Some random notes about last night's very enjoyable to watch game:
- Markus Naslund's game tying goal came at 19:19. :D HEE! Goal scored by #19 on 19 minutes and 19 seconds. YEAH.
- Gah. Trevor Linden could have gotten a hat trick. Oh well, huge two goals from him, including the game winner. AV was double shifting him in the 3rd period powerplays just to get the 3rd goal.
- Taylor Pyatt played like a monster last night. Seriously, how many times did we see him bulldoze his way into the offensive zone? Then win puck battles by pushing guys around. I think Pyatt just hates Jim Vandermeer. And since Vandermeer is part of the Flames, he hates the Flames, too. HAHA And on that PK. XD Seriously awesome.
- All 4 lines scored tonight, I believe. Always a good thing.
- Mike-ro-Weave scored his first point as a Canuck!!! Apparently the guys were telling him that Canucks are 1-0 when he scores a point. Keep em coming!
- HAHA. I love when Jarome Iginla gets pissy at Burrows and Kesler.. and Mitchell and everyone. HAHA.
- I was watching the post game player interviews... XD! When they were interviewing Weaver on the bike, someone kept patting him on the back and Bieksa just had the huge smile on his face. XD
Uhm. That's all I can remember.
I should have never turned on the TV.
I got home just after the 2nd period started, and just as I was settling in on the couch, making myself comfortable to watch the game, the Colorado Avalanche scored 4 goals.
I don't even know how I survived until the 15 minute mark of the 3rd period where I then switched the channel to America's Next Top Model...
It was just painful to watch. I don't want to think about it anymore because it just breaks my heart.
Not to mention that Brendan Morrison left the game with a leg injury. Just great.
Wow. Maybe I should have continued live blogging the game, it might have kept the Canucks energetic throughout the last 2 periods. Or maybe I should stop watching Canucks PPV games, because honestly, all the games that I have actually watched a significant amount of, the Canucks has lost in terrible fashion.
My mom even pointed it out. I rebutted by saying "I WATCHED THE PHOENIX GAME LAST TIME!" and she reminded me that I only watched a portion of the 3rd period before it blacked out and .. it's true.
PPV Games I've seen this year:
vs Flyers (8-2 loss)
vs Wild (2-1 loss)
vs Rangers (3-0 win) [I was watching at a restaurant with friends, so it sorta doesn't count]
vs Ducks (4-1 loss)
vs Flames (3-2 loss)
Anyway, back to the game.
What the fuck.
Seriously. WTF happened there?
I know Canucks aren't the 'toughest' team in the league (despite their huge amount of penalty minutes), but usually when the game gets physical against a divisional rival, they can usually answer the bell and at least hit back a little. But 7 hits to Calgary's 29???! WTF!
Not to mention, the 1st period was all nice and peachy, they were skating well, passes were going tape to tape, they were taking away pucks from Flamers left, right and center, they were creating chances, and suddenly, it stopped.
A big factor was the sustained pressure Calgary placed, but it's like the moment they received the puck on their stick, they're lost and doesn't know what the heck to do with it. Then they get hit. A lot. And then they lose the puck and they're stuck in their own zone again.
And the penalties. God the penalties. Okay, to be honest I don't have a huge issue with a lot of the penalties, since it's the Canucks fault they got in that mess in the first place. BUT THE DUMB PENALTIES. MY GOD. Too many men on the ice??? Delay of game by knocking your own net off??? Burrows you have to be smarter than that, please. Don't do it when you know you're on the penalty kill and take your team 5 on 3.
And God, Bieksa on the winning goal by Phaneuf. You're the only man back, I know you broke your stick, but read the play properly and make sure someone will cover your ass if you decide to leave. But he totally misread it, and he opens up the zone for Phaneuf to receive the pass and well.. goal.
I think he needs to be treated to a healthy dose of a healthy scratch just to give him a wake up call. It's okay to make mistakes especially when you're not a veteran yet, but if you repeatedly make the same mistake over and over (and I'm not talking about just leaving, but his giveaways) without any sign of learning, you have to take desperate measures. Seriously bench his ass for just one game just so he knows that this is not acceptable.
