First of all it starts at the ownership level which is the Aquilini’s.  Being hockey fans as well as owners they will not be happy with the sudden exist in the first round.  It’s estimated that for each home game in the playoffs the team makes about $1 million plus in profit. Besides that, after getting so close last season, the Aquilini’s like the rest of the ‘Nucks Nation want to win.

With President and GM Mike Gillis, along with Coach Alain Vigneault having one more year remaining on their contracts, I don’t see ownership terminating their services before their contracts expire. With that said, both will have to make sure the Canucks get back to the Stanley Cup final in order to receive a new agreement. Anything less will be viewed as a failure.

After yesterday’s news about Roberto Luongo waiving his no-trade clause of his contract if he was asked by management, this opens the door to move this asset for some much needed cap space in order to acquire some of the missing pieces.  Cory Schneider needs to be locked up for as long as he’s willing and I think that will happen in late May or early June.

I don’t think it will be a long term contract and here’s why. Schneider, as most fans know, is from the Boston area and like most players wouldn’t mind playing close to home. Now if he were to meet someone or his present girlfriend and him get married, settle in, have some children that may change their perspective. But I think Schneider will sign a short term contract so that when it expires he will be an unrestricted free agent, and then revisit his options.

Let’s not forget that his agent will bring up the fact about this team’s core getting older. The Sedin’s will turn 33 next season and only have a couple of years remaining on their contracts. By then they will be entering into the twilight of their career and a stride slower.

Both Kevin Bieksa and Alex Burrows will be 32 next season. So why would Schneider sign a long term deal with a club that might be in a rebuilding stage in a couple of seasons.

As far as this club being built with skill and speed, this doesn’t look like it will work in the playoffs. Who knows which way the officiating will go next season, but with the defensive system the teams are playing in these playoffs, and if they go to the Stanley Cup final, every other team will want to mirror that image.

Mike Gillis

I don’t see him blowing up the ship, because everything will fall into place once the goaltending decision is made, and that will be done sooner than later. I’m sure Gillis will be swayed by what takes place in these playoffs and from there he will start to piece together the team that he needs. There will very be few untouchables as he moves through this process.

This may mean buying some contracts out, trading some away, or not offering others new ones. A complete evaluation of the assets on the farm team will weigh heavenly on the fore-mentioned.

Is Eddie Lack ready to become a backup goalie? Can D-men Yann Sauve, Kevin Connauton or Adam Polasek replace any of the current line-up? Nicklas Jensen, from what he did in the playoffs with the Wolves, looks like he will make a push for someone’s spot, but I don’t see any other forwards from the farm making an impact.

In Gillis’ final year of his contract this will be his most difficult one because so much will be riding on the decisions he makes, and what type of team evolves from it.

After 42 years of “wait till next season” I know I have paid my dues and I don’t know if I have any passion left to give. Let’s remember this team has only gone on a long run in the playoffs three times in 42 years which is only a 7% ratio. Many of you newer fans have never known the agony of long losing seasons.

Anyways, I will always be a fan, but for now I think I will enjoy the golf and see if I can recharge my batteries.

Ice Bits – Good to see at least one remaining Canadian team in Ottawa, trying forge ahead. They will be in tough playing against the Rangers in New York. It would be sweet to see the Bruins knocked off by the Caps.

So far in these playoffs I am 3 for 4 in the West having picked Nashville, St. Louis and Phoenix and in the East, I won’t know till the other series are finished. But with Pittsburgh out, I’m already down one.

I still think that Nashville with its trade deadline acquisitions and the defensive core of Weber, Sutter and Rinne, will represent the West and do away with Phoenix. Blues with the bigger tougher forwards will do what the Canucks couldn’t and get to LA’s Quick and knock them out. They will them move on to lose to Nashville in seven.

Photo Credits – AP, Getty Images, Google Images and Yahoo Sports!

