. Surely, it was one Lehtonen should've stopped. He did m...

Canucks fall to Avalanche in OT

January 19, 2011

Jonathan Szekeres

0 Comments

It was a night of firsts Tuesday night for the Vancouver Canucks and the Colorado Avalanche. For instance, the Av's beat the Canucks for the first time this season, 4-3 in over time. Besides being the first loss against the Av's this season for the Van city squad, tonight also marked Manitoba Moose call up Sergei Shirokov's first NHL goal. And boy was it ever a beauty. But more on that later. The Canucks have seen the shine of their previous win streak dull a little bit, as they've lost back to back games and 3 of their last 4. However, the Canucks did manage to get a single point of it, even if it wasn't pretty. Let's take it from the top. First, Alex Edler scored his six...

Canucks Need More Help From Secondary Scorers

January 18, 2011

James C Edgington

0 Comments

When everything is going your way it’s sometimes difficult to notice the weeds if you always see things through rose tinted glasses. Vancouver is still sitting atop the NHL with 63 points, the team has the best points percentage .711, and are continuing to dominate in the face-off circle with the number one face-off win percentage of 55.7. If that wasn’t enough the club also has the second best PP and are seventh on the PK. Offensively, players like the Sedins and Kesler are among the best in the league. Daniel is third in goals with 27; Crosby and Stamkos are first and Second. Henrik has a league leading 46 assists. Kesler is having one of his greatest years with 24 goals if he ...

Canucks fall to Wild 4-0.

January 16, 2011

Jonathan Szekeres

2 Comments

The Vancouver Canucks were shut out for the second time in three games, this time losing 4-0 to the Minnesota Wild. It's not as if the Canucks played badly; in fact, they outshot the home team 32-25. No, the NHL's best team was felled by a little known goaltender who put in a dazzling performance. Anton Khudobin (who?) stopped all 32 shots he faced for his first career shut out, and he did it against one hell of a hockey team. Corey Schnieder took the loss, his second straight. Schnieder was not at his best tonight, but he can hardly take full blame for the loss. The Canucks had to play with a slightly depleted defence, as Andrew Alberts left the game with a shoulder injury and ...

Oh former captain my captain! Canucks top Capitals

January 15, 2011

Jonathan Szekeres

0 Comments

The Canucks bounced back from a disappointing loss last night, and beat the struggling Washington Capitals 4-2. Roberto Luongo had a strong game, stopping 25 of 27 shots, and Daniel Sedin had two goals, while defencemen Christian Ehrhoff and Alex Edler potted the other two. Jannik Hansen was the most noticable Canuck on the ice all night long, getting two assists and a slew of scoring chances. But let's take it from the top. The Canucks started the game with a bang, out shooting the Cap's 15-8 in the first period. It was, however, the Capitals that struck first. Matt Hendricks snuck by Alex Edler, went in on Vancouver Roberto Luongo and scored right underneath Luongo's glove ...

A Much Improved Kesler Is Paying Dividends For His Club

January 11, 2011

James C Edgington

0 Comments

How many times have you heard people say things like? “Paul is good at sports, but there’s always room for improvement”, or “If my child could just improve their grades I really think they could be top of the class.” There aren’t many people who are perfect; even those individuals that are considered great have to work hard to fine-tune their skills or talents. After all greatness isn’t something a person is, its something they become. Ryan Kesler is one such person who knows all about improvement, last season the Michigan native had a career year where he tallied for 75 points in 82 games, (25G, 50Ast, 75Pts). Many believed that they had seen him at his best, but ...