Cory Schneider Arrested for Larceny, Canucks Defeat Hawks 3-2 at Rogers Arena.

Cam Ward, Miikka Kiprusoff, Ryan Miller, I smoke all these fools! They are making the big sweet dollars. They are making the... quan. And the bloggers are talking. #ThingsCorySchneiderDoesntSay

Alright Schneider wasn’t arrested, but I’m certain there’s an outstanding warrant in the Blackhawks locker room. Both goaltenders tonight were quite good, but Schneider’s volume of work, and degree of difficulty was slightly higher throughout the game.

These two teams are among the Western Conference elite, and the rivalry is intense. The Canucks and the Hawks seem to get up for each other, motivation shouldn’t have been an issue. I expected there to be a chippy, physical game. Instead, the Canucks did not have a single power play, and the Hawks had just 2 of their own, at least one of which was a questionable call.

This game featured a few memorable hits from Alexander Edler (chosen as the game’s 3rd star), and one hip check from Keith Ballard, who played a solid game. That hip check cost him 2 minutes for clipping, which seemed like a blown call. Burrows received 2 minutes for boarding, although from my vantage point Kruger didn’t appear to hit the boards at all. That was all for penalties. The usual “make up call” didn’t happen in the 3rd period, so the Canucks vaunted power play was 0-for-0.

How the Canucks won, and How the Hawks lost

The answer to both of these questions is Cory Schneider. Odd-man rush, left to right, right to left, it didn’t matter. Schneider stopped almost everything fired his way, making 37 saves on 39 shots.  The Blackhawks could have been up by at least 2 or 3 goals after the 2nd period. And then there was this save, which drew a standing ovation from the crowd at Rogers Arena.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

“I botched it behind the net,” said Schneider, who had help from defenseman Alex Edler as he scrambled back to his crease where he flopped as Morrison shot. “I just remember reaching as far as I could and the puck hit me. I was more upset with myself than happy about the save.” – via Yahoo Sports

#Coho4Calder train keeps rolling

Remember you heard it here first. Cody Hodgson was named as one of the 3 stars in this game, and perhaps this wasn’t as memorable a game as his effort in Boston, but there was the goal he scored to tie the game in the 3rd period to eventually send the game to overtime.

It seems that Hodgson likes to score goals when they matter the most, which usually translates into massive fan support in Canucks Nation. Does this kid ever score a bad goal? This goal was another beauty, with the #HoneyBadger giving the puck to a lonely Hodgson at the Hawks blueline. Hodgson, walks right in, he dekes, he shoots, he scores! #SoundedWayBetterInMyHead

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

#WizardousSedinery finds a way in OT

With thanks to @PassittoBulis – the Sedin’s play in overtime is exactly the reason the hashtag was created. The twins appear to have the puck on a string. Henrik to Daniel.

Tonight’s game, the Blackhawks probably deserved a better fate – they seemed to carry the play and the scoring chances were there, but they couldn’t take advantage of enough of those opportunities to secure the win. I almost feel bad for the Hawks fans on my twitter timeline .. but we’ll take the 2 points.

CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED: Congratulations to Andrew Qua, who was randomly selected as our winner from his entry on Twitter!

One of the great family events that take place each season is the Canucks Superskills competition held annually at Rogers Arena. Canuck players all take part in various skill drills such as accuracy, fastest skater, breakaways and more.

The Vancouver Canucks have offered us two tickets to give away to a luck reader and you don’t have to be a fast skater or a target sniper to win them.

All you have to do is RT this message for one entry:

“I want to win tickets to the #Canucks Superskills competition via @VanCanucks and @CanucksCorner! #ccskills http://tinyurl.com/7vh6f8w”

For a bonus entry, leave a comment  on this page on a new event you would like to see at the Skills Competition and what Canucks player you think would win it!

There are still great seats available to the event and you can get them at Ticketmaster.

We’ll announce our winner on Friday January 20th. The winner will need to pick up the tickets at the Will Call window at Rogers Arena.

