2-0 vs. Vancouver this season and off to a much better year than last year. But key player Bobby Farnham turned down a fight, words can not express the shame I feel.
- smellmyfinger

Well it is shame full that a useless plug like that PoS will fight a 19 y/o and brag about it after. But when an established fighter wants a go, he pisses his pants like a little b!tch and runs with his tail between his legs.

Canucks have a young team and lost like men. The Devils won like cowards
- CanuckDon

That and 5 dollars gets you zero points in the standings.

Well it is shame full that a useless plug like that PoS will fight a 19 y/o and brag about it after. But when an established fighter wants a go, he pisses his pants like a little b!tch and runs with his tail between his legs.
- Retinalz

The sooner Bobby Farnham is a healthy scratch the better. I agree there.

Schneider is alright though
- CanuckDon

He might be a little better than alright.

2-0 vs. Vancouver this season and off to a much better year than last year. But key player Bobby Farnham turned down a fight, words can not express the shame I feel.
- smellmyfinger

NJ is showing signs of improvement to be sure but I hate to say it but that win is a product of where the Canucks are at and not so much how good NJ is. We just schooled the Stanley Cup Champs the night before and then lose to NJ. All fairness though Schneider is a way better goalie than Crawford. The Hawks win in spite of Crawford. Would have been nice to see farnham own up.

The sooner Bobby Farnham is a healthy scratch the better. I agree there.
- smellmyfinger

You won . Most important thing. I couldn't care less about the no fight. The team concentrating on revenge instead of the game seldom works out. It should have been answered that night and not waiting for some guy that is 32 yrs old and 5'11 to even up 3 weeks later.

Congrats . Your team is much better this year. A bit of a boring style but non the less , winning.

The night before Stanley Cup worthy , the next night Calder cup wannabes . That is why you don't get too high for the victories or too low for the losses.


Canucks seem to excel against offensive teams and have little response against defensive teams. They need to find the strength to out power teams that want to contain them

Beautiful rush by Bo.

Very good game by Sbisa.

Edler sucks on the PP to the point of embarrassing.

I hate how calm the Canucks were in the last three minutes. Shoot the Fuken puck.

Pats game tonight Wahoo!

Pats game tonight Wahoo!
- The_Kuze

Who's their starting goaltender?

The night before Stanley Cup worthy , the next night Calder cup wannabes . That is why you don't get too high for the victories or too low for the losses.


Canucks seem to excel against offensive teams and have little response against defensive teams. They need to find the strength to out power teams that want to contain them

Beautiful rush by Bo.

Very good game by Sbisa.

Edler sucks on the PP to the point of embarrassing.

I hate how calm the Canucks were in the last three minutes. Shoot the Fuken puck.
- VANTEL

After games like that, we are reminded our d, and team as a whole, is a work in progress. Need more effort from everyone.

Down by 2 goals late in the third, just get the puck to the net, crash, bang and shovel it in there.

After games like that, we are reminded our d, and team as a whole, is a work in progress. Need more effort from everyone.

Down by 2 goals late in the third, just get the puck to the net, crash, bang and shovel it in there.
- hillbillydeluxe

It really does boil down to effort. To have that pace of play in the CHI game which was really good and not be able to repeat it the very next day at home is odd. Maybe they figured the Devils would be a pushover after the big win vs CHI? Again I have mentioned psychological issues with this club and I think it's continuing. It's unclear to me they can look like cup contenders on Sat night then a AAA midget club the next day.

It really does boil down to effort. To have that pace of play in the CHI game which was really good and not be able to repeat it the very next day at home is odd. Maybe they figured the Devils would be a pushover after the big win vs CHI? Again I have mentioned psychological issues with this club and I think it's continuing. It's unclear to me they can look like cup contenders on Sat night then a AAA midget club the next day.
- LordHumungous

It's not psychological so much as our D just isn't all that talented. We don't have someone that can reliably QB a PP and get the puck on the net with a good shot. We're trapped by the fact that everything runs through the Sedins on the half-wall and it's been that way since Naslund retired and every team knows it. If you can break the Sedin cycle there's no one else that can do much damage on their own.

It also doesn't help that Vrbata is in a slump and Horvat is having adjustment issues to having a bigger role and Sutter not playing and sheltering him.

It's not psychological so much as our D just isn't all that talented. We don't have someone that can reliably QB a PP and get the puck on the net with a good shot. We're trapped by the fact that everything runs through the Sedins on the half-wall and it's been that way since Naslund retired and every team knows it. If you can break the Sedin cycle there's no one else that can do much damage on their own.

It also doesn't help that Vrbata is in a slump and Horvat is having adjustment issues to having a bigger role and Sutter not playing and sheltering him.
- DariusKnight

It's not that I don't agree on all counts I just think something else is up with the club mentally. Call it the Country Club atmosphere or what have you...something is going on.

It really does boil down to effort. To have that pace of play in the CHI game which was really good and not be able to repeat it the very next day at home is odd. Maybe they figured the Devils would be a pushover after the big win vs CHI? Again I have mentioned psychological issues with this club and I think it's continuing. It's unclear to me they can look like cup contenders on Sat night then a AAA midget club the next day.
- LordHumungous

b2b on the road is hard, at home, not really any excuse. This is the time to take advantage of teams from the east.

Reminds me of Torts, he would say you see the effort and execution once, it is his job to push the player to bring it again, and get that effort all the time.

