Official 2009/2010 Canucks Thread

[noots]

Souray has requested a trade. Had some pretty harsh words for the Oilers management. If this is true, it would hurt if your favourite team growing up treated you like this. http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/2010/...ouray_request/

EDMONTON — Another big name player wants out of Edmonton, as Sheldon Souray on Sunday uttered those four words that have come to haunt the Oilers franchise:

"I want a trade."

"I do," Souray repeated, sounding a little disappointed at the admission. "Yes, I do want a trade."

If this isn’t rock bottom for the Edmonton Oilers, an organization that never recovered from Chris Pronger’s trade demand in the summer of ‘06, it’s hard to fathom things getting any worse.

The Oilers finished dead last in the National Hockey League this season. Its American Hockey League farm team finished dead last in that league.

The NHL regular season ended on the weekend with Edmonton being dominated by Los Angeles, amazingly winning 4-3 in a shootout despite being outshot 55-16.

On Sunday they rolled over, giving up 45 more shots in a 7-2 loss at Anaheim.

Another 100-shot weekend, another franchise-type player who signed as a free agent in Edmonton, but has had enough with the organization.

"It’s not a players thing. It’s not a fans thing or a city thing. It’s a management thing," Souray said. "They’ve given up on me, and it’s a two-way street.

"I don’t talk to anyone (in management) and I don’t expect to when I check out of here," said Souray, who still has two seasons left on the five-year, $27 million deal then-GM Kevin Lowe signed him to in the summer of 2007. "I don’t really need to talk to them. There isn’t anything to say.

"Management has soured on me, and I’ve soured on them," he continued. "The fans are great, they’ve accepted me here, I see the jerseys in the stands. I couldn’t have pictured a more opposite vision of what my experience here would be like. What the organization here would be like, overall."

Souray grew up in northeastern Alberta as an Oilers fan, has family in the city, and signed with Edmonton because he loved the buzz of the 2006 Stanley Cup run. He is one of those increasingly rare players who prefers to play in a hockey-mad Canadian city, as opposed to being able to live anonymously in any number of American markets.

"I feel now that, when I signed here, I probably was as blinded by their great past as (the Oilers) are," Souray said. "People will question me, that they overpaid me … that it was a bad decision to sign me. But I can tell you this: I turned down more money in other places."

His experience in Edmonton began on the wrong foot for Souray when he arrived at his first training camp nursing a shoulder injury.

"I wasn’t even ready to play when I came here, but it was like, ‘We signed you, you go out and play.’ I hadn’t been cleared to play yet, but I was being questioned by the organization:‘When are you going to be able to play?’

"I go out, play six games, and I get hurt."

Souray said it wasn’t the training staff applying the pressure; it was "management."

He fought Vancouver’s Byron Ritchie in Game 6 of the 2007-08 season and re-injured his shoulder, missing the next 55 games.

"I got challenged by management on the very first day of my first training camp. The very first day," he said. "They said, ‘When are you going to play?’ I said, ‘I have a six month (shoulder) injury and I’m at five months.’ But I played.

"I’ve had the experience of playing in great organizations (in New Jersey and Montreal), and experienced a vastly different approach to things like that. I was a captain in Montreal. I never had my character questioned there, or in New Jersey. I feel that’s all I’ve had since I’ve been here.’"

Fast forward to this season.

Souray missed 16 games with a concussion after being upended into the corner boards by Jarome Iginla on Oct. 8. His season ended Jan. 30 in Calgary when he fought Iginla, breaking a bone in his hand. Souray had surgery, then was re-admitted to hospital when he got a painful infection in his hand.

Though Oilers trainer Ken Lowe was exceptional in keeping daily tabs on Souray’s medical progress, Souray said he never once heard from GM Steve Tambellini. Not even a courtesy call from the GM, who did not respond to a request to speak with sportsnet.ca Sunday evening.

"Maybe they think I’m a black sheep," Souray said. "But it’s not about me — it wouldn’t matter who it happened to. You’d think someone would want to check on the asset, wouldn’t you?