God I wish Ohlund was back so we can afford to do this. Scratching Bieksa would mean putting Luc Bourdon in, but at this rate, at least Luc has the excuse of it being rookie mistakes if he give sup the same errors as Bieksa.
I don't hate the guy but gah.
Every Canuck had a good first period, and I thought Taylor Pyatt, Willie Mitchell, the Sedins, Markus Naslund and Matt Pettinger had a really good game.
Well, I thought Nazzy had a good game during the few moments we see him on the ice, which is sadly a few since we took 83748237423 penalties in the 2nd and the 3rd he hardly got any ice time.
Despite Pyatt taking 2 penalties, I also thought he played pretty well since he is one of those guys who actually created offensive chances whenever we got the opportunity to in the Flames zone. The Twins also set him up with a chances to score on Kipper, but no dice, still played well, powerforward style. (Seriously, we need to get someone to fight/hit/piss off Pyatt before every game. He plays that much better.)
Hmm yeah. penalties suck. Dumb penalties suck even more and the Canucks need to learn how to keep it down. Ugh. Though the penalties aren't even the issue, they won't be getting penalized if they can just clear the puck and just ugh. clear the puck.
For a bit of good news... The Baby Canucks feasted on the Baby Avalanche, winning the game 7-2. Let's hope the Parent!Canucks do the same to the Avalanche tomorrow.
Goal scorers include the Sniping Viking, Jannik Hansen and the ever Grabtastic, Michael Grabner. Good job Moose!
[06:30] Nazzy and Danny SCORES. SWEETNESS!!!
LOL. I thought Nazzy's goal is nice.. I love when he holds on to the puck and just shoots after everyone else falls down. LOL
Then Danny. Poor guy XD;; His 2 goals to 'end' his goal scoring drought are both lucky goals.
I see Nazzy yelling someone out from the bench. Oooh Nazzy really letting the refs hear it. Probably arguing about the location of the faceoff.
[06:35] Cowan and Goodard colliding 'accidentally'. Yeah right.
[06:40] HAHA Yes. Another penalty for Eriksson.
[06:42] I love how you hear lot of "Go Canucks Go" amidst the "Go Flames Go!"
Edler's shot was almost placed in the Calgary goal by the defenceman.
[06:45] Hehe nice effort by Petting Zoo and Cowan, keeping the puck in the Flames zone.
I hate how i keep hearing Vandermeer's name. I'm glad Taylor Pyatt beat up his ugly mug.
And freaking clear the puck.
Thank you for clearing the puck for us.
Yes another penalty for Calgary. The Canucks better take advantage of this. UGH.
[06:47] Haha. Pyatt powermove. :B On Vandermeer.
I wonder how they started their fight?
Vandermeer: Hey pretty boy? Remember me? The one who tried to make you ugly while I was in Chicago?
Pyatt: Hey jealous boy! Remember me? The one who made your ugly mug uglier?
Vandermeer: DID YOU JUST CALL ME UGLY YOU BITCH?
Pyatt: Yeah I did, jealous? :P
Vandermeer: THAT'S IT DROP THE GLOVES. I'LL PUNCH YOUR FACE IN.
Pyatt: NO PROBLEMO, AT LEAST I KNOW MY UGLY FACE LOOKS PRETTIER THAN YOUR NORMAL FACE. BRING IT ONE BITCH.
Vandermeer: IT'S ALREADY BEEN BROUGHTEN!
*drop gloves*
Too lazy to continue this live blog. I'm not made for the live blog business. I need to concentrate.
And Pyatt takes the Canucks off the powerplay.
Pyatt!! I love you when you fight!! Heehee.
XDDDDDD *swoons*
Excuse me while I go faint.
Pyatt!! I love you when you fight!! Heehee.
XDDDDDD *swoons*
Excuse me while I go faint.
I am a dumb, idiotic Willie Mitchell fan.
