What If Luongo Was Still THE Guy?
Posted: May 23, 2013 Filed under: Vancouver Canucks | Tags: alain vigneault, canucks, cory schneider, roberto luongo, vancouver Leave a comment »@forevercanuck posted an interesting tweet earlier today:
It’s not the crush part of the tweet that interested me, although I did find that mildly amusing, especially considering my Dad is Alain Vigneault’s doppelgänger both in looks and personality. It was the second part:
But when you play Schneider over Luongo, you lose…your job
The Schneider/Luongo problem was one of the biggest for the Canucks during Alain Vigneault’s tenure as Head Coach. I’ve said before that it would define Mike Gillis’ time as GM but should it actually define Alain Vigneault’s time as head coach?
Jeff Marek has said a few times recently on the Marek vs Wyshynski podcast “show me a good goalie and I’ll show you a good coach”. Or is it the other way around? Anyway, the premise of the saying is that good goaltending makes the coaching look great.
Roberto Luongo has been a great goalie right through his career, including every season he has spent in Vancouver. Alain Vigneault has been considered a good coach (and still is). Still, that decision to start Cory Schneider in game 3 of the 2012 Western Conference Quarter Finals against LA is an interesting one. Firstly because despite getting 2 losses to start the series, Roberto Luongo was not bad in those games. Secondly, it was pretty much the last straw for Luongo in Vancouver. After Schneider started the remainder of the series and the Canucks were still beaten, Luongo admitted he felt his time was up with the Canucks and he said he’d welcome a trade. Queue over 12 months of the worst kind of distraction, not just for the players involved (Luongo and Schneider), but for the whole team. The goaltending situation has spread a dirty, black cloud over everything the Canucks have done off and on the ice ever since. I don’t care what anyone says, it can not have been easy to play in the NHL with all that speculation and negative attention focused on the team. It surely had an effect on how the Canucks performed throughout the past season.
Imagine for a moment that Luongo had remained the starter, the Canucks stayed the course with him and decided to trade Schneider instead. Schneider would have pulled a massive return before last year’s draft. Could it have made the difference to the team’s performance this year? We’ll never know.
Now the reality is Vigneault is gone, Luongo is still there but unlikely to be for much longer and the Canucks are embarking on a new era still without Lord Stanley’s mug. Would this still be the case if Alain Vigneault had trusted in Luongo and the Canucks had traded Schneider? I think it’s unlikely.
Fire Everyone! Alain Vigneault & Assistants Out The Door
Posted: May 23, 2013 Filed under: Vancouver Canucks | Tags: alain vigneault, canucks, fired, newell brown, rick bowness Leave a comment »On the 23rd of May 2012, a month or so after the Canucks were knocked out of the 1st round by the Los Angeles Kings, Canucks Head Coach Alain Vigneault was signed to a 3 year extension.
On the 22nd of May 2012, a month or so after the Canucks were knocked out of the 1st round by the San Jose Sharks, Canucks Head Coach Alain Vigneault was fired.
As were Assistant Coaches Rick Bowness and Newell Brown.
It’s the big change the Canucks probably needed after last season but “better late than never” and “hindsight is 20/20″ and all that jazz. I promise, no more cliches today.
Instead lets look at the cold hard facts.
Alain Vigneault was Head Coach of the Vancouver Canucks for 7 seasons, had a record of 313-170-5. He holds the franchise record for most wins. The Canucks made the playoffs 6 out of 7 years, won 2 Presidents’ Trophies, 6 North West Division titles and made it to game 7 of the 2011 Stanley Cup Final, but lost. Henrik and Daniel Sedin have won scoring titles and MVP awards, Ryan Kesler has won a Selke and turned into one of the best 2-way centers in the NHL and Alex Burrows went from bottom 6 agitator to top 6 2-way goal scoring machine.
I predict Alain Vigneault will be unemployed for all of 1 week.
Rick Bowness and Newell Brown were also relieved of their Assistant Coaching duties. Bowness ran the defense and it’s fair to say that despite being absolutely loaded on the blueline for the past few years, the Canucks have appeared quite disorganised back there at times. Thankfully they have had first class goaltending from Roberto Luongo and Cory Schneider.
Newell Brown ran a power play that went from 1st in the NHL in 2011 to 22nd in 2013 and absolutely invisible in the past 3 post seasons (if you include the Boston series). The power play has looked predictable and, if it’s possible, confused at the same time this year. Change had to be made.
No word yet on replacements for these guys but whoever they hire, there’s about to be a massive systematic change in Vancouver. Every head coach and assistant coach brings their own theories and systems and even though the player personnel may not change too much, I expect we’re going to see a different Canucks team next season.
Ridiculous coaching speculation has already begun so strap yourself in for a frustrating period on Twitter.
