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Posts Tagged Vancouver Canucks

NHL Photo of the Day

Feb 8

Posted by EB in NHL Photo of the Day | No Comments

John Russell/NHLI via Getty Images

Ryan Kesler of the Vancouver Canucks got the scoring started against the equally red-hot Nashville Predators. The two teams fought hard, taking the game to a shootout. Six rounds in found Alexander Edler of the Canucks netting the game winning goal.

As stated, the two teams have been red-hot as of late. Both can be attributed to their netminders. Pekka Rinne of the Predators, who had a 11 game winning streak was, beat by Roberto Luongo who made 37 saves of 40 shots.

Seen above, Ryan Kesler of the Cancucks screens Pekka Rinne. I could be mistaken, but it looks like Kesler received his new Bauer Nexus 1000 hockey stick. Must be that new stick that picked him up the first goal. Is he wearing the Bauer Nexus 1000 ice hockey skates too?

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NHL Photo of the Day

Jan 31

Posted by EB in NHL Photo of the Day | No Comments

Grant Halverson/Getty Images

Trade rumors are starting to heat up with the trade deadline close approaching. The deadline, Monday, February 27 2012, will be an interesting one as in all years. Teams like the Carolina Hurricanes are nearly out of the playoff contention and are rumored to be looking to deal forward Tuomo Ruutu pictured above. The skilled winger has 14 goals and 21 assists 35 points in his 54 game splayed this season. A concern for teams may be that of his health, only finishing a full season in two of his eight years as a professional. It is rumored that the Detroit Red Wings, Vancouver Canucks and Chicago Blackhawks are all interested.

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Brad Marchand TV Commercial for Pure Hockey

Jan 13

Posted by EB in Media, News | No Comments

Our good friends over at Pure Hockey hooked up with Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand for a pretty funny commercial. Marchand, currently suspended for a low hit on Vancouver Canucks defensman Sami Salo, is lightning it up this season. Marchand has 32 points (16G, 16A) in his 37 game splayed thus far. That is only 9 points away from his more or less rookie season last year.

Watch the commercial below followed by the making of the commercial. I love the helmet part.

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Mason Raymond spin-o-rama shootout winner

Jan 10

Posted by Chris in Media | No Comments

Mason Raymond must be dizzy after all the spinning he does in shootouts.

Tonight he pulled out his patented spin-o-rama move against the Tampa Bay Lightning for what ended up being the shootout game winner for the Vancouver Canucks. But immediately after he scored you can see Tampa Bay goalie Dwayne Roloson talking about the move to the ref and, after the goal, Steve Stamkos was delayed on his shootout attempt as the officials went to Toronto to review the goal. Why? Because the spin-o-rama move is borderline illegal in the shootout.

When it comes to shootouts and penalty shots, two main rules apply – a player only gets one attempt to score (meaning he can not bat in rebounds) and he must continue with forward progress toward the net. The spin-o-rama seems to stop the forward progress of the player as he puts on the brakes and pulls the puck around to the other side to tuck it into the open net. This move has been controversial in the past with other players pulling it off, but Raymond seemingly took it to the extreme in the shootout victory tonight where he seemingly halted all forward progress before making the move, prompting the review in Toronto.

Take a look at the entire shootout in the video below and you decide.  Do you think it should have counted or did Raymond stop forward progress, thus negating the goal? Raymond’s shootout attempt begins at the 1:30 mark.

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Fantasy Friday: Goalie Stats

Jan 6

Posted by Chris in Fantasy | No Comments

Today we are going to forgo The Hot List (although we still recommend looking into Daniel Alfredsson if you haven’t already) and will instead focus on more team-oriented stats and how they relate to goalies. Goalie stats are some of the hardest to predict in Fantasy Hockey. Now, the specifics may change from league to league, but overall goalies are usually rewarded for wins and punished for allowing goals. By looking at some of the overall team stats, managers may be able to better formulate a plan of attack and predict how their goalie may do on any given night.

Most leagues will punish goals allowed in some capacity. If you’re league does, then you may want to know which teams are more likely to score on any given night.