I knew that last year, Rick Ball had the "Willie Wednesdays" segment on his Canucks Lunch afternoon show, but what I did not know was that it is still on this season. GAH!!
Well, I can't really blame myself since I'm at work at around that time, and I regularly forget to download his podcasts... but MAN!!! T_T I missed out on a lot of Willie!
Anyway... my favorite bit.
The Moj was asking Willie Mitchell what he does to get away from hockey (this is paraphrasing)
Willie: Well I'm a very culinary guy [he says more but you get the idea]
Moj: Hey Willie do you like to cook?
Willie: *laughs* ... I like other people's cooking......................
Moj: Oh you don't cook?
Willie: Well, I barbecue!
XDDDDDDDD!
I love you Willie. <3
I freaking hate Shaw PPV. It's either:
- We order and the Canucks get severely owned. (Flyers... Ducks...)
- We order and the Canucks are winning but the feed DIES. (TONIGHT)
Well, sadly for Shaw Customer Service, my mother is the type who are customer service representative's nightmare. Trust me, I know. I work for IT Tech Support in my university, and we get these types of people fairly often. My mother is one of them. The type who yells at the phone and demands everything to be fixed or refunded in full and won't stop yelling type. :3
Anyway, she's talking with one of those reps now :P already arguing to get credit back for that game. It's hard to calm her down since she'll just get angrier at us and the rep if we try to get her to relax... But yeah.
I wasn't able to watch the game except for the end of the 1st period (just as Carcillo scored) and the beginning of the 3rd period (Thank you, Shaw PPV).
I was studying in a cafe and I did not know my mom was going to order the game. >_>
Glad to see that at least one of the Sedin twins bumped their goal slump, and my favorite fat guy also got that weight off his back.
Bad news though.. Mason Raymond is out for 4 weeks with a knee injury after that hit by Ballard? Shaw PPV cut off right at that moment so I can't comment on the hit.
Of course Canucks side will say it's a dirty hit, Coyotes side will say it's all clean. I haven't seen the replays so can't comment.
But yes, can't comment much about the game since I was only able to watch a grand total of like 5 minutes of it. Or less.
P.S.
My Mother 2 - Shaw Customer Service Rep -10
Mom: What EXCELLENT coverage tonight.
Shaw: Uhh...
Mom: EXCELLENT coverage. I WAS SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO IMPRESSED.
Shaw: Are you calling about the Canucks PPV game?
Mom: YES, it was WONDERFUL...
Shaw: Yeah, we've been authorized to give partial credit for the 3rd period.
Mom: *cue yelling and screaming and kicking*
Shaw: *tries to argue*
Mom: *outyells the guy into submission*
Shaw: ... T_T You can talk to our Supervisor
*on hold*
Mom: *Probably collecting breath for more yelling*
ShawSuper: *tries to argue why he can't give out full credit*
Mom: *TKOs the guy into submission*
ShawSuper: Okay we're giving you full credit.
Mom: *complains about the Anaheim PPV game last week*
ShawSuper: Uhh.. what was your problem with it? *thinking the feed did not cut out at all*
Mom: *yells about quality of the PPV*
ShawSuper: *tries to resist*
Mom: TKOs the guy into submission again*
ShawSuper: Okay we'll give you 50% credit for that game.
Mom: :D Thank you~ Have a great day!
Me: So what happened.
Mom: :DDDDDDDD Full Credit for tonights game and 50% for Anaheim's game!
Me: WHYYYYYY were you getting a refund for the Ducks game???
Mom: :( They lost. And remember the quality was bad???!! :(((???
Me: ...... I think it has more to do wtih the arena than the PPV quality mom.
Mom: Whatever we got our money back.
I am lazy and sleepy right now, so I'll just quickly point out my thoughts or summary, whatever.
- Thank you Dave Tippet for starting Johan Holmqvist tonight. I don't want to speculate, but it might have been possible that the Canucks wouldn't have scored those 3 goals if it was Turco starting in net.
- Naslund-Morrison-Pettinger line was great. As Naslund said after the game, he's the slow one on that line, so he has to ride those two, but I really think the fast rushing game is what suits Naslund best.
