Vancouver Canucks Blogs

The NHL may be the greatest hockey league in the world, but it may not have the best system for dealing with disciplinary action.  It seems that they could learn from leagues that play under them.  Way way under them. 

Continue reading "Time for a New Disciplinary System"

Has it been 30 years now since the US beat the Soviet Union at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid?(It seems like only yesterday...)

The Americans went on to win the gold medal in hockey that year - something that hasn't happened since, but don't expect any miracles next month at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. No, the United States still isn't favored to win a gold medal in hockey. In that respect the Americans remain underdogs. But with a roster stacked with young talent, they certainly are a medal candidate - one that the powerhouses from Canada, Russia and Sweden can't afford to overlook. "A little bit different situation [than 1980] in my opinion," said United States team captain Jamie Langenbrunner, a forward with the NHL's New Jersey Devils. "As much as Canada deserves all the credit that they're getting for the players they have, the 23 players named to the [United States] team play in the same league as those guys and we feel quite comfortable playing against them on a nightly basis. We feel we belong on the same ice."

Continue reading "USA! USA! USA!"

Officiating has become so intolerable that one general manager filed a protest in a league that doesn't allow protests and several coaches have talked about reading the rulebook again to see if it had changed.

Continue reading "Uh Oh, Skettio's!"

Does anyone in North America remember Peter Forsberg?  You know, that guy that scored 885 points for the Nordiques, Avalanche, Flyers and Predators? 

Forsberg has attempted many comebacks to the NHL and other professional hockey leagues since playing in his last NHL game for the Colorado Avalanche in April 2008.  His nagging ankle injuries has limited his play, but he has continued working on his game, earning a spot with fellow Swedish countryman Markus Naslund on Modo Hockey of the Swedish Elite League.  Forsberg played in just three games last season, but has stormed back this campaign scoring eight goals and seven assists in nine games.  Is this worthy of a roster spot on the 2010 Swedish Olympic Team?

Continue reading "Team Sweden Making Some Questionable Moves"

Could an exhibition game really give bad publicity to a major North-American sports league?

The NHL has constantly been trying to show that their league is the best to the public all over the world.  For the past few seasons, the league has sent four of their teams overseas to play in places such as Germany, Sweden and England.  The teams usually open the NHL regular season a week early, playing two games in the country that they were designated.  This season the league has decided to send the St. Louis Blues and Detroit Red Wings to Sweden, and the Chicago Blackhawks and Florida Panthers to Finland.  Not only are these teams playing each other, but they will see time against some of the best teams of the chosen nation in pre-season play.

Continue reading "Inter-League Game Could Spell Bad News for NHL"

Vancouver signs Mathieu Schneider to a 1-Year, $1.55 million contract

The Canucks found the replacement for Mattias Ohlund that they were looking for.

After watching Ohlund sign with the Tampa Bay Lightning on July 1st, the Canucks felt a gaping hole in their defensive corps.  Even at the age of 40, Schneider can still play the game.  He only accumulated nine goals in 67 games last season splitting time between the Thrashers and Canadiens, Schneider is still a key for a successful power-play.  6 of his 9 goals last season came with the man advantage, while also amassing 12 power-play assists.  The 20-season veteran will be a nice addition to an already impressive Canuck power-play unit.

Continue reading "Vancouver Adding to D"

Canuck fans no longer have a reason to panic. 

Vancouver General Manager Mike Gillis announced just before noon on Wednesday that the Canucks and the Sedins finally reached a contract extension.  It is believed to be a five-year extension  that will earn each brother $6.1 million each season. 

Continue reading "Canucks Sign Henrik and Daniel Sedin ..."

The defending Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings have had a strong playoff year thus far and look to be unbeatable.  There does not seem to be any kinks in the red armor they done on their chests.  The Chicago Blackhawks would not have an argument with that after they lost the opening game of their Western Conference Final series 5-2 on Sunday afternoon.  Detroit seems to be chugging along through the playoffs.  Is there anything that can get in their way to stop them from capturing yet another Stanley Cup?

Continue reading "The Red Wings are Beatable"

Part 2 of this series will include Restricted Free Agent options as well as possible acquisitions via trade.

In Part 1 of this series I covered some of the more realistic Unrestricted Free Agent options for the Flyers in their quest to acquire a starting goaltender. In addition to the Unrestricted Free Agent options, there are several viable Restricted Free Agent options. The benefit of restricted free agents is that they are all young…that is, after all, why they are restricted free agents. They are often times coming off their entry level contracts, and just haven’t played enough seasons to be eligible for unrestricted free agency. The bad part about restricted free agency is that, depending on how much the player is signed for, the team is required to pay some sort of draft pick compensation.

Continue reading "Goaltender Options for the Flyers - Part 2"

I have a confession to make. I love the Canucks. I really have loved them ever since the worst trade in NHL history when my beloved Panthers gave Luongo away for nothing. I know he is great and that team has a ton of fast guys with a lot of talent. For some reason, I really want them to win. What a job they did last night finishing off the Blues. Hey some big time people picked the Blues to win, since they were so hot coming down the stretch. So,no prediction is even needed for Vancouver. All I know is, I do not know of any team that wants to face the Canucks in the 2nd round.