Sweden Wins World Championships, Sedins Shine
Posted: May 20, 2013 Filed under: Hockey, Vancouver Canucks | Tags: canucks, daniel sedin, henrik sedin, iihf, nhl, nicklas danielsson, ryan kesler, sami salo, sweden, world championships Leave a comment »Sweden beat the surging Switzerland in the Gold Medal game of the 2013 IIHF World Championships 5-1 on the back of a strong performance from one Mr. Henrik Sedin. It was the first time since 1986 that a team won gold on home ice.
Henrik and Daniel Sedin joined the Swedish team after the Canucks were swept from the 1st round of the NHL playoffs by the San Jose Sharks. They created a line with Loui Eriksson that became the most potent attacking line for Tre Kronor, dominating on the power play in each game they played.
In 4 games Daniel Sedin had 1 goal, 5 assists, Henrik Sedin had 4 goals, 5 assists. Loui Eriksson had 3 power play goals in 10 games. In the final Henrik Sedin had 2 goals and an assist.
You’ve got to say one thing about the Sedins – they’ve still got it. They created havoc down low regularly and were always dangerous with the puck. The Swedish power play was lethal. Why haven’t the Sedins played like that for the Canucks the past 2 years? A couple of reasons. First, with the big ice, different officiating and less defensively capable opposition in the World Championships neither Sedin had someone hanging all over them every second they were on the ice like they have in the NHL. Secondly, on the power play they had a right handed shot from the point.
The Sedins effectiveness on the power play has been diminished for the Canucks, particularly in this season just gone by, because they didn’t have a healthy Ryan Kesler creating net front havoc for them and they didn’t have Sami Salo or a specialist right side player on the point with a booming shot.
In this year’s Worlds they had Nicklas Danielsson on the right point on the power play. A former Canucks draft pick (of course), Danielsson was fed juicy Sedin passes and let rip with booming slapshots from the point. The Canucks would do well to take note of how the Sedins manufactured goals on the power play under the Swedish system.
With the Sedins obviously enjoying the freedom of large ice and a less grabby style of defense in Europe let’s hope they haven’t started yearning for their homeland. Their current contracts are up at the end of next season.
Canucks Reveal More Than Intended In End Of Year Presser
Posted: May 10, 2013 Filed under: Vancouver Canucks | Tags: alain vigneault, alex burrows, alex edler, blackhawks, boston, canucks, cory schneider, mike gillis, nhl, penguins, presser, roberto luongo, ryan kesler, shane doan, sharks, st louis, vancouver Comments OffI woke up this morning to a Twitter time-line full of interesting tidbits from the Canucks end of year locker room clear out and press conference with GM Mike Gillis. As I toiled through 10 tweets of each and every comment given by a player and Gillis I rapidly lost the early morning awake-but-still-kind-of-asleep feeling. My cloudy head was blown clear by provocative, read between the lines style comments flying at me from just about everyone. By the time the #Canucks hashtag relented I was very much awake and very much equal parts intrigued and angered by what I read.
There were the not so unusual comments:
“We just weren’t good enough” – Ryan Kesler
“I need to be more consistent” – Alex Edler
“I really believe in this core group” – Alex Burrows
“What’s happened over the last two years suggests that maybe it’s not my time to be the starter here anymore” – Roberto Luongo
That last one hurts. I’m sorry Lu, I’ll miss you.
As well as those there were these gems:
“I tweaked my groin in the Chicago game and I couldn’t get it better in time” – Cory Schneider
What what WHAT? The Canucks lose the first two games in the series against San Jose and it wasn’t because of bad goaltending on the part of Luongo. The obvious choice is to allow Schneider more time to recover, to practice, to shake off the rust. Instead, Alain Vigneault starts an ice-cold, INJURED Schneider in game 3 who proceeds to let in 3 goals in less than 3 minutes in the 3rd period. BAM the Canucks are down 3-0 and looking entirely down and out. This could be the final nail in Alain Vigneault’s coffin. A ridiculous move.
“We need to get different” – Mike Gillis
“It’s quite clear the league is going in a direction we need to recognise and adapt to” – Mike Gillis
We’ve heard this one before, maybe not quite so bluntly though. In the past Gillis has bemoaned the changing game, how the NHL is moving from a speed and skill league to a grit and defense league. It first came up after the Stanley Cup Final loss to Boston, then again last year as the Canucks were knocked out in the 1st round by the eventual Stanley Cup Champion LA Kings. The Canucks are a team that was built to be fast, skillful and attacking. Playing to these strengths the Canucks dominated the 2011 regular season, winning the Presidents’ Trophy and leading the NHL in goals for and against and in special teams. The core of the team has remained the same, and therein lies Mike Gillis’ ultimate failure.