I always go back to the Sedins. They don't play urgent, not their style, almost like "Simon Says", they want to distract and lull opposing players into mistakes. The Sedins as leaders set the tone, although their approach to the game- hard work, practice, fitness and all is commendable, the amount of patience they show in their game doesn't necessarily translate to guys who should be driving/crashing the net.

After games like that, we are reminded our d, and team as a whole, is a work in progress. Need more effort from everyone.

Down by 2 goals late in the third, just get the puck to the net, crash, bang and shovel it in there.
- hillbillydeluxe

It's not that I don't agree on all counts I just think something else is up with the club mentally. Call it the Country Club atmosphere or what have you...something is going on.
- LordHumungous

A mix of country club with a hearty dash of entitlement and a hint of boyish naivety.

A mix of country club with a hearty dash of entitlement and a hint of boyish naivety.
- Marwood

It is hard to put a finger on it. We have millionaires and budding millionaires playing a sport to entertain adoring fans that idolize these guys... as Vantel was talking about the old even keel approach, never too up or too down. You want to see the fire but it is a long road to hoe.

Not expecting to see the fire from the Sedins, but others... then it goes back to the Sedins setting the tone.

It is hard rooting for a team that is not expected to do much if it makes the off season but can't deny it feels like we are headed in the right direction. We often play like a skilled team that doesn't have enough skill and guys that should be considered complimentary pieces are treated like core pieces.

Who's their starting goaltender?
- Marwood

There's a tire pump football inflation joke here somewhere.

Biggest bummer for me was seeing WD choose Vrbata for the penalty shot. He may have been the best option, I didn't see who he was on the ice with, but IMO he doesn't deserve it.

Hopefully JB is telling WD to get him going , so he has some trade value.

Nucker is of the portion of non-hockey players who believe that a team sport like hockey/football/soccer can be broken down into stats and numbers and used to predict future production.

I've said it before, goals are the result of a million different factors that cannot be objectively quantified. Little things like a bad bounce off the boards, a defender catching an edge into a rut, a stick breaking at the wrong moment, deflection off of multiple people and body parts can all contribute to a goal being scored and isn't solely the responsibility of Player A who ends up with bad statistics because of it.
- DariusKnight

This isn't a defend Nucker post because I have no clue what he is saying these days in terms of advanced stats.

What you are saying is exactly what the advanced stat crowd is saying, they are just trying to find another way to evaluate success other than goals.

You point out very accurately that a goal is caused often by a combination of many different factors, many of which are attributed to luck/chaos. This is why advanced stats are popular recently, ( by many who have played the game as well) because they ignore the goal and judge a player/team on something that has less noise.

It is a better tool in predicting results than saying Dale Weise is on pace to score 30+ just because he has been hot to start the season.

Is it perfect ? no, but this idea that non-hockey playing geeks are the ones who are using advanced stats is false.

Unfortunately guys like Tanner uses only advanced stats to form his opinions or we have a bunch of ignorant commentators trying to apply these stats to a very small sample size.

If you are interested spend a bit of time playing with some of the tools at http://war-on-ice.com/

and if you are open minded, my guess is you would find some really interesting stuff.

The night before Stanley Cup worthy , the next night Calder cup wannabes . That is why you don't get too high for the victories or too low for the losses.


Canucks seem to excel against offensive teams and have little response against defensive teams. They need to find the strength to out power teams that want to contain them

Beautiful rush by Bo.

Very good game by Sbisa.

Edler sucks on the PP to the point of embarrassing.

I hate how calm the Canucks were in the last three minutes. Shoot the Fuken puck.
- VANTEL

Did you think the nucks played all that well against Chi?

The Sedin's did great but there was a lot of sloppy play during that game by both teams. Honestly I don't think the NJ or CHI game looked that different other than the score.

The Canucks are a mess on D and Miller was bailing them out early, if he doesn't perform at a really high level or the Canucks can't score 6, I think we see a lot more of this.

Good morning,

Last night's game wasn't very exciting, but there were plenty of opportunities for a different outcome. Goaltending was certainly one key difference.

Here's the new blog—Pedan's on his way!

http://www.hockeybuzz.com...-Pedan-Recalled/194/72729

Biggest bummer for me was seeing WD choose Vrbata for the penalty shot. He may have been the best option, I didn't see who he was on the ice with, but IMO he doesn't deserve it.

Hopefully JB is telling WD to get him going , so he has some trade value.
- moondawg

He is slumping, but noticed Vrbata throwing a hit in the corner, fell down, but at least he was trying to get into the game. I'll give him some credit. Part of his value is his ability in the shoot outs.

Sounds like you are down on him, his slow start is disappointing, but he was a good choice for the penalty shot.

I think scoring wise, the team has been okay, just those timely stops are missing and as everyone knows, our defense is a dog`s breakfast.

Its normal n to be expected when rookies as many as we have results in inconsistent play. That aside what counts is they all r fitting in n learn what it is to be a pro. Whilst doing that they all round out their game as they hone their skill sets n use them on a consistent basis.

The fact we lack a PP QB on the point hurts a lot.
Our lack of D depth is apparent n JB either swings a deal or we draft n groom n exercise patience.
Hard to trade at this point in the season but I'm fine with moving almost anyone if we plug gaps on our current roster or prospects or dump salary.
IMO we need cap space to keep options open going forward for every year.
Sure we r a cap team but so what i say cuz a 5% cushion can allow so much flexibility n is worth going for asap. If it takes a small set back or jeopordize a playoff run this year fine. Rather this season so next season is the year to see real growth from the kids as the team turns over to the next Canucks generation.