22 posts tagged “canucks vs flames”
Hello folks! It has been a while since I posted, but I have just been so busy with the 5 courses I'm taking this semester that I haven't had time to post. Surprisingly, I can find time to watch games, but I just get so tired to post about it afterwards.
Well, it seems like only Cory Schneider and the defense showed up for the Canucks tonight? I mean, defensively, the forwards were great, but offensively, which is their number 1 job, they were horrendous.
First of all, the Canucks got lucky in that last shift before the winning goal. I haven't seen the replay and even I thought Burrows did trip the guy... We got lucky it wasn't called.
Weeellll... that was an interesting game. The Flames really took it to the Canucks and played very physical. After Bieksa was taken out of the game, their players really targeted our D and hit very hard... probably in hopes to injure them. Jerks.
After Daniel Sedin's very early goal, the Flames responded and just took the momentum with them. They scored 3 goals in 7 shots and they kept coming.
In an attempt to bring sexy momentum back to the Canucks, Willie Mitchell and Jarome Iginla fought for a bit. Sorry, Willie, I love you and you are amazing, but I give this fight to Iggy just because he landed the KO punch and a lot of your punches missed his head. :(
Thankfully, second period came along with two more fights! First we had Darcy Hordichuk vs Roy, Hordy's first fight of the season, and then we had the more exciting one, Rick Rypien vs some kid whose name I forgot from the Flames. Oh yeah. Ryp really ripped into that guy. Hehehe
And Ryp kept ripping it up in the scoresheet, too! Another goal for him tonight, a one timer from a pass by Ryan Johnson.
Soon after, Ryan Kesler gets his first goal of the season! Speed kills and Kesler has speed. He blasted through the 2 Calgary defenders, got the puck to Hansen, and Kes put it in thereafter. Yeah!
Calgary did end up getting the lead again, but the Daniel Sedin responded in the third to tie the game.
As I said earlier, the Canucks got lucky towards the end. First, Bertuzzi got docked with a boarding penalty, and Flamers were arguing Johnson should have gotten a diving penalty.. and from the replay, Johnson obviously embellished it quite a bit. Oh well, I'm not complaining. The Canucks couldn't score on the powerplay anyway, so who cares, eh?
Then as I said, we got lucky again with the Burrows trip/non-trip not being called... because after that incident, he had a 2 on 1 with Pavol Demitra, the puck slipped off his stick as he was going to take a shot, and LUCKILY, Demitra tipped the loose puck in the net and the Canucks win in OT.
I think the major problem I have in this game is the Canucks powerplay. Yeah. What else is new eh? After the incredible, #1 powerplay in the league powerplay during the pre-season, the Canucks has really stunk it up. The reason? THEY DON'T FUCKING SHOOT THE PUCK LIKE THEY DID IN THE PRE-SEASON. The point shots are not getting through, they just pass the puck round and round and no one is taking the risk to just skate in and shoot.
And Salo? I thought you promised us more shots? YES, MORE SHOTS PLEASE. And it's not entirely Salo's fault either since no one is setting him up for the one timer.
UGH.
Another thing. It seems like Taylor Pyatt is this year's whipping boy.
I am not the biggest fan of Pyatt, and I know that he has been having a serious issue in putting the puck in the net after quality scoring chances, but I don't think he is the only problem in the line.
He is definitely not the best "solution" in the line, but he is not the problem.
I think Pyatt is just the easiest to target between him and his linemates because he isn't the one who has the most puck skills. The thing is, that whole line is not clicking. For whatever reason.
Pyatt has been good in the physical department. He has been winning puck battles, and creating space, but he lacks the offensive finish.
Mason Raymond has been impressive in the speed department, but he lacks in the physical department and so far the offensive department as well. He hasn't finished any of his chances either, and just because he looks flashier than Pyatt doesn't mean he shouldn't be "criticized" for his play either. He is getting manhandled by the physical forwards of the opposing team out there and he gets knocked off the puck so easily!
