Vancouver Canucks

[paul]

Nov 15, 2023 16:39:17 GMT -5 paul said:

Going to my first Canucks game of the season tonight against the Islanders. This will be Bo Horvat's first time back in Vancouver since last season's trade. It will be interesting to see the reaction he gets from the crowd after these comments he made shortly after leaving town.


www.nbcsports.com/nhl/news/islanders-bo-horvat-clarifies-better-than-vancouver-comment


While I agree he shouldn't have said what he said I'm sure it was frustrating playing for a losing team that had such inept management for the bulk of his time here. Personally, I'll cheer for him when they do the in-game tribute for him tonight. While he never turned into a superstar he was still a consistent 20-30 goal scorer and one of the top face-off men in the league.

At the same time I'm glad the new management team didn't cave in to his unreasonable contract demands as I don't think he's worth the $8.5 million per season the Islanders are now paying him. I feel like the trade was a win for the Canucks as the first round pick we got from the Isles in return was then flipped to the Red Wings for Filip Hronek who's having an outstanding season on the blueline for us.

Current Canuck players have encouraged fans not to boo him at tonight's game and I hope they listen.

Just left the game happy as the Canucks won 4-3 in overtime. I'm happy to report that for the most part Bo Horvat was treated with respect by the home crowd. While a few people booed him whenever he touched the puck he received a loud, partial standing ovation during the in-game tribute video. He appeared to be moved to tears by it too.

The game got off to a rough start as the Islanders scored two Power Play goals early in the First Period. The Canucks settled down after that and pulled within one early in the second before a rare defensive miscue by Quinn Hughes allowed Horvat to score a gimme goal to put the Isles back up by two. The Canucks hung in there though and managed to tie it up and send it to Overtime where Hughes redeemed himself by scoring the game winner.

With this victory the Canucks are now tied with the Golden Knights for first place in the Pacific Division. I'm waiting for NHL.com to update their stats but I believe that after this game three of our players (Hughes, J.T. Miller and Elias Petterson) are all tied for first in scoring with 26 points apiece. I'd be happy to see any of the three win the Art Ross Trophy but I'm really pulling for Hughes as he would be only the second defenceman, Bobby Orr was the first, to accomplish that feat.


GO CANUCKS GO!🥳🥳🥳

[on_the_edge]

Glad you had a good time and got to see them win.

[paul]

After their 5-2 win over Nashville tonight and the Golden Knights loss to the Hurricanes my Canucks are only trailing the Knights by one point for first place in the Pacific Division. Both teams need to be keeping an eye on the Kings though who are seven points out of first place but have five games in hand. That should be a fun three-team race the rest of the way.

Quinn Hughes continues to look like the favorite for the Norris Trophy. If he wins it he'd be the first Canuck ever to accomplish that. If Cale Makar gets back healthy though he'll definitely give Hughes a run for his money for the Norris.

The career renaissance of Brock Boeser continues to amaze me. He's currently sitting in second in goals trailing Auston Matthews by two. Going into this season Boeser was still on the trading block but somehow I think he's staying put now.

While Elias Petterson has tapered off a bit from his hot start he's still performing at a high level and with only one penalty so far he could be in contention for the Lady Byng Trophy. I really hope his contract situation gets resolved before the season is over. He's an RFA after this season and ineligible for an offer sheet but he could just sign his one year qualifying offer and walk as a UFA after next year. I'm sure him and the Canucks will work something out but the sooner the better for me.

We're starting to get some more scoring from the third and fourth lines which is good to see. Early in the year we were relying a bit too much on Hughes, Boeser Petterson and J.T. Miller to carry the load.

The Canucks have a tough game coming up on Thursday against Dallas so hopefully Thatcher Demko can have another stellar game in net.

Great to finally see my team winning again after several disappointing years.😀

[paul]

Got to attend my fourth Canucks game of the season last night (They're 3-1 in those games). While they beat Ottawa 6-3 I was a bit disappointed in my team's effort. The Canucks were up 5-0 after the first period but then they took their foot off the gas pedal after that. The Senators were the better team the rest of the game and if it hadn't been for Thatcher Demko making several key saves in net the game could have easily gone to overtime. This serves as a reminder that no matter how big your lead is you can't take the pressure off your opponent. I'm sure coach Rick Tocchet will be getting on their case about that in practice today. Still, a win is a win so congrats to my team there.

This was the Canucks first game since December 28th. I hope they're well rested because later this week they embark on a brutal seven game road trip which includes playing four games in six days against tough competition like the Rangers, Islanders and Devils. I fear exhaustion will come into play somewhere along the way so if they can go 4-3 on this road trip I'll consider that a win.

[paul]

Well, the Canucks just finished off their grueling 7 game road trip with a 4-3 shootout loss to the Blue Jackets. Based on the amount of games crammed into a short period of time I initially said I would be satisfied with them going 4-3 during this stretch. They did a bit better going 5-1-1 and beating some quality teams in the Rangers, Islanders and Devils.

