cANUCKS gAME 1 rEPORT

NOTE TO TEAM: do not spot the opposition a 3 goal head start and only show up for the final 20 mins. Flames 5, Canucks 3. Lets go with Sami Salo on the D with 4 shots and a even rating as the Vancouver player of the game.  He needs the honour before he gets injured next week. We are too ashamed of the first 40 to even want to talk about the rest of the team.  The Flames were skating circles around us for the first period.

Auditions! Ack!

wow!  when will the party end?  who knows.  just been busy with life, music and sports. theme for this week is auditions!

as far as sports go… we are currently auditioning for a canucks blog so expect our “demo” to show up here soon.  most like a rant about drafting and what to do about FA’s and RFA’s.  what will they think of goin’ non-caps? in other news:

• bowling a steady 130 so far.  lookin’ at getting it to 150 by season’s end.  pb =212!  that game was awesome.  too bad i followed it up with a 120.  but that is the game i guess.  bowling hot and cold as last nites practice session with the team showed.  practice makes perfect!
• congrats on TFC for winning 6-1 last night!  what a great game!  what “impact” were on the pitch?  none we thinks.
• RIOS!  learn to keep your head in the game!  could be worse though, we could have Milton Bradley.
• Jays pitchers continue to impress!
• hint to the majors: to stop drugs in sport = either incarcerate the offenders OR punish the team in the standings (ie: take away pts and/or wins.)  that will rid the prob in a blink of an eye!  easy peasy!

Gotta run.  Literally.  Woodpeck will return shortly with Canucks rants in hand!

NHL 2009 Trade Bits & Bites #1

Unless you’ve been living under a rock lately, you’ll more than likely know already that the NHL trade deadline is fast approaching.  Here’s some food for thought that weve been chewing on of late:

• The Pittsburgh Penguins need a Scoring Left Winger Badly.  Ever since Ruslan Fedotenko went down with an injury they’ve had ziltch for scoring from that position.
• The Vancouver Canucks are looking at having a lot of UFA’s leaving their roster come the summer.  Look to see a couple of moves made.
• The Ottawa Senators still need a number 1 goalie.  If they can trade Spezza for one on at least a 2 year deal, jump on it!
• Yes Virginia, Dominic Moore (unless he signs a long term deal) and Nik Antropov’s days as Maple Leafs are numbered.

More Trade Talk to come!

A 20 Second Timeout 2 Boast

Awhile back we predicted the Canucks would be 11-6 by mid November.  Now they sit at 14-6.  Can’t complain about that! 

Tip of the hat to Some Canadian guys writing about Soccer who have added us to their links!  Much appreciated!  Check out their site often!

Scary Sports! BOO!

Gotta prep for Hallowe’en so won’t be writing much today. Therefore, just a few tidbits:

• Don’t understand why everyone keeps dumping on Steve Nash.  Last time I looked his production wasn’t waning yet everyone seems to think the end is near for the former MVP.  If we were him, I’d take this slight and prove ‘em all wrong with your best season ever.  The better question about the Suns should be about the other parts of the team and not about Nash. 
• AJ Burnett’s agent says the pitcher will decide by Monday whether or not to leave 24 million on the table and use his player opt out clause.  At least that is one version of the story, the other is that AJ has until Monday to decide if he wants his agent to go to the Autumn GM meetings with him on the “currently available” roster.  Regardless, its difficult to imagine when 12 million a season is just not enough (sigh) but we think AJ has flown the Jays Coup for greener pastures.  The only reasons he returns to the Jays fold would be that he values the current comfort and pitching staff (Arnsberg) more than $$$ and that the current financial turmoil might have his agent thinking that he’s better off with his current deal and/or maybe they can swing a lucrative extension with the team.  Pfft!  Who are we kidding?  There’s always someone out there in MLB land with the cash.  See ya AJ!
• Daniel Alfredsson re-ups with the Ottawa Senators.  His relative cheap yearly salary of just over 5 million for 4 years has us thinking that this opens the vaults for free agent & fellow Swede Mats Sundin to join him.  “C’mon on down Mats!  You’re the next Senator on the Price is Right!”  So far so good for our prediction even though Mats was sighted at the Kings/Canucks game last night.
• We thought the parking woes of this NHL callup were hilarious!  Talk about only thinking of the short term!

