5 posts tagged “canucks vs blues”

The Sweep was sweet! Canucks take Round 1

Apr 22, 2009
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First of all, that overtime period would have been the death of me. 2 powerplays for the Blues, one of which was a 4 minute-long double minor, you can't imagine the sense of relief and just pure excitement that I felt when Alex Burrows scored the winning goal.

It took a second to register that it was in.

And then SCREAMING AND JUMPING UP AND DOWN WITH MY FRIENDS AS WE ALL HIGH-FIVED EACH OTHER.

Then more screaming and jumping. The whole place was rocking.

The atmosphere was insane.

But let's start at the very beginning. The Canucks took an early two goal lead with goals from Kyle Wellwood and Alex Burrows. They were playing really well and they were disciplined. There weren't a lot of penalties called through out the game, and it was just really solid throughout the whole line up.

In the 2nd period, the Blues started taking it to them again, and maybe the Canucks got a bit complacement, and Luongo, apaprently started cramping up.. eitherway, the Blues tied the game, and there was a hush in the crowd at Shark Club.

Oh did I mention that Luongo was done for a few minutes and we were pretty much going "OHSHITOHSHITOHSHITOHSHIT" Yeah. But he got up, was solid again afterwards and the Canucks survived the onslaught until Burrows put the puck in the net.

Just. Wow. I don't think anyone expected this from this team from last year, and even during January. This is unexpected, but I love it.

I did not know the sound of honking can sound like heaven to the ears until I was walking around Robson with my friends. Just. amazing.

Both the team and the fans were amazing.

CANUCKS TAKE GAME 2 BITCHES

Apr 17, 2009
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Holy shit wow.

That was an intense game. An intensely good game. I don't even know where to begin.

I wasn't able to watch the first 10 minutes of the hockey game, as I was on my way home at the time, but I can already hear the craziness seeping through the radio. The crowd noise was just insane even though it sounded like the Blues were getting all the shots in during that time, but the energy of the Canucks was apparently crazy. Lots of hits, lots of end to end action... Just awesome.

Of course when I actually started watching the game, the awesomeness continued on. The defensive play of the Canucks was spotless. Luongo was... PERFECT and the offense did its thing to get chances.

I really think the key here was the Canucks were more disciplined and therefore did not give the Blues a lot of PP time. And when they did go on the PK, they were aggressive and kept the Blues to the outside. Oh, did I mention that Luongo was PERFECT?

The same could not be said for the Canucks PP though. The chances were there, but obviously the goals weren't. Oh well, they made it up for it 5-on-5.

Sedins with Burrows were fantastic. All those chances, and pure hardwork got them the 2nd goal.

The first goal was funnier though... After all the good chances, it goes in by trickling through Chris Mason's pads. LOL

But yes. I think the real game winner here were the plays of Luongo and the defensive play of the team. Fantastic job.

Oh yeah. And Mason Raymond? I love how you've changed your game. That's all I'm saying. Totally upped his level of play compared to when he was being healthy scratched. Good job.

The Win, The Loss, and the LOLz + SUNDINZZZ

Jan 10, 2009
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Actually, I just wanted to post the photos I took at the games I went to this holiday season. I haven't had time to actually sit down and make a decent blog post because I am busy trying to finish up my last year in school, and my dad came home for the holidays so we were often out.

So first game I went to was the Senators game. I bought tickets for the whole family, and we're so glad Sanford got the shutout that night. There was also a hilarious dude in front of us who had a huge sign that says "HI MOM!" as he was trying to get on TV. :( Too bad the cameramen never caught him.

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Canucks vs Senators Photo Set @ Flickr

Funny story: During the game, they usually had this little quiz in the intermissions where you guess the player with the scrambled face on the screen while they give you facts about the player. After the first fact on this particular player, where his face is still very unrecognizable, I immediately knew it was Willie Mitchell. So I started yelling out "WILLIE! WILLIE! WILLIE MITCHELL!" as they kept giving on clues. Of course, I was right, and the people in front of me was impressed. :D Hehehe.

