GDT Feb 2: Wings @ Vancouver: Sportsnet at 7PM

[griz]

I've seen at least 5 no-call interference plays by the wings.Do the refs even know what interference is? When a player doesn't have the puck and is impeded from getting to the puck its -----ing interference.

No shit. There were a couple of calls that could have gone against the canucks but it doesn't outweight the 10 that the wings should have been called for. Crap officiating yet again. Refs afriaid to 'spoil' a game by giving Vancouver power plays.

Kind of a worrying trend... the Canucks haven't won by more than a goal since January 4th. That's 10 straight games.

Haven't the wings being doing something similar?

Everyone fears the shootout when Luongo is in net. His record speaks for itself. I'd say it doesn't matter because there's no shootout in the playoffs ... but then the playoffs is where Luo has trouble. Hmph. Regardless, I think I would have started Burrows in the shootout for sheer determination. However, the Wings ... what can you say ... they destroy other teams in teh shootout. Ah well.

Highlights of the the 3-0 whooping of Boston by Carolina were nice.

Including multiple high sticks on Marchand, without any penalties called on them.

SWEET!

[rockjetty]

Is it playoffs time already? 1 PP in 2 games. They certainly haven't out hustled the opposition but there have been countless things that COULD have been called over the past 2 games.

Edit - if there is a SCF rematch the Canucks should wear Carolina Hurricanes jerseys.

That was pretty bad officiating... Not just that they are missing calls, but in the last 2 games the officiating has been lopsided against the Canucks. This was the first game since the playoffs where I was yelling at the TV SN didn't replay the high-stick on Malhotra at the end of regulation -- was that a correct non-call? There were a a couple players from both teams there, might have been a teammate's stick, don't know.

A few bright spots in a fairly lackluster effort... At least they are getting some bounces & Lou was looking confident.

[Benjo]

Highlights of the the 3-0 whooping of Boston by Carolina were nice.

Including multiple high sticks on Marchand, without any penalties called on them.

Marchand should have gotten a holding the stick penalty when it got lodged in his schnozz.

[Hank]

Highlights of the the 3-0 whooping of Boston by Carolina were nice.

Including multiple high sticks on Marchand, without any penalties called on them.

It might have been high-sticking, but Rat Face tried to way oversell it. Should have gotten a unsportsmanlike for the little tantrum on the bench. Of course, the Bruins NEVER embellish

Good to see the league and the refs start to get sick of their big bad act.

[Meds]

Ya know, as much as the Red Wing's were full marks for the 2 points.....the refs didn't have to go out of their way to HELP them! Apart from the interference calls that went unseen, Henrik played almost his entire last shift trying to free his stick from a Detroit player's hands. The linesman nullifying a breakaway for Burrows sure didn't hurt Detroit any either.

Terrible effort by Vancouver tonight. Our blueline is a shambles right now. In the last 2 games there have been at least a dozen incidents where an attacking forward has danced right around the Canuck defenseman and gone in for a chance on net. If it was once or twice and Datsuyk or Patrick Kane, well, OK, let it go. But when it is 2nd and 3rd liners, and it's occurring with such frequency, there is a problem.

I've been saying for a couple years now that the Canuck's (Vigneault's) most glaring weakness is the puck support and control in the defensive end under pressure. This team is EASILY hemmed in. People have been pointing the finger at Henrik and Daniel lately, and it has been said a few times that part of the problem has been that they have been wasting too many shifts in the Vancouver zone. Well some of that is due to the fact that our defensemen can't seem to make a clean outlet pass to save a life. Edler is getting to fancy. Bieksa is, well he's Bieksa. Hamhuis has looked a bit lost of late. Salo has been steady for the most part. Rome is abysmal and has no hands but keeps trying to be Paul Coffey. Ballard has said f*** it and just skates it up and out. This has a lot to do with the coaching staff. That gameplan isn't working, opponents know it and expose it. Time for a change, either in the strategy or a face or two behind the bench.

I love how Ballard has opted to NOT pass the puck to Rome when he's been open lately. Pretty much sums up how bad Rome is with the puck. Rome was once again BRUTAL on the Wing's 3rd goal. It was Luongo's one sketchy moment of the game, in truth Louie should have pounced on that puck but there was some hesitation and a communication breakdown between him and his D. Then Rome plays it poorly and we are back down with 5 to go. He's terrible. How can Vigneault not see this.

Luongo stole his team a single point tonight. He should hold his head high.

Ballard's rush up the left wing and towards the net could have resulted in a rebound goal if the Canuck forward coming in had gone straight to the net up the middle instead of cutting back to the left side. The puck went off Howard's pads and was gift wrapped in the slot just above the crease with Howard hugging his right post. Easy money.

This team needs a wake-up call here right away. A trade might do it, and over the last 10 games it has become apparent that there are a couple of needs that are hopefully at the top of Gillis' "To Do Before Trade Deadline" list.

[Mondi]

OMG the Canucks are 3-0-1 in their last four. OMG.

[Island Nucklehead]

OMG the Canucks are 3-0-1 in their last four. OMG.

Sure they're winning. They could easily be 1-2-1 in that stretch, all at home. They certainly didn't deserve a point vs. the Wings, they probably didn't deserve to win vs. Chicago, a SO win against Edmonton isn't exactly a vote of confidence either.

We'll see if they can break out of the funk soon. It's worrisome because on the surface people will say "yeah they're 3-0-1 in their last four", but I hope the team realizes they've been playing like garbage. Sometimes losing a string of games shakes the cobwebs faster than winning when you don't deserve to.

[Uncle dans leg]

I dont know but the third period we came out and really took the play to the Wings. After watching them dance and dangle for 2 periods I think the boys showed some pretty good game amping it up and controlling the play against maybe the best puck control team in the NHL.
The Wings sure get away with alot of passive interference and quick stick holds. Its reminiscent of how Boston gets away with so much after whistle BS that the refs just seem to pick on only the most obvious and glaring infractions.
Absolutely loved the look we gave them with the Sedins on seperate lines. More balance, speed and tenacity between 3 lines. Quite frankly the Wings had no answer for that.
Taking the point back from them has to be worth something but I have to wonder how much better we'd be with a few more shootout wins.
I'd love Zidlicky on our back end BTW. We could use his skill and first pass.

[LotusBlossom]

OMG the Canucks are 3-0-1 in their last four. OMG.

Sure they're winning. They could easily be 1-2-1 in that stretch, all at home. They certainly didn't deserve a point vs. the Wings, they probably didn't deserve to win vs. Chicago, a SO win against Edmonton isn't exactly a vote of confidence either.

We'll see if they can break out of the funk soon. It's worrisome because on the surface people will say "yeah they're 3-0-1 in their last four", but I hope the team realizes they've been playing like garbage. Sometimes losing a string of games shakes the cobwebs faster than winning when you don't deserve to.

Last night was a mix of a few things.

1) The officiating was horrid. I was in the arena last night and saw enough non-calls to drive me to have more than my usual 2-3 glasses of wine. I can't believe how blatantly bad it was. Not just the refs, but the linesmen and their 'icing' calls. I would have loved to have heard the call on air last night.
2) If you don't shoot, don't expect to score. The Canucks mustered 3 bloody shots in the second period. How the fuck do you expect to score! Second period siesta continues.
3) The boys can thank Luongo and Schneids for bailing them out the last few games. This is ridiculous. They need to start showing up for games for 60 minutes.

Perhaps some time on the road will help the again, but this is something that should be addressed in the locker room. Their lack of effort showed a lot last night, and they were lucky to get a point out of it.

[mathonwy]

Ya know, the way Ballard is playing right now, we really can't afford to lose him.

He's the only defensemen right now that's capable of making the end-to-end rushes.

Either capable or willing to do it. Bieksa has the ability to do it but Ballard has better wheels.

Also, another fight for Ballard. That's three fights in the last two games.

Jan 17, 2012 2pd 03:45 Keith Ballard LOS Colin Fraser
Voted winner: Keith Ballard (81.7%) - Voted rating: 3.7

Jan 21, 2012 2pd 19:53 Keith Ballard SAN Joe Pavelski
Voted winner: Keith Ballard (87.2%) - Voted rating: 5.7

Feb 02, 2012 3pd 07:44 Keith Ballard DET Todd Bertuzzi
Voted winner: Todd Bertuzzi (76.2%) - Voted rating: 3.3

If you want toughness, we already got it in Keith Ballard.

Weird huh?

[Reefer2]

Terrible effort by Vancouver tonight. Our blueline is a shambles right now. In the last 2 games there have been at least a dozen incidents where an attacking forward has danced right around the Canuck defenseman and gone in for a chance on net. If it was once or twice and Datsuyk or Patrick Kane, well, OK, let it go. But when it is 2nd and 3rd liners, and it's occurring with such frequency, there is a problem.

I am getting more worried as the season gets into the final third about the blueline. Way too much time has been spent on Ballard and not looking at the issues with the others guys on D. Bieksa/Ham/Edler have all looked normal and not to the level needed to win a SC, way too many brain farts and I believe a lot of this has to do with their minutes played.

[clem]

My impression of our D last night, from best to worst.

Edler
Ballard
Salo
Bieksa
Hamhuis
Rome

Some of our crew looked like they had the flu.

[Tiger]

From Espn..

Howard, coming off his first trip to the All-Star Game, suffered the injury in Thursday night's 4-3 shootout win over the Vancouver Canucks,

hmm didn't notice Burrows putting the "bite" on him..

[Uncle dans leg]

Terrible effort by Vancouver tonight. Our blueline is a shambles right now. In the last 2 games there have been at least a dozen incidents where an attacking forward has danced right around the Canuck defenseman and gone in for a chance on net. If it was once or twice and Datsuyk or Patrick Kane, well, OK, let it go. But when it is 2nd and 3rd liners, and it's occurring with such frequency, there is a problem.

I am getting more worried as the season gets into the final third about the blueline. Way too much time has been spent on Ballard and not looking at the issues with the others guys on D. Bieksa/Ham/Edler have all looked normal and not to the level needed to win a SC, way too many brain farts and I believe a lot of this has to do with their minutes played.

I think I want to reserve judgment until the post season. We saw a record setting regular season and playoffs last year and I have a bit of a feeling that this group has the ability to crank it up when it matters the most. I agree the zone coverage and man to man has been way shitty but I really feel much has to do with knowing the difference now between regular season and money time.
This group can beat anyone on any given night. Losing in the shootout after a mostly lazily played game to the best record in the NHL isn't so bad at this point in time.

[Jovocop]

OMG the Canucks are 3-0-1 in their last four. OMG.

The Canucks were outplayed badly in the last few games. If Luongo and Scheider did not play well, the result could be easily 1-3-0 instead. As much as you hate, Ballard has been one of the steadiest defensemen for the Canucks in the last little while.