He has seen the tide turning in the NHL. He has seen big, defense first teams like Boston, LA and St Louis steam rolling oppositions and grinding out win after win over the past couple of seasons. He wants his team to compete with that and we’ve seen the Canucks transform from an attack first, regular goal scoring machine to a defense first, can’t score to save themselves style team. Did Gillis instruct Alain Vigneault to make the systematic change? Did AV push for it? Was it a mutual decision? We don’t know. All we do know is that it did happen. The Canucks dropped from 1st in goals for in 2010-2011 to 5th in 2011-2012 to 19th this season as they adjusted to their defense first system.
The problem is the Canucks have tried to play the same style of system as LA, St Louis and Boston but they’ve been trying to do it with a roster that was designed for an aggressive, attack first system. This is the key to the Canucks failure and it’s why I place the blame for the Canucks consecutive 1st round losses squarely on Mike Gillis’ shoulders. He failed to adjust his roster to suit his shifting philosophies. One wonders what the result would have been if Gillis was able to land Shane Doan, or shift Luongo for other big 2-way forwards.
“We’re not going to amend my principles because we lost a four-game series” – Mike Gillis
Ah, you did last year – after a 5 game series – and you’re talking like you’re going to right now.
The Canucks are chasing their tales here. In 2011 their potent power play received comparatively very few opportunities during the Stanley Cup Final. Their biggest tool, the one they relied on most to win games, was nullified. They adjust for that. They prepare to win games without their power play. Then this year the NHL changes their referring standards again. Even the smallest infractions are getting called during the playoffs. Their neglected power play can’t convert. They lose. The Canucks can not continue to chase the NHL refereeing standards in this way. The NHL can change the way they run the game overnight. You can’t change an NHL team’s systems like that.
This is where it becomes frustrating watching teams like the Sharks, Penguins and Blackhawks continue to be successful. They haven’t strayed from their attack first, goal scoring orientated systems over the years. They’ve stayed the course and added to their rosters according to their belief in what their style of hockey should be. Gillis preaches this but the proof his organisation doesn’t practice it is in the Canucks performance over the past two years.
“We’re going to hit the re-set button on a number of fronts” – Mike Gillis
This comment will leave coaching staff and players shaking in their boots. Today, Burrows was openly wondering when the no-trade clause in his new contract kicks in. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I don’t believe Alain Vigneault should take all the blame for the Canucks failures. It appears he might though.
The Start of a New Era in Vancouver
Posted: May 7, 2013 Filed under: Vancouver Canucks | Tags: alain vigneault, canucks, christian ehrhoff, cody hodgson, derek roy, edler, era, escape goat, fail, hossa, jason garrison, kassian, luongo, mike gillis, newell brown, nhl, raffi torres, rick bowness, san jose sharks, vancouver Comments OffThe Vancouver Canucks are down 3-0 in the best of 7 series against the San Jose Sharks. After game 1 I felt the series was being played to a familiar tune and that tune has continued to haunt us much like Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah being covered over and over and over and over and over and over again for all eternity.
I will not dwell on what has happened. To quote that classic Bertuzzi refrain “it is what it is”. It is unlikely that the Canucks will come back from this deficit given that the Sharks are playing extremely well and there appears to be about as many good vibes in the Vancouver room as you’d find in Afghanistan right now. I also won’t give much thought to game 4. Thanks to injuries the Canucks have limited options when it comes to shaking the roster up. Vigneault isn’t about to change his game plan or systems. Whatever happens, happens, and could ultimately be nebulous.
Amidst all the “end of an era in Vancouver” talk instead I will go down the “start of a new era” road. The Canucks will be eliminated in the 1st round of the Western Conference Playoffs. Ok. Changes will occur in the Canucks organisation because of that. Ok. Fine.
But what should those changes be? The focus is on coach Alain Vigneault but there’s also assistant coaches, vice presidents, directors, assistant general managers and the general manager himself, Mike Gillis. Then there are the players. There are lots of options to shake things up and to kick off the new era of Vancouver Canucks hockey.
Coaching Staff
Alain Vigneault is the obvious “escape goat” but some questions must be raised about his assistants as well. The Canucks D has appeared unorganised for much of the season and the pairings have chopped and changed with the winds. Assistant Coach Rick Bowness runs the D and for mine he’s run it into the ground. Assistant Coach Newell Brown runs special teams and appears to have used up his bag of tricks because the Canucks finished this regular season with the 22nd ranked powerplay in the NHL. A PP that for much of the year inexplicably failed to use it’s biggest weapon from the point – Jason Garrison.
Whatever the assistants get up to has to go by the Head Coach and this is why Alain Vigneault is in trouble. Ultimately the coaching buck stops with him. Still, he can only work with the tools given to him. This is where the General Manager comes in.
The General Manager
I can see Mike Gillis falling on his sword this off season. It’s easy to fling dung on Vigneault but if you drop the cowpat and take a proper look at what has happened over the past few years with the Canucks it becomes a little more obvious that the dung should be hitting the fan in Mike Gillis’ office.
Going back to the end of the 2011 season where the Canucks were outscored and out-muscled in the Stanley Cup Final against the Boston Bruins, these are the highlights of GM MG’s transactions:
- Failed to re-sign Christian Ehrhoff, traded his rights for a 4th round pick. FAIL. Edler and the Sedins haven’t quite been the same since Ehrhoff left. Gillis has yet to find a suitable replacement to play the right side with Edler and for me this is a crucial weakness for the Canucks.
- Released Raffi Torres. FAIL. Since leaving the Canucks Torres has gained further infamy with his Jay-Z halloween costume and terrible hit on Marian Hossa, but his on ice value was obvious in Phoenix and now he’s playing extremely well for the San Jose Sharks.
- The Cody Hodgson situation. In hindsight it’s hard to look at this and think it was handled well by the Canucks. For me, the short term result of the trade is FAIL. Hodgson finished 2nd in scoring for the Buffalo Sabres this year and would have looked quite nice on the 2nd line for the Canucks while Kesler decided to keep hurting himself. Having him in the lineup would have negated the need to trade for Derek Roy (in itself a fail). Long term is another thing as Zach Kassian could still become a great player. But the Canucks are trying to win the Stanley Cup now. Kassian isn’t helping now. Hodgson could have. Arguments could be made that Hodgson’s lack of defensive instinct would never fit in the Canucks system but if a world class coach like Alain Vigneault isn’t able to adjust his lines, his game plan, to best utilise the team’s star 1st round pick and potential future captain, then there’s bigger problems.
- The David Booth trade. FAIL. This was a bet that Mike Gillis lost. In theory it was a great acquisition but the reality is that Booth was not a proven, regular, goal scorer and his inconsistency has continued in Vancouver.
- Signed Jason Garrison. FAIL. Oooo controversy. The Canucks desperately needed a right side specialist to play alongside Alex Edler. They still do because instead of getting one Gillis invested $4.6mill in cap space to Jason Garrison, who as good, not great, as good as he is, is not a right side specialist. For me it came down to having to get that right side guy to play with Edler (ala Ehrhoff), or they had to trade Edler. Instead they have Garrison forever plus Edler forever and no one to play alongside him.
- Which brings me to the bag full of no-trade and no-movement clauses Gillis has happily thrown into player contracts. Luongo, the Sedins, Kesler, Burrows, Higgins, Bieksa, Hamhuis, Garrison, Edler. All have a clause preventing them from being traded and/or waived. That’s over $45 million against next season’s $64.3 million cap committed to 10 players on a 23 player roster. If you’re lucky enough to get a player to agree to a trade then their big contract becomes a road block to said trade (Luongo’d).
- The Luongo situation. The less said about that the better, but still FAIL.
- There’s also a plethora of other little moves Gillis has executed over the years that haven’t quite worked out. The Volpatti waive, releasing Rick Rypien, extending Mason Raymond, the Sturm signing, the Pahlsson trade, the Malhotra situation (questionable), letting Sami Salo go, burning a year of Frank Corrado’s entry level deal…
Things don’t look so rosy for Michael D. Gillis. He’s made a tonne of moves and had some success (not complaining about those Presidents’ Trophies) but if you focus on the moves that have hindered this team you discover there are a lot of them. The GM should be a victim of some finger pointing.
The Players
No matter what the coaches and GM do it ultimately comes down to how the players execute on the ice. The Canucks have not been executing. Goals have dried up. Soft goals have been let in. Defense has let everyone down. There will be changes to the roster before next season, not just because of performance but also because of the salary cap squeeze that will affect the Canucks more than most teams.
For me the following current roster players are untouchable:
- Daniel Sedin
- Henrik Sedin
- Alex Burrows
- Jannik Hansen
- Dan Hamhuis
- Kevin Bieksa
- Alex Edler
- Cory Schneider
I would also not be trading Nicklas Jensen or Brendan Gaunce.
Beyond these guys I would be willing and happy to trade every single other player on the roster. Yes, that includes Ryan Kesler. I’m not a Kesler fan. As good as he can be he’s also fickle. His chirping and diving are an embarrassment and have acted as motivation for the opposition rather than for his own team (just ask the Blackhawks and the Bruins, who I would bet said something along the lines of “we are NOT losing to THESE GUYS. Anyone but THESE GUYS” at some point during the playoffs). Also, he would draw a massive return in any trade. Trade Kesler.
Ultimately whatever happens this off season it will be a different Vancouver Canucks team taking to the ice at the beginning of the next NHL season.
If it was up to me, I’d retain Alain Vigneault, I’d jettison his assistants, I’d jettison Mike Gillis and I’d give AV and the core mentioned above a new group of guys to play with. Trust in some rookies. Look to get some heart, soul and guts back into the team. It’s time for an identity change.
