Official 2009/2010 Canucks Thread

[Ronin]

Originally Posted by CRS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHhiJoUlThM

This was bad.

I was at that game. Everyone in the crowd was ready to riot...especially with a score like that, that bullshit was unnecessary.

The one good thing about the salary cap is that it reduces the number of useless, skill-less fucks like Jesse Boulerice that don't deserve to be in the goddamn NHL. Teams can't afford to carry idiots like this who do nothing but try to injure the other team like Jordin Tootoo.

Heck, I think Chris Pronger should've been booted from the league several times now.

[Harvey Specter]

Originally Posted by quasi

After watching that Mitchell on Toews hit I youtubed the hit that Stevens pretty much ended Eric Lindros' career with and it isn't even close. The Mitchell hit is way more violent, I'm surprised Toews got up at all.

I'm pretty sure Eric had previous head injuries before the career ending hit.

[quasi]

Originally Posted by Jah Gekko

I'm pretty sure Eric had previous head injuries before the career ending hit.

Ya, he had already had at least one concussion. It had been so long since I seen the hit I remembered it as being a lot worse then it really was.

[Harvey Specter]

Originally Posted by quasi

Ya, he had already had at least one concussion. It had been so long since I seen the hit I remembered it as being a lot worse then it really was.

Yup, it was a epic hit. I can't wait to hear what Don Cherry has to say about it on Sat. Back to Eric, I think if Toews takes another shot to the head it could end his career or seriously cut his career in half.

[PavelGTR]

Originally Posted by MDMA

since where on the topic of hits/cheap shots...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmz_sFQS1dE

I remember watching that on tv. I think that's probably the worst cheapshot i've seen in hockey.

[will068]

Originally Posted by Noir

I'm a Canuck fan and even I think its clean. He didn't lead the hit with his elbow nor did he leave his feet until after impact. Albeit it, he got his head but I'm thinking he was going for the body but got the head inadvertently. Kind of like how OV was aiming for Gonchar's body but managed to get his knee instead.



I feel for you there, seriously. But in all fairness, is it fair to have an in-game social heirarchy? Like should there be an unwritten code that team superstars or captans should be exempt from physical contact.

I know in pro basketball, there's a gentleman's agreement to with regards to inflicting flagrant fouls that causes career threatening injuries. In successful pro sport organizations, the superstars are always protected. If someone would have attempted to flagrantly injure Michael Jordan, David Stern would turn that guy to his slave. These superstars are your $$$ makers. To run this business, Bettman should enforce the refs to favour the superstars and severely punish the second tier players who may cause harm to them.

[will068]

Originally Posted by SumAznGuy

Other than the captain part, and head down there is nothing else similar.

The Moore hit was not clean whereas the Mitchell hit was. Mitchell didn't have to jump, leave his feet, or elevate his arms. Mitchell hit Toews with his shoulder into Toews chest, square on. Mitchell could have put his shoulder into Toews head to really knock him out, but he didn't.

Moores hit was a head shot, and he left his feet to make the hit.

Don't get me wrong, I hated Steve Moore for what he did. However, Naslund did acknowledge that it was a clean hit. But then again, he was just being a classy guy.

[raygunpk]

[hypediss]

^ ROFL! hahahahahah

[hotjoint]

Originally Posted by HachiSix

Anyone see the goal Pavelec let in tonight?

It was from the WSH defensive zone lol!

yep saw the highlight for that

[illicitstylz]

The four canucks at thre basketball game reminded me of entourage lol.
" Down in front!"
"I pay 2g's for these seats I can go and launch a three if I want!- ari gold
Posted via RS Mobile

[stuff99]

A look at the moves made by Burke, Nonis and Gillis

By Gordon McIntyre Thu, Oct 22 2009 COMMENTS(19) The White Towel



A dog with three heads, named Cerberus, guarded the gates of Hades, not to keep invaders out but to stop those who'd crossed the river Styx from getting away.