Canucks Superskills, powered by Rogers:

WHERE: Rogers Arena

WHEN: Sunday, January 22, 2012 (Doors open at 12:00pm)

WHO: All Canucks players

TICKETS: Starting at $10 (plus HST and applicable convenience fees)

If only Canucks fans saw this headline in June. Instead, we have to settle for this in January. This game began at 1PM Eastern, which meant a 10AM start for Canucks fans on the west coast; but for those that got up for this early match, they were in for a treat.

Before the game started, I bought into all of the “this is just another regular season game” talk that the Canucks themselves were saying. I also felt that I was over the Stanley Cup Final – I told myself I had made peace with it, and that the Bruins were the better team that day in June. Not 4 minutes after the start of the 1st period, all of that was out the window. The scrum at 3:54 was ridiculous. Burrows may have tapped Thornton on the skate heading to the bench, to which Thornton may have slashed Burrows. Which was followed by a Burrows spear to Thornton’s midsection. Which was followed by Thornton lunging at Burrows right in front of the Canucks bench. Which resulted in a good old fashioned melee, in the middle of a yard sale.

At that moment in time, all the pre-game talk of “Just Another Regular Game” was right out the window. It was obvious for the rest of the game that this was far more than just another 2 points for these teams.

How the Canucks won, and How the Bruins lost

After that 1st period scrum, the Canucks were somehow rewarded with a 2 man-advantage for a whole 2 minutes, and Milan Lucic was given a game misconduct for leaving the player’s bench. Lucic still had one foot on the ice, so it is doubtful that he will be suspended. Ryan Kesler opened the scoring at the end of this power play, Canucks Nation breathed a huge sigh of relief.

The game was won by the Canucks and lost by the Bruins on the strength of special teams. Before the game, there was a lot of talk on @Team1040 and the #Canucks hashtag about the concept of team toughness, and the Canucks formula for success – using their skill level, and making teams pay by scoring on the power play. This is the same formula that failed last year in the Stanley Cup Final against the Bruins as the Canucks absorbed a lot of punishment, but failed to score.

At the end of the game, there were 107 minutes in penalties. The Canucks were 4-for-11 on their power-play opportunities, and the Bruins were 0-for-7. The Canucks power-play was finally able to connect, and their penalty killing was top notch as well, even when Kesler, Burrows and Hamhuis took turns in the box. #NotAsDirtyAsItSounds

#Coho4Calder is in full effect

Remember you heard it here first. Cody Hodgson was named the first star of the game according to NHL.com, and for good reason. Hodgson had the first assist on Burrows 2-2 goal, taking a Bieksa pass on the left boards, walking in from the circle and snapping a shot. I didn’t see the Burrows deflection, but Hodgson showed his hands from that spot.

There was no doubt about the 4-2 goal (and eventual game winner) from Hodgson. A perfect slap shot on the run from the top of the right circle, top shelf right below the bar. Again, no secret that me (and my kids) love Coho, and this beauty only makes our love stronger. Again, #NotAsDirtyAsItSounds

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

I thought I was over it, but …

I found myself yelling a little more often at the TV for the game, and was definitely feeling the emotion of this one. It is obvious that the players for both teams felt the same way. Both sides were right into it, and I was pleasantly surprised to see the Canucks fight back a bit, and answer the bell when they had to.

This is the only time you will see Marchand look down on a player.

It was tough to watch Brad Marchand’s low bridge hit on Sami Salo. It will likely be a suspendable hit, my guess is 4 games for that. It was dirty. Maybe it was a hip check attempt from a shorter player, but it was far too low. It was a rare 5 minute major for clipping, and a game misconduct for Marchand, which is the correct call. Salo lay motionless on the ice, while most of Vancouver was screaming at their TV sets.

Certainly Canucks Nation had to wonder what could have been – if Raymond, Hamhuis and Kesler were healthy, or if Weise was on the team, or if there were a few more penalties called in the final. You know .. if Marchand was called for roughing for punching Daniel in the face, or if Seidenberg was called for cross-checking Henrik in the back 5 or 6 times in a row.

These are (arguably) the two best teams in their respective conferences. If they should meet again in the final, it would be another amazing series.

Alright, so I’m not over it. You’re not either.