The Playoff Song Remains The Same For Canucks
Posted: May 3, 2013 Filed under: Vancouver Canucks | Tags: art ross trophy, bruins, canucks, kings, nhl, playoffs, presidents trophy, sharks, stanley cup, vancouver Comments OffThe 1st round didn’t start quite as planned for the Canucks as the Sharks beat them 3-1 in game 1 at Rogers Arena. Antti Niemi made 29 saves on 30 shots, Logan Couture and Dan Boyle each had a goal and an assist and the Canucks didn’t play particularly well at all. The lone Canucks goal was credited to Kevin Bieksa but in reality it was an own goal on the part of former Canuck Raffi Torres.
It’s only 1 game in a best of 7 series so it’s not panic stations yet for the Canucks. Or is it? A familiar storyline appears to be continuing with a brand new chapter starting the same old same old in this San Jose series. Let’s take out our imaginary flux capacitors (in itself an imaginary tool…hmm) and travel back in time a few years to that momentous, heart breaking, god awful Stanley Cup Final against the big bad Boston Bruins.
2011
After dispatching the Blackhawks, Predators and Sharks the Canucks lost the Stanley Cup Final to Boston in 7 games. It’s a loss that the ignorant blame on Roberto Luongo however to win games you’ve got to score goals and the Canucks only managed to put the puck in the Boston net 8 times in 7 games. They had 246 shots on goal in those 7 games. 8 goals on 246 shots is a 3.2% shooting percentage.
That from a team that won the Presidents’ Trophy, led the regular season in goals for and had 2 players score 41 goals AND had Daniel Sedin with the Art Ross Trophy. Something went very awry.
2012
The Canucks won their 2nd straight Presidents’ Trophy with 51 regular season wins, many of which came against their hapless Northwest Division opponents. They drew the under-performing Los Angeles Kings in the 1st round.
The Kings defeated the Canucks in 5 games. Once again the goaltending drew the headlines but the fact is the Canucks only managed to score 8 times in 5 games. They had 172 shots on goal in those 5 games. 8 goals on 172 shots is a 4.6% shooting percentage.
2013
The flux capacitor has now returned us back to the future. We’re 1 game into the 1st round. Last night the Canucks scored 1 goal on 30 shots on goal. That’s a 3.3% shooting percentage. The lone goal was dirty as a squashed piece of used chewing gum.
This is part of a stretch going back into the regular season where the Canucks have only scored 10 goals in the last 6 games. If that continues there is no way the Canucks will win this series.
What To Do With The Vancouver Canucks?
Posted: March 11, 2013 Filed under: Vancouver Canucks | Tags: alain vigneault, ballard, canucks, luongo, mike gillis, trade, vancouver canucks Comments OffIn the immortal words of Dewey Cox: “Goddamnit, this is a dark fucking period!”
After the loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets (which may not be as bad as we thought) the Canucks stooped even lower today, going down 4-2 against the Minnesota Wild in a very, very lackluster display. For the first time in what seems like forever Vancouver has relinquished the lead of the Northwest Division and has a record of 3-4-3 in their last 10. They sit 6th in the Western Conference with a goal differential of -1. They have the 24th ranked powerplay in the NHL and the 17th ranked penalty kill. Their team face off percentage is 48.5%, only good for 22nd in the NHL.
These are all areas of the game that the Canucks have been strong at for the last few seasons. For a team that was meant to be a contender things are not going well at all.
So what to do with the Vancouver Canucks?
Fire coach Alain Vigneault? I like AV but my feelings on this have not changed since last year’s playoffs. He’s a very smart coach and he has a great record however with the way the Canucks backed into last year’s playoffs and the way the team has played this year the question must be asked – has Alain Vigneault “lost the room”? Another question that needs to be asked is “has AV used up his whole bag of tricks?” Opposition teams appear to see the Canucks coming these days and when things go wrong mid-game he rarely seems to have the ability to pick his team up and drag them out of their funk. It may be time for Alain Vigneault to go. However given his tenure with the Canucks, his record and the fact he has a while to go on his contract I can not see him being fired any time soon.
Do they fire Mike Gillis? It’s fair to say he has made a number of moves that have not panned out. He traded for Steve Bernier. Then matched a silly offer sheet on him. He let Ohlund walk. He let Salo walk. He waived Volpatti. The Ballard trade. The Booth trade. The Pahlsson trade. The Luongo contract. The Hodgson trade (debatable). The Garrison signing added another left handed left side playing defensemen to a blueline that desperately needed a right handed right side guy. He has a questionable drafting record. On the plus side he’s also developed a winning culture in Vancouver, where second best isn’t good enough. He crafted a team that made it to game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final and that may have won if they had remained healthy. He’s signed a number of players to “discounted” contracts. On top of that he got a contract extension last year as well so it’s unlikely he’s going anywhere.