This Canucks squad, currently floundering in the stage of hell known as limbo, has its own three-headed watchdog, the troika of general managers who put this club together.

On Saturday, they'll all be at GM Place when Toronto visits: Brian Burke, GM of the Leafs, Dave Nonis, his vice-president, and Mike Gillis, Canucks GM.

Between them they've both kept players in and sent them away. Here's a look at their major moves:

Burke (1998-2004): Fired Mike Keenan, hired Marc Crawford; in a nutshell, got Ed Jovanovski for Pavel Bure; swung deals with Chicago, Atlanta and Tampa Bay, giving up Bryan McCabe, to land Daniel and Henrik Sedin; acquired Felix Potvin then, when Potvin turned out not to be the heir to Kirk McLean, got Dan Cloutier; brought Brendan Morrison into the fold, sending Alex Mogilny to New Jersey; paid a first-rounder to bring Trevor Linden home; drove Peter Schaeffer to YVR, where he picked up Sami Salo.

Best draft decisions — the Sedins, Ryan Kesler, Kevin Bieksa; worst draft decisions — passing on Simon Gagne, Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, Mike Green, David Backes, Mike Cammalleri, Mike Richards, Corey Perry.

Most classless act — traded Peter Zezel to the team, Anaheim, furthest from the player's dying three-year-old niece in Toronto.

Nonis (2004-2008): Brought in the face of the present club, Roberto Luongo, giving up a washed-up Todd Bertuzzi and two fringe players; fired Marc Crawford and brought in Alain Vigneault; sucked L.A. into taking Dan Cloutier for two draft picks; re-signed Markus Naslund; gave away disgruntled Matt Cooke for Matt Pettinger.

Nonis also gave up prime draft picks in desperation deadline deals for Mika Noronen, Sean Brown, Eric Weinrich, Keith Carney, Juha Alen and Bryan Smolinski, none of whom are mentioned on the Canucks wall of fame outside their dressing room.

Best draft picks — Luc Bourdon, Mason Raymond; worst draft decisions — taking Patrick White, passing on Milan Lucic, Anze Kopitar and David Perron.

Gillis (2008-present): We're still waiting for the jury to return, with Gillis in his sophomore season. He retained the services of the Sedins and Luongo, got Christian Ehrhoff for free and there's reason to believe his two drafts have been shrewd.

Draft second-guessing — passed on Tyler Myers, Michael Del Zotto, Ryan O'Reilly, who are all impressing in the NHL.

Also, Gillis overpaid former client Pavol Demitra.

And the jury's out, too, on Alain Vigneault's extension to 2013.

[stuff99]

Leafs GM Brian Burke breaks NHL-imposed gag order

By Botchford Fri, Oct 23 2009


Brian Burke's loose lips are at it again.
People should have known a gag order couldn't keep him quiet. Not even one issued by the NHL.
Burke has flouted league rules by breaking an NHL gag order with comments he made in an interview with the Vancouver Sun.

In its findings following a tampering investigation — one already been called into question by The Province — the Leafs were found guilty on one count, warned on a second and exonerated on a third. The NHL issued a statement which read:
“Both Clubs have been advised of these findings, and both have been instructed to refrain from further public comment of any kind relating to these matters. From the League’s perspective, this matter is closed."
Burke breached the league's order by discussing the tampering investigation in an article posted on the Internet Thursday.

In it, Burke is critical, in a passive aggressive way, of how the Canucks handled the situation. He also reveals details by complaining the Leafs were not "copied" on correspondence between the Canucks and the league.

These are the comments which break the gag order:

"We weren't copied with any of the correspondence or made aware of it so when all this talking was going on we were mystified, it was like, what are they talking about?" Burke said. "If we were going to bring a tampering charge against a team we would copy the team on it, make them aware of it. That wasn't done so we were kind of in the dark on this."