Second game was the Canucks vs Flyers game! I bought a pair of lower bowl seats as a Christmas present to my dad and to myself. :D Hehe

Even though the Canucks lost, this game did wonders to my hockey pool. Jeff Carter had 1 G and 1 A, while Mike Richards had a 5 minute penalty. :D Good job you guys!

This is the game where I discover my hate for Scott Hartnell and that Mattias Ohlund has so much anger. Everytime he closes the door on the bench, he doesn't just close it, he SLAMS it. XD

It was also weird hearing that a goalie got traded to your team in the middle of the game...

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Canucks vs Flyers Photo Set @ Flickr

Last but not the least was the Canucks vs Stars game... AKA Fan Appreciation Night.

All I remember from this game, even though it was the most recent, was a lot of screaming and cheering for my part and the skytrains getting stuck due to the snow.

Oh yeah, this was also my first, live shootout game. Fuck I never want to experience that again. I swear, it was a heart attack waiting to happen. I couldn't watch it. My throat also couldn't take it. It was very sore after.

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Canucks vs Stars Photo Set @ Flickr

One thing I remember about this game? Willie smiling at me.

That's right.

He did.

Usually when I watch them warm up, I can keep my fangirl-ness in check and just watch, take photos. But as Willie was skating by he looked at us, and I couldn't help but just bang the glass repeatedly and yell out "GO WILLIE!!!!!!!!!!" and he looked back a little and smiled.

Me: 2009 IS THE BEST YEAR EVER!

True story.

Anyway, as for our new goalie... Jason Labarbera has been, surprisingly, solid for us. 2 wins and 2 shootout losses. Not so bad for a goalie who can't even stick in LA. In those 4 games, 2 things worked well for him, the defense did their job fantastically, and LOLz was solid in net.

However, the game tonight against the Blues was a different story.

A lot of the goals scored on him tonight seemed to be results of the huge rebounds he let out tonight. I mean, he's had problems with rebounds before, but the defencemen had been pretty diligent in clearing those away or it didn't happen often enough to be a huge issue. However, tonight was the total opposite. The defence were unable to help him out in clearing out the pucks, and it just happened too often. A lot of the saves he made had rebounds and the Blues were able to take advantage of a few of them.

Willie Mitchell had a huge night, though. :D I'm proud of mah boy!!! Willie had 1 goal and 2 assists. He would have had 2 goals, but Burrows stole it from him. :P! [EDIT] They gave the goal to Willie! :) Unassisted goal. He had 2 goals 1 assist tonight. :( Too bad it's on a losing effort.

He has also tied his career high in points at 14 and career high in goals at 3. :)

As for Mats Sundin... Wow, don't you just love how he holds of defencemen? Don't you just wish some of that power will rub off on Taylor Pyatt??? But, he is still shaky, but you can see that flashes of dominance in him. He's just hesitating a little, sometimes, but once he's more comfortable with the pace of the game again, I'm sure he'll be able to show us that powah.

Canucks gets rid of the Blues, 3-2

Mar 15, 2007
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Twin Killing again!

Absolutely perfect 1st and 2nd periods, atrocious 3rd period. Okay. Atrocious last half of the 3rd period. They were still playing pretty well in the first half of the 3rd until the Blues suddenly came to life and scored 2 goals to tie the game.

Okay, I'm not being fair. It's not that we were playing poorly, but in the few times we made a mistake, the Blues jumped on it and took advantage. The first goal isn't really cause of bad defensive coverage. Lukas Krajicek and Taylor Pyatt were trying to clear the puck, but the ref decided to stay in their way, so the puck stayed in. The second Blues goal was just a brain cramp from Mattias Ohlund. I don't even know what he was thinking that time, but that giveaway coupled with the Blues having a chance to whack the rebound home 28374823 times got them the 2nd goal.