Canucks back in June with a 4-0 defeat at TD Garden during the SFC.- Photo Credit: CTV.ca

After the Stanley Cup Final, many of the Canucks critics brought up the team lacked some testicular fortitude and did not fight back the Big, Bad Bruins. They were criticized that their game wasn’t suited to win a cup (Oh really? Detroit, anyone?) This game would be a measuring stick to see what the Canucks have learned from their Stanley Cup experience in June.

The game itself was more than what many expected between these two teams. The atmosphere at TD Garden was electric. The Bruins and the Canucks entertained the crowd present, the ones watching on TV and I couldn’t keep up with my twitter feed to save my life and that was only the first period! There were fights, lots of chirping and even an ejection (later on rescinded).

The Canucks won this contest, but it seems they will never win the respect of other NHL fans, some media and others around the league, no matter what they do.

Hamhuis and the Canucks win in Beantown. -Photo Credit: Times Colonist

The Good

• Well it’s safe to say winning the game was a great way to leave Boston, since this team hasn’t done so very much in recent memory. A task that is definitely easier said than done.
• The power play accounting for all the goals. The biggest problem for the Canucks during the final series was they weren’t drawing the penalties, even the obvious ones, so they couldn’t put their power play to work.
• Cody Hodgson had one hell of a game. I really see a lot of good things coming from this kid, and I only see him growing. That Calder trophy race is starting to look more like Cody could seriously be a part of it.
• The Canucks out hit the Bruins 24 to 17 in the contest. A stat that many out there thought they would be beaten. Keith Ballard led the way with four hits, giving Alain Vigneault more reason not to bench him.
• The “push back”. Although the Canucks aren’t exactly the most ‘physical’ team in the league, they showed they weren’t going to be pushed around and off their game.

The Bad
• The blue line, for some reason, with the exception of Ballard and Alberts, seemed a little off today. Bieksa looking disinterested in that Marchand play resulting in a goal. Edler looked horrible on the non-call icing play that resulted in a Peverley goal.
• The second period. I am not sure what it is about this Canucks team and their seemingly troubled middle stanza. I always make a joke about the Canucks taking their “second period siesta”, but that didn’t change in this very important game.
• Playing to the whistle. You’d think the Canucks would learn by now that they aren’t going to get the calls a lot of the times that they should, so why stop playing until you actually know what the call is going to be? Pay attention to the game boys.

The Ugly or at times, The Confusing

• The first period melee between the two teams when Thornton decided to go after Burrows whom I’m assuming chirped at the Bruins bench with undoubtedly some ‘choice words ‘ words. It resulted in Milan Lucic jumping in, being thrown out of a game and left the Canucks with very few forwards to be eligible on the ice for a good amount of time.
• The Sedins on a penalty killing shift. I know it wasn’t that bad, but it wasn’t very pretty and in all honestly, I was a little nervous. The Sedins? Killing penalties?
• The clipping play of Brad Marchand on Sami Salo. Sami Salo of all people! We, as a fan base, have bets, which game he is going to be injured or if he will injure himself in the off-season. He didn’t need to be helped with a dirty play like that.

The game lived up to all the hype that happened prior through the media, the fans, and the crazy twitter feuds between both fan bases. It had everything and then some. It had all the fixings for a great serving of “hockey gumbo” but the biggest thing that has confused this blogger and social media enthusiast was…why wasn’t it on a marquee time slot and nationally televised in both Canada and the United States? CBC? NBC? WTH?

The Canucks got some pay back, the Bruins were still big, bad and bullying, but who outside the two regions really got a good look at it? I guess we’ll have to see if these two teams meet again in the finals.
Justine Galo

Twitter: @Aviewfromabroad

The Sharks were well rested, as the last time they played was December 28 in a 3-2 OT loss to Vancouver. Meanwhile, the Canucks have played twice since then, winning in Anaheim, and losing in Los Angeles. After the playoff-like atmosphere that last time these clubs met a few days ago, tonight’s game was a little disappointing in that regard.

Canucks Bandwagon: 80% full

After the last game versus the Sharks in San Jose, I expected a similar energy level from both clubs, but there were very few stretches of good play from either team. Even though the shot totals were good, it felt like there weren’t that many solid scoring chances for the Canucks. The had good secondary scoring from Hansen and Hodgson, but the top 2 lines couldn’t beat Niemi tonight.