Burke knows there is no formal process for a team to bring a tampering charge against another team. It's not a court proceeding. Nothing is "filed" as many outside the NHL assume. There isn't necessarily anything to be copied. It can be as informal as a phone conversation.

[stuff99]

The Leafs and HNIC really do suck

By The Province
October 23, 2009 9:52 AM

When somebody who is employed as a regular contributor on Hockey Night in Canada is suddenly fired after writing a book entitled Why The Leafs Suck: And How They Can Be Fixed, you can't help but wonder what's going with respect to the CBC's journalistic integrity.

This is what happened to Al Strachan, who regularly appears on HNIC's "After 40 Minutes" on Saturdays, a segment where the goal is to break news and discuss newsworthy topics about and around the NHL or the sport of hockey.

Curiously enough, Strachan was there because he usually breaks the most news and was almost always the most controversial contributor, largely because he's well-connected and the league doesn't have some sort of hold on his job as it does directly or indirectly on at least one of the other regulars.

But far too shortly after the release of his new book, Strachan found himself gonged from the show, CBC executive director Scott Moore telling him that he was gone because he was identified on the cover of his book as being from Hockey Night in Canada.

Strachan, of course, had no control over this inclusion in the book as the publishers HarperCollins printed the cover and had already come to an agreement with HNIC as to how this concern will be handled. Moore did not return a call Thursday.

But because HNIC went ahead and knocked Strachan off anyway, there has been a mountain of speculation that this technicality was used to get him and that Moore is bowing to pressure from the Toronto Maple Leafs, the league or both to make such a move. While the truth may never be known, it most certainly looks bad and when things look bad, they often are bad, free speech clearly under duress these days from all manner of affronts.

The contents of the book are so amusing, it's most certainly clear to see why any number of people in the Leafs hierarchy might be upset at some of the things that have been written.

And while they may not be able to do much about that, they certainly weren't going to pass on the opportunity to make sure they didn't have to listen to them on Saturdays.

Given there is a withering chapter on Brian Burke in the book -- one that people who don't like Burke's style shouldn't miss -- he is being blamed for perhaps being the thrust behind this, largely because he's tried to exert pressure on reporters and columnists before. Further, he's tried to exert pressure on HNIC in the past to have Strachan removed from "After 40 Minutes" because of an incident he didn't like while he was GM in Vancouver. So it's hardly surprising that people would be pointing fingers at his media-managing ways.

But that analysis may not be fair to Burke. After all, there are lots of others who receive shots in the book, not the least of which are the likes of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment president and CEO Richard Peddie and the company's second largest shareholder, Larry Tanenbaum, both of whom have been making most of the hockey-hiring decisions with the team recently.

Would they have picked up the phone? Could NHL commissioner Gary Bettman have taken the opportunity to pick up the phone? Doubtful, but the timing of this couldn't look worse.

We only need to look at what time Saturday's game at GM Place starts to see the extent to which the Leafs and HNIC work together and stroke each other's back. Not only will the early start time give HNIC a larger audience for the nationally televised game, it will give the Leafs a slight edge they might not have otherwise enjoyed by starting the game at 7 p.m. ET on their body clocks whereas otherwise it would have been 10 p.m. ET.

They call each other's tune and the impression one is left with until proven otherwise is that CBC has lost considerable integrity with this move.

As for the book, Strachan is a friend so there probably shouldn't be any comment. But the Montreal Gazette review was extremely flattering, and whether you love or hate the Leafs you should probably give it a look.

Check the web

More NHL, including latest scores and off-ice news, at www.theprovince.com/sports
© (c) CanWest MediaWorks Publications Inc.

[stuff99]

Samuelsson: Wings' loss so much Canucks' gain

By Jason Botchford, The Province
October 23, 2009 8:01 AM


Vancouver's Mikael Samuelsson (right) celebrates a goal with Willie Mitchell during the Canucks' 3-2 win in Chicago Wednesday.