Continue reading "Western Conference Rolls Along!"

The Cardinals are off to a great start at 6-3. They had run off five consecutive wins and had a great chance on Tuesday night to make it six in a row, but they squandered a three-run lead, a two-run lead, and a great chance to retake the lead in the top of the ninth. The Cards had the bases loaded with just one out with two runs in, but Tony La Russa opted to pinch hit with Brendan Ryan instead of Ryan Ludwick. Ryan went on to fan at three pitches, only one of which was in the strike zone. Ankiel batted next and looked just as bad striking out. Ludwick never batted and St. Louis went on to lose 7-6 in 10 innings. La Russa's micro-managing has driven me crazy for years, but it's starting to be too much. If it was the sixth inning, I could see saving Ludwick for a critical situation later in the game. But this was the ninth. If Ludwick bats and even just manages a sac fly, the Cards would've taken the lead and been just three outs away from victory. If you have a huge weapon on the bench, you use it at the critical time, right? Well, La Russa doesn't seem to think that's the way to play it. He's always trying to save guys for situations that don't happen because he doesn't get there. He did the same thing in the 2007 All-Star game with the bases juiced and Albert Pujols on the bench. He chose to go with a first timer instead, who went on to make the final out of the game.

Continue reading "NHL playoff preview and Cards rant"

After a 27-11-7 run spanning through the 2009 calendar year, the Blues did the unthinkable and snuck into the NHL playoffs.  They will take on the third-seeded Vancouver Canucks when they open the series in Vancouver on Wednesday.  After a 2-2-0 record against the Canucks this season, how will the Blues fair in this 2003 Quarterfinal rematch?

Continue reading "Blues-Canucks Series Preview"

After getting very little time on the ice this season at Vancouver, the Canucks traded Mike Brown to the Ducks last week. He was enjoying his day off when his cell phone rang and the general manager told him to pack his bags. The Ducks were playing the Predators the next evening in Nashville and Brown needed to get there ready to suit up. He left Vancouver a little before 11:00 P.M. that night for a trip to Nashville via Toronto. Flying all night, he set down in Nashville about 9:30 the next morning. After meeting his new teammates, he took a long nap before the game that evening.

Continue reading "Mike Brown is a Duck"

A big thanks to everyone who participated in the "Inbound Link Contest".  We have a winner!  A big congratulations go out to Marija.  Thank you for all your hard work on this.  While we had a lot of people participate, Marija was able to win with only 4 links!  So it wouldn't have taken a lot to win this contest!  We'll be having another contest soon so stay tuned.

Continue reading "Inbound link contest winner announced!"

To try and motivate our bloggers to get inbound links we're going to have a contest to see which blogger can get the most inbound links to their blog. The contest begins now and ends July 31st, 2008. To be entered in to the contest all you have to do is go out and get as many websites to link to your blog as you can and at the end of the month send us an email listing all those links. All links must be active from August 1st through August 7th when we'll be judging the entries - a winner will be announced on August 7th. All entry emails must be received by Midnight on July 31st, 2008. You can email them to sportsfan@nbabasketballonline.com

Continue reading "Inbound link contest - Win $100!"

As recently as three weeks ago, the Vancouver Canucks were the front-runners in the sweepstakes for the highly-touted Swedish superstar Fabian Brunnström until the organization fired GM Dave Nonis.

Continue reading "Nonis Firing Costs Canucks Brunnström"

http://wizbangsports.com/2008/04/lopez_twins_both_turning_pro.ph

This news comes days after Stanford was eliminated from the NCAA tournament.

The Lopez twins are going pro together. Stanford sophomore Robin Lopez is joining his 7-foot brother Brook in entering the NBA draft. The brothers made their announcement to The Associated Press on Monday through their mother, Deborah Ledford.

Continue reading "Lopez twins both turning pro"

With six games to play, the Blackhawks are just six points out of the last playoff spot. They sure do need some help though. They still have to jump Edmonton, Nashville and Colorado. Vancouver did los

Continue reading "There is still hope"

http://wizbangsports.com/2008/02/vancouver_trades_cooke_to_wash.

Both team's coaches won't have a hard time learning their new player's first name. From the Canadian Press-

Continue reading "Vancouver trades Cooke to Washington for Pettinger"

Swedish rookie sensation Alexander Edler has recently adopted the nickname “Mini-Ohlie” courtesy of his teammates in Vancouver. They claim that Edler’s play on the ice coupled with his demeanor off it, are indistinguishable to that of Mattias Ohlund, thus the nickname “Mini Ohlie.” But putting aside their uncanny equal height and weight of 6’3” and 220 Ibs, their similar birthplaces in small municipalities of Sweden (Östersund for Edler and Piteå for Ohlund) and their interchangeable Swedish accents which stress the letter “s,” Alexander Edler and Mattias Ohlund are no more alike than Sidney Crosby and Donald Brashear.

Continue reading "A Sweet-ish Beginning Marks a Not So Sweet-ish End"