Eight teams in the league currently score, on average, three or more goals per game. If you’re goalie is facing one of those teams, you can pretty much expect at least three goals to slip through. Those eight teams are:

Boston (3.65)

Philadelphia (3.42)

Detroit (3.26)

Vancouver (3.24)

Chicago (3.20)

Toronto (3.15)

Pittsburgh (3.10)

Ottawa (3.0)

Leagues will also reward or punish goalies based on the number of shots faced. This may be a simple ‘shots faced’ stat, or represent itself in the form of save percentage or goals against average. These five teams lead the league in shots per game:

San Jose (34.8)

Pittsburgh (33.7)

Detroit (33.1)

Chicago (32.7)

Boston (32.5)

You’ll notice that three of the teams on the shots per game list are also on the goals scored per game list. Before starting your goalie against any of those teams, you may want to determine if you will gain more points by facing more shots or lose more points by letting in more goals.

One of the most popular goalie stats in Fantasy Hockey is wins. And, depending on how your league’s point system is set up, goalie wins can make or break your week in head-to-head matchups. So it’s important to know who your goalie is most likely to beat. These next five teams have the most losses in the NHL:

Columbus (24)

Anaheim (22)

Edmonton (21)

Carolina (21)

Calgary (19)

On the other side, these five teams lead the league in wins:

Boston (26)

NY Rangers (25)

Vancouver (25)

Detroit (25)

Chicago (24)

Taking all of these stats into consideration, the four teams that you will likely want to avoid playing your goalie against are the Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawk, Vancouver Canucks and Detroit Red Wings. Not only are they likely to beat you, but they are likely to score three or more goals on you as well.

All of these stats are available on NHL.com and can be useful tools when trying to decide whether to play your goalie against a given opponent. Goalie stats are some of the toughest to predict, but having knowledge of these stats can help you determine the best course of action when it comes to goalie plays.

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Ryan Nugent-Hopkins: Get Him While You Can

Oct 17

Posted by Eddie in Fantasy | 2 Comments

Only four months ago, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was the first overall pick in the NHL draft. And just like fellow No. 1 pick and teammate Taylor Hall, Nugent-Hopkins has entered the NHL with a splash. He’s played four games this young season and he has four goals. Granted, three of those came in a hat trick performance came in a loss against the defending Western Conference champs Vancouver, but it quite impressive none the less.

Nugent-Hopkins is 18 years old and has already put three pucks past one of the best goalies in the world in Roberto Luongo. That’s something Team USA struggled with in the 2010 gold medal game. Standing at 6’1″ and 175 pounds (very similar build to yours truly) , Nugent-Hopkins entered the NHL via the CHL-Juniors route just like six of the previous seven No. 1 overall draft picks (Erik Johnson in 2006 is the only exception). He played the last two-plus seasons with the Red Deer Rebels of the Western Hockey League. He is no stranger to lighting the lamp as he scored 31 goals and recorded 75 assists last season. He took a team that missed the playoffs in the two seasons before he arrived to two playoff appearances during his time there. Last season, the Rebels won the division title before losing in the second round of the playoffs.

Now that you have a little background information, check back at my season preview when I said he could be NHL ready at 18. I also said he would spend time on the second line and he’s doing just fine anchoring the young talent the Oilers possess. Only if they can get Ales Hemsky back because he suffered a shoulder injury Thursday night and will be out a couple weeks.

In your fantasy league, he could be available. According to some simple research, he is available in 75 percent of Yahoo! Fantasy Hockey leagues. He was still available in the Hockey World Blog fantasy league myself, Chris and EB participate in and I had a difficult decision to make. I was pretty set at the Center position as I have John Tavares, Ryan Getzlaf, Logan Couture and Steve Ott. I picked up Ott because Mike Fisher is on IR and I’m still hoping he can produce when he returns to the lineup. I might regret it, but I dropped Couture because he has not started off the way I thought he would be.

Check out this video of his hatty from the Vancouver game.

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Devils Strategically Name Parise Captain

Oct 6

Posted by EB in News, Soap Box | No Comments

Change that "A" to a "C" and what do we get? Still uncertainty on whether or not the New Jersey Devils can lock up Zach Parise at the end of his contract.

The New Jersey Devils have named Zach Parise their team Captain with Ilya Kovalchuk and Patrik Elias as Alternate Captains. Parise, who has played all 6 NHL seasons with the Devils, could be the face of the franchise for years to come. Or maybe not.

In the off-season Parise and the Devils had a shaky go at signing the young 27 year old to a multi-year deal. What looked like an inevitable arbitration hearing, the two sides finally agreed upon a 1-year, $6 million dollar contract. For Devil’s fans, this was a step in the right direction in keeping Parise long term. For all other hockey fans, it seemed likely Parise will become possible trade deadline bait in the upcoming NHL season and/or one of the top off-season free agents.  With the new Captaincy placed firmly on his chest, hockey fans are now left to wonder even more what the future holds for the star forward.

The Devils have named Parise Captain, for better or for worse, but in hopes of creating more of an emotional tie to the organization. In doing so, the team is hoping that they can avoid losing him to another team after his contract is up after this season. What surely is a ploy could very well come back and nip the Devils in the butt.

Not all players are cut out to be Captains, but that does not seem to be the case with Parise. Parise is a superstar and a genuinely good player with heart. When healthy, Parise can easily reach the 35+ goal mark, throw in about 45 assists, and you have yourself a perennial 80 point player. Like many sports, those who produce tend to be Captain.

Still though, the question of if Parise wants to play for the Devils has to come into play. Without a doubt Parise will give it his all as Captain for the Devils, but if he ends up moving to a new club, what are Devil’s fans supposed to think and feel? Are fans OK with that, or does it create a negative, hopelessness feeling inside?

The Devil’s organization are playing with fire by making Parise Captain. Maybe it will work out in their favor, they are the Devils after all. But maybe their decision will not. But hey, if the Vancouver Canucks can make a mistake naming goaltender Roberto Luongo Captain, the Devils can make one too.

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2011-12 NHL Season Preview: Vancouver Canucks

Sep 21

Posted by Matt in Season Previews | No Comments

Daniel Sedin, Ryan Kesler, and Henrik Sedin of the Vancouver Canucks

Daniel & Henrik Sedin, along with Ryan Kesler, will lead the way for the Canucks in 2011-12

Key Offseason Additions: Marco Sturm

Key Offseason Losses: Christian Ehrhoff, Raffi Torres, Tanner Glass

Last Season Ranking: 1st in the West

Offense: Up front, the Vancouver Canucks will not look much different than they did last season. They’re lead by a unit of forwards who left them on the brink of elimination in the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, rebounded, and later pushed them to within a game of winning the Stanley Cup in June.

Leading the way on the top line will be Daniel and Henrik Sedin. Both are dominant offensively, and will hover in the range of 100 points once again this season. Also contributing heavily will be Ryan Kesler, who recorded a career-high in goals last season with 41. While putting up over 70 each of the past two seasons, Kesler has also been defensively responsible as well. Nothing showed off his accomplishments more than winning the Selke Trophy last season as the leagues best defensive forward. His strong play on both sides of the puck will continue to help the Canucks immensely.

When you think about secondary scoring for the Canucks, guys like Mikael Samuelsson, Alex Burrows, and Mason Raymond are going to come to mind. All three are going to continue to put pressure on opposing goaltenders, and will welcome the addition of Marco Sturm, who signed as a free agent over the summer. Sturm, when healthy, can be counted on to contribute at least 20 goals to an already prolific group of scorers.

Providing additional depth for the Canucks will be Jannik Hansen, Maxim Lapierre, Chris Higgins, and Manny Malhotra. Look for Hansen to continue his development and have a career year in only his fourth NHL season. Higgins will also look to rebound a bit after having sitting out several games last season due to injury.

Defense: On the blue line, the Canucks lost Christian Ehrhoff, one of their most talented defenseman from last season. To fill that void, they will rely on a core of Alexander Edler, Dan Hamhuis, Kevin Bieksa, and Sami Salo. Hamhuis and Edler will see their roles grow, and Canucks fans hope to see them stay in the line-up for 82 games this season. Both will be relied on for their contributions on the power-play, as well as even strength.

Bieksa, who played only 66 games last season, and 55 the year before, looks to rebound and retain his health as well. He had a fantastic post-season, picking up 10 points and playing around 24-25 minutes per game in the Stanley Cup finals. Salo, who has played less than 70 games every season since the lockout, needs to remain healthy as well. After only playing 27 games last season, the Canucks need him to rebound and be a presence on the blue line all season.

Goaltending: Roberto Luongo will be the man in net once again for Vancouver. Depending on who you ask, this could be a good or a bad thing. Luongo posted great numbers last season, and had good games in the post-season too, where he recorded four shutouts in only 25 games, which matched his season total for shutouts. On the downside, Luongo also had miserable outings including being pulled in favor of Cory Schneider on four separate occassions, and even being forced to play an entire 60 minutes as the Canucks got trounced 8-1 in game three of the finals. So the question still remains, does Roberto Luongo have what it takes to win a Stanley Cup?

Schneider will continue to see backup duty, as he is reliable in net and can be counted on to play the 20-25 games that will be asked of him. Canucks fans can be confident in his ability to step in and play, and being only 25, he will continue to develop and get better.

HWB Playoff Prediction: Playoff bound. The Vancouver Canucks arguably have all of the pieces in place to not only return to the playoffs as a number one seed, but make a repeat run to the Stanley Cup finals as well.

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Rick Rypien found dead

Aug 15

Posted by Chris in News | 1 Comment

Several major media outlets have confirmed that Winnipeg Jets forward Rick Rypien was found dead at his home in Alberta, Canada, Monday evening. Rypien was 27 years old.

Rypien’s death has been ruled a non-suspicious death by police. The Vancouver Canucks, whom Rypien spent his entire professional career with, released a statement Monday night regarding the loss of Rypien:

“It is with tremendous sadness that the Vancouver Canucks confirm the passing of Rick Rypien. Rick has been a beloved member of the Canucks’ family for the past six years. Rick was a great teammate and friend to our players, coaches and staff. We send our deepest condolences to the Rypien family at this most difficult time.”

Rypien played 130 games with the Canucks over six seasons, working as mostly an enforcer for the club. He amassed 31 penalty minutes last season in nine games before asking for a leave of absence from the club. While the Canucks refused to comment on the nature of the leave, Canucks GM Mike Gillis stated in the Vancouver Sun, “When you come to know somebody and realize they’re a really good person, who has their heart in the right place and wants to do the right thing not only for themselves but for others, you have to support them.

“You don’t only support them when they’re at the top of their game and doing everything you want, you support them when they’re not feeling good about things or have other issues they have to deal with. These are young people that have a lot to offer, a lot to live for, and you support them in any way possible.”

In March of last season, Rypien looked to make a return to professional hockey and was assigned to the Manitoba Moose of the AHL. Rypien remained with the Moose for the rest of the season. He signed as a free agent with the Winnipeg Jets this summer for $700,000.

In an interview with the Winnipeg Sun in March, Rypien stated he felt fine and was ready to return to what he loves doing with the Manitoba Moose.

“(The issues) are behind me and one thing I want to 100% clarify is that there’s no substance abuse at all — it’s the farthest thing from it,” said Rypien. “This is a personal matter. It’s kind of a rare issue and even though it’s taken me away from the game I love, doing the work I’ve done the last couple of months I’ve made a lot of gains as a person and as an individual.”

Rypien’s death comes only months after another NHL tough guy, Derek Boogaard, was found dead. The medical examiner ruled Boogaard’s cause of death came from a deadly mix of alcohol and drugs.

Our thoughts go out to Rick Rypien’s family and friends in the wake of this tragedy.

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Ehrhoff Carousel Stops at Buffalo

Jul 1

Posted by Eddie in News | No Comments

July 1 is the Black Friday of the hockey world, where teams line up in a frenzy to sign the newest crop of available free agents. This year’s pool isn’t as deep as it has been in previous years, where a lot of the Restricted Free Agents have signed tender offers with their current teams and will not be hitting the open market. One player whose rights have been traded multiple times this week before hitting the open market was defenseman Christian Ehrhoff.

His 10-year, $40 million deal is heavily front-loaded as Bob McKenzie from TSN reported Ehrhoff will receive a $2 million salary and $8 million signing bonus in Year 1; $3 million salary, $5 million signing bonus in Year 2; $4 million in Years 3, 4, 5, and 6; $3 million in Year 7; $1 million in Years 8, 9 and 10. The deal also features a modified no-trade clause.

Ehrhoff played this season for Vancouver, and was traded twice this week. First he was traded to New York Islanders Tuesday for a fourth-round pick in 2012. The following day, his rights was traded to Buffalo in exchange for a fourth-round pick. He was originally drafted by San Jose in 2001, and is a week away from turning 29. His career stats include 53 goals, 226 points, a plus-74 rating and 338 penalty minutes in 500 NHL games with the Sharks and Canucks. He also has 7 goals and 34 points in 73 postseason games, including 2 goals and 12 points this season with Vancouver.

He was ranked third by the Sporting News in their Top 25 Free Agents. The list of blue liners is thin to begin with, so it could benefit players such as Ed Jovanoski, Jonathan Ericsson, and Tomas Kaberle as teams will enter a bidding war with other clubs and could risk over-paying for someone.

Check the site later this evening for more news and happenings as NHL free agency begins.

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