Vancouver Canucks

We are in mid-November, and it is time for my look at the Canucks this month thus far. The 'Nucks have played 7 games up till now (1 home, 6 road), and have managed to get 8 of 14 points. Brian Raiger takes a look at what the Canucks have done correctly and what they need to do for their remaining 6 games of the month and season ahead.

NOV. 1 - CANUCKS @ FLAMES - SCORE: 5-1 W

The key to any game is to have a successful first 20 minutes, come out hard hitting, get the puck deep, draw a penalty, and convert. This is what happened for the Canucks, scoring 3 goals in the first 20 minutes (2 of them with the extra man, and one of these PP goals coming with 19 seconds left in th...

Despite the Canucks not playing their best hockey as of late, I do believe that this is a strong team built to succeed this season.  If this team doesn’t make the playoffs, I would be completely shocked.  As a whole, this is a solid team that has a lot to offer each and every night.

That being said, I do think there is one glaring weakness on this team, and that is bottom six grit.  I’m not talking about fighters like Volpatti and Weise (as I believe those guys are capable of the job), I’m talking about the grit that is so apparently missing on the third line.

Think back to the good times last year.  The third line consisted of Manny Malho...

For 38 minutes, you had a glimpse of what could be for the New York Islanders.

Josh Bailey, Brian Rolston, and Michael Grabner all had goals. The Isles were up 3-0 and cruising to an easy two points.

A 5 on 3 advantage, and power play goal for the Colorado Avalanche later.. Game on.

Continue Reading

There are certain games you get up for in the course of the season, and few tend to generate as much excitement within a fanbase as the first meeting of the year between bitter rivals. It's a date circled early on the calendar and loaded with anticipation.

The players get up for it, too, and they feed the media all the right quotes and give the fans the little wink-wink-nudge-nudge, and then .... they go out there and lay a big, fat egg - which is exactly what Chicago did last night against the Vancouver Canucks.

We've discussed the Blackhawks/Canucks rivalry and how last season ended often enough by now. The Blackhawks rol...