Canucks Starting to Roll on the Road

March 4, 2010

Balanced scoring was the name of the game for the Canucks tonight as they managed to play a full sixty minutes on the road – an unusual sight – and defeat the Detroit Red Wings 6-3 at the Joe.  Ryan Kesler used the momentum from his strong Olympic play to pace the Canucks with two goals.  Daniel and Henrik Sedin each recorded three assists to break out their slump and Kyle Wellwood appears to have found his touch, at least for the time being by registering a goal for the second consecutive game.

One of the biggest concerns for the Canucks going into the trade deadline was whether they would have enough secondary scoring behind the top two lines.  If Kyle Wellwood is going to consistently play at the level he has in the last two games then it appears that the Canucks have little to worry about.  Not only did Wellwood tally a goal but Mikael Samuelsson added one of his own in the second period to essentially put the game out of reach for the Red Wings.

A major problem facing the Canucks during their road trip was the fact that they had given up the first goal in almost every single game.  The team has been nicknamed the “Cardiac Canucks” over the last stretch because they seem to wait until they’re behind by a goal or two before they start to get into the game.  Tonight they didn’t have that problem as Kesler was able to give the Canucks the lead as he slid a puck past Jimmy Howard at the 3:34 marks of the first.  Kesler was able to beat Dan Cleary off the wing and make a power move to the net.  Kesler also scored the last Canucks goal of the game after drawing a Kronwall penalty and tipping the pick through Chris Osgood who had essentially come in for mop up duty.

Roberto Luongo played relatively well in his first game back from the Olympics, however, the first Detroit goal by Jason Williams was probably one he would like to have back, or at least have another shot at.  After Zetterberg dominated the Canucks down low in the corner he was able to fire a pass to about the top of the circle to Williams who one timed a snap shot past the outstretched leg of Luongo.  Luongo never really got set to the shot and was playing incredibly deep in his net.  Credit to Williams for taking a quick shot but I’m sure Roberto would liked to have played it much more aggressively.

One probably can’t say enough good things about Alex Burrows this year and the way he was able to tip in the second goal and answer right back after the Red Wings had tied the game was definitely key.  Burrows was able to tip Daniel Sedin’s low shot just under the crossbar and beat Howard who had next to no chance on the play.  At that point it really looked like the Sedins got their game going and they were able to finish the game with three assists each.

After the Red Wings were able to tie the game, Wellwood managed to deliver in a clutch situation for the second game in a row.  Aaron Rome fired him a perfect stretch pass and Wellwood beat Howard just under the crossbar.  Sami Salo was next to score on a relatively weak shot from the point but the goaltender never saw it and his night was over.  The shoot first mentality of Samuelsson paid off late in the period as he stretched Vancouver’s lead to 5-2 with a shot near the side boards that Osgood wasn’t prepared for.  Perhaps Osgood was screened on the play but it seemed like a typical regular season Osgood goal that should have been stopped but for whatever reason he wasn’t prepared for.

A day after I ripped the defence for their work in Columbus, the blue line came up pretty big for the Canucks tonight.  Aaron Rome was a threat on offense all night as he made multiple stretch passes that led to breakaways.  Rome may have been the best defender of the game and finished a solid +3.  Christian Ehrhoff also had a strong game adding an assist of his own and an identical +3 rating.  Ehrhoff is now sitting 8th in the league with a +26 on the season.

At the Trade Deadline

I thought at the deadline the Canucks might be serious players for a top four or even top two defenseman but due to cap issues that never really materialized.  There was also thought that the Canucks might add another depth forward.  At the end of the day, Mike Gillis added another depth defenseman with Andrew Alberts.  Gillis also dealt Mattieu Schneider to the Phoenix Coyotes for Sean Zimmerman and a 6th round pick.  Anything in return for Schneider should be considered a win since he was never going to play another game with the team.  Yan Stastny rounds out the additions by Mike Gillis as he was acquired from the St. Louis Blues in exchange for Pierre-Cedric Labrie.  The move is clearly one for the Manitoba Moose as Stastny will report to the AHL.  Labrie is likely most remembered by Canucks fans for him numerous fights during the pre-season.

Andrew Alberts gets into a scrap during his time in Boston

The reputation on Alberts is that he is a big, tough and hard hitting defenseman with a huge mean streak.  The good news is that Alberts led the Carolina Hurricanes in plus-minus with a +6 rating this season.  Not bad for a player on a team that is all kinds of terrible.  Alberts also has 178 hits this season, which is significantly more than the next closest on the team (Glass-139).  If you’re interested in his offensive output, he has 2 goals and 8 assists in 62 games so far this season but as you probably guessed, that isn’t really his game.  He may not shutdown guys like Willie Mitchell but he should help play a similar game until Mitchell gets healthy, if he ever does.  At the very least he’ll be an upgrade over Nolan Baumgartner and hopefully over Brad Lukowich as well since Lukowich has been sent to the Moose.  Alberts is  signed through next year for a cap hit of 1.03 million.

Now the part about Alberts game that concerns me is that he could be considered a biger and stronger version of Shane O’Brien.  That potentially means double the bonehead penalties which is trouble for a team that isn’t great at killing them.  He is also not that great at handling the puck which could cause problems as far as getting it from the backend and up to the forwards.  In number five or six role where his minutes are limited I’d be much happier with the move but if he plays anymore then that it becomes a massive concern.

*Credit to CanuckHD on youtube for the videos

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Posted by Simon

Kyle Wellwood Was the Game’s First Star

March 2, 2010

Yes, seriously.  Wellwood had one of his best games of the season for the Canucks and it couldn’t have happened at a better time.  Whether the Sedins were having an Olympic hangover or just didn’t have it tonight, the Canucks best players were on the second and third lines.  The so called Olympic hangover didn’t affect Pavol Demitra as he also had one of his most determined efforts of the season.

In the first period, Nolan Baumgartner’s shot bounced off the end boards and Wellwood made a slick pass out to Burrows in front of the net.  Burrows was able to snap the puck under Steve Mason before the goaltender was able to locate the puck and square up to it.  The pass was the kind of play that you make when you’re playing with confidence.  Hopefully it’s a sign that Wellwood is starting to round into form but obviously you can’t put too much stock into one game.

Of course, Wellwood also tied the game in the third period on a heads up play by Mason Raymond.  Grant Clitsome made a terrible pass up the middle that Raymond picked off and slid over to Wellwood who was standing alone at the side of the net.  The only thing  worse than the play by Clitsome might actually be being named Clitsome.

Other thoughts:

  • Andrew Raycroft played very well for the last two periods of the game.  It seems to be pretty common for Raycroft to struggle early and then find his rhythm after letting in a goal or two.  The problem is that when you spot a team a goal or two early in the game all the time it makes things difficult when you’re always coming from behind.
  • The defence looked slow and got caught flatfooted far too often.  Having Shane O’Brien, Nolan Baumgartner and Aaron Rome all on the same blue line is starting to catch up to the Canucks.  If a team like Columbus is exposing your back end then I hate to wonder what a good team is going to do to them.  They held together fairly well during the pre-Olympic games but the Canucks definitely need some help there.
  • Speaking of Shane O’Brien: holy shit would he please stop taking stupid penalties.  Not only was the penalty he took on the delayed icing stupid but dangerous as well.  He has to have some sort of realization that when he’s beat on some plays he doesn’t necessarily have to take a penalty every time.  He is allowed to make actual hockey plays to correct the problem.  The unsportsmanlike penalty at the end of the second period was also retarded.  The Canucks were under enough pressure as it was and he takes a penalty after the whistle and gives Columbus the intermission to come up with a plan to score on fresh ice.  Luckily for him the Blue Jackets didn’t score.  If Vigneault had better options I’d like to hope he would have benched O’Brien.
  • With Willie Mitchell still out indefinitely, the Canucks will have to seriously consider trading for a top defenseman before the noon deadline tomorrow.  I don’t really like to speculate too much about trade rumours but they definitely need to find someone in case Mitchell doesn’t return at all.
  • There is good news on the injury front as Kevin Bieksa is due to return anytime now.  I doubt he’ll play tomorrow against Detroit because if he can do that then he probably could have played tonight, but Bieksa says that he will be back before the end of the road trip.  Great news for the Canucks.
  • Christian Ehrhoff continues to have a fantastic season for the Canucks.  His stats aren’t quite as spectacular as they were when he had Mitchell and Bieksa going against the other team’s top line but its hard to even think about where this team would be without him.  After being one of the best players on Germany during the Olympics he came back to the NHL to score the OT winner for the Vancouver.

The trade deadline might be getting all of the attention tomorrow morning but the Canucks won’t have too much time to worry about who is going where or who might be joining them.  The team will travel to Detroit to play the second half of a back-to-back.  Normally a team won’t be faulted with playing poorly on the back end of a back-to-back but with much of the team having the Olympic break off I can’t imagine that will be a legitimate excuse.  Roberto Luongo will be back in goal.

*Credit to CanucksHD for the videos

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Posted by Simon

Canucks Finally Score First

February 11, 2010

Jannik Hansen celebrates after scoring shorthanded

Scoring the first goal of the game.  What a concept.  For the first time in a long time, the Canucks were able to score the first goal of the game and as a result they were able to control it for long periods of time.  Florida is a team that isn’t going to beat you by scoring goals in bunches and will look to get leads and sit on them.  Think of the Minnesota Wild for the last decade or so.  When the Canucks jumped ahead they were able to force the Panthers away from what they generally like to do and on the road it becomes even more important to score the first goal.  Tonight was a perfect example as the Canucks were able to get a lead, sit on it a bit by leaning on their goaltender and when the opportunity presented itself, pad the lead.

The top line finally broke out of their slump and opened the scoring early in the second period.  Burrows scored one of his signature tip ins off a pass from Henrik Sedin.  It was Sedin’s first point in five games after falling behind Alex Ovechkin in the NHL scoring race.  The line wasn’t too dangerous the rest of the way but at least they were finally able to get back on the scoresheet and the Canucks won.  The Sedin twins are always much better performers at home but it was time for them to make a big impact on the road with this trip not even half over yet.

Roberto Luongo appears to be back on his game after sitting one out.  It’s looking more and more like fatigue was the reason his play dropped off a little bit.  I think he’s made a strong push to be the top goaltender for Canada next week and that’s not just the Canucks fan in me.  Brodeur has struggled down the stretch and Fleury isn’t really a candidate to start any games.

It’s also great that the Canucks are finally getting some consistent secondary scoring.  Hansen had a nice snipe shorthanded.  It was a goal that the Canucks really needed because they had spent quite a bit of time in their own zone killing penalties towards the end of the second.  Ryan Kesler is finally starting to score on the road (see a trend yet) which will be so important come April.  He has disappeared away from home at times this year but his goal to make it 3-0 gave the Canucks more than they needed.

Ryan Kesler scored late to make it 3-0 Vancouver

Now for the bad parts, the Canucks spent far too long in the penalty box tonight and some of the penalties were far too careless.  I realize Shane O’Brien is playing out of his class right now with all the injuries but he has to find a way to cut down on the penalties.  There is really no reason to reach around a guy with your free hand when you know the referees  are going to call it every time.  For my daily rip on Samuelsson, his slashing penalty was simply undisciplined and selfish when the Canucks had a great opportunity to take an early lead.  The referees were all over everything tonight and its pointless to try and get a way taking shots at people.

The bottom line is the Canucks won 3-0 and it was a solid effort all around even though there are plenty of things that need to be worked on if the Canucks are going to be a consistent and good team on the road.  We’ll get to see if they can keep it going tomorrow night against Columbus.  Playing back-to-back is never easy but they should be up to the task considering the Blue Jackets are not that great of a team.  The game is being broadcast on PPV and I’d love to see how terrible the ratings are when you factor in that the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics starts about the same time as the third period.

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Posted by Simon

Olympic Torch Relay comes to North Vancouver

February 10, 2010

It was a very awesome day in Deep Cove today as the Olympic Torch Relay made it through the neighborhood.  People lined the street roughly an hour before the torch came through and after it left Cates Park at 10:36am, it made its way down Dollarton Highway were I was waiting to snap my pictures.  After the cops drove down the street as an escort, promotional vehicles were the first to drive by.  RBC and Coca Cola had people dancing on trucks and giving away free stuff.  I was able to get a few Torch Relay bottles of Coke and Coke Zero.  Luckily, I staked out a sport that was right next to the hand off and was able to get some pretty good pictures.  My mom actually talked to the parents of the kid and needless to say they were pretty excited about what was to come.  Like before, be sure to click on the link for bigger pictures.

It might have been raining but these guys where feeling good.

The Coca-Cola truck armed with free stuff

A very patriotic vehicle

An Olympic car telling us the torch is getting close!

The RBC promo car complete with dancing people

Day 104. Just 2 to go!

It was Coke's turn to do their thing.

More Coke

The torch runner waiting to receive the flame

Here comes the flame

A shot of the women who ran from Cates Park to Deep Cove Road.

The exchange!

The kid is ready for his 5 minutes of glory

But first he poses for a few pictures

A new guy runs up Mount Seymour Parkway

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Posted by Simon

I Feel Very Olympic Today

February 8, 2010

Well it was really yesterday, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to use that quote.  On Sunday afternoon it appeared as if the Penguins had the Capitals in the bag and I could use the time before the Super Bowl started to check out the progress in Vancouver for the Olympics.  Well, clearly I made the wrong choice as the Capitals came back and there wasn’t as much to see downtown as I thought there would be.  But for those interested here are a few pictures that I thought were worth enough to post and will also give you an idea of what to expect next week.  For those people reading that have not been to Vancouver you might be interested in seeing what some of the venues look like from the outside and from afar.  Click on any picture for a larger view!

Like a true tourist I hopped on the Seabus in North Vancouver around 10:30.  As you can see by the sign I made it with just 5 minutes to spare.  I then hopped on the Skytrain and took it down to the BC Place/GM Place stopping hoping to see some cool stuff on the outside of the buildings.

Taking public transit like a loser

Yay! I made it.

I then made my way down Beatty Street towards BC Place and then came back towards GM Place, or “Canada Hockey Place” as its known during the Olympics.

The Cops have all roads near venues blocked off.

How often can you stand in the middle of Georgia and not get killed?

When you get to the event areas you’ll meet these tents where you’re likely to get an anal probe.  If you’re part of the Olympic family then you can wave goodbye to the rest of us suckers and go though your own special entrance while the rest of us continue to wait.

The Olympic Family entrance at BC Place Stadium

The way in for the rest of us

I’m also including a few pictures of BC Place for no other reason than because I took them.  Yay for ugly cement buildings.  Hopefully it doesn’t disappoint too many people who have traveled long distances to see the opening or closing ceremony.

It is what it is

BC Place from Georgia

Next I headed next door to GM Place trying to get a good view of something.  Instead I was just met by a bunch of fences.  What suprised me was that there is still traces of Canucks type things on the building.  I’m wondering if they’ll take those down by Friday.

The side of GM Place from along the Georgia Viaduct

There is still a trace of the Vancouver Canucks at GM Place

Expo Blvd decked out in Olympic designs outside GM Place

A good shot of the security check point outside GM Place. Complete with bag scanner like at the airport

Next I decided to head up Dunsmuir before walking up to Georgia and to Pacific Centre.  Live City is apparently a place for entertainment and creating a lasting impression with family orientated entertainment.  I assume its a good place for families to go spend money when they can’t get into something like the Molson Canadian Hockey House.

Side view of Live City Vancouver from Georgia

Front entrance of Live City

Next I kept on traveling up Georgia.  The further up you go, the more people there were.  I saw a couple waving an Australian flag as well as two women in Russia tracksuits.  I considered taking their picture but I thought that that might be a little too weird.  Nonetheless, here are some pictures from along Georgia.

Hey look, it's the renovated CBC building

Canada Post has the Olympic Fever

As does a new hotel going in at Georgia and Howe

I still don't know how the Olympic lane is different than a regular HOV lane

At “The Bay” at Pacific Centre there were A LOT of people inside buying the latest Canada Olympic gear.  I was going to actually buy something but I didn`t have 15 minutes to stand in the lineup to pay.  The VISA advertisements on The Bay building has been up for about a year but they’re still pretty cool and worth posting.

A few great Canadian moments

A few more

We were made for this!

Is there anything more Canadian than The Hudson's Bay Company?...

...Well maybe this picture of CPR trains that I took is.

Some good looking people

On Granville street there was some sort of Cultural Olympiad thing going on.  I’m not sure exactly what the point of it was but I look pictures anyway.

The money shot down Granville?

You typical totem poles at the Cultural Olympiad.

I have no idea what's going on here

Japan and Hole in the Wall invades Canada.

Next up was the final stop in my short trip downtown.  Naturally I had to get a shot of the countdown clock at the Art Gallery like everyone else

What`s a day at the Vancouver Art Gallery without some sort of protest?

All these people wanted to see the time tick down on the start of the games

We`re almost there!

Now it was back to the Seabus to pickup my car and head to a Super Bowl party. While waiting for the Seabus one comes to realize that London really wants you to come visit them.  Only 2 and a half years until they get to host the Summer Games!

Visit London for the 2012 Summer Games!

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Posted by Simon

I Blame Mikael Samuelsson

February 4, 2010

Shane O'Brien can't keep Jason Spezza's pass from going into the net.

Hopefully Kyle from Babcock’s Death Stare sees the blog title since he’s one of the few people who seems to share my furor with Mikael Samuelsson.   It’s the first minute of the game with a goaltender between the pipes making his first start in months.  Plus, you’re playing the hottest team in the league outside of perhaps Washington and what does Samuelsson decide to do?  You guessed it, take a penalty.  Before Raycroft even has the opportunity to feel comfortable in goal, the Senators get a power play and quickly a goal off the tip in from Milan Michalek.  Samuelsson also had the balls to bitch to the referee on his way to the box as he always does.  It’s a growing annoyance of mine that NHL players, even when taking the most obvious penalty in the history of hockey, will still bitch and moan on their way to the box.  Sometimes sucking it up and skating to the box is ok!

Is there seriously anything else to really take out of this game other than the massive letdown by Vancouver?  Understandably, the Senators took their pedal off the floor when they built up the 2-0 lead.  The Senators played a close and hard fought game the night before in Buffalo and getting the early lead and sitting on it was certainly part of the agenda.  The first part probably wasn’t that difficult either when you consider that the Canucks have given up the first goal in nine of the last eleven games.

I thought the decision to start Andrew Raycroft was a big weird.  According to Jason Botchford of “The Province”, the Canucks made the decision to go with Raycroft after the game in Montreal.  I’ll admit that Luongo has been a little bit off is game lately and perhaps fatigue has started to set in a little bit but in a game against a team that has won ten in a row  you have to go with your number one guy.  Additionally, starting Raycroft against his former team in Boston for a morning game might have made more sense.  I probably don’t have to mention when Luongo injured himself last season in Pittsburgh because his routine was thrown off by the early start.  Either way, Raycroft was not the reason the Canucks lost the game.

Shane O’Brien made some insanely strange plays as well tonight.  I can’t wait for him to go back to being the number five or six guy, he’s really not cut out to be a top four.  Not that were didn’t already know that but it’s horrible at times right now.  The moment that really sticks out is when he tried to go backwards with a pass after the Canucks had been running around their own zone for at least a minute.  For the love of god man, just get those pucks out.  The Canucks were getting away with having a less skilled defense at home where Vigneault could work the match-ups, but I think that we’re starting to see the opponents match their best players against defenders that can’t handle them.  Christan Ehrhoff has had a few problems on the penalty kill and playing against the other team’s top line so hopefully he can get back to how he was playing ten games or so ago.  In hindsight I’m starting to believe that his plus-minus was inflated because he didn’t always have to play against the best.  However, he is still the best the Canucks have right now.

Brian Elliott was beaten only by Kyle Wellwood

Somehow, the Canucks managed to outshoot Ottawa 30-20 and 27-9 after the first period.  It really didn’t seem like the Canucks had 16 shots in the third period but apparently they did.  Other than the breakaway save off Steve Bernier in the dying seconds of the second period I can’t think of a time where Elliott had to make a great save.  Far too many shots from Vancouver came with no traffic in net or were shot right at the goaltender.  Sometimes that just means that the opponent’s goalie is on his game as far as rebounds and angles go, but the Canucks really didn’t challenge Elliott much in my opinion.

What is most troubling about the offensive effort is that Daniel and Henrik were pretty much ineffective for the entire night.  I don’t think they got the cycle going at all and even resorted to taking slapshots from the top of the circle with no traffic a number of times.  Definitely not a game to remember for the top line.  Ryan Kesler was also invisible for most of the night.  For a guy that wants to be paid in the five million a year range, he has to find a way to get it going more often on the road.  That might be was separating him from being a great player in the league right now.

What to expect Saturday?  I’m not really sure at the moment.  It seems like the Canucks have rekindled the problems that they were having earlier in the year.  Luckily for them, Boston isn’t the greatest team in the league this year, let alone home team.  They lost in a shootout to Montreal tonight.  Tim Thomas did have a shutout over the Canucks the last time they played so we can expect Thomas to play opposite Luongo – a possible Olympic matchup as well.  The Canucks need to find a way to get things going because there is still eleven games left on this road trip.

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Posted by Simon

The Olympics Are Coming!

February 4, 2010

8 Days to Go!

I have to stop neglecting this place for long periods for time.  Lots of good stuff has happened since I last posted.  The Canucks went on a 7 game winning streak with their patchwork defence and some less than stellar efforts all around but winning when you don’t play your best is what good teams do.  It was too bad that they lost in Montreal because they were the better team for pretty much the entire game.  Poor personnel on defence finally caught up to them at times  as a few of the goals had some serious blown coverage.  The real reason they lost though was their inability to figure out Halak.  With forty plus saves he definitely stole the game.  But that’s old news.

I’m really looking forward to tonight’s game against Ottawa.  I really think that the Canucks have an excellent opportunity to be the ones that break up the Senators winning streak.  The Sens played a hard fought game in Buffalo last time and are bound to be tired while the Canucks had the day off and are waiting there for them.  The line-ups haven’t come out yet but I would hope Tanner Glass draws back in for Darcy Hordichuk now that they’ve lost a game.  Glass brings so much more to the table than Hordichuk but we’ll see what Vigneault opts to do.  Hopefully Henrik is on his game as well because Ovechkin has pulled within a point of him in the Art Ross race.

Now the big news is that I’ll be going into Olympic mode within a day or two.  Since the Olympics are in my city it’s my goal to bring a firsthand account of all the happenings that might be going around Vancouver in the lead up to the game and of course the games themselves.  The torch is being run through my neighborhood on Wednesday so that’s going to be exciting as well.  I’ll be unveiling my hockey predictions during the next week or so and when the games officially start I’ll be discussing other sports other than hockey when relevant.  Of course the Canucks are still playing through to next Sunday so they obviously won’t be forgotten.

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Posted by Simon

This Could Get Ugly

January 23, 2010

Nolan Baumgartner during the 2009 Pre-Season

With the recall of Nolan Baumgartner for the injured Sami Salo, the Canucks defence is looking pretty thin for Saturday night’s tilt with the Chicago Blackhawks.  The Hawks are perhaps the last team in the league that you want to have a depleted defence against.  There is a pretty good chance that the speedy and skilled forwards are going to dominate the Canucks defence for most of the night.  To put in perspective just how bad the starting 6 will be on Saturday, Shane O’Brien who has been in and out of the press box this year will be number three on the depth chart.  Aaron Rome, Brad Lukowich and Baumgartner are all players that have spent most of the season watching or in the minors.  So, lets look at what the Canucks have to work with and how they might try and slow down Chicago.

Without Willie Mitchell and Kevin Bieksa healthy to play in the shutdown role, Alex Edler and Christian Ehrhoff will likely draw the assignment.  Ehrhoff will get a chance to prove his doubts wrong, who say that his plus-minus is a result of not playing against the other teams’ top line.  Ehrhoff and Edler logged 32 minutes in the shootout loss to Calgary two weeks ago.  Both defenseman will potentially see close to thirty minutes of ice time with so few reliable defensemen.  Baumgartner will likely play more than the six shifts that Evan Oberg did in that game in order to take some of the pressure off the top pairing.

O’Brien and Rome round out the top 4 as scary as that is.  With the secondary scoring that Chicago has, these guys are in for a tough assignment.  The best thing that O’Brien can do is to keep it simple yet still play his game.  That means don’t run around trying to be physical and take penalties but still be physical when the opportunity comes to him.  Rome will be advised to much of the same.  Handle the puck as little as possible and get the puck out of the zone.

Baumgartner with the Canucks during the 09 Pre-season.

Lukowich and Baumgartner are at the bottom of the depth chart for this game.  Lukowich has been a bit hit-and-miss during his call-up so far.  I find that he is too frequently being caught standing still when the puck is within reach.  There was one opportunity against the Stars where the puck was on the side boards and he just watched it rather than going after it and trying to make a play.  On the plus side, he’s been quite physical when the opportunity has been there and like O’Brien will need to pick his sports to do so on Saturday.  I haven’t seen Baumgartner play in a long time but for the record he has 1 goal and 6 assists with a -7 rating in 30 games for the Moose this season.  He last played for the Canucks in 2006 and in the NHL in 2007 with the Dallas Stars.

It probably goes without saying that Roberto Luongo is probably going to have to turn in one of his best performances of the season if the Canucks are going to win.  Guys like Ryan Kesler and Alex Burrows will have to be spectacular on the defensive side of the puck.  Ryan Johnson being back in the fold should help with the penalty kill which is still stuck in the middle of the pack.  Because of that, not taking a lot of penalties will also be key.

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Posted by Simon

Other Referees and Media React to Burrows’ Allegations

January 12, 2010

I don’t normally make a post just to provide a bunch of links but this appears to be a special case that is worthy of it.  The media and Stephan Auger’s peers have now had some time to diget Alex Burrows’ post game comment and weigh in on the whole thing.  The more I think about it, the more I believe Burrows.  It appears as I’m not alone as a poll on tsn.ca showed that 85% of voters believe Burrows was telling the truth.  Honestly, I didn’t think the number would be so high among non-Canuck fans because Burrows doesn’t have the greatest reputation across the league but without an actual statement from Auger or the NHL, it appears as if people will take Burrows’ word as the truth.  Now lets take a look at some of the comments made across the league.

Perhaps the most interesting is from an annoyamous veteran official:

“You file it away in the back of your cranium,” he said. “But you wait until you get a game where the score is 5-1, and then you might call him for something. You say, ‘We’ll meet up again one day.’ But you don’t hurt the team.”

“You don’t even have to be a ref to figure it out,” he said. “Don’t leave the gun at the scene with your fingerprints all over it.”

I was pretty surprised when I read this because I thought most referees would blindly support their own or have no comment.  In all honesty, referees have an incredibly difficult and thankless job to do and as a result will likely stand by their own.  The fact the first public comments by someone, basically throws Auger under the bus should tell you what Auger’s teammates think of him.

Next we have Ray Ferraro who knows a thing or two about yapping.  The “Little Ball of Hate” talks about how most officials, or at least a good official, dealt with people like him or Burrows and how the they should maintain a bigger sense of professionalism even when you want to get back at a guy.

“I have a little experience with this type of situation from my playing days. I, like Burrows at times, talked too much for my own good. I never hesitated to tell an official if I thought he made a bad call. Paul Stewart was one of the officials that I butted heads with. I felt like he saw that the game revolved around him, and I told him that every chance I had. It got to the point where we hated each other – he felt I was a big mouth, I hated seeing his name on the game sheet.

But a strange thing happened. Nothing.

I never felt that Paul leaked his feelings into giving me the short end of the stick. We never spoke, and he would ignore me whenever I had a question, but he was totally professional.”

Head Coach Alain Vigneault is concerned about the bigger picture for his team. Vigneault, rightfully so, is concerned that as a result of Burrows’ comments that the team will be hit with more biased officiating, like the ones in Vancouver last night.  If he knew about what some of Auger’s peers were saying about him then his concerns might disappears but nonetheless it appears as if it could end up being a distraction to the team now

“It’s a concern,” Vigneault told sportsnet.ca on Tuesday. “I can understand the situation, but that being said right now I think it’s best for our players and myself to let Mike Gillis and management take care of this with the league. It’s something they will have to deal with.”

Of course, while the Canucks are concerned of the distraction that might come from all of this the team completely supports Burrows.  As Jason Botchford of the Vancouver Province writes that Burrows has the full support of the team and Burrows and Colin Campbell will have a conference call tomorrow afternoon at 3:30pm pst.  Mike Gillis has shown that he’ll support his players in anyway that he can since taking of as General Manager.

“Alex Burrows, Vancouver Canucks GM Mike Gillis and NHL disciplinarian Colin Campbell will have a hearing via conference call Tuesday afternoon as the league begins an investigation into the accusation one of its referees had a personal vendetta which spilled over into Monday’s Canucks game.”

“We’re going to support him in every way we can support him,” Gillis said. “We’re going to support what he said occurred and we’re going to show why we support that.”

While Burrows will meet with Campbell tomorrow it appears as if the winger is done talking about it for now:

“My focus is on (Wednesday) night’s game,” Burrows said. “They are playing well and they are a good team and the won on Monday night so just make sure we get two points.”

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Alex Burrows Slams Referee, Stephane Auger

January 12, 2010

Yes, there was an actual game tonight and I’ll get around to actually giving my thoughts on that at some point but the bigger news making its way around is the allegation that referee, Stephane Auger was “out to get,” Alex Burrows of the Vancouver Canucks.  Burrows didn’t hide his feeling from the press in a post game media scrub following the loss and it appears that Burrows’ claims may be valid.  Following the loss, Burrows who scored twice said:

“It was personal. It started in warm-up, before the anthem,” Burrows said of Auger’s penalty calling. “(Augers) came over to me and he said I made him look bad in Nashville on the (Jerred) Smithson hit and he said he was going to get me back tonight.”

“He did his job in the third, I think. He got me on a diving call I didn’t think was diving. He got me on an interference call that I had no idea how he could call that. It changed the game. It sucks right now for teammates who are battling 60 minutes to win a hockey game because every two points are so huge, are so important. And because of a guy’s ego, it just blows everything out of proportion and the refs – they’re making bad calls and the fans are paying for it and we’re paying for it.

Burrows has legitimate gripes when it comes to the penalties.  Both the diving penalty and the interference penalty seemed to come of nowhere.  In fact there was a delay by the official to call the dive in the first place.  It’s almost as if he checked to see who it was and then put his arm up.  The interference penalty was a total phantom call.  Auger’s partner, Dennis LaRue had sent a Predator off for hooking with less than 5 minutes to go.  Cue Auger who called Burrows for interference when Joel Ward went tumbling to the ice.  There was clearly no pick on the play and it was simply two guys getting tied up.

The circumstantial evidence here is the pre-game confrontation between the referee and Burrows.  I was at the game and i watched the whole pre-game discussion between the two and Burrows looked visibly upset at whatever was being said. I didn’t think too much of it at the time other than it being unusual. It’s not often you sees refs talking to guys pre-game that isn’t a coach or captain.

I don’t want to jump to conclusions too quickly because I have a hard time believing that a referee of 10 years would ruin his career on something like that or to put himself in a position where he would be liable to get called out in public by a player but at the same time it appears as if all the evidence is supporting Burrows right now.  It’s not as if Burrows would go around trying to blacklist himself with an accusation that wasn’t true.  I’m sure the NHL will investigate and we’ll see what happens in a day or two.

For the record Auger also had a run in with Burrows in Montreal when Auger kicked Burrows out of the game for a penalty that should have been two minutes at worst.  Auger and LaRue were also part of the Wings-Stars game and the inexcusable no goal although that was mostly on LaRue because he was the one who blew the whistle.  Still looking for video of the Smithson hit for reference.  Anyone have a link?

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