Going into this season my hope was to see them qualify for the playoffs, even if it was just as a wild card team. Like a lot of people I thought their hot start would peter out a bit and they'd settle into a second or third place spot in the Pacific Division. But now here we are just past the halfway point of the season and there they are sitting near the top of the league standings. I'm trying to keep my expectations grounded and realistic but I have to admit lately I've been thinking that they can be MORE than just a playoff team and maybe make a run for The Stanley Cup. The guys on "That's Hockey" did a good job summing it up recently. On a side note I'm surprised a national sports program in Canada found time to talk about a team other than the Maple Leafs.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=jwETHYFzd1E


Getting out of the Pacific Division could be a challenge in itself with the defending champ Golden Knights, the Kings and an Oilers team that seems to have regained their mojo. Then there's the Jets, Avalanche and Stars in the Central to deal with too. But I feel like my team can definitely hang with them.

Two weeks ago when Smackdown was in town Logan Paul made some comments (which I got a good chuckle out of) that the Canucks should use as motivation.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=M4UlSdq0FV0


If I'm coach Rick Tocchet I'm playing that clip on a daily basis to light a fire under the team. Let's go Canucks and prove Logan Paul wrong!!!!!!

[paul]

I've been away from my phone for most of the day so I'm just hearing about this news right now. What a stunner!

www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/39433326/vancouver-trades-calgary-center-elias-lindholm

It's clear that Canucks management is going all in this year to try to win a Stanley Cup. While Lindholm's offensive numbers aren't much different than Kuzmenko's his ability to kill penalties is what makes him a better asset. The Flames penalty kill is currently ranked third in the league partly due to Lindholm which should help the Canucks 15th ranked PK.

Not sure if Lindholm will just be a rental or not since he's a UFA after this season and the Canucks may be in a salary cap crunch. Tyler Myers $6 million comes off the books after this year but that's probably all going to go towards new deals for Elias Petterson and Filip Hronek. Assuming that the Flames are taking on all of Kuzmenko's $5.5 million salary that money could go towards a new deal for Lindholm who's currently making $4.85 million. A raise could be in order for him but even if it goes up to $6 million that's only $500,000 more than Kuzmenko's deal which seems doable. However, Dakota Joshua and Teddy Blueger also need new deals and will likely both require a raise too so we'll see how it all turns out.

The first round pick they gave up in the trade isn't a huge deal at the moment as it will likely be a pick low in the round. I know very little about the two prospects they gave up in the deal as the Canucks prospect pool isn't that great.

It's unfortunate that things didn't work out for Kuzmenko here this season. Last year was his first year playing in North America and he scored 39 goals for us. He's struggled mightily this year with only 8 goals so far along with lackluster defensive play and has ended up in Rick Tocchet's doghouse. While I felt like it's still too early to give up on him I understand why management made this move since they feel like they have a contender on their hand. Hopefully a change of scenery will do Kuzmenko some good.

Overall I think this was a great move. GO CANUCKS GO!!!!!

[paul]

After their 5-2 loss to Seattle on Thursday night that's four consecutive losses for the Canucks. They've been playing so well up to this point that I guess they had to hit a speed bump at some point. I'm hoping it's just a minor bump in the road and not the beginning of the wheels coming off the bus.

The Bruins are in town tonight which should be a tough match-up. They thumped us 4-0 in Boston a few weeks ago so the Canucks will probably be trying to avenge that loss. Hopefully they can use that as motivation to pick up the victory.

[paul]

I came across this article about Elias Pettersson and his contract situation on my dinner break tonight.


clutchpoints.com/nhl-rumors-canucks-have-already-made-a-massive-offer-to-re-sign-elias-pettersson


Assuming this information is accurate it sounds like negotiations about the money shouldn't be an issue between the two sides since $12 million per year is likely what Pettersson is looking for; The experts were predicting that William Nylander's recent contract with the Maple Leafs would be comparison point and he re-signed for $11.5 million.

Sounds like it's going to come down to whether or not Pettersson believes he can win in Vancouver. Things are looking pretty good right now in that department which gives me confidence that he will stick around.

[paul]

After their 5-1 loss to the Kings last night that's the Canucks sixth loss in the past seven games. I'm starting to get a wee bit concerned here. They play the Ducks on Sunday which is a very winnable game so hopefully a win there will help them regain their confidence. They'll need it as their next four games after that are against the Kings again, Vegas, Winnipeg and Colorado.

[paul]

www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/39638084/canucks-sign-elias-pettersson-eight-year-928m-extension


They finally got the deal done. A bit surprised considering Pettersson said he wanted to wait until the season was over before signing anything. However, I imagine the "will he or won't he" aspect of the situation was becoming a distraction.

Not sure if there's any truth to the rumors that the Canucks GM was talking to Carolina about a possible trade but it wouldn't surprise me. He might have been playing a bit of hardball with Pettersson and his agent by letting them know that if you don't want to be here then we'll trade you for someone who does. If the rumor is true I'd be very curious to find out what the Hurricanes were offering.

Nevertheless I'm glad the situation got resolved and both sides can put the matter behind them. Pettersson is just entering his prime and I'm looking forward to seeing him lead the team to greatness. I'll predict he scores at least two goals in tomorrow's game against Anaheim and the Canucks snap out of their recent funk.

GO CANUCKS GO!🥳