The trade option seems the most likely. The Luongo situation is still simmering, Ballard is still in AV’s doghouse and the Canucks are about to get squeezed hard by the NHL’s lower salary cap for next year. With the team struggling and in obvious need of center depth, powerplay scoring and a blueline kick in the ass, why wait until the off season to fix these issues? I can see Gillis making a trade or two before the deadline that will go some way to addressing all these issues while assisting in the salary cap situation next year. I will be surprised if Keith Ballard is still a Canuck on April 4th and I will be absolutely blown away if the Canucks have their current goaltending duo after the deadline.
As fans there is nothing we can do about the Vancouver Canucks other than sit tight, trust in AV and MG and above all else, don’t expect the unexpected. AV isn’t going anywhere, Gillis isn’t going anywhere and believe it or not the team will be in the playoffs. Whether they go far in the playoffs is another story and it could depend on what the Canucks do prior to April 3rd – the NHL trade deadline.
Farewell, Aaron Volpatti – We Hardly Knew Thee
Posted: March 1, 2013 Filed under: Vancouver Canucks | Tags: aaron volpatti, canucks, revelstoke, washington, winchester Comments OffWell, actually, we kind of did know Aaron Volpatti. Quite well in fact. Which is why the news of him being claimed off waivers by the Washington Capitals generated more of a “meh” reaction in me rather than a “Oh GOD it’s the end!” kind of reaction.
I have a soft spot for Volpatti. He hits and fights (which I can do without but it proves he’s brave at any rate) and he seems like a reasonable kind of guy. He’s also from Revelstoke. When he signed with the Canucks and I read he was a Revelstoke native it was pretty much destined that I would support him because just quietly, I love Revelstoke.
Waaaaaay back in early 2004 I was road tripping around BC and was heading from Sun Peaks to Banff with a couple of mates. We got to Revelstoke and it was snowing hard. Rogers Pass was closed. As we sat in a line of traffic one of my friends said “Hey, isn’t there a ski hill here?” Being a ski resort nerd I said “Yes, as a matter of fact this is where Powder Springs is.” So we pulled off the highway, went into town, found a backpackers and found our way up to the ski hill. This was before it became the mega-resort it is today, so all Powder Springs had was a rickety old double chair, about 300m of vertical and around 40cm of fresh snow. It was the best afternoon skiing I’d had in a long time. Sure it was a small hill, but I was with my mates in a shit tonne of fresh snow and we had a blast. That night we had a blast at a bar in town too, but that’s a whole different story.
Anyway, enough reminiscing. That’s why I love Revelstoke and that was why I was happy for Aaron Volpatti to sign with his “local” NHL team.
Since then I’ve cheered him on as best I can from Australia. I cheered every goal he scored as a Canuck (all 3) and I cheered every hit and yes, I admit it, I cheered when he one punched Brad Winchester (although since then I’ve taken a very different view to punches to the head). But they were the only highlights in 3 years with the Vancouver Canucks.
So yeah, it’s kind of sad to say good bye to Volpatti but the fact is there’s dozens of players that can do the same job Aaron Volpatti did for the Canucks. There’s many that can do it better. Do you hold on to a mediocre 4th liner just because he’s from BC or do you make moves that you think can improve the Canucks’ chances of being successful?
Apparently Volpatti generated a lot of waiver claims so it could be argued that GM Mike Gillis should have shopped him around, but who is to say he didn’t? There’s a good chance he did but got no interest because rival GM’s would’ve taken one look at the Canucks roster and known they had to make space to recall Andrew Ebbett. Volpatti was always headed for the waiver wire.
So I’ll finish up with my favourite Aaron Volpatti memory – his first NHL goal. Good luck in Washington mate
NHL.com Ice Tracker Interpretation: Canucks @ Oilers 4th Feb 2013
Posted: February 6, 2013 Filed under: Hockey, Vancouver Canucks | Tags: canucks, dubnyk, edmonton, garrison, hall, hansen, higgins, ice tracker, interpretation, luongo, nhl, oilers, raymond, schroeder, sedin, smyth, tanev, vancouver Comments OffYesterday the Vancouver Canucks travelled to Edmonton to take on the young “superstar” Oilers. I followed along on the NHL.com Ice Tracker. This is what I imagined happened…
(If you need some background on this insanity, see here)
1st Period
00:36 VAN SHOT #23 A. Edler slap shot saved by #40 D. Dubnyk
00:38 VAN SHOT #33 H. Sedin wrist shot saved by #40 D. Dubnyk
Edler fires a low slapper through a crowd in front. Dubnyk manages to kick a leg out for the pad save but the puck deflects straight onto Henrik’s stick. He has an open net, he knows he should shoot but his natural reaction is “PASS”. Daniel screams “SHOOT”, Henrik snaps out of his revery and obliges with a weak wrister, but by then Dubnyk has slid over for the save. Twitter ignites with “The Sedins have lost it” and “the window is closed” talk.
