Mason Raymond had a strong game for the Canucks, scoring and adding an assist (photo thanks to Mike Stone, REUTERS)

All the talk in Vancouver over the past 48 hours has been reaction to Chicago Blackhawks’ Duncan Keith, and his calculated,  head-targeting blind side elbow to Daniel Sedin.  TSN’s Bob McKenzie has followed the situation closely, and his tweets initially indicated that Keith would have a phone-in hearing, which would indicated Keith would receive 5 games or less as a punishment.  But subsequent tweets say that the league now wants to have an in-person hearing, meaning the suspension could be 6 games or more.  At this stage, it is unknown if Keith will waive his right to an in-person hearing, but the league’s intentions should be known later this morning.

Meanwhile, reaction to the incident from head coach Alain Vigneault highlighted the teams’ frustration with the illegal hit.

I expected a major, and I got a minor, so we’ll let the league deal with it.  You saw the hit, you didn’t see a puck near the hit, you guys make the judgement call on that and the league will do what they have to do.  Everybody saw the headshot there, so (Sedin will be) re-evaluated tomorrow and I’ll know more from there.    [It was] deliberate, principal point of contact, everything you’re trying to take out of the game. (more…)

Conference A: Anaheim, San Jose, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Edmonton, Calgary, Colorado, and Vancouver.

Conference B: Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Detroit, Minnesota, Nashville, St. Louis, and Winnipeg.

Conference C: Boston, Buffalo, Florida, Montreal, Ottawa, Tampa Bay, and Toronto.

Conference D: Carolina, New Jersey, NY Islanders, NY Rangers, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Washington.

THE GOOD

The best thing regarding the Vancouver Canucks that will come out of this NHL conference realignment is going to be the reduction of travel. The Canucks will play every team outside of their conference twice; one at home and one away. This means that instead of travelling all the way to Chicago twice during regular season, it will now only be once. The Canucks will play teams within their conference 5 or 6 times the amount of games will rotate each season. This makes travel a lot easier because within the conference there is little time change and it allows more time spent in the pacific time zone. (more…)

Ryan Kesler was in a particularly feisty mood Wednesday night, and here Bryan Bickell is on the receiving end (photo thanks to Rich Lam/ Getty Images)

Frustration continues to mount for a Canuck team that enjoyed so much success last season, particularly in the confines of Rogers arena.  Perhaps the single largest thing eluding the club has been a measure of consistency, and the team acknowledges the deficiency in that department.  Winger Chris Higgins spoke to the teams desire to find their groove, and maintain it.

We’ve got to find ways to string  some wins together.  We’ve been talking about that for a couple of weeks now.  It hasn’t happened yet.

Backup Cory Schneider was beaten 5 times in the loss, replacing Roberto Luongo who sustained an upper body injury during Sundays tilt with the Islanders.  The Canucks ended their recent 6 game roadtrip with a .500 record, and after tonight’s loss sit at 9-9-1 on the season.  Meanwhile, the Blackhawks improved their NHL best record to 12-4-3, on the strength of their fourth straight win.  The Blackhawks are off to their best start since 1982-83. (more…)