Luongo Bandwagon: 70% full

Sometimes I am guilty of listening to the Team 1040 post game, which brings all kinds of crazy callers. The first caller after the Kings game immediately called out Luongo, calling him a flopper and a incapable of standing up to make a save. Haters gonna hate, but for better or worse, Luongo is held to a higher standard than the rest of the team. He was pretty good tonight against the Sharks, and made some nice saves – including one lunging from right to left to stop Joe Thornton from 6 feet. He even made two saves in the dreaded shootout, but couldn’t stop Handzus with the game on the line. Canucks shooters were 0-for-3 in the shootout tonight, but in Vancouver, people don’t blame the shooters for a shootout loss.

#Coho4Calder is Back, and The Honey Badger Keeps Eating

Jannik Hansen maybe shouldn’t have scored on that mad scramble, but he was rewarded for his hard work tonight. The first assist on Hansen’s goal was from Cody Hodgson. It’s no secret that I have a soft spot for Coho, so it was extra sweet to see Hodgson get rewarded tonight with 1G 1A, and even played out the final seconds in OT. We’re not so deluded to think that Hodgson has a shot at the Nuge Trophy .. er .. Calder Trophy as the rookie of the year, because he’s not that kind of a flashy player, and the Canucks are loaded at Center with Henrik and Kesler eating up the top minutes. If you consider that – then 12-13 minutes isn’t bad for a 3rd line center on this team, which could roll all 4 lines successfully on most nights.

I honestly believe that Hodgson will be one of the key pieces of this hockey club in the future – he’s lucky to be an understudy to two of the great centers in the game today – Captain Henrik is the soft spoken pure passer, and Kesler is the shutdown guy who wears his heart on his sleeve. Just because we are massive Cody Hodgson fans, this video should give you something to drool over.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Update: This contest is now closed! Congratulations to Kailey Ransom, the winner of our Sun Life / Vancouver Canucks “Skate with the Canucks” contest. Kailey won via Twitter! She’ll have the chance to skate at Rogers arena with three friends, Canucks players and alumni.

On Saturday, January 14th, 2012, Sun Life Financial is sponsoring Skate with the Canucks. This event will give fans a chance to skate with current Canuck players as well as alumini at Rogers Arena. The Vancouver Canucks and Sun Life Financial were kind enough to offer one CanucksCorner.com reader and up to three of their friends a chance to participate.

This is obviously a great opportunity for any Canucks fan and there are two ways you can enter via CanucksCorner.com:

• Leave a comment below and tell us how you became a Canucks fan. (1 entry)
• Post the following on Twitter (1 entry):

RT to enter for a chance to Skate with the #Canucks at Rogers Arena via @VanCanucks & @CanucksCorner http://tinyurl.com/8a5fbx7 #CCSkate

The deadline to enter is Saturday, January 7th, 2012 at 12:00 noon. A random winner from the total number of entries will be drawn and announced soon after.

Good luck!

Please note:

• All participants must provide their own helmet and pair of skates.
• At least one member of the 2011/2012 Vancouver Canucks and Canucks Alumni will be on the ice at the event.
• Official and additional eligibility rules can be found here.

Luongo tells the fickle fans how he really feels.

Throughout the season, the Canucks Wagonwatch series will track how much room is on the team’s bandwagon. In addition, it will also track the completely separate Luongo wagon.

The Wild played the first half of a back-to-back set tonight, playing in Calgary tomorrow night. The Wild started off with a strong first period, but were down 1-0 after one period after they gave up late goal to the Canucks power play. It wasn’t a typical Canucks power play goal, as it came off a rush and was scored by Henrik Sedin. The 2nd period saw the Canucks score 2 more. The Canucks 3rd goal was particularly nice – Sedin to Sedin to Burrows.
Canucks Bandwagon: 85% full

After Saturday’s big win in Toronto, I expected the Canucks to come out a little flat – the road trip hangover effect – but was pleasantly surprised to see them put in a good effort. The Sedins were particularly effective – beautiful passing tonight – for 6 points between the twins. John Shorthouse and John Garrett indicated that it would be tough to pick the 3 Stars for the game – Luongo, and the Sedins seemed about right from a statistics point of view, but many other Canucks looked pretty good tonight.