18:38 EDM GOAL #A. Hemsky (3) Backhand, Assists: #64 N. Yakupov (2), #89 S. Gagner (7)
On the power play the Oilers move the puck around the perimeter like lightning but can’t find a decent shot. Hemsky is fed up and skates to the net, says “Anything you can do Eberle I can do better” and roofs a backhand over Luongo’s shoulder. He gets an upper body injury during the celebration.
2nd Period
03:10 VAN SHOT #5 J. Garrison slap shot saved by #40 D. Dubnyk
Garrison slaps one from the point on the power play. Dubnyk skates 2 metres to the left of the net to make the pointless save.
08:08 EDM GOAL #94 R. Smyth (1) Deflection, Assists: #57 A. Lander (1)
Smyth sits on Luongo’s head to get the deflection from Lander’s shot. Smyth cries.
09:33 EDM HIT #4 T. Hall hit #8 C. Tanev
Tanev collects the puck in his own zone. As the puck touches his stick everything slows down bullet-time Matrix style. Tanev smokes a spliff, eats a piece of fried chicken and sips a beer, then makes a calm, sensible pass up on the ice. Time returns to normal, with Taylor Hall bearing down on the very relaxed (and full) Tanev. Hall staples Tanev to the boards and falls over. Tanev skates back to the bench in a trail of smoke.
12:41 VAN GOAL #36 J. Hansen (1) Snap Shot, Assists: #45 J. Schroeder (2), #20 C. Higgins (3)
Hard work from Higgins, skill and vision from Schroeder, Honey Badger don’t care attitude from Hansen. Higgins forechecks hard, gets the puck to Schroeder who executes a delicious tape to tape pass across the slot to Hansen, who delays a split second and snaps it high glove side.
3rd Period
02:45 VAN TAKEAWAY #20 C. Higgins
Higgins sees Tanev snacking on takeaway chicken again and politely advises that he’ll have to be more careful with his takeaway choices if he ever wants to get abs to rival his own.
10:15 EDM SHOT #19 J. Schultz wrist shot saved by #1 R. Luongo
Justin “Second Coming” Schultz gets the puck. A light from heaven descends upon him like a spot light, angels sing from upon high and he fires a wrist shot straight into Lu’s chest. Lu’s eyes light up red and he laughs manically while making the \m/ sign with this blocker hand and sticking his tongue out. The angels recede and the spotlight fades. Schultz is bewildered “oh Father, how could you forsake me?”
17:43 VAN GOAL #3 K. Bieksa (1) slap shot, Assists: #21 M. Raymond (1), #36 J. Hansen (4)
Hansen collects the puck in his own zone and passes to Raymond. Raymond fires down the near side boards like a bat out of hell, skates around the boards, behind the net, out the other side, passes to Bieksa and falls down. Bieksa DRIIIIIVE. Despite having a clear view of the shot Dubnyk misses it under his blocker arm. Oiler fans insist Dubnyk is an elite level goaltender.
OT
02:47 EDM SHOT #4 T. Hall snap shot saved by #1 R. Luongo
Daniel Sedin takes a lazy hooking penalty on a Hall breakaway. No one is surprised. Hall draws the penalty shot. Luongo starts shaking. Hall starts grinning. Hall skates in with speed to take his shot. Luongo has no clue what Hall will do. Every single Canucks fan assumes the game is over. But no, Hall has a brain fart. All thought is expelled from his mind. Instinct takes over and he fires a snap shot straight at Lu’s body. Lu makes the save, immediately starts thinking of what to tweet about the whole experience.
04:40 VAN GOAL #8 C. Tanev (1) snap shot, Assists #33 H. Sedin (6), #22 D. Sedin (5)
Daniel passes to Henrik who has a clear shot at net but he doesn’t shoot, no, he passes, as is his wont, and the puck comes to Christopher Tanev. The moment is his, now or never, Tanev knows he must unleash the fury. He shoots. The puck flutters like a beautiful butterfly towards net. Dubnyk is completely confused by the speed (or lack thereof) of the puck. The puck dips in the air at the last second, falling below Dubnyk’s glove, bouncing slowly but surely over the line. The puck stops before it hits the back of the net. Vancouver explodes in spontaneous celebration. 50,751 babies are conceived in the next 15 minutes. Tanev is drowned in champagne and resuscitated by Dan Hamhuis.
Canucks win.
This is what actually happened:
http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/console?hlg=20122013,2,126
More Luongo Speculation
Posted: February 4, 2013 Filed under: Hockey, Vancouver Canucks | Tags: canucks, caps, luongo, mike gillis, nhl, penguins, pittsburgh, trade, washington Comments OffLuongo has started the season hot. Not something any one has ever said since he became a bona-fide starter in the NHL. His October’s are famously terrible. Of course it’s January right now, but it’s still the start of the season so don’t tell Luongo. “Bobby Lu” has successfully booted Cory Schneider off the starters mound for the Canucks, with 2 wins, 2 shootout losses, 1 shutout, a GAA of 1.46 (good for 2nd in the NHL) and a save percentage of .944 (also good for 2nd in the NHL). If the skaters in front of him knew how to stretch out 2 goal leads he would have 2 more wins to his name. It was revealed today he would start in Edmonton tomorrow.
