Vancouver Canucks Friday Roundup: November 14, 2014

Nov 9, 2014; Anaheim, CA, USA; Vancouver Canucks center Nick Bonino (13) moves to attempt a shot on Anaheim Ducks goalie Frederik Andersen (31) which results in the game winning goal during a shootout at Honda Center. The Vancouver Canucks defeated the Anaheim Ducks in a shootout with a final score of 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports

Welcome to Friday Roundup at The Canuck Way. Every Friday we’ll take our Top 5 Canucks stories of the week, share them with you, and add a little color to the news being talked about around Vancouver.

Canucks’ Record this Week: 2-1

That loss to the Kings on Saturday was a real stinker, so it was nice to see the Canucks rebound on Sunday against Ryan Kesler and those other dudes on his hockey team (more on that below). For the record, I miss the days when they were called “The Mighty Ducks.” It was much more whimsical. You always kind of half hoped they would break out the Flying V.

Ottawa gave the Canucks more trouble than necessary on Tuesday, pushing them to overtime despite being out-shot and out-chanced. “Overtime?” said the Sedins, “well isn’t this a fine time for some Sedinery!” That goal was so delicious I wanted to serve it for breakfast the next morning. Here’s another look at it:

Having the Sedins makes every game feel like Christmas.

Now, on to the news!

1. The “Young Guns” Line

Thanks to injuries, Willie Desjardins was rolling a line of Bo Horvat, Brandon Defazio and Linden Vey during Tuesday night’s game. At one point he switched out Vey for Nick Jensen, prompting John Shorthouse to note that the line “just got even younger.” It was fun to see the rookies get a chance to play together. They looked good too! They worked hard and created a few scoring chances.

Now, my only problem was the line nicknames. I freely admit my nicknaming skills aren’t all that sharp. But in the intermission they were referred to as the “Young Guns” line. I mean, I like it and all, but I was hoping for something a little more subtle. On Twitter I suggested “The Freshmen.” Then, if any of them scored, the stadium DJ could have played “Freshmen” by the Verve Pipe. Not much of a pump-up song, admittedly, but it would have totally worked with the line nickname. Plus I just really like that song. It got me through college.

2. We Beat Ryan Kesler!

Much of the narrative going in to Sunday’s game was centered on Ryan Kesler. Kesler was only too eager to face his old team, and he was just about all any of us in Vancouver could think about. Like the jilted ex-lover, we had a new beau now, a new “Beau-nino,” if you will, and we wanted to show him that things were better than ever!

Honestly things pretty much came out even in the wash. The Canucks won the game, but Kesler did what he does best, shutting down the Sedins effectively and generally being a pest. Oh, and he also totally didn’t pass when he was on a 2 on 1. Remember those days? Bonino would have passed.

3. Returning from Injury

As TCW’s Chase Ruttig reported yesterday, Dorsett, Kassian and Vrbata all participated in Thursday’s skate, as the Canucks prepared for tonight’s game against the Arizona Coyotes. While we can’t know for sure who will play or not, it’s a good sign that these players are skating again. I think Vrbata is the most needed right now. His presence with the Sedins settles that line and opens up more options for Willie Desjardins on the other lines. Jannik Hansen is always an adventure with the twins, but it will be nice to see Vrbata back in that role.

Bieksa took the day off, but will likely play tonight.

4. Twitter Gaffes

Chase reported an interesting story yesterday about how Jeff O’neill got himself in trouble on Twitter for sharing a picture of his cats, named after Daniel and Henrik Sedin. Obviously this brought up a lot of soreness with Canucks fans, who are not happy with the connotations of naming your “pussycat” Henrik and Daniel.

While I understand the uproar among Canucks fans, let me play Devil’s Advocate for a moment. I actually don’t have all that much of a problem with a man naming his cats after hockey players. Sure, maybe there’s some underlying double entendre there, especially with O’neill being a former NHL player, but I think in the end it’s all rather harmless. Should he share the pictures on Twitter on a Canucks game day? Probably not. But when I get cats I intend to name them after American presidents. And rest assured that I do not think Grover Cleveland was a pussy.

5. Chris Higgins and Brad Richardson look Shockingly Similar

The Vancouver Canucks released a video yesterday featuring Chris Higgins and Brad Richardson doing trick shots at Sport Chek. Like most of the Canucks’ Youtube efforts, its fun and enjoyable. The guys have a great time trying to shoot tennis balls at things in Sport Chek, and take a few breaks to sign autographs and take pictures with fans.

Here’s the thing though, I think this is a case where the most interesting feature of this video gets lost: Higgins and Richardson look really similar! Like, very similar haircut, and pretty much the same beard. Their faces look eerily similar as well. This video makes me ask a few questions. First, are they just so envious of the Sedins that they feel they need their own twins? Or perhaps all Canucks players are encouraged to have their own Canuck twin? Maybe they were separated at birth? One day they’ll be in the locker room after a game, just unlacing their skates, they’ll look up at each other, and suddenly it will click – “we’ve been brothers all along!”. That will be a hug for the ages.

Canuck of the Week

The honours this week go to Alex Burrows. He needed some good games, since he’s been pretty quiet on the score sheet lately. But his two goals this week were important, especially his goal against the Ducks. It was a classic Alex Burrows goal – he gets the puck in the zone, gets a quick shot, and then gets himself in position to tip the next shot from Dan Hamhuis. His goal against the Senators featured some beautiful passing that showed just how dangerous the second line of Burrows, Bonino and Higgins can be on the rush. Hopefully he can keep the streak alive against the Coyotes tonight.

What stuck out to you this week? Was there anything we missed? Let us know in the comments!

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