Vancouver's Mikael Samuelsson (right) celebrates a goal with Willie Mitchell during the Canucks' 3-2 win in Chicago Wednesday.
Photograph by: John Gress file, Reuters

There are probably many reasons to explain why so many people have left Detroit during the past few years. The hockey team isn't one of them. Especially for the players.

Leaving the Red Wings means turning a back on NHL royalty, possibly saying goodbye to champagne wishes and Stanley Cup dreams. The Wings are envied around the league because of the embarrassment of riches they've amassed in the past decade or so. They are proven winners, offering players a deep talent pool to swim in and long, often joyous playoff runs.

It's why many decide to stay and do it for less.

Walking away is risky business, a step into the unknown. To take it, a player needs a safety net built with money and opportunity.

Mikael Samuelsson found both in Vancouver.

The three-year, $7.5-million contract he signed with the Canucks was $1 million a year more than what Detroit offered. Vancouver didn't mind, even if Samuelsson's high-water mark was 45 points. The Canucks believed they had a 60- to 70-point player who had been hidden batting eighth in Detroit's lineup.

So far, it looks like they're right.

"It's up to you to say, but this is what I wanted when I came here," says Samuelsson, who has so far artfully used the extra two minutes a game he's getting in Vancouver to double his points-per-game from 0.5 to one. "I wanted a fair chance to prove I can be a big part of an offence."

But investing in Samuelsson was based on more than potential point totals. His experience stands out in the Canucks dressing room like a funny joke on Jay Leno. Even the multimillion-dollar facelift couldn't take care of the playoff skeletons in GM Place. Maybe Samuelsson can. He is one of the few Canucks who has actually won a big game. Or three.

"He's an experienced guy who has been through some pressure moments in his career and he's been able to respond," head coach Alain Vigneault says. "Since we moved him [on the same line] with Henrik and Alex Burrows, he's done real well for us. We need him to play well right now."

Samuelsson's experience showed Wednesday in the 3-2 win over the Blackhawks. The night may have belonged to Roberto Luongo's saves and Willie Mitchell's hit, but it was Samuelsson who won it.

He set up the Canucks' first goal, taking a lot of time to calmly hold the puck. It was time he used to talk himself out of shooting. Instead, he eventually chose a half-slap pass to Alex Burrows at the side of the net. It was the right choice when Steve Bernier buried the rebound.

In the third, Samuelsson deftly picked off a brainless Brian Campbell drop pass which he saw coming from Kalamazoo. He said he's played Chicago "a million times" and knew the antics Campbell can get up to in his own end. With that takeaway, Samuelsson did what he's done so well this year — he shot. It was his 41st shot of the season, good at that time for second place in the NHL, trailing only Alex Ovechkin.

The goal was his second game-winner, tying him at two with Mats Sundin on the Canucks' all-time list.

It brings home the point that Samuelsson has had more impact with the Canucks in nine games this season than Sundin did in 41 last year.

Since Daniel Sedin went down with a broken foot, it's been Samuelsson who's raised his game, while Henrik Sedin lost his. Don't let Henrik's numbers fool you. He does have five assists since Daniel got injured, and one great game against Dallas. But two of his assists came in garbage time against Calgary and too often he has disappeared.

Lucky for him, Samuelsson's been there to pick up the slack. In the five games without Daniel, Samuelsson has three goals — including those two game-winners — and six points.

In the Canucks' first nine games, Samuelsson has five goals and nine points. He appears well on his way to beating the 40 points he scored last year. And maybe, at some point, he'll get a chance to play with both Sedins at the same time.