With Luongo’s strong performance and with the relationship between he and Schneider remaining positive and supportive (at least to outside eyes) folks were starting to believe that we wouldn’t see Luongo shipped out of town until after the season is done. All it took to shatter that belief was one tweet from Mr. Elliotte Friedman:
@FriedgeHNIC Spotted at PIT/WASH today: Mike Gillis and assistant Laurence Gilman
Instantly thoughts of Luongo staying on for the season were out the window. It’s been an hour and we’ve already had Marc Andre Fleury arguments, Vokoun arguments, Backstrom speculation, OVECHKIN speculation, discussion on the pros and cons of Brouwer and Neuvirth..
Let’s take a deep breath and look at this a little more closely…
Firstly, let’s look at what the Canucks need right now. Their immediate needs are a solid 2 way centre (even with Ryan Kesler skating at practice he’s a while off) and a veteran backup for Schneider. They could also use a right-handed shot on the blue line (emphasis on the word ‘shot’ – Tanev doesn’t count) and maybe another scoring winger.
Gillis and Gilman are taking in a Pittsburgh/Washington game.
Washington need a goaltender. Neuvirth isn’t taking his game to the next level and Holtby is still young and inconsistent. He may well be an elite level goalie one day but right now he isn’t and right now the Caps need elite level goaltending. Having Luongo in their net would not only make them immediately better, it would give the locker room a sorely needed boost. That Caps team is down in the dumps and who better to bring a smile to the room than @strombone1?
They have the cap space to take on Luongo’s contract – currently $6.3mill spare according to Cap Geek - but do they have the assets Mike Gillis and Laurence Gilman want in return? You can rule out Ovechkin, you can rule out Backstrom and despite his struggles you can probably even rule out Mike Green. Not only do I doubt the Caps desire to blow up their core but the Canucks have just $800,000 in cap space – Luongo’s cap hit is $5.3mill so they can’t be taking on big contracts in return.
Looking at the Canucks needs vs what the Caps may have to offer and there are few options. One is Neuvirth, who could be a reasonable backup to Schneider. He has a friendly cap hit, he’s an RFA this year and he now has 113 NHL starts with 52 wins. The other option is Troy Brouwer. He’s a Vancouver native, he’s got size and grit, he can score a few goals and play well defensively. He’s a right-handed shot. He’s also won a Stanley Cup. With Chicago. He hates the Canucks. The Canucks hate him. Would that even work? Beyond that, he’s a winger, not the center the Canucks need. To me, he’s effectively Jannik Hansen with a higher cap hit. Word is Gillis likes him and has been interested in the past but do the Canucks need him right now?
A package of Neuvirth and Brouwer for Luongo would make sense but given the apparent interest in trading for Luongo across the league, can the Canucks get a better return somewhere else?
Let’s not forget the Penguins. On the surface they aren’t an obvious destination for Luongo. They have a Stanley Cup winning goaltender in Fleury who is signed for another 3 years. They have a solid veteran backup in Vokoun. Do they need Luongo? Well… I think we all remember Fleury’s performance against the Flyers in last year’s playoffs (4.63 GAA, .834 save percentage) and he hasn’t started well this year – 5 games, 3 wins 2.54 GAA .897 save percentage.
At this point I’d like to go back to Mike Gillis’ interview with Cam Cole of the Vancouver Sun on January 21st:
“We have a potential deal in place with one team that has to do something with another player that they have — and it’s not who anybody thinks it is — and so we have to wait.”
Pittsburgh is certainly a team that nobody would have picked as a genuine destination for Luongo. They have a goalie right now that they have soured on that the Canucks would not want in return. It kind of fits.
Speculation overdrive: ENGAGED.
The Penguins have the cap space – $8.5mill of it according to Cap Geek. You can forget the mega deals involving Malkin, Crosby or Letang – ain’t happening. What the Penguins do have is forward depth and a couple of decent defence prospects. Not to mention Vokoun, who could be the perfect backup for Schneider.
I would not be surprised if Luongo became a Penguin. Fleury gets shipped out elsewhere, Luongo comes over in a deal involving say, Tyler Kennedy, Olli Maata (or Scott Harrington) and a pick. I would prefer if the Tyler Kennedy part of that package were Brandon Sutter but I’m trying to be realistic here.
As I wrote this word on Twitter from Stephen Whyno (Washington Times reporter) is that the Capitals have had no talks whatsoever with the Canucks re: Luongo…
The gold medal winning combo of Crosby and Luongo back together? Don’t rule it out.
