Vancouver Canucks LockerPulse

Yardbarker: John Tortorella is the right choice to be the next head coach of the Vancouver Canucks

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 03:29:27 -0400

John Tortorella is the man that is most well suited to become the next head coach of the Vancouver Canucks. I will admit, this opinion took me a while to come around on. Tortorella is loud, rude, and has a temper. He is everything that Mike Gillis isn’t (style-wise anyway), but the man can coach. Pierre Lebrun reported today that John Tortorella, John Stevens, Scott Arniel and Lindy Ruff are Mike Gillis’ final four coaching candidates. It appears I might have missed the mark with my big list of coaching candidates last week. All of the rumblings I heard from Jason Botchford and others seemed to suggest that the Canucks wanted more of a “Mike Gillis type” coach. In other words, someone cut from the Dan Bylsma or John Stevens cloth. As such, I didn’t give much time to consider John Tortorella or Lindy Ruff. But when a well respected insider like Pierre LeBrun is reporting something, you have to believe it. Now, back to Tortorella. To the casual hockey fan, Tortorella is nothing but a...

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Yardbarker: Alain Vigneault inks 5-year deal to coach Rangers: Report

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 23:59:24 -0400

The New York Rangers have reportedly hired Alain Vigneault to be their next head coach. The contract is for five years and worth $10 million, according to CBC Sports. The ex-Vancouver Canucks coach replaces the departed John Tortorella, who was shown the door by the club after the Rangers were ousted by the Boston Bruins in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Vigneault was fired in May — less than two years after guiding his club to the Stanley Cup final — after his team fizzled out in the first round of the playoffs. The Canucks were swept by the sixth-place San Jose Sharks. It was just the first time in 12 years Vancouver was eliminated in four straight playoff games. The 52-year-old Vigneault comes with plenty of experience, having been at the helm of the Canucks since replacing Marc Crawford in 2006, and compiling a regular-season coaching record of 313-170-57 with Vancouver. He led the team to two Presidents' Trophy titles and won the Jack Adams award in 2007. So why did Vi

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The Province: Stanley Cup: Boston coach says heroic Campbell epitomizes blue-collar Bruins

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 23:14:23 -0400

Injured Bruins forward Gregory Campbell limped up to the podium, the very picture of Boston Strong. Campbell has become part of hockey lore since breaking his leg blocking a shot while killing a penalty against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern final — and then finishing his shift. While Campbell downplays his heroics, coach Claude Julien says he epitomizes the blue-collar Bruins

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The Canuck Way: Flyers Will Not Buyout Bryzgalov, Cross Canucks Goaltender Luongo Off

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 22:14:35 -0400

Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

The Philadelphia Flyers will not be buying out goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov, which means Philadelphia can be crossed off as one of the possible destinations for Vancouver Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo.

Earlier this

CanucksArmy: Afternoon Headshots: June 18th

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:14:23 -0400

How's that for a spiffy t-shirt design? Kudos to @YYJordan.
The finalists in our T-shirt design contest will be posted tomorrow (promise this time).

It was a light day for us at Canucks Army. Jeff broke down the club's secondary scoring need and some possible ways to address it this offseason, and that's all we wrote. So pretty much the hockey blogging equivalent of counting "fifteen two, fifteen four and there is no more" in a game of cribbage.

Click past the jump for more Canucks news.

Scott Cullen dropped his annual

Head To The Net: Worrying about John Tortorella coming to town

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:44:31 -0400

Torts to Vancouver? Isn’t it just more of the same?

One of the aspects of John Tortorella that worries Mike Gillis is his demeanor with the media.

Elliotte Friedman wrote about Vancouver’s first interview with Torts in his latest 30 thoughts:

“…it sounds like a lot of time was spent discussing media interaction. The Canucks don’t want daily craziness and Tortorella apparently understands he will have to be different.”

Well that sucks. That’s like hiring James Duthie and not allowing him to produce any of his short films. It’s like not

Nucks Misconduct: Canucks Player Autopsy: Tom Sestito

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:44:26 -0400

Who's this guy?

Tom Sestito

Position: Face puncher

Shoots: L

Height:6’5"

Weight: 228lbs

Born: Rome, NY (near Utica, which is convenient)

History: Inexplicably claimed off waivers from Philadelphia after the Canucks waived Aaron Volpatti, a slightly-less-poor man’s Tom Sestito.

What'd he do?

