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Checking Things Off The List That Never Ends |
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Checking Things Off The List
[ x ] Ignore Lame Pre-Game Ceremony
[ x ] Good Start – First Goal
[ x ] Improve Power Play
[ x ] Improve Penalty Killing
[ x ] Discipline
[ x ] Tied or Ahead after 2
[ ] Sedins Wake Up
[ ] Limit Odd-Man Rushes Against
[ x ] Luongo Stop More Pucks
[ x ] More Shots on Net
[ x ] Play Physical and with Emotion
[ ] See if Pyatt has a Pulse
[ x ] Regular Spot for Wellwood
[ ] The Krog/Sedins Experiment
[ x ] Raymond without Demitra
[ ] Pyatt with anyone
[ x ] Young Guys Scoring
[ x ] Kesler continuing to Lead
Coming into last night’s game against the division rival Oilers, the Canucks' To Do List was getting longer and longer. They had 3 full days off to try and figure things out and how they responded in this game after losing 4 of their last 5, while not do-or-die by any means, was extremely important.
Canuck fans can breathe a little easier after watching an almost complete about-face in almost every area of the game, but rest assured that list will always be in search of more X’s as the number of questions surrounding this team never seems to end.
Perhaps the biggest question is what type of team are the Canucks? 8 games is obviously not a big enough sample-size to get an accurate read on this team, but I can’t remember a start to a season that showed such contrast in games and styles played.
Is this 38th edition of Good Ship Canuck really a team that can afford to trade chances with the opposition and expect to come out ahead or will they eventually have to revert to the defensive mind-set so prominent (Boring!) in recent years?
Well, we’re gonna have to wait a couple of months to get a better read on that question to be sure, but no one can argue that this team is not a whole heck of a lot more entertaining to watch. The teams that are having success right now are using speed to dominate and control the flow of the games, and for the first time in, well, like forever, the Canucks appear to have some of that ... that stuff that is known “to kill.”
All I know for sure right now is that this team is a lot funner to watch, and at this point, that’s good enough for me.
Some Randomness …
- Wellwood, who exactly one week ago today spent most of that Sunday on the phone with his agent trying to salvage his career in Europe, is picking himself up off of the waiver-wire-scrap-heap and is now going a long ways towards earning himself a spot on this team, regardless of who’s injured or not.
His talent, and especially the patience level that he possesses, are off-the-charts. That goal he scored last night, his 2nd in two games since clearing waivers twice last week (that’s 3 times now), just reinforced that.
He was good offensively, but even more impressive last night was his play without the puck. He had a shift in the 1st where he was first in on the forecheck and the first guy on the backcheck! (I had to wipe my eyes and give my head a shake after watching that!) Another shift where he was back deep helping the D he was in perfect support position when the puck came his way and made a great first pass that sent the team up ice with an odd-man rush.
Vigneault almost always shortens the bench in the 3rd and last night Wellwood was part of that group of 9 forwards that see the ice on a regular basis, and that doesn’t happen unless you have the trust of the Coach on the defensive side of the puck. I’m still embarrassed for him when I look at him skate, but he’s looking like an excellent insurance pick up by Gillis, and I’m happy for the guy.
He knows his strengths and limitations and is very grateful to be back in the NHL … only one week ago he was very realistic in talking about his future as he was telling friends and family that he only had a 5% shot at making it back. Well, he’s beaten the odds for now, and let’s hope it continues.
- Seeing Kevin Bieksa rounding back into form is very encouraging. Right now he is doing it all, just like he showed us 2 years ago and the kind of play that led to Nonis giving him the new contract. If Bieksa can continue contribute in all areas of the game, and keep his mistakes to a minimum, he can be the best defender on this team.
- When your favourite team is the Vancouver Canucks it’s fairly easy to recall numerous times in the past when you’ve been embarrassed, but I don’t know that I’ve ever felt the way I felt last night watching that unbelievably lame pre-game ceremony for the “7th Canuck” … at least call it the 7th Man if you’re gonna do something like that.
All I could think about while watching (and listening to the stunned silence of the crowd) was that we were witnessing the biggest unveiling of a “Make Noise” or “Noise Meter” ever created, and we all know how well those stupid things work.
You can’t retire Bure’s #10 but you can take #7 out of circulation for THAT?
- Special Teams were obviously the main story last night, and when you're coming in sucking exhaust fumes behind the pack and you end up 4 for 6 on the power play and don't give the opposition anything on their extra skater opportunities, that story is always gonna have a happy ending.
- What can you say about the “3rd Line”? Kesler, Burrows and Hansen have been great every game and the team’s best line by a mile. Kesler is being rewarded with more and more power play time and his 2 assists last night give him 9 points after 8 games. Burrows will always be Burrows but his confidence is sky-high and his skillz are on display, as his 7 points suggest. Hansen very rarely hurts you as he is an extremely intelligent player (as are Fric & Frac alongside) and his 2 goals last night (he coulda easily had 4 of ‘em!) will be very big for him in the confidence department.
- Like Hansen, Mason Raymond is young and lit the lamp twice in beating the Oilers, giving him 6 points in his last 5 … this team needs the speedster to produce and he is. He’s always around the puck (he’s usually the first guy there) and he will continue to make mistakes along the way, but if they keep him in the top-6 and give him the PP time he needs he may show us the hype wasn’t for naught. And don’t forget, 2 years ago at this time he was in his 2nd year of college so his learning curve has been extremely steep to be doing what he is doing right now.
The Grades …
A … Bieksa, Raymond, Hansen, Kesler, Wellwood
B … Luongo, Ohlund, Mitchell, Burrows
C+ … Edler, O’Brien, Davison, Johnson, Krog
C … Hordichuk
C- … Henrik, Daniel, Pyatt, Bernier
Next up is the Bruins of Boston on Tuesday before a quick back-to-backer at the end of the week in SoCal against the Kings and Ducks.
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