The Vancouver Canucks will practice at Rogers Arena at 11:00 am on Friday before heading to California for games against the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday and the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday.
The Canucks will have a chance to overtake Los Angeles for third place in the Pacific Division standings when they go head-to-head. After a 5-0 loss to St. Louis on Thursday, the Kings have now lost five in a row and sit just one point up on Vancouver. The teams have played the same number of games, but L.A. has more wins, so the Canucks would have to win outright in order to overtake them.
Despite the recent losses and giving up five goals last night, the Kings remain tied with Boston for the lowest goals-against in the league. They've given up just 88 goals in 42 games, compared to 101 for Vancouver. That, with their starting goaltender on the shelf for the last two months. Jonathan Quick is close to returning, but was unable to join the Manchester Monarchs for a planned conditioning assignment this weekend due to bad weather out east. He'll likely rejoin the Kings next week.
As for the Ducks, they continue to roll. The team is 9-1-0 in its last 10 games, basically healthy, and excelling in all aspects of the game. Well—their power play is still 23rd overall; can't win 'em all.
Vancouver's power play, by the way, has regressed all the way back to 26th place with a 14.5 percent success rate. At least we still have that league-leading penalty kill to fall back on!
Speaking of penalties, Tom Sestito is now fourth in the NHL with 97 penalty minutes, but Vancouver's second-place penalty man is Zack Kassian, with 47 minutes, and it drops off pretty quickly from there.
Vancouver has given up the eighth-lowest number of shorthanded opportunities and is 27th in hits with 788—almost half the number of league-leading Toronto. I'm not saying the Canucks need to goon it up every time they step on the ice, but I wouldn't mind seeing the team play a bit more physically. I still don't think Vancouver is "hard to play against," and I suspect that fact will be driven home in California this weekend.
Colorado beat Philadelphia on Thursday, so they've jumped up to fifth place in the West. L.A. is now sixth and the Canucks sit in seventh, six points up on ninth-place Dallas.
Other than the Pittsburgh game next Tuesday, the Canucks' entire schedule for the rest of January is against conference rivals. This month will go a long way towards separating the contenders from the pretenders.
Access to Information:
There's lots of buzz in the hockey world today about the reports from ESPN's Scott Burnside and
USA Today's Kevin Allen, who were allowed unprecedented access to USA Hockey's selection process when setting its Olympic roster.
If you didn't see the original stories, they're long, but they're worth reading. The ESPN article is
here while the
USA Today story is
here.
Most of the fuss surrounds some unkind words said about Ottawa's Bobby Ryan, who was left off the team, but the discussion also runs deeper, bring up questions of access, honesty, and information. In a year when the behind-the-scenes
24/7 program seems more scripted than ever, it's interesting that USA Hockey made the decision to allow reporters to watch the process, though they're now admitting that the backlash has caught them off guard.
Jason Botchford of The Province
has a story today about how Ryan Kesler was far from a lock to make the team. The ESPN story indicates that his durability was the only issue—we were all worried about that—but he has put those doubts to rest this season.
Grading the D:
Should we expect more from Bieksa? Does Garrison's solid defensive play compensate for his lack of offense? Can we trade Tanev? How much upside does Corrado have?
Here are my December grades for the defense. What do you think?
Jason Garrison 4-19-23 even
December was another decent month for Garrison: he put up six points and improved his plus-minus a bit. Granted, three of those points were against Edmonton on December 13, he's pointless in his last four games, and he has just four goals halfway through the season—hardly the output that was projected when he signed his free-agent contract. But Garrison has been a steady performer and has been playing big minutes as the Canucks deal with all their injuries on the blue line.
Previous Grade: B New Grade: B
Kevin Bieksa: 1-13-14 plus-8
Kevin Bieksa is carrying his share of the defensive weight, but hasn't been the dominant player that he can be. When he started so well in October, Tony Gallagher
gave him credit for the hard work he'd put in to overcome a nagging abdominal issue, but the problem may be catching up with him as the season wears on. Bieksa's still playing like a top-four defenseman, but his offensive production has slowed to almost nothing. His play slipped a bit from October to November and dropped a little more in December.
Previous Grade: B+ New Grade: B
Dan Hamhuis: 4-9-13 plus-12
Hamhuis really did have a good month. Despite some bumpy games, he scored four goals, added two assists, and raised his plus-minus by nine points, all while logging ridiculous minutes. Hammer has carried a huge chunk of the load since Alex Edler was injured—and he's done it well. He's even back in the Olympic conversation.
Previous Grade: B- New Grade: A-
Chris Tanev: 4-8-12 plus-9
Chris Tanev is the other defenseman who has stepped up as the Canucks have dealt with the injuries on the blue line. He is starting to score—tied with Garrison and Hamhuis with four goals—and is showing that he can handle bigger minutes against tougher opposition.
Tanev's on a one-year contract: with his play this year, he'll be looking at a big raise. He's the only one of Vancouver's core blueliners who doesn't have a no-trade clause, and he'd have good market value with his current level of play. Is he the defenseman who moves at the deadline?
Previous Grade: B- New Grade: B+
Ryan Stanton: 1-10-11 plus-4
Stanton played eight games in December before being sidelined with a high ankle sprain on December 17 against Minnesota. Before his injury, he was continuing his steady play and solidifying his reputation as one of the best bargains in the NHL. Torts said Stanton would be sidelined "for weeks," so we probably won't see him back in the lineup anytime soon.
Previous Grade: B New Grade: B
Alex Edler: 3-6-9 minus-12
Edler suffered a knee injury in Vancouver's second game of December, so he won't earn a grade for this segment. He skated on Monday so he could be getting close to a return, though he's not practising with the team on Friday.
Previous Grade: C+ New Grade: Incomplete
Yannick Weber: 1-2-3 minus-3
Weber has been back with Vancouver for nine games, and has been serviceable since his return. Torts is trusting him with about 13 minutes a game and he's getting a bit of second-unit power play time. Most nights, I don't notice him much—that's a good thing for a defenseman.
Previous Grade: Incomplete New Grade: C+
Andrew Alberts: 0-0-0 plus-1
I have to admit, Andrew Alberts was playing all right before he got leveled by Brian McGrattan in Calgary last weekend. His two most impressive stats: nearly 16 minutes of ice time against Chicago on December 20, and ZERO penalty minutes this season. My biggest beef with Alberts in the past was his predisposal to put his team in a hole by taking bad penalties. I'm impressed with his new commitment to discipline.
Previous Grade: Incomplete New Grade: C
Frank Corrado: 0-0-0 plus 1
I won't assign a grade to Corrado after just two games, but he's been fine in his limited role so far. Corrado has looked confident on the ice and willing to get involved. I'll be interested to see if he gets to stay with the big club as the blue line starts to get healthy.
Previous Grade: N/A New Grade: Incomplete
Quick Hit:
- Team Canada faces off against Finland in the semi-final at the World Junior Championships on Saturday morning at 10 a.m. PT.
The Province has a
good piece today on Bo Horvat, who has shifted to more of a defensive role as the tournament has progressed and was called "rock solid" by coach Brent Sutter. Horvat has played important minutes and been an asset to the team, which is really as much as can be expected.
Follow me on Twitter @pool88. 
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»