Demitra has been making the right plays, but for some reason, it doesn't connect with his linemates. Both Raymond and Pyatt can't finish off those passes, or even re-create the chemistry they had during the pre-season.
Of course there's a better alternative to Pyatt, but he's not the only one having problems finishing in that line and he shouldn't be the only one to blame.
This makes me really angry.
Wow. Did any Canuck fan expect that from the Canucks tonight? Honestly, I didn't.
I expected it to be a "grind-it-out" type of game where Luongo will be keeping them in, and they won't get a lot of scoring chances because the Flames / Canucks will just be so chippy... But what an outburst!
First of all, I admit it. I cried during the Luc Bourdon tribute. Like really full on crying that my glasses were blurring my vision and I had to take it off and blow my nose somewhere.
I don't know how many times I've said that Luc's death hasn't "hit" me yet and that I'll probably be more accepting as a fan after training camp when I realize he won't be there, but it's like going through the grief all over again when watching that tribute video and listening to the song. It was very emotional.
(As a side note, awesome on ice projections. Please tell me you're going to be using that on pre-game videos! Please, please, please!)
Anyway, so the Canucks didn't really start very well in the first period. We got into a bit of penalty trouble, and seriously... on that 5 on 3 sequence, I would say it's PURE LUCK that the Flames did not score on any of their chances. LUCK. I mean, they had at least 3 open net chances when Luongo was down, but they either miss, whiff on the shot or well... hit the post or someone. None of those just went in... and they could have, so the Canucks got really lucky on that regard. :P On the other hand, Jarome Iginla was not on the ice at the time, so the Flamers only had people with stone hands probably. :P
The Canucks turned it on after that... Nice play by Daniel Sedin on the rebound there and a nice shot by his twin Henrik.
2nd and 3rd periods were obviously better for the Canucks, both offensively and physically. They cam out hitting and they came out scoring. 5 more times!
First it was Steve Bernier! :D My new Canuck punchbag? Nah, that title still belongs to Pyatt. He's Punchbag 2.0 I guess :P but Bernier showed he is awesome. Hits, fights, scores! Yeah! Love how he stood up for Henrik after Phaneuf hit Henrik on the offensive zone. I mean, he didn't get any punches in, but it's the thought that counts. <3.
Then Alex Burrows scores the next 2 goals. It was just so awesome and unbelievable. Good for him since apparently he was hit the hardest by Luc's passing and it was a very emotional night for him. Again, Kesler, Burrows showing great chemistry and Hansen seems to just fit right in with them. All 3 play a similar style of game, except obviously, Kes and Burr has had more experience at being pests at the NHL level. :P I'm sure Hansen will be up there soon enough.
Love love love how Jannik Hansen stood up for Lui and scrapped with Langkow. I did not expect that from him soooo *thumbs up* Great Dane!
Other goals were scored by Mattias Ohlund, on a nice driving play by Taylor Pyatt, and another by Rick Rypien.
Seriously, I was doing my usual "ragging on Pyatt" routine, saying "HIT THE GUY!", "HOLD ON THE PUCK FOR MORE THAN 2 SECONDS!", "ETC ETC ETC!!", and then he went on and blasted into the O-zone, shot the puck at Kipprusoff which allowed Ohlund to bounce in the rebound. And suddenly, I love Pyatt again. :P! Hehe.
Speaking of which, that was their first powerplay goal.. out of 8? chances. Seriously what the hell. Maybe it's just the first game, but their PP so far did not look as good as it did in the regular season.
It's the usual suspects of problems, too. They can't gain the zone, can't control the puck, passes always getting intercepted, poor coverage and movement of the puck in the neutral zone... I hope it improves... and we know it can improve since we've seen it on the pre-season with almost the same group.
Anyway, Roberto Luongo was excellent, but he also had a lot of help from the excellent play of his defencemen. The new Canuck, Shane O'Brien, also showed a bit of that toughness by roughing it up a bit with Bert, and going after Vandermeer for punching Henrik (again) at the end of the game. He did not look as bad as the Lightning made him out to be. I'm wondering if it's because he has such a stable partner in Sami Salo?