"The Oilers always prided themselves in being a family. Whatever happened to that? I haven’t talked to (Tambellini) since mid-January."

Tambellini will be actively peddling Souray this summer, something he couldn’t do at the trade deadline because of the hand injury. Souray would welcome a trade, but realizes he may have to open the season in Edmonton if Tambellini can’t find a satisfactory deal.

"I still have two years left on my contract. I made a commitment to come here when other guys wouldn’t," he said. "But you talk about Prongs (Chris Pronger) and guys like that, and it should raise an eyebrow when players who leave town are skipping out with a smile on their face."

[quasi]

Originally Posted by RiceIntegraRS

Theres alot of talk around the league about who should win the Hart Trophy. Maybe its because im more interested in it since Sedin is in the race. But who do u guys think should win? Remember Hart Trophy means Most Valuable to its team, not Best player in the league(Obviously its Ovechkin i believe)

Anyways Henrik should win because without him, does Burrows, Daniel, and Sammuellson have there career years? He also proved critics wrong when they said he can only play with his brother. The only other canidates id be happy beating Henrik would be either Miller or Bryzgalov.

I can see an argument for any of Crosby, Ovechkin, Henrik or Miller winning it. I think it will probably go to Ovechkin because like they said on the radio earlier do you want to have the awards show and not have the face of your league and the best player in it not getting an award?

[MR_BIGGS]

Damn, Edmonton is in rough shape. I like Steve Tambellini, and hope he has success as a GM, but the Oilers organization has to get rid of Kevin Lowe. He's an idiot and should let Tambellini run the show. Interesting to see who they pick if they get the first pick for the draft.

[noots]

Both teams have too many question marks going into this series, especially in goal. Also the Kings have no significant injuries while we all know the Canucks are hurting on the blueline. While we may have better forwards than the Kings, Smyth and Brown are going to make things as difficult as possible for Bobby Lou in front of the net. Vancouver has an advantage with home ice but are too shaky on the road, although the lighter travel will help. The Kings are also 6 or 7 games above 500 on the road.

Canucks should win but if the Kings split the first two games, it could be a long series.

[teaoh]

Canucks playoff hockey will be shown on mostly CBC and sometimes TSN?

[sunny_j]

Originally Posted by teaoh

Canucks playoff hockey will be shown on mostly CBC and sometimes TSN?

only CBC

[jigga250]

pretty decent "King's gameplan" breakdown by a Kings fan:

MAKE IT HAPPEN, CAP'N

It's no secret that Dustin Brown has been playing the best hockey of his career, much less this season, over the past week. He's removed all the bells, whistles and banana seat and is just playing that flat-out power game that best suits his skill set.

I beg you, Dustin, please do not go crazy with the hitting. You are at your best when you are driving hard, taking the right forechecking angles to force premature passes and creating turnovers, not when you are letting the D make the pass and then blasting them into next week.

The playoffs are a grind, a long, hard, grind, and we all know that defensemen breakdown over the course of a grueling series. However, Vancouver's blueliners are all very, very good puckmovers. Take away their time and space, and only take the hits that present themselves. Close that gap - don't let them make that clean outlet.

But, if you are going to go out of your way to hit somebody...

BRING ME THE HEAD OF SAMI SALO

Torture Salo and Bieksa. Both these dudes are as brittle as it gets, but they will kill us with bombs from the point.

Vancouver is the 2nd highest scoring team in the NHL for a reason, and it isn't because the Sedin's are sniping away. They have four tremendously talented defensemen who all have highly accurate hard, low shots that are perfect for tipping and rebound pouncing.

Salo and Bieksa need to be hammered into bloody, broken pulps. Hell, it's even money that Salo will suffer a season ending injury every night.

KILL, KINGS, KILL

Use your strength - your huge size advantage on the wings. Get the pucks deep with smart dumps and chase like you have never chased before. Spend as much time as possible behind the net and along the boards to control time and build momentum.

This is up to you, Smyth, Frolov, Simmonds and Modin. If there is any one tactical advantage for LA in this series, it's that power from the corners in to the net. Exploit it - don't get fancy - attack hard and heavy.


