henrik sedin

A day after Henrik Sedin admitted that their effort against the Florida Panthers “wasn’t good enough”, the Tampa Bay Lightning were able to hold the Sedin line to a single point, and a combined minus-four rating.  Not to worry, the Vancouver Canucks are getting contributions from secondary sources. Three games through a four-game road trip, the Canucks have two wins, thanks in large part to scoring from sources other than the Sedins and Alex Burrows.  Players such as Manny Malhotra, Mason Raymond, Mike Duco, and Cody Hodgsonhave been finding the back of the net.  One could hardly call the road [...]

Roberto Luongo got the start against the Calgary Flames after a poor goaltending performance against the Nashville Predators from both himself and Cory Schneider. Flames’ back up Henrik Karlsson also commenced in goal. Sunday night also embarked the long awaited return of Mason Raymond. Thankfully there were no paperwork errors this time. Mason Raymond received a cheer from the crowd when he first stepped on the ice. I was a bit surprised; I was expecting a bigger and loader standing ovation. He had to watch his team get shutout in game seven of the Stanley Cup Finals and he could [...]

It was, no doubt, surprising to see Alex Burrows goal totals jump from 12 during the 2007/2008 season to 28 during the 2008/2009 season. Much of that success is due to playing on the wing with the Sedin twins and tapping in perfectly executed passes by the brothers. In seeing this experiment pan out, coach Alain Vigneault decided to keep Alex Burrows on the top line for the following two seasons in which the gritty winger scored 35 and 26 goals respectively.

The Vancouver Canucks now find themselves in quite a dilemma due the  outstanding goaltending by Cory Schneider who has been outplaying the 2011 Vezina trophy nominee Roberto Luongo. Saturday night Schneider stole the show at the HP Pavilion in the 3-2 win over the San Jose Sharks. Schneider made 43 saves bringing the Canucks to their fourth straight win. In his last four games Schneider acquired 4 wins, 2 shutouts, and allowed only 3 goals giving him a season average of .931 SV% and 2.02 GAA.

With the Philadelphia Flyers just completing several blockbuster deals, it’s apparent that today’s draft will be rife with trade activity; Mike Gillis should be right in the mix. Though it hasn’t been inferred, it’s possible down the line some media type will question Gillis’ ability to nab a top 6 forward.  They might point to the fact that center/ right winger Jeff Carter (36 goals, 30 assists) of the Philadelphia Flyers was available, but snapped up by the Columbus Blue Jackets.  Despite not needing much help at the center position, Mike Richards (23 goals, 43 assists) was available, but was [...]

What moves does a General Manager make during the offseason to a team that was one win away from the Stanley Cup?  Apparently, “minor tweaks” and “status quo” are the buzz words in Vancouver.  The following Forwards will be returning to play with the Vancouver Canucks next season:  Daniel Sedin ($6.1 M), Henrik Sedin ($6.1 M), Ryan Kesler ($5.0 M), Alex Burrows ($2.0 M), Mikael Samuelsson ($2.55 M), Mason Raymond ($2.5 M), Manny Malhotra ($2.5 M). The following Forwards are Unrestricted Free Agents, with the ability to sign with whomever they wish (2010/11 cap hit): Chris Higgins ($1.6 M), Raffi Torres ($1.0 M), [...]

One game remains before the light goes out on the 2011 season for the Vancouver Canucks, with one emotion left to be experienced.  That emotion will be strong, perhaps extreme. Rather than examine all of the forces that have gathered us to this point, perhaps one of the biggest storylines:  How will the city of Vancouver, the province and country for that matter, react to tonight’s pivotal outcome? The collective breaths of millions of fans was held during Game 6, knowing that hockey’s holy grail was ready for the taking Monday in Boston.  Buoyed by their home fans and a [...]

After jumping out to an early 2-0 series lead on home ice, the Vancouver Canucks return to Vancouver tied after a two game Beantown beating. It just never comes ‘easy’ for the Vancouver Canucks.  Of course, being that it’s the Stanley Cup Finals, one wouldn’t expect it should.  But at the beginning of the series, it seemed like the Bruins might never get a goal on Roberto Luongo.  When Alex Burrows scored 11 seconds into overtime in Game 2, you could feel the confidence eminating from the faces of every Canuck caught on camera.  My, what a turnabout a change [...]