He punched seven faces – Brian McGrattan (loss), Ryan Reaves (draw), Mike Rupp (loss), McGrattan again (loss), Jordan Nolan (win), Jay Harrison (win) and Stu Bickel (loss). He also had awful possession numbers and added a goal in his 23 games as a Canuck, posting a -3 rating with 53 penalty minutes. Allegedly also struck fear in the heart of

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The Province: Pavel Datsyuk, Red Wings agree on 3-year deal, keeping superstar under contract for 4 seasons

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 13:44:41 -0400

Pavel Datsyuk and the Detroit Red Wings have an agreement on a three-year contract.

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The Province: Gallagher Hat Trick: Canucks better get busy, Seidenberg’s been a beast, and rare thoughts on Whitecaps goaltending

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 13:14:20 -0400

The Vancouver Canucks filled a significant hole in their organization on Monday when they signed young Swedish goaltending prospect Joacim Ericsson, which was nice to see. But in order to “re-set” the organization, which GM Mike Gillis proclaimed he wants to do, the hockey club has miles to go before it sleeps (if Robert Frost doesn’t take too great an exception to the hideous paraphrase). Thus we begin Tuesday morning’s Hat Trick of issues around this team and the league in which it plays.

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CanucksArmy: Canucks Team Needs: Secondary Scoring

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:59:24 -0400

We kicked off "Team Needs" week at Canucks Army on Monday with a look at third-line centre options this offseason. That series continues today with a look at top-six forward options.

I looked at some second line options last week (including David Clarkson and Valtteri Filppula), and that analysis will be expanded upon a bit in today’s post. Let’s assume that Ryan Kesler remains at center and the Canucks find themselves in the market for a top six right winger at a bargain basement price (a

The White Towel: Gallagher Hat Trick: Canucks better get busy, Seidenberg’s been a beast, and rare thoughts on Whitecaps goaltending

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:44:23 -0400

Province Sports columnist Tony Gallagher delivers the Hat Trick on a lovely Tuesday morning …

1. The Canucks had better get on

Yahoo! Sports: Discover ‘Road to the Cup’: Boston Bruins (NBC Sports)

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 10:59:21 -0400

They're just two wins away from their second championship in the last three seasons.

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Yardbarker: Samuelsson, Brown Could Join Vigneault's Staff

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 09:29:26 -0400

Pat Leonard at the Daily News reports that Ulf Samuelsson is a leading candidate to be hired as one of Alain Vigneault’s assistants. Samuelsson, who was the head coach of Modo (SEL) last season, has apparently left that job. moved to Phoenix and his looking for a job in the NHL. The former Rangers defenseman was an assistant in Phoenix from 2006 through 2011. Leonard also notes that Newell Brown also is a candidate to join the staff, having worked the past three seasons on Vigneault’s staff in Vancouver. Brown, who also worked in Chicago, Columbus and Anaheim, was in charge of a Canucks power play that went from first in the league in 2009-10 to fourth in 2010-11 and then plummeted to 22nd this past season. ...there's a lot to like about Samuelsson. First and foremost is his connection to the Rangers. Always nice to have someone on the staff who's worn the Blueshirt and has experienced what it's like to play in this market. ...next, as Adam ment...

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Yardbarker: Don’t expect a huge change with Vigneault on board

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 07:45:13 -0400

Don’t expect a huge difference in performance under Vigneault. With Alain Vigneault on board, the Rangers are likely going to be changing their styles of play. But with that style change comes understanding what that change will bring. This is something we’ve covered a few times here, but it’s worth digging deeper into the puck possession metrics to see how exactly the Rangers will be differing in styles of play, and how effective AV’s more conservative style is at driving puck possession. Make no mistake, there are very few coaches as aggressive as John Tortorella. The Rangers sat at the top of the league in GF% (goals for percentage, GF/[GF+GA]), CF%, and SF% this past season, which was likely the most efficient on-ice performance of any Torts-coached Ranger team. They may not have been pretty, they may have been maddeningly inconsistent, but they were efficient in puck possession as a team. Vigneault’s Canucks, however, were not in the top-10 in these categories this past season....

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Yardbarker: 30 Teams In 30 Days–Vancouver Canucks

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 05:38:15 -0400

The Canucks got the short end of the stick in the playoffs. The shortest end possible to say the least. Vancouver won the Northwest Division and was promptly broomed out of the playoffs by San Jose. That quick exit led to the firing of coach Alain Vigneault and what smells like regime change in Vancouver. Team Name: Vancouver Canucks Record: 26-15-7, 1st in Northwest, Lost 4-0 to San Jose in Western Conference Quarterfinals Players of the Season: The Sedin Twins led the way in 2013 with Daniel Sedin topping the team with 12 goals. Brother Henrik led the Canucks in assists (34) and points (45) and plus/minus rating (+19). It’s safe to say the Sedins are going to lead Vancouver again. Breakout of the Season: Jannik Hansen put up solid numbers (10-17–27) for a short season. He posted his third straight year with a double-digit plus-minus rating (+12) and notched his first three power-play points of his six-year career. He looks to be primed for about 50 to 55-point season in a full cam...