Luongo Bandwagon: 70% full

Luongo was full credit for the win and the shutout tonight – holding his team in the game early in the 1st period, as the Canucks were outshot in the opening frame. After the Canucks scored at the end of the first, the Wild were not able to generate much pressure, or many scoring chances. No such thing as an easy shutout, and Luongo did well to maintain his focus. Maybe the haters will say he looked awkward in the 1st. Or that he shouldn’t have looked over his shoulder in the 3rd. Not much to complain about in this one, as Luongo made it look easy. Very good positionally, and very economical movement. Another 3 shutouts in a row, and who knows, maybe the wagon will be at capacity. Or maybe not.

What the Honey Badger wants, the Honey Badger gets

It is more than a mere rumour that the Canucks have animal nicknames for each of their players (reference: Pass It To Bulis). Jannik Hansen is known as the Honey Badger. Tonight the Honey Badger scored his 11th goal of the season; his previous season high was 9 – done twice. Hansen is looking more like a player that can provide some serious secondary scoring, along with speed and good physical play. At this pace he will have between 20 and 30 goals.

Hansen is given the Honey Badger moniker because he plays with a tenacious and fearless style. If you watch this video, and if you’ve seen Hansen play, you will understand it.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Tis the season to be jolly and our friends at the Rosedale on Robson Suite hotel are feeling like Santa Claus! They’ve asked us to help them give away one pair of Canucks tickets for each of the 12 days of Christmas. That’s 12 pairs of tickets to see the Vancouver Canucks take on the Calgary Flames on Friday, December 23rd. Up for grabs are 10 pairs of upper bowl tickets, 1 pair of lower bowl tickets, and wait for it…1 pair of club seats! (Santa says you have to have been really good to win those.)

So what do you need to do to have a chance to win one of these pairs of Canucks Christmas goodness?

Simple:

For 1 entry, RT this message on Twitter:

I’m feeling festive with @RosedaleRobson and @CanucksCorner: http://tinyurl.com/d85dk8d #12pairsOfTix to be won! #Canucks

For a 2nd entry answer this question on the The Rosedale on Robson Facebook page:

“What gift would you give the Vancouver Canucks for Christmas?”

Rules:

• Keep it clean. All rude or offensive comments will be deleted.
• Winners must be able to pick up their tickets from the front desk at the Rosedale on Robson.
• Prize includes game tickets only.

All winners will be announced from now until the 19th of December and determined via a random number generated draw and contacted via Facebook or Twitter.

Follow the Rosedale on Robson on Twitter: @RosedaleRobson (Not a requirement to enter, but they’re cool so why not?)

Like the Rosedale’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/RosedaleOnRobson (Not a requirement to enter but see above!)

Official Winners List:

December 12th: @transcendsweb on Twitter and Sabrina Alcock on Facebook.

December 13th: @teebs33 on Twitter.

December 14th:  Sam Anderson on Facebook. LOWER BOWL TICKETS.

December 15th: @MonsoonFeast on Twitter.

December 16th: Megan Hodgson on Facebook, @Geoff_Heith via Twitter.

December 19th: @Hallwood on Twitter, Tahnee Fales on Facebook.

December 20th: @Carlz8 on Twitter, Robert Williams on Facebook and @ScottInVan on Twitter (Club Seats)

The contest is now closed! Thanks for all your tweets and entries and congratulations to all the winners.

Huge thanks to Kristina Sinclair at the Rosedale for including us in this great holiday give away! Go Canucks Go!

Mason Raymond didn't hit the scoresheet tonight, but ladies in Vancouver didn't notice. #Dreamy #WaitWhat?

Throughout the season, the Canucks Wagonwatch series will track how much room is on the team’s bandwagon. In addition, it will also track the completely separate Luongo wagon.

The Flames were on the second game of a back-to-back set, defeating Edmonton last night. The Flames lit the lamp for a 1-0 lead after one period, but their effort dimmed in the 2nd period, and the Canucks extinguished them from there. The Canucks roared back with five unanswered goals to win 5-1.