- Markus Naslund was in on all 4 goals tonight. He helped set up the first one by Matt Pettinger, it was his powerplay unit that scored the 2nd goal, then he scored the 3rd one, and threw a puck on the net for Morrison to deflect for the game winning goal. Even though the GWG is such a total garbage goal, Brendan Morrison said Nazzy threw the puck on net because he knew he was heading towards it. He looked back, saw Mo coming, so he just threw it there in case good things happen. Luckily, Marty Turco directed the rebound right at Morrison and Robidas' face.
- Although Matt Pettinger scored a pretty goal for his 2nd as a Canuck, what I really liked was his play in Nazzy's goal. I guess I have just been disillusioned recently because of all the 2 on 1 / 2 on 0 opportunities with Bulis last year.. and Bulay will elect to score himself instead of passing to Naslund. But overall, Petting Zoo was again solid. Great on the PK, scored 3 points... Yeah. :)
- Oh right, Nazzy also had a penalty shot. It didn't look good at all. I cringed when they gave him the penalty shot.. :P I think the league should allow the player to choose between a penalty shot or a minor penalty. XD; He also had a late 2 on 1 opportunity.. he hesitated, and then the moment was lost. In times like these, you would just know if that was Naslund of old, he won't even hesitate in going for the goal.
- Canucks with a 3-0 lead at one point of game = VERY GOOD
- Canucks giving up that 3-0 lead in the 2nd period = HORRIBLE
- Roberto Luongo is pretty bad at one-on-one breakaways this year... Well, I'm not sure about last year, he may have just been as bad since I remember all those Lombardi SHG, but yeah... maybe it's the speed that fools him? If a player on a breakaway doesn't have much speed on Lui, he usually saves it... It's the fast ones that kill him. (HELLO NAZZY :D! Speed can sometimes kill.)
- Trevor Linden had a pretty okay game for his first game back after multiple healthy scratches (though I noticed everytime the 4th line was on the ice... Dallas is in our zone :x), but icing the puck two times at the last few seconds of the game may have just earned him another one-way ticket to the press box. Unfortunate, but he really just gave Vigneault a reason to place him back there. He was placed on the ice for the last few seconds because he has always been smart with the puck, instead he iced it twice. Poor guy.
In other news... CORY SCHNEIDER WITH HIS 2ND PRO-CAREER SHUTOUT!! 33 SAVES! Let's go SCHNEIDS!
- If I counted the times Shorty said something along the lines of one Canuck missing the other Canuck's pass, I would have enough money to buy new shoes.
- And everytime they get the puck on their stick, it's like someone rubbed butter on it before the game. It just keeps slipping away.
- And Nuckies? Dump and chase usually means either you dump the puck all the way behind the goalline, NOT HALFWAY WHERE YOU CAN'T CHASE or when you dump all the way to the goalline... please, CHASE. And not just 1 person chasing. You need at least 2 people to get that puck back.
- The Sedin powerplay units are brutal tonight. Even more brutal than the Naslund-Morrison unit. Everytime I see them on the ice hogging the puck for 1.5 minutes without doing anything, I know we won't score on the PP. I miss the days when the Sedins actually sometimes try to shoot the puck on the PP. Or pass it to someone who will.
- And it's like the Sedin's defensive game just suddenly decided to disappear recently.
- Roberto Luongo: What is up with the first goal you let in? I know you want to improve and diversify your goalie style, but please... do that in the preseason. Don't imitate Hasek now.
- Yeah. Just no intensity. They had some at the first 3 or so minutes, then KAPUT!
- Everytime we have ordered PPV, I think the Canucks has lost... *trying to think of a game we've ordered that they've won*
[editted]
:P But the main reason they really lost, as pointed out in point no. 7, the Ducks took it to us and won the battles. That's it. We started by playing better, and I think if we just kept puck possession for more than 2 seconds, it would have been a different hockey game, but they beat us in every puck battle. They knew our D is hurting so they hit hard every chance they got. They were just hungrier for the puck and it showed.