So defense looked fantastic, offense definitely looked better this year compared to where we were in last year's season opener and goaltending was nothing short of awesome!
PS: My mom has decided to hate on the Canucks because she doesn't like Mike Gillis. She kept cheering for the Flames. GRRRRRRRRRRR!! MOTHER!!!!!!!!!!!!
I would so post tonight, but since I'm technically studying for my midterms tomorrow... I just want to say...
AWESOME GAME BY THE CANUCKS!
Seriously. Please, please, please show the same offensive capabilities in the regular season. Please please please.
Hansen scored 2 goals tonight, all from 2 beautiful plays by both Kesler and Burrows. Can I say "Welcome to the Canucks, Hansen"? If he didn't get the roster spot tonight, I don't know what will.
Again, our offense was fantastic. The defense was pretty steady and they really went at it in terms of offense, especially Edler who just kept shooting the puck from all over the ice, scoring 1 goal.
Last but not the least, our captain was fantastic. :D
Edmonton @ Vancouver aka Canucks got kicked out of the playoffs
This happened a week ago, so I don't remember the exact emotions I felt while watching the game at GM Place. I know I was depressed like heck (as you will see on my facebook status) afterwards and so on... I can't remember the efforts they gave during that gam, but I do know...
THEY HAD 923848235894758394 POWERPLAYS AND THEY FAILED TO CAPITALIZE ON EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM UNTIL IT WAS TOO LATE.
Yeah. Good work, guys. One of those powerplays was a 5-minute major.. the refs were practically GIVING the game to us, but it seems like Dwayne Roloson had other ideas.
Calgary @ Vancouver aka Canucks fans say goodbye to Trevor Linden, although he hasn't announced anything yet so he might feel even more pressured to retire now.
Another boring game. Seriously guys, it's FAN APPRECIATION NIGHT. The least you can do is score 3874829374 goals to show your appreciation to the fans, not get scored on 7 goals.
Although it's sort of like a win-win situation as a fan.. :P If they win.. yay they win.. if they lose, YAY HIGHER DRAFT PICK! But I was praying that they lost by like 10-9 or something.
So it was a very depressing game again, in more ways than one. The whole standing O Trevor Linden got was really sad and heartwarming. It was also very sweet of Iggy to take the rest of the Flames players and say their goodbyes to Linden.
But the most depressing for me is the fact that Markus Naslund may not be back as a Canuck or as a hockey player. :( I will really miss you Nazzy, if you don't sign with the Canucks. Don't worry, I'll jump on the bandwagon of whichever team you do sign with and cheer from you there... (Even if it's the Leafs or Flames... or someone I hate just as much.)
Very great of the Vancouver crowd to cheer for Iggy's 50th goal of the season. At first I thought it was only the Flames fans cheering, but they were so loud, and when they announced his 50th in the building, the cheering even got louder.
Anyway. Yeah. My friend and I ALMOST won a jersey. UGH. he guy who won Roberto Luongo's jersey is at Section 311, Row 12, Seat 9... WE WERE IN SEAT 111/112... SAME FREAKING ROW AND SECTION.
The Advantages of NOT Making the Playoffs:
- I save the money that I would have spent on Playoff tickets and can use that money on girly things like clothes, shoes, purses and makeup.
- Canucks get a bit higher draft pick than usual.
- I can fully concentrate on studying for my final.
- ... I'll think of a 4th reason.
The Disadvantages of NOT Making the Playoffs:
- I'd have to read the Canucks forums that's full of bitching everyday.
- It's hard to be rabid when I'm not cheering for the Canucks...
- I'd have to listen to Vancouver sports radio bitching about the Canucks the whole day.
- ... The Canucks are not in the playoffs.
- ... I'll think of a 5th reason.
The rest of the photos can be found on my flickr.
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.
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.