What started out as a really good game just ended up being disappointing, although we ended up with the win.

AV showed no love to Pyatt today, but the Canucks' photographer did

First and foremost, Roberto Luongo is now part of the elite group of goaltenders who's had 40-win seasons. He played shutout hockey the whole game, mostly because the Blues weren't in it until in the last part of the 3rd, but he still made good saves when Blues did have the chance.
Daniel and Henrik Sedin does it again as they scored the first goal of the game and the game-winning goal. Daniel Sedin now has 4 overtime goals this season to tie the record.
Also, the Sedin-Sedin-Cowan line debuted tonight and it looked good. Jeff Cowan was able to join the Sedin cycle, and was very aggressive on the forecheck. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to finish any of the plays the Sedins gift-wrapped for him. He came close, though, but to be fair, Pyatt has been unable to finish a lot of the same chances recently. I still believe that the Sedin-Sedin-Pyatt line was more of a case of them being shut down and playing against the other top lines that just out-worked them so they couldn't get out of their own zone. Nevertheless, Cowan looks good on this line, for now.
As for Taylor Pyatt and his stint on the fourth line? I thought he was good this game. That line was generally good. Santala was perfect in the faceoff circle, and they were also able to create a mini cycle game most of the time they were on the ice. Taylor Pyatt had a nice one-on-one change, but the Blues defenceman played him well and knocked him off the puck. Keep playing strong, Pyatt!!! I'm cheering for you!
Trevor Linden also scored a goal tonight, and it was a pretty one. They were at the end of their shift, after being stuck in the defensive zone for most of it, but Ohlund jumped into the play to make it a 4-on-2, so they were able to get that goal.
Bryan Smolinski is CURSED. Someone should send a memo to Naslund that Smolinski was traded to Vancouver to set him up, not the other way around. Like really. Naslund has been setting up Smoke a lot.... Uhh, Nazzy? You're the one who's supposed to be waiting for Smoke to set YOU up.

A Bertuzzi-less Detroit Red Wings is coming to town on Saturday and I just hope the Canucks play with as much intensity on that game as they did on the first 2 periods of today's game.

Canucks lose to the Blues, 3-1

Feb 27, 2007
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XD Too lazy to come up with a more creative title as I have 2 midterms in 2 days, so I have to start cramming.

Anyway, we didn't play BAD, we were good, except that Blues caught us on the times we had a mistake and scored. Unfortunate, but that's how it goes sometimes.

It was a pretty boring game. I can't believe people actually think the Canucks are a trapping team. Have they seen the Blues play lately??? They have 5 players in the neutral zone, with no forechecking. In the first period. On a 0-0 game. What the hell.

Taylor Pyatt and Rory Fitzpatrick were out for this game. Pyatt is still suffering from that elbow he apparently received in the Dallas game, still has blurred vision and Fitz was replaced by Brent Sopel on the lineup.

Tommi Santala took Pyatt's place on the Sedin line and I can tell you now that it did not look good. To his defense, Santala has been missing NHL action for a long time now, so 1-2 games isn't really a fair assessment... But he must have missed 83274823 scoring opportunities. The Sedin's set him up some pretty good ones, and there were some plays where if he kept his stick on the ice, it would have been an easy tip in... He was okay in cycling the puck.. just those scoring chances. You wonder how many of those goals would have gone in if Pyatt or Naslund was there instead of Santala.

Then our PP. The Naslund PP unit is pretty useless without Pyatt standing in front to screen the goalie. Salo and Sopel's point shots are pretty much useless if there's no one to either screen the goalie or deflect the shot in.

Here I go again, complaining. As for the new guys..... They did well. When they posted the statistic for Smolinski's faceoff wins (9/16), I thought he won more than 9. Everytime I see him take a draw, it looks like he won it. Sopes wasn't too bad either. He and Ohlund were paired up together, so it was just like old days. :D

Well, I hope Pyatt is back for Thursday, and we win. :D Go Canucks. XD