GDT Jan 31: Blah Caulks @ Vancouver: TSN at 7PM

[porp]

WHOAH! Sedin-Sedin!

[Tomcat201]

Schneider is the reason we won that game. Nice goal by Danny though

[newcanuckfan]

Yeah Sedinery!
Take that Bolland you rat.
Nice game CS! Goaltending is turning these potential regulation losses / 38 minute efforts into some bonus points to be sure.

[porp]

Definitely. Schneider is a bona fide starter. I wonder if AV will use him to mind f**ck particular opponents; ie., bait and switch against teams who've histories of success against Luongo.

I haven't had the chance to see a lot of games this season, personal thoughts:

Edler is HUGE, but doesn't have that mean-ness in him. He tries really hard and gets in a fair share of epic hits, but he just isn't "mean." Ballard's enthusiasm was definitely curtailed after that BS call for clipping (or whatever). Noticed that he was on the left side most of the game, though.

Schneider: wth does he tape to the inside of his pads? Unrivaled lateral movement with his pads down. I'd compare him to cucumber-cold Kirk McLean but I think that Schneids might be closer to earth (and lacking a super hot wife).

The Sedins are pure fan-fueling-magic. Even when they don't score, they're exciting to watch.

The Aqualini group has put a very entertaining team on the ice/in their stadium. This is an entertaining skilled team that's fun to watch. Here's hoping the rest of the league starts leaning towards this model.

That said, this team matches any other until the refereeing forgives lots against the favourites and injuries start adding up.

[porp]

Booth complements Kesler well, but Higgins didn't have a great game. I'm gonna have to watch more frequently before commenting further.

Cody got pwned a couple of conspicuous times (once by Hossa - compared to CoHo, Hossa's GINARMO-HUGE), but speed definitely kills - Raymond coming back on Toews early in the 2nd comes to mind.

CoHo's small (and because of stumpy legs, less than quickest) but thick; without someone like Raymond, I think that his weaknesses would be more evident. He's ok muddling in the offensive boards, but I think that he doesn't have the physiology to be a great two-way center in today's NHL.

CoHo needs to either learn shiftiness and finesse a la Larionov or go the "Fight Club" route and try being MIke Peca balls-be-damned-scary. Or even better, a healthy mix of the two.

[cjc]

Huge game by Schneider and the save after he coughed up the puck behind the net was incredible. If it were Luongo, the save would be secondary. All anyone would talk about would be the giveaway.

[Meds]

Hodgson is quickly becoming our other goto guy in clutch situations. He has given the team some serious lift in big, close games over the last month. Whether that be in the shootout, scoring the tying or winning goal, or making a nice play to setup a teammate. He's just getting it done.

How can you talk about trading Schneider? He has what so very few goalies do, the thing that sets the greats apart from the goods.....poise. He makes everything look so easy out there, and even after he screws up and then bails himself out in what should have been the winning goal for Morrison, he carries on like it was all in a days work. There were several times I was very glad that he was in net tonight. Luongo has turned it around of late, but he still doesn't show the same cool demeanor that Schneider does. Moreover, Luongo will be 33 going into this year's playoffs. Can Gillis really afford to bank on Eddie Lack being "that" young goalie the way Schneider has turned out?

Joel Queneville has got to be the biggest over-reactor in the game today. A weak call late in the 3rd on Burrows for boarding gives the Hawk's the chance to take the lead with only minutes remaining. Then in OT the refs let a very minor tap by Hamhuis go on the Chicago player who was going to the net and Joel Q explodes. A few seconds later a Blackhawk defender buries a Canuck forward into the boards from behind, and when compared to the call on Burrows a few minutes earlier it could easily have been a trip to the box for the Hawks. Pan back to Coach Q.....livid. Furious. Totally outraged and betrayed by the officials. LMAO!

Vintage Sedins on the winner.

Edler with a big game. Somehow he just flies under the radar.

Rome should have to go to the bench every time we move up on the attack. It's bad enough that he's often out of position on defense, but why make it even worse when he goes to the wrong area on offense? I hope he's either gone or in the pressbox as our number 7 soon. Alberts is a BIG upgrade on him simply because Alberts keeps it simple.

Ballard with a good game tonight. Clipping? Are you joking? The Chicago player dodged around him and ran into his shoulder as he was going for the hip check. His skating stood out tonight.

American Express line needs to share a bit more. It's the one-pass-and-shoot line right now.....sometimes no-pass.

I don't think I was scared of Chicago even once tonight. Even though they pressured us alot and seemed to dominate the flow of the game, when we hit the halfway point of the 3rd period it was like the Canucks had simply been playing rope-a-dope all night and took over against an already spent Blackhawk squad. Granted, if Schneider hadn't been as good as he was that wouldn't have been possible, but their team has lost some of its former bite. They are still a contender, but Toews and Kane just don't seem to be the threat to Vancouver that they used to be. Toews is easily frustrated when playing against the Canucks, you can see it every time he gets taken down hard in front of the net or ridden out along the boards. Kane is also easy to scare off with one big hit. Did Hossa even play tonight? Apparently he got a little over 16 minutes, but I don't remember hearing his name even once. Chicago is starting to sound like San Jose whenever they lose to us.....

"He slashed my hands and I couldn't make the move I wanted," Stalberg said. "I think it was pretty clear it fit the definition of a penalty shot."