GRUESOME TWOSOME MUST MIND THE GAP

Vancouver gets the bulk of its goals from speedy wingers crossing the blueline, pulling up, and using their defensemen to create chances from point blasts. Henrik Sedin and Pavol Demitra make a living with that pull up and curl move, and you have to control that space. The above mentioned Salo and Bieksa are joined by Edler and Ehrhoff in the best collection of offensive d-men in the league.

Our most problematic pairing is Johnson and Jones - these dudes treat their blueline like it was a soup kitchen. The key to neutering the Canuck attack will be holding the blueline and not waiting until after they get zone entry before forcing the play. The first contact MUST be no later than at the top of the circles - you cannot allow Vancouver the chance to incorporate their defense in their attack.

You give up that blueline, and Vancouver will get the cycle going, they will get their point shots, and they will be faster to loose pucks than our sluggish defensemen. Don't give them that chance.

FREE ANZE

It's going to rough going for Kopitar up in Vancouver - Kesler is a fantastic defensive center who can easily turn up ice and punish you on the scoreboard. Terry Murray has to find a way to free up time an space for Anze, and the best way would be to double-shift him on the 4th line with Richardson and Parse a couple of times per period.

Get the right matchups early and often. Murray isn't the best bench coach in the league, so he has to get his ass in gear and smarten up.

MAKE LUONGO MOVE

Luongo, despite that catastrophy in late March, is the best first-save goalie in the NHL. The shot-mentality approach has to be altered to get Luongo moving and create holes. He has a big body, and a knack for looking around screens and absorbing that first shot without giving up rebounds. Make him move that body around so there is room to shoot.

Vancouver is built to defend that shot from the point, traffic in front of the net, bang away at the rebound, type offense we have. It's a clear reason for our struggles with the Canucks. The Kings are going to have to find ways to hold on to the puck a little bit longer and create better opportunities instead of blasting away and hoping for bounces.


MAKE WAY FOR J-MONEY

It's Ju$tin William$ time. The man is a warrior, a big-time, big-game player who WILL elevate his game in this series. Nobody battles as hard and give you the most from his body. These aren't things that always show up on the score-sheet, but you can bet your ass that when the times comes for a big play, Williams will be there.

[RiceIntegraRS]

^this was a kings fan? wow, pretty intelligent fan

[fobulaus]

Ya some VERY good points... he knows our game plan pretty well

[AzNightmare]

All of a sudden, I got really excited for game 1 after reading that article. lol

[The Situation]

CANUCKS in FIVE. BOOK IT

[Durrann]

thursday seems so far away

everyone was speculating the game to be on wednesday
but i guess another day will build up more suspense for us fans

cant wait.

[orange7]

although the canucks won't be getting any of the top 10 draft picks. I think we should try to pick up some young D-men.


what do you guys think?

[raygunpk]

i love watching any playoff game on tv, so i'll still be tuned in tomorrow

[DuhDang]

iam surprised no one said

CANUCKS SWEEP LA

[Ronin]

That's optimistic. The Kings are inexperienced and young but they are talented.

I read some articles that say we will all be watching the playoffs and wondering how the hell the Kings been got into the playoffs in the first place. This might be true but I think the Kings will win a game. They have too much talent on that team to be swept.

[AzNightmare]

I predict Canucks in 6.

[HonestTea]

Canucks in 5!

[trip]

playoff beard time

[sunny_j]

Canucks in 5

[Expresso]

The Kings aren't THAT bad lol. With the way our defense is, I would prepare for a long series.

TSN reports Stars will not re-sign Turco. Makes you wonder if they at least tried trading him at the deadline. He would look pretty good in Philly right now.

[illicitstylz]

need to go buy some canuck car flags. NAO

[alex.w *//]

^

[murd0c]

I think it will be nucks in 6 but if lu is hot from the get go a sweep is possible as well
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[illicitstylz]

Anyone have suggestions where to get a canucks plush toy so I can hang it from my rear view?

This is the only time EVER i'll hang something from my rear view lol because a car flag is too easy to get stolen.