Video Credits – YouTube

Stats Credits – http://www.hockeydb.com, http://www.nhl.com/ice/statshome.htm, http://capgeek.com, http://canucks.nhl.com.

Quote Credits – The Vancouver Sun and Province

To catch all the news, updates and new articles as they occur, you can follow me at http://twitter.com/nucksiceman. For up to-date scoring for the Chicago Wolves see The Wolves tab on the home page.

Today the playoff teams are built on big strong players that can win the one-on-one battles the best, and defensemen that are also big and strong, that can battle for territory in front of the net and box the attacking forwards out to the perimeter of the goal. The Canucks do not have enough of these types of players.

They have a few in Ryan Kesler, Alex Burrows, Max Lapierre, Jannik Hansen, possibly Zack Kassian, Dale Weise, Kevin Bieksa, Dan Hamhuis, Aaron Rome, Andrew Alberts, Keith Ballard and maybe Chris Tanev, if he can get stronger.

A Stanley Cup is never going to be won by Vancouver with players such as the Sedins, Alex Edler, Sami Salo, Mason Raymond, Chris Higgins and David Booth. None of these players fit the mould that is needed to dominate or win enough of those one-on-one battles.

Los Angeles was the better team and took the Canucks out in five games because they won more of those one-on-one battles and of course had the better goaltending for the first two games. Who knows how this series would have turned out if Cory Schneider had started games one and two?

One thing is pretty clear though, Canucks goaltending did not lose this series. Scoring only eight goals in five games did, along with their poor special teams. Newell Brown, the special teams coach needs to be held accountable for the 12% efficiency in the last half of the season and the poor performance in the playoffs.

The Canucks have been a one line team in the playoffs long before Gillis took over, and four going on five years has not changed a thing.

Personnel changes need to be made to this team and it looks like it will start in goal in order to clear up some cap space and move forward. Cory Schneider needs to be offered a three to four year contract and be made the number one goaltender. Roberto Luongo unfortunately is the odd man out and if he sees the writing on the wall, he may initiate a trade. But whatever way this takes place, the Canucks need to move him, even if it turns out as a salary dump.

Alex Edler is not going to be the Norris Trophy candidate nor is he a tough enough player to play against. He will never be a Shea Weber so the Canucks need to realize that. Edler has to be moved and replaced by someone that can be. Even though Sami Salo played 69 games and was relatively healthy, his shelf life is up.  Being a UFA this year is the right time to part ways.

The Chicago Wolves farm team have two D-men that need to be given the opportunity to make the Canucks and they are Yann Sauve and Kevin Connauton.  Nicklas Jensen is a possible forward that is big and tough that may be the power forward that the Canucks so desperately miss.

Mason Raymond is an RFA so this is the right opportunity to not qualify him. Sammy Pahlsson was a rental player so that moves another player. Byron Bitz, Aaron Volpatti, and Andrew Ebbett are all UFA’s so their resigning will depend on the direction the team takes. Dale Weise is an RFA and he too will depend on the Canucks direction.

David Booth did not adapt to the playoff style needed to be successful, but how do you move someone that has a $4.2 million contract? Possibly other teams will see that he may have scored 20 plus goals had he played more than 56 games.

All in all, there needs to be some changes made because if not, there will be no Stanley Cup on the horizon in this decade.

Ice Bits – The shutdown line of Pahlsson, Hansen and Higgins were collectively a -6 and had 1A and 2G. This was two goals more than the Kesler line had. Sami Salo and Alex Edler were a combined -5.

Manny Malhotra had a 62.5% face­off average in the series, but finished a -3. Can they afford someone who had 7G, 11A and was a -11 next season at $2.5 million, to play on the fourth line?

Photo Credits – AP, Getty Images, Google Images and Yahoo Sports!

Video Credits – YouTube

Stats Credits – http://www.hockeydb.com, http://www.nhl.com/ice/statshome.htm, http://capgeek.com, http://canucks.nhl.com.