.....lots of excuses.

It's starting to seem like the Canucks are living in quite a few people's heads these days.....

Edit: How did we not end up with a single PP tonight?

[Island Nucklehead]

Great post Meds. I couldn't agree more about Coach Q. I don't think there's another coach in the league I want to punch in the face more. Actually he's probably tied with Julien.

I only caught the first period, but a few general thoughts about the teams involved:

The Canucks are one of the deeper teams in the league, if not the deepest. How bad would Canucks fans shit themselves if John Scott was playing in the 6 hole? That mutant is such a waste of space.

The Hawks can't keep up with us, depth wise. I think that would show in another 7 game series this season. Morrison at 2nd line C isn't going to cut it for them either. Toews is one of the better C's in hockey, and they have fantastic high-end wingers and top pairing D... but I don't see much else.

Am I the only one who feels the Canucks are pulling a mini-Washington Capitals this season? It might concern Farhan and their "mental toughness", but it seems like the Canucks are just gliding towards the playoffs. I only hope they fire it up with about 2-3 weeks to go. Everyone knows "flipping the switch" can't happen overnight.

[Benjo]

2 consecutive Canucks/Hawks games now without a single PP. I guess the Hawks are the cleanest team in the league.

[dbr]

2 consecutive Canucks/Hawks games now without a single PP. I guess the Hawks are the cleanest team in the league.

Fifth least times shorthanded in the league. Other than that clown Carcillo (who is done for the year) they don't have too many guys that put them shorthanded very often.

[KeyserSoze]

I don't have a huge problem with Ballard's hit. It wasn't clipping at all... but I wonder if the league is going to frown on those type of hits where a guy leads with his ass at a high speed instead of just sticking out his hip.

Probably a little bit of that, combined with the fact that the ref wanted to make the early call to set the tone between these two rivals. Definately a bad call though.

2 consecutive Canucks/Hawks games now without a single PP. I guess the Hawks are the cleanest team in the league.

Fifth least times shorthanded in the league. Other than that clown Carcillo (who is done for the year) they don't have too many guys that put them shorthanded very often.

I wouldn't want to see a call made just for the sake of making it. Both teams played clean games for the most part. The Ballard call was a blown one, but I can understand the Burrows penalty. I thought they could have called penalties against the Hawks for the trip that Crawford made and/or the hit on Kesler in the corner that appeared to be from behind (he may have gotten a call if he stayed down, but he bounced right back up).

Very entertaining game. Schneider stole the show. The Sedins ending it with Bolland on the ice was money.

[Jovocop]

Booth complements Kesler well, but Higgins didn't have a great game. I'm gonna have to watch more frequently before commenting further.

Cody got pwned a couple of conspicuous times (once by Hossa - compared to CoHo, Hossa's GINARMO-HUGE), but speed definitely kills - Raymond coming back on Toews early in the 2nd comes to mind.

CoHo's small (and because of stumpy legs, less than quickest) but thick; without someone like Raymond, I think that his weaknesses would be more evident. He's ok muddling in the offensive boards, but I think that he doesn't have the physiology to be a great two-way center in today's NHL.

CoHo needs to either learn shiftiness and finesse a la Larionov or go the "Fight Club" route and try being MIke Peca balls-be-damned-scary. Or even better, a healthy mix of the two.

Raymond was the one who gave up the puck when trying to make a cross ice pass.

[Uncle dans leg]

My take on the game is that we we're outplayed for large parts and gave up way too many good scoring chances. Schneider gets the praise, even from the never-one-to compliment Johnathan Toews.

Anyone else notice how effective Kieth is against the Sedins? Its like he can read their frickin minds!!! The Sedins both rank him as the best D-man in the NHL( probably because he seems to break up all their telepathic passes).

Our defensive zone coverage is aweful right now and we better hope the boys sort that out quick or the Wings will feast on the bobbling pucks.

Bolland is Rat Bastard #2 behind King of the Rats Marchand. (anybody catch him goading on Chris Niel last night from the bench while hiding behind Thorton?)

All in all, a lucky win but we did play with some serious determination particularly in the overtime and deserved the win. I cant wait for the Red Wings on Thursday. That December game was one of the best all year and if its half as good tomorrow then I'll be a happy boy.

[Jovocop]

My take on the game is that we we're outplayed for large parts and gave up way too many good scoring chances. Schneider gets the praise, even from the never-one-to compliment Johnathan Toews.

Anyone else notice how effective Kieth is against the Sedins? Its like he can read their frickin minds!!! The Sedins both rank him as the best D-man in the NHL( probably because he seems to break up all their telepathic passes).

Our defensive zone coverage is aweful right now and we better hope the boys sort that out quick or the Wings will feast on the bobbling pucks.

Bolland is Rat Bastard #2 behind King of the Rats Marchand. (anybody catch him goading on Chris Niel last night from the bench while hiding behind Thorton?)

All in all, a lucky win but we did play with some serious determination particularly in the overtime and deserved the win. I cant wait for the Red Wings on Thursday. That December game was one of the best all year and if its half as good tomorrow then I'll be a happy boy.

Except the one shift in OT which turned out to be the game winner.

[Uncle dans leg]

Except the one shift in OT which turned out to be the game winner.

Absolutely! The Rat Slayers strike again