Canucks Bandwagon: 80% full

After Friday’s disappointing defensive game against the Predators, it was nice to see the Canucks put together a good effort. They gave up only a few good scoring chances. On the offensive side they had a good cycling game and solid forecheck that took advantage of the Flames tired legs. On David Booth’s goal, Chris Higgins stole the puck on the corner boards, and Booth took over on a wraparound from there – a testament to both the Canucks work ethic, and the Flames fatigue.

Luongo Bandwagon: 50% full

Let’s get it out of the way – the one goal that Luongo let in was a softie – it looked to sneak in between his pad and the post, or deflect off his left pad and in. From there, he was lights out, shutting the door the rest of the way. Luongo stopped 21 of 22 shots and looked pretty solid in his first start since his mysterious “Upper Body Injury But Not a Concussion”. The fickle fans of Vancouver might have a problem with the one goal, but can’t argue with the win.

Mason Raymond comeback complete

Mason Raymond made his return to the Canucks lineup tonight, playing his first game since Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final. He looked to be fast out there, contributing an assist on Jannik Hansen’s goal, and diving for a Cody Hodgson pass in the slot. I enjoyed watching that line skate – Hodgson’s skills with Hansen and Raymond’s speed. Hope Raymond can keep it up and get his scoring touch back.

Luongo and Schneider sharing a tender moment in front of thousands of fans.

Tonight Cory Schneider makes his sixth consecutive start in the pipes for the Vancouver Canucks, despite Roberto Luongo being pronounced healthy for the last few games.

Is there a goalie controversy here? The Canucks coaches and management would have us believe that there is no controversy, but as Canucks fans tend to do, we make our own drama and decide what is controversial or not.

Here are a few thoughts on Canucks goaltending and where this is all going.

There is a goalie controversy.

Despite what the coaches and goaltenders themselves will tell you, this is a controversy. Luongo should be the number one goaltender, and should have started as soon as he was healthy. This is what starting goalies are supposed to do. All the coaches and goalies talk about being supportive of each other is just covering up what’s really going on. Schneider is staking a claim to Luongo’s spot in the crease.

There is no goalie controversy.

How can you not continue to play a guy that had two shutouts in a row? He’s winning games – the Canucks maybe shouldn’t have beaten Ottawa, if not for Schneider that night. So let him keep playing. Coach Vigneault is just rolling with the hot hand, which happens to be Schneider. Once Schneider loses, Luongo will likely resume his work as number one and regain his spot in the crease. Schneider will then go back to being the NHL’s best backup, to one of the NHL’s best starting goalies.

Luongo’s Upper Body Injury is more serious than originally thought.

Is it possible that Luongo is sitting because he’s not 100%? Maybe. In Luongo’s last start (a 4-1 win versus the New York Islanders), he took a shot off the helmet. Schneider started stretching in the tunnel, but Luongo managed to finish the game. Luongo hasn’t seen action since. He didn’t dress for a couple games, and has been practicing, but sitting as backup since.

The Canucks are showcasing Schneider for trade bait.

Schneider has been playing very well since a 5-1 loss to Chicago. The whole team has been playing better, but there’s no such thing as an easy shutout anymore, and Schneider posted two in a row. First he shut out the Avalanche. Two days later, he shut out the Coyotes. The very next night, he stopped 43-of-45 shots on the second half of a back to back, willing the Canucks to a win in San Jose. There are a number of teams in the NHL that could use a starting goalie of Schneider’s calibre (two of which Schneider shut out on the last road trip). No better way to increase trade value of a young goaltender than to play him more.

Is any of this real?

@transcendwebs: My opinion that #Canucks ride the hot hand (Schneider) til he loses. Also my opinion that Luongo is still the man. #LonelyTweet

I believe the Canucks will do whatever it takes to win. Right now Schneider is winning, Coach Vigneault doesn’t want to mess with a winning formula, so Schneider keeps playing. Call it a goaltending controversy or not, tandem or not, it doesn’t matter.

This isn’t the controversy you’re looking for, so long as the Canucks keep winning.