Quote Credits – The Vancouver Sun and Province

To catch all the news, updates and new articles as they occur, you can follow me at http://twitter.com/nucksiceman. For up to-date scoring for the Chicago Wolves see The Wolves tab on the home page.

With that the likely goaltender of the future was anointed with Cory Schneider’s start in a deciding game four. All Schneider did was stop 43 out of 44 shots, a penalty shot by Dustin Brown when the game was still up for grabs, and a multitude of LA chances that could have changed the outcome on any number of those.

It wasn’t about the number of saves Schneider made, but the timing of them, like the barrage at the end of the first period to keep LA from going up by two. How about the Dustin Brown penalty shot which could have tied the game and instead the Canucks scored their second power play shortly after that.

The hockey gods were smiling down on the Canucks in this game and it’s about time. Some nights you have to have a bit of help from your goalposts and Schneider received that last night. The Canucks also got a fortuitous bounce when Kevin Bieksa’s shot deflected off of Mike Richards, but sometimes it’s true, that when a team works hard they eventually get the bounces and a break or two.

Getting back to Schneider and Luongo, who stays and who goes? There’s no use closing the barn door after the horses have escaped and with the Schneider decision, it looks like the 26 year old is the Canucks goaltender of the future. It’s not as if Cory hasn’t paid his dues because when you think that he was drafted in 2004, and has been in the organization going on five years, he has been in waiting for several years. It’s his time to be a starting goaltender and if not with the Canucks, it will be with some other team.

At the end of this season he will be a restricted free agent, which means Schneider can take the team to arbitration if he doesn’t like their offer or that any team could present him with an Offer Sheet and the Canucks would have to match or risk losing him. Schneider will be a hot commodity and the Canucks need to resign him to a three or four year term at a reasonable amount. That price will not be at the same cap hit as Luongo’s, but it sure will be a lot higher than the $900,000 he presently earns.

As far as Luongo goes, he will not be happy playing backup to Schneider or playing half the games. There are a number of teams that require a goaltender of his stature, so if Luongo sees the writing on the wall, he may go to Gillis and give him a list like Rick Nash did in Columbus. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Tampa on that list as his wife is from the Florida area.

Now the Canucks may not get much back for Luongo, player wise, and the exercise may turn out to be in nothing more than a salary dump, but that at least would free up some cap space.

The Canucks in this playoff have a huge mountain to climb and if they don’t make it back, then next season they will have to add the parts that are still missing, and shedding Luongo’s salary will be key in moving forward.

Either way, I believe we have just seen the changing of the guard in goal.

Ice Bits – That was the best clutch road game that the Sedins have played in the past five seasons. Daniel had 11 shots directed towards the goal, had an assist, one hit and was a plus one. Henrik had the clinching goal which happened to be a power play one at that, three shots-on-goal and finished with a plus one. In between that, the Twins used Dustin Brown as an insert for their sandwich hit. What goes around, comes around.

If Ryan Kesler ever surfaces in this playoff the Canucks may have a chance to push this series to a deciding seventh game.

Alex Edler came back from the dead last night with four hits, the Canucks first power play goal of this series, and even though he was on for the only LA goal, played like he was alive.

Coach Vee still has some decisions to make about Sunday’s game because the fourth line was badly outplayed. Zack Kassian is truly ineffective, with his 3:54 of ice time still being too much, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Byron Bitz back in.

After Mason Raymond waved at Kings Anze Kopitar who skated by him to score the opening goal, it would make sense to insert someone who plays more than a perimeter game and doesn’t get taken off the puck so easy. Did you notice that he sat glued to the bench for the last two periods except for a brief cameo spot in the third?

Photo Credits – AP, Getty Images, Google Images and Yahoo Sports!

Video Credits – YouTube

Stats Credits – http://www.hockeydb.com, http://www.nhl.com/ice/statshome.htm, http://capgeek.com, http://canucks.nhl.com.

Quