by Meds on Thu Jan 24, 2013 1:58 am
Kassian was a beast again tonight. Loved his game. He looks for hits, but doesn't take himself out of the play chasing them. He goes to the net.....HARD. I was more than OK with his penalty for goaltender interference. Finally the Canucks have someone who is willing to crash the crease after the puck and to hell with the consequences. How often have we seen our goaltenders get runover and nothing happens? Fine by me now, we'll just respond in kind. Opponent's goaltenders now have to be more wary when the Canucks come calling on offense. His goal was a beauty, he set it up himself, then stayed on the puck and didn't quit. His shootout winner was awesome, Kipper looked like Luongo out there, Kassian can skate, his footwork is there that's for sure.....what sold that deke was his little Datsyukian shuffle as he faked forehand.
Schneider was soft on one goal and looked surprised a few times out there, but he was solid. Everything that beat him was post and in, essentially perfect shots. He was great in the shootout, younger goalies seem to be more patient and really I think that Schneider forces shooters to deke or take a low percentage shot because he makes himself much bigger in net than Luongo does.
I really hope Edler finds his game fast. $5M is a bargain for him, but only if he plays to his potential. Lots of turnovers and misreads tonight for him.
Garrison is looking like a good signing. He contributes all over the ice, and I really hope that Edler, Hamhuis, and Bieksa, will take lessons from him on how to keep the puck in at the point and handle passes that aren't quite perfect.
Our fourth line was brutal. They generated nothing and were often playing most of the time in our end.
Raymond had a very good game, this is what he needs to bring.
Vigneault is just a hack at picking shooters. He also seems to have lost what ever motivating qualities he used to possess, the whole team outside of Kassian, Sedins, Burrows, Weise, Garrison, and Raymond, looked asleep out there for most of the night. There is no urgency, no cohesive play, it's like they are just going through the motions. I mean, let's face it, Calgary sucks. They looked amateur out there tonight, but we couldn't steamroll them with the lineup we have? It was like once we were up 2 we let off the gas a bit. This has to be coaching, Vigneault's stupid respect the opponent and don't embarrass them philosophy.....you know, the one that is never reciprocated.
The officiating was alright for half the game, but it seemed like once Calgary was looking out of it and down 2 goals the refs decided to give them a chance to stay in it. I didn't know until just now about this "new rule" for closing your hand on the puck.....Edler sure didn't close his hand on it, he simply scooped it backwards to the side boards, wasn't even a hand pass, and he didn't take it off of a Calgary player's stick, just cleared it after he had been knocked down. Then Bieksa's cross-check.....that was soft. Since when is punishing the guys who crash your goalie worthy of 2 minutes? I mean outside of two-handing a guy or fighting. The tying goal was a joke. Canucks up the ice 3 on 2 shorthanded and suddenly the Flames line change is screwed up and they have 7 guys on the ice and are back checking before the other players are off. No call. 10 seconds later it's in our net. Bullshit. Total bush league. Then the third period was not too bad again. The inconsistencies are staggering already in this young season.
There were a few guys who stood out tonight in a negative way for us.....
Higgins was a floater, at one point he was even letting Jay Bouwmeester push him off the puck with one arm.
Malhotra seems lost, can't make a good play.
Edler was pretty weak tonight. Not terrible, but certainly not even playing his B game.
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