Playing for Bruce Boudreau is like playing for your grandfather. He is a lovable curmudgeon. He barks at you, tries to be tough, but deep down, you know he cares deeply about his players.
The 66-year-old Boudreau has been exactly what the struggling Vancouver Canucks needed. Since he took over as coach on Dec. 5, the team has won seven consecutive games and they are only four points out of a playoff spot.
“We are rounding into a more complete game right now," Miller said. "We are finding ways to win.”
Miller scored the game-winner in overtime to give the Canucks a 2-1 triumph over the Anaheim Ducks.
Since Boudreau took over, Miller has registered at least one point in all seven games. He has five points in his last two games, and 11 in his seven-game scoring streak
Brock Boeser went on the Covid list Wednesday. Before then, he netted five goals in the six games he played for Boudreau. Before then, he went 13 games without a goal. Boudreau seems to have re-energized Boeser.
Under Boudreau, the Canucks have won five games by a single goal, including two in a shootout and one in overtime. They have given up two or fewer goals in five of the seven games.
Here are my remaining 25 Thursday Thoughts:
2. Former NHLer Jordin Tootoo had fun on social media lobbying for a spot on the Canadian Olympic team. "Hey, Hockey Canada,” Tootoo wrote, “if you’re looking for a sandpaper type of player for the Olympics, I’m your guy.” Tootoo is 38 and hasn’t played in the NHL since 2017.
3. The Accuweather forecast -8 to -9 for Saturday’s Winter Classic outdoor game at the Minnesota Twins’ Target Field in Minneapolis. It’s a 7 p.m. start and if the forecast is accurate it will mark the first time the NHL has played an outdoor game in below-zero conditions. The ideal conditions for NHL ice is 22 to 24 degrees.
4. The Julien BriseBois signing of Corey Perry in the offseason (two years, $1 million per season) has turned out to be a high-value acquisition for Tampa Bay. He has added muscle and grit and has scored more than anticipated. With seven goals in 31 games, he’s on pace to have his best scoring season since 2017-18.
5. If the Philadelphia Flyers become sellers, the Maple Leafs would/should make a pitch for right-shot defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen to play on their second pairing with Jake Muzzin. Not many desirable right-shot D men are going to be available.
6. As two or three contenders wonder whether their goaltending is good enough, UFA Tuukka Rask is going to sign with the Bruins because he doesn’t want to play for any other team.
7. Statistics can be misleading, but it is telling that the Colorado Avalanche, the NHL’s No. 1 offensive team, rank 30th with a .911 5-on-5 save percentage. The league average is .925.
8. The head-scratcher statistic of the week: the Vegas Golden Knights lead the NHL in high-danger scoring chances for (263) and against (245). The numbers are courtesy of hockeyreference.com. What that says is when you play the Golden Knights you had better be prepared for run-and-gun hockey.
9. Rookie Lucas Raymond has been exceptional for the Detroit Red Wings this season. He leads all rookies with 28 points in 31 games. He boasts a quick release. But teams are adjusting to Raymond. They are starting to collapse on him to deny him shots. He has no shots on goal in three of his last five games. But Raymond is also adjusting. He has five assists in those three games with no shots.
10. Feel free to add the Tampa Bay Lightning to the list of potential suitors for Ristolainen if he is available. Their defensive left side with Victor Hedman, Ryan McDonagh, and Mikhail Sergachev is the league’s best. But their right side is not the league's best.
11. How valuable is Hedman to the Lightning? The Lightning score 4.7 goals for every 60 minutes he plays and they give up 3.4 goals for every 60 he plays. The 1.3 goals-difference is significant.
12. New York Rangers’ Chris Kreider, 30, has been a consistent 20-plus goal scorer during his career. But he has never reached the 30-goal plateau. With 19 in his first 31 games, he’s on a 50-goal pace.
13. Something to watch: Nino Neiterreiter and Vince Trocheck play in the Carolina Hurricanes’ top six and they both can be unrestricted free agents this summer. Neiterreiter has eight goals and 15 points in 23 games while Trocheck has 19 points in 29 games.
14. Steve Yzerman’s five best moves since taking over Detroit’s GM: 1. Drafting Moritz Seider (2019); 2. Drafting Lucas Raymond (2020); 3. Drafting Simon Edvinsson (2021); 4. Trading Anthony Mantha for Jakub Vrana and a draft pick (which evolved into first-rounder Sebastian Cossa); 5. Traded for Alex Nedeljkovic. Do you see a pattern here?
15. The IIHF owes it to the players to do everything in its power to reschedule the World Junior Championship.
16. Boston Hockey Now endorsed the idea of the Bruins’ going after Phil Kessel. Would be fun to see Kessel back where he started.
17. Hearing the St. Louis Blues are interested in defenseman Mark Giordano.
18. Forty years ago today Wayne Gretzky set a new NHL record by scoring his 50th goal of the season in his 39th game. Given how hard it is today to score a goal, that mark looks even more incredible today. Gretzky was 20 at the time.
19. Also on Dec. 30 in 1992, Washington Capitals defenseman Al Iafrate became the first player in NHL history to have his shot clocked at more than 100 mph. Iafrate showed up as 101.4 mph on the radar gun at a Capitals Skills Competition. With advancements in stick technology and training, many players in the NHL today can fire the puck at 100-plus.
20. If you watched the Canada-Austria game before the WJC was canceled, you saw Canada’s Connor Bedard score four goals. He projects to be the No. 1 NHL draft pick in 2023. Last year’s No. 1 pick Owen Power was also on Canada’s team, as was Shane Wright who projects to be the No. 1 pick in 2022. That might be something to tell your grandchildren someday.
21. Just a hunch, but I don’t believe the Canucks will trade Brock Boeser.
22. Inexplicable stat of the week: The Caps are now 30th in power-play percentage. This is a team with Alex Ovechkin, John Carlson, Nicklas Backstrom, Evgeny Kuznetsov. Would guess Ovi is agitated by the power play’s struggles.
23. Evgeni Malkin told the media yesterday that he will return to the lineup within 10 days. He is practicing with the team, although he’s wearing the no-contact jersey. Without Malkin, the Penguins have played impressively well. They currently own a seven-game winning streak. We can talk about the Penguins’ trade possibilities, but no one they can acquire can help them more than Malkin can.
24. We keep thinking of the New York Islanders as potential trade deadline buyers. But what if they end up sellers. Semyon Varlamov is a goalie who could draw interest from a contender or two.
25. Hall of Fame defenseman Larry Robinson turned 70 several months ago. It doesn’t seem all that long ago that Robinson was helping the Habs win four Stanley Cup championships in a row in the 1970s. But Montreal fans can tell you that was a very long time.
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