Happy Hallowe’en Everyone! 

PS: Check out our growing Blogroll on the left hand side if you’ve got the time!

Special Teams Not So Special For Canuckleheads

Watching the Vancouver Canucks of late, I see many things. Some good, some bad. This team is consistently inconsistent which is hugely frustrating for any fan, myself included. Alain Vigneault is trying new things to get this team to make the leap into a fast paced scoring team. That message is taking its sweet time getting across. Not only with the players but mostly likely with the naturally defensively minded AV himself. In a recent game, I saw the team play great in even strength situations against the Sabres only to lose because of horrible special team play. The team has a penalty kill that is ranked 26th in the league and then combine that with the team’s early addiction to dumb penalties and you get a 3 wins and 4 losses to start the season. Being one game off of .500 isn’t something to get depressed about but after a stellar pre-season with tons of scoring, the recent lack thereof is a huge concern. Even with the power play on the ice, the pucks still can’t find the back of the net. The Canucks power play is ranked 29th (yup, that is second last) in the league and now highly touted signing, Pavol Demitra is out for a month with rib issues. Not a good combo. Rumours are running rampant that Mats Sundin may end up a Canuck. Is it because he is training in LA or is it the 20 million? My money is on him becoming a Senator because of the location, easy travel schedule, relative chance of succes and the Alfie factor. So Sundin is a only a whiff of a dream for a move to Vancouver.

In their recent 6 game road trip, the Canucks played with the lead for an entire 16 minutes and 33 seconds. Compare that to playing catchup for a whoppin’ 249 minutes. When you are almost always behind in a game, you take more risks, make more mistakes and give the other team more chances to score therefore compounding the problem. Tough to have success when that situation becomes the norm.  Its also tough to let the Twins do what the twins do best when you are behind the 8 ball all the time.  Anything less than 160 combined points from the Sedin twins this year will be a disappointment and be a just cause for not resigning them next off-season.

At least the next 10 games are lookin’ better for the Canucks.   KB made some predictions and now we’re inspired to do so as well!  So here goes:

• Oct 25 vs Edmonton This one could end as a loss. Edmonton is finding its stride while Vancouver is still looking for one.
• Oct 28 vs Boston – Bruins on a busy road trip. Advantage Vancouver.
• Oct 30 @ LA Kings – Oh, the Kings woes! Where to begin? Advantage Vancouver.
• Oct 31 @ Anaheim – Ducks are off to a slllllllllllllllllllooooow start and are a distracted, uninterested bunch. Its hallowe’en so its Advantage Vancouver.
• Nov 2 vs Detroit – Red Wings’ on a MASSIVE road trip. Vancouver historically plays them hard at home. Advantage Vancouver.
• Nov 4 vs Nashville – Preds? C’mon! Advantage Vancouver.
• Nov 6 vs Phoenix – Coyotes? Does Gretzky still play? C’mon! Advantage Vancouver.
• Nov 8 vs Minnesota – Only way Canucks win this one is if Sundin is a Canuck. Wild are the Canucks achilies heel. Wild wins it 3-2.
• Nov 12 vs Colorado – Goaltending a concern for Avalanche. Luongo should be over his usual slow start and be getting into form. Canucks still can’t score. Advantage Vancouver.
• Nov 15 vs Toronto – Maybe Sundin is in the lineup by now? This would be a great debut night! No matter what, the Leafs should be out of the playoffs by now. Advantage Vancouver.

So by mid November the Canucks will be sitting pretty with a 11 – 6 win loss regular season record. Too optimistic? Is Woodpeck on drugs?  Too much of the kool aid?  OK, perhaps they let one get away and end up 10 – 7? No matter what the record is in 3 weeks, the team needs to take advantage of this part of their season if they are to make the playoffs. Otherwise it may be over before they knew the season had started. For a team that a lot of folk predicted would have trouble even making the playoff mix, the time is now to make a good run if they want to prove ‘em wrong.

We’ll chat Canucks again when the prediction schedule runs it course.