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CanucksArmy: Pending Free Agent Corban Knight is Probably a Canucks Fan

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 01:14:28 -0400

Corban Knight via the NCHC blog.

Over the weekend the Nation Network's Jason Gregor interviewed unsigned Florida Panthers draft pick Corban Knight in a column for the Edmonton Journal. In that piece Corban Knight revealed that he, a Florida Panthers fifth round pick in the 2009 NHL draft, intended to hit free-agency. Since 2009 Florida has retained exclusive negotiating rights to Knight because he was a bonafide student through to his graduation this spring. The deadline to sign "bonafide students" after their graduation from an NCAA school is on August 15th of the league year, so that means Corban Knight will randomly become an

The Canuck Way: Vancouver Canucks Sign Swedish Goaltender Joacim Eriksson

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 00:44:29 -0400

Photo Credit: Anders Henrikson/Flickr

The Vancouver Canucks have announced the signing of Swedish goaltender Joacim Eriksson to a two-year entry level contract. It will pay him $925,000 at the NHL level and $70,000 in the minor leagues.

He is expected to compete with fellow Swede Eddie Lack to become the Canucks backup goaltender this coming season. Lack was

The Province: Bruins 2 Blackhawks 0: Boston bigger, faster, meaner in taking 2-1 series lead

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 00:44:27 -0400

Daniel Paille and Patrice Bergeron scored second-period goals and Tuukka Rask made 28 saves Monday as the hard-charging Boston Bruins blanked the Chicago Blackhawks 2-0 to take a 2-1 lead in the Stanley Cup final.

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NWSportsBeat.com: Canucks could have potential rival in Seattle

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 00:29:29 -0400

Phoenix on the Move?

Just a few months ago everybody in Seattle was raving about the return of the Seattle Supersonics. After Chris Hansen and Steve Ballmer came forward and attempted to purchase the ailing Sacramento Kings, thousands of Emerald City residents believed they would soon be able to, once again, watch the NBA play in Seattle.

Unfortunately, around a month ago, the NBA Board of Governors voted to keep the Kings in Sacramento after standout *cough* *cough* mayor Kevin Johnson and his ownership group secured a deal for themselves.

But though Seattle fans will have to wait at least a

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Yahoo! Sports: Blanked and Bruised in Boston: Blackhawks drop Game 3 (Comcast SportsNet Chicago)

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 00:29:25 -0400

BOSTON -- The Blackhawks’ first dose of bad news was when Marian Hossa was a late scratch out of warm-ups. It just got worse after that.

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Yahoo! Sports: Chicago’s powerless power play — it’s a problem (NBC Sports)

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 00:14:55 -0400

Joel Quenneville said it was "definitely not good."

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The Province: Bruins 2 Blackhawks 0: Boston takes it to 'em on home turf for 2-1 series lead

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 23:14:30 -0400

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Yahoo! Sports: Discuss: Bruins smother ‘Hawks, take 2-1 series lead (NBC Sports)

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 23:14:29 -0400

A masterful performance by Boston.

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The Province: Canucks sign Swedish free-agent goaltender Joacim Eriksson

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 21:44:24 -0400

The Canucks have added to their goaltending depth with the signing of Swedish free-agent Joacim Eriksson. In a deal that came to light in Europe on the weekend and announced by the Canucks on Monday, Eriksson fits somewhere behind No. 1 Cory Schneider. Just where will depend on if the Canucks get a goalie back in the anticipated trade of Roberto Luongo and the health of minor-league prospect Eddie Lack.

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The Province: Canucks: The second coming of Tortorella, for another meeting anyway

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 21:44:24 -0400

A first impression is lasting. And if it’s the wrong one, a second one must be convincing. John Tortorella should consider commercials for Samsonite because nobody carried more baggage into a second meeting with the Vancouver Canucks than the fiery bench boss. Then again, the former New York Rangers coach made such an impression as a possible successor to the fired Alain Vigneault in his first face-to-face, that he’s been granted another audience to convince ownership and management he can temper his approach in a hockey-mad market.

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