But maybe that's too obvious.

jbotchford@theprovince.com

Want to talk Canucks hockey in advance of the big game Saturday afternoon? Well, join Tony Gallagher, Ben Kuzma, Jim Jamieson and — if he's back in town from the big Blackhawks' win — Jason Botchford today at 9 a.m. for our weekly live web chat. You never know, the reader known belovedly as "Sami Salo's Groin" might even join us. See the link at right to join in.
© Copyright (c) The Province

[spoon.ek9]

i'm loving samuelson's performance so far! from the very early stages you could tell the calmness he had carrying the puck. yes, he stumbles sometimes but the amount of confidence he has with the puck is refreshing for this canucks team.

plus, he's in my office pool

[CRS]

You'd be hard-pressed to find two better young men than Matt Duchene and Cody Hodgson. They are like genetic lab-creations of what Canada wants its hockey players to be: ridiculously talented, passionate, hard-working, team-first guys. And for the Hockey Moms out there, they are also polite, modest, well-spoken, and I can pretty much guarantee they'll have your daughter home on time.

You'd also be hard-pressed to find two hockey lives so intertwined. Two careers, twinned since Tyke.

Until now, that is.

Over the last month, their parallel paths took hard turns in different directions. One is skating on clouds, playing big minutes on the NHL's surprise team. The other is at home, off skates until a doctor says otherwise, thinking next year can't come soon enough.

First, the back-story.

Duchene and Hodgson both grew up in the small town of Haliburton, Ontario. There was only one Tyke rep team there, so both were on it with six year-old Cody at centre and five year-old Matt on his wing; the weak-ankled beginnings of a lifelong friendship, built on a shared dream.

''We talked about it all the time playing mini-sticks as kids, going to the NHL some day,'' says Hodgson. ''But I guess you never really believe it would happen to both of us.''

Hodgson would move south to Markham after those Tyke years, but the two would play against each other all winter, then team up again in the summer on a travelling team coached by Duchene's father. The team was called 'Kids Love Hockey', after the sponsor. Appropriate name.

''Those were great times,'' Hodgson says. ''We had a ton of fun.''

''We won just about everything,'' adds Duchene. ''It was awesome.''

Hodgson was drafted by the OHL's Brampton Battalion in 2006. Sure enough, Brampton also called Duchene's name one year later.

Through junior, they were teammates in the winter, and training partners in the summer - two kids/one obsession/365 days a year.

''We still have our cottage near Haliburton so I'd ride my bike down in the summer, work out, and then shoot pucks at Matt's place,'' says Hodgson. ''He has a great set-up; a goalie he built in shop class that has all the same holes a goalie in the butterfly has. It was amazing.''

Duchene even had special headgear - mosquito nets to fight off those pesky cottage-country predators.

Those endless summer days fighting bugs and firing pucks paid off big-time. Hodgson was drafted 10th overall by Vancouver in 2008. Duchene went 3rd overall to Colorado one June later.

The perfect ending would have been for both to make their NHL teams this season; live the dream together. It was Hodgson, most believed, who had the best shot to stick. He already had one pro camp under his belt, and had been sensational at the World Juniors. Duchene was still just a pup at 18.

But that's when things went askew.

Hodgson hurt his back training in the summer. At camp, he was diagnosed with a herniated disc, but cleared to play. Yet he never felt right. All the power seemed to have bled from his legs.

The Canucks sent him back to Brampton. He was crushed.

A second opinion from The Cleveland Clinic confirmed the herniated disk. But doctors there recommended he stay off skates indefinitely.

Then it got worse. Canucks coach Alain Vigneault inferred Hodgson was using the injury as an excuse for a poor camp, trying to ''roll the (blame) in a different direction.''

It was an odd thing to say about your franchise's #1 prospect. Some twisted motivational technique, perhaps.

The words stung the kid. But he refuses to fire back - saying something negative about the organization that drafted him is not in Hodgson's DNA.

''The Canucks medical staff has been very supportive of everything I've done,'' he says. Besides that, he'd rather not talk about it.

Meanwhile, it was a fall fantasy for Matt Duchene. Joe Sakic had retired, and the Avs were rebuilding. There were jobs to be had. He had a great camp, made the team, and quickly left little doubt he would be staying beyond every junior player's magic number of ten games.

''I'm just ecstatic about everything,'' Duchene says. ''I'm living the dream. I remember my second pre-season game against St. Louis, I was taking the face-off against Keith Tkachuk, and Paul Kariya was on his wing. I have a picture of me with Paul Kariya when I was eight years old at Maple Leaf Gardens. I treasured that growing up. Now I look over and he's on the wing against me. Unreal.''

And as if he needed more to be pumped about, his team leads the Western Conference.

So here we are. The boyhood pals from Haliburton, whose careers had matched each other stride for stride, are suddenly in very different places. Literally, and emotionally.

''I know it's been really tough on Cody,'' says Duchene. ''I gave him his space for a while when he was sent back. But he texted me after we beat Vancouver, and after I scored my first goal, just to say congrats. He's such a character guy, he'll be fine.''

Hodgson is getting a little closer to 'fine' every day. His back is finally starting to feel right again. He hopes to be cleared to skate next week. And the fact his old Tyke winger is 'living the dream' without him is anything but a downer.

''I'm thrilled to see Matt doing so well. In fact, watching him and JT (John Tavares) and Del Zotto all have success, it energizes me. Because I played with those guys, so when they do well up there, I know I can, too.''

http://www.tsn.ca/columnists/james_duthie/?id=295772

I hope Cody's injury doesn't get the best of him. Rest up and get'r done!

[Harvey Specter]

I loved watching Strachan last year. He would always start shit with someone on the panel but most of the time it would be him and Mike Milbury going at it.

[MR_BIGGS]

Originally Posted by Jah Gekko

Yup, it was a epic hit. I can't wait to hear what Don Cherry has to say about it on Sat. Back to Eric, I think if Toews takes another shot to the head it could end his career or seriously cut his career in half.

I think Cherry will say something like..."good canadian kid - getting right back up after the hit...he should be on team canada...."

I was at the Bball game last night and Mitchell was walking on the court and these little kids on the floor were yelling at him...hey Willie great hit nice hit man!!...He had a ear to ear grin...SOB was knocking back the beers...

Originally Posted by will068

I know in pro basketball, there's a gentleman's agreement to with regards to inflicting flagrant fouls that causes career threatening injuries. In successful pro sport organizations, the superstars are always protected. If someone would have attempted to flagrantly injure Michael Jordan, David Stern would turn that guy to his slave. These superstars are your $$$ makers. To run this business, Bettman should enforce the refs to favour the superstars and severely punish the second tier players who may cause harm to them.

Just how in the NFL the best QB's were always getting injured..and now the new rules protect the league's assets.. there are unwritten rules aswell.

[7seven]

New video tour of the new dressing room and facilities

http://canucks.nhl.tv/team/console.jsp?catid=6&id=49426

[bossxx]

I'm going to the game saturday night! section 117 row 20!! fuck yaaaa best seats. Will take a few pics

[bossxx]

Originally Posted by 7seven

New video tour of the new dressing room and facilities

http://canucks.nhl.tv/team/console.jsp?catid=6&id=49426

how do you get the videos to play? what player do u need installed? its just black

[silk]

Originally Posted by idga-f

how do you get the videos to play? what player do u need installed? its just black

works for me !

try to go on canucks website, then click on their videos... its the most recent one

[Noir]

Originally Posted by Jah Gekko

I'm pretty sure Eric had previous head injuries before the career ending hit.

Not only preceding injuries, but age is also an "additional" factor to the severity of it.

Eric was 27 when he got that devastating hit by Stevens. Toews is 21. At that age, everything adds up and one gets to be pretty soft no matter how tough one was.

Toews is still at an age where it's much easier to shake off a big hit.

[Harvey Specter]

Will the Canucks locker room be off limits during the Olympics or are they using it? I'm under the impression the upgrade was paid in part because of the Olympics.