November 2010
12 posts
10 tags
Ring of Honour
As part of the Canucks’ 40th anniversary celebrations, there will be four inductees into what is being referred to as the “Ring of Honour”, which is meant to honour those who fall short of jersey retirement (limited so far to Stan Smyl, Trevor Linden and, shortly, Markus Naslund).
So far two players have already been inducted: original Captain Canuck, Orland Kurtenbach and...
3 tags
The Case Against Alain Vigneault, Revisited
A few days ago, one of our loyal followers asked “is it time to fire Alain Vigneault”? If you’ve been following here for any length of time, you know what our answer was.
Is Alain Vigneault a bad coach? Hardly. Heading into this season, there have been over 330 men fortunate enough to coach in the NHL. And of those only 56 have coached for more than 500 games. Of those 56,...
3 tags
Prepared to Lose
So after spotting the road teams 2-0 leads in four of the last five games on their eastern road swing, you’d think the Canucks would come out swinging on home ice against their arch rival, the Stanley Cup Champion, yet some how beleaguered, Black Hawks.
With the Black Hawks playing their third game in four nights and arriving in Vancouver fresh from a 7-2 beatdown from the watered down...
1 tag
Rest in Peace, Pat Burns
After a long bout with cancer, long time NHL coach Pat Burns finally gave it up today. It’s a crying shame that the Hockey Hall of Fame (HHOF) couldn’t have given it up for him.
As the only three time winner of the Jack Adams Award for Coach of the Year, Burns coached successfully in three of the toughest hockey markets (Montreal, Toronto, Boston) and was a fierce competitor. In...
1 tag
Start What You Finish
As we all know, there is little the Canucks can do this regular season to pacify the fan-base. This season will only be judged by what happens come April, May and, hopefully, June. With the shoddy opposition in the Northwest division, it would take a pretty dramatic turn of fortune for this team to not win another divisional crown and clinch at least the 3rd playoff seed. So does this mean that...
4 tags
Separated at Birth
Monday night’s visit to Buffalo featured the only clash of the season between expansion twins; the Sabres also emerging into the NHL world 40 seasons ago. And in a lot of ways, the game symbolized the fortunes of these clearly fraternal siblings.
On Monday night, the Sabres, wearing uniforms with their original crest, staked themselves to an early 2-0 lead. Just like in the early days of...
1 tag
Two More for the Road
So three games into this trip, the Canucks sit at 2-1 and returning home with a 4-1 record on this trek is a good possibility. We particularly enjoyed the win against the Leafs on Saturday night. Is there anything better than beating those clowns in Toronto with the nation watching on Hockey Night in Canada? After all, the only fate worse than the Canucks never winning a Cup is the damn Leafs...
8 tags
The Pathetic Northwest
With this entry, we will depart from our usual modus operandi. That’s right, no “Game 13” or “Game 14” updates, at least not for now. Instead, we present a lengthy piece that is only tangentially related to our beloved Canucks. You might want to grab a cup of coffee with this one. Or perhaps print it out and bring it with you to the satellite office. And once done there, you know what you...
8 tags
Game 12 - The Making of Cory Schneider
You’ve got to hand it to the Canucks’ brass. After last season’s meltdown to the eventual champion Black Hawks, there were rumblings that “the End of the Tail that Wags the Dog” (as we here at CC opined) was near. And 12 games into this season, it seems undeniably so.
Having soft sold Roberto Luongo into giving up his captaincy and the weight of the world that...
5 tags
Game 11 - Torrid Torres
For those that have been following us here for awhile, you’ll remember that our favourite off-season move was the signing of Raffi Torres. And while it’s certainly way too soon to say we told you so, Raffi has been giving us a good taste of what he can deliver. His reputation is one of a player who runs hot and cold; so much so that last season despite scoring 19 regular season...
11 tags
The Curse of the Sedins
Of course, we mean this in a mostly tongue in cheek fashion, but with Jeff Tambellini’s demotion today to Winnipeg despite scoring twice in his limited time with the Sedins you have to wonder.
The first winger to achieve decent chemistry back when the twins were just fuzzy faced boys was Trent Klatt. After said success, Klatt had a personal chauffeur, Brian Burke, drive him to the airport...
5 tags
Game 10 - Thanks, Lou
No, not that Lou. Though Roberto was perfect tonight. We refer, in jest, to the other Lou in the building tonight. Assuming that the Devils could afford to send their President and General Manager Lamoriello along for this ride.
It’s hard to believe that it’s been 27 years since this famous quote, perhaps the greatest player’s greatest ever quote:
“It’s got to a point...
