They Can Score From Anywhere on the Ice

Currently the top 5 NHL’ers in Shooting Percentage are:

1. Ryan Malone 21%
2. Loui Eriksson 20.7%
3. Kyle Wellwood 19.8%
4. Joe Thornton 18.5%
5. Andrew Brunette and Bryan Little tied at 18.3%

Out of these guys, only 2 of the 6 are averaging slightly more than a lousy 2 shots on goal a game.  Why on earth would you as a coach, not being asking these guys to shoot more often???  Even the top 10 in shooting % doesn’t have a 3 shot per game guy listed!  A player who has had a career year like Loui Eriksson and his 36 goals should make the Dallas coaching staff to maybe stop and take him aside and say, “heyyyy Loui, shoot more ok. yer on a roll“.  Maybe that is why they are not making the playoffs this year.  Perhaps one of many reasons.  Look for some huge Stars’ Shakeups this post season.

Seriously though, all the top guys should be shooting more.  Only one of the top 10 has his season shots over 200 and that is Buffalo’s Thomas Vanek!  He’s actually missed 10 games!  Poor coaching is the only reason these guys aren’t 50 goal scorers this year.  If they had been told to shoot more, we’d have more than Ovechkin’s 55 goals to discuss and a race for the Rocket Richard Trophy.

PS: Congrats to the Columbus Blue Jackets for making the playoffs for the first time in franchise history!

NHL Trade Bits & Bites #2

Moving on to some other possible NHL trade moves:

• Anaheim Ducks need a 2nd line Centre.  Could trading JS (waive the no trade?) or Hillier be in the cards?  Highly doubt it but it may come to that if they want post season success.  Bret Hedican and Francois Beauchemin (if healthy) could be trade bait but what could you get in return for both or either?  Not a 2nd centre.
• Atlanta Thrashers are in need of team D.  Any trade to this end is worthwhile.  Any trade in any other direction is beyond ridonkulous.
• What to do with Sean Avery in Dallas?  He might get packaged out by the deadline as part of a bigger deal.  But we doubt he’ll be even ready for the NHL by the deadline so we see him getting put on waivers after the deadline and if a particular team didn’t get what they wanted on trade day, he’ll be gone.  Ranger or not.
• LA Kings, Boston Bruins, Calgary Flames, Detroit Red Wings, San Jose Sharks will all be silent on the deadline.  Except for the Kings, they all might trade a pick for some insurance depth.  Kings need to stay as hot as they are now to make the playoffs. We don’t forsee them sacrificing their youth for a 2009  playoff run.

More to come!

Crazy Dallas Night!

Last night’s Vancouver Canucks vs. Dallas Stars game was nuts!  End to end action.  Pucks bouncing all over the place.  Missed chances. Missed saves. Wicked hits. Posts hit by both teams. The 2-1 final score could have easily had been 6-5!

Disappointed as we were with the final result, we couldn’t help but thinking that at least this game would tie up in the final minutes. Jason Labarbera was good in net.  He got lucky a few times.  Stopping the 3 on 0 rush was the highlight.  We thought for sure he was toast.  Credit to him for stopping that and other key stops.  BTW, is that Metallica on his helmet?  Anyways, Turco looks to be shaping into form as well that that doesn’t bode well for the other teams in the west.  Dallas is finding their form as a team just at the right time and if there ever were a darkhorse pick in the west, it would be them. No one wants to face Dallas right now and now we saw why.  Despite a free flowing game with fluky stuff happening all over, they still won and looked good doing so.

Sundin looked tired.  Alex Burrows looked good on the top line.  Kesler and Pyatt also had decent games we thought.  Bieksa was off.  Often we were left scratching our heads on his pass choices.  Shane O’Brien seemed solid and played an error free physical game which is what he needs to do more of.  Modano once one of the fastest skaters in the league now looks like Trevor Linden did last year.  Just a few step behind all the time. He still plays smart but the speed is just not there.

What Will Happen on a Hawt Dallas Night?

Bobby Luo smashed his stick during the 2nd period of last nights comeback win over Phoenix.  Turning point for his season???  At least it was for that game & from there on, he shut the door on the Coyotes & the Canucks overcame the deficit in the 3rd with some clutch goals. What a character win.

Tonight in Dallas, its different.  The Dallas Stars are as hot as they come.  Winners of 7 of their last ten & scoring heaps of goals.  The Stars got shutout their last game so look to see them come out flying hard & fast against the Canucks 2nite. Bobby Luo can prove that he’s back tonight in a big way against a team like this.  The Canucks will be needing his A Game as they are sure to tire on back2back nights.  Anything less than getting a point tonight will be a massive disappointment. The teams are separated by only a point in the standings & its still wicked tight in the NHL’s Western Conference as 5th place & last place 15th have only 10 points between them. Crucial matchup if there ever was one & we won’t be missing a puck drop.

PS: Eastbound and Down looks like a hoot!

PPS: Also speaking of TV, caught up on Jockeys last night.  Very well done quasi-reality show.  Great horses and great insight into the world of horse racing.  We won’t be missing a hoofbeat!

3 Games in 4 nights = No Playtime 4 Canucks

… and beyond is a 4 game week long West-East Canada Roadtrip!  Its clutch time for the Canucks! The standings are super tight and we need the wins!

Watch tonight for Alex Burrows to be on the top line with the Sedins vs the Coyotes.  Hopefully that will spark them into some offense.  Did the twins even play against the Blues the other night?  Really though, if the trade off is a pointless night from the twins and a lot of secondary scoring that equals a win, we’ll take the win in a heartbeat!  Keep the other team’s shutdown line busy out there and good things will happen for the team. Don`t worry twins, the points will come.

Though we like the move, generally speaking AV’s constant line juggling is getting annoying.  But in this case its actually needed. We predict a 4-3 Canucks victory in OT.  The Coyotes are coming off an impressive 1-0 win over the Red Hot Dallas Stars.  We doubt that they’ve got that type of game 2 nights in a row. Ilya Bryzgalov can’t stop ‘em all. We’d like to see Roberto Luongo have a stellar game at the other end.  Its been awhile and we need the reassurance all is well in net!

And lastly, Mats Sundin.  What can we say about a 3 point effort vs. the Blackhawks and a followup 2 goal game!  He’s come into form and hopefully that continues and the opposition keeps getting confused about what really is the top line on the Canucks.  Now off to watch, drink and be merry!

PS: did you know the Canucks have a prospect page that they update… we didn`t either!

PPS: on a completely different note… the EPL flexes its muscle and gets this top-notch soccer site to rid itself of its logos.  all in the name of dollars and non-$en$e! and again its the fans that suffer!  BOO!

You Can’t Say Enough About Him

We are glad Avery is seeking professional help.  If we were the commish, he wouldn’t play until he’d finished a program (a la Theo Fleury).  But a 6 game suspension is a slap in the face to every player who ever got hit from behind, received a concussion, was intentionally injured, and/or nearly died on the ice.  Recently those kinds of infractions got the offenders less of a suspension than Avery.  What is the message the NHL is sending out here?  That it is not ok to insult?  But go ahead and maim all you want?  Both are bad.  Both need to be treated seriously and obviously one is not.   This story is far from over and another case of Does the Punishment Fit the Crime.

In other news, tonight’s sked is a great one if you are at all a fan of the Northwest division.  Should be a dandy night in a division so tight!  Can’t wait! The beers are already chillin’!

Plus ever need help figurin’ out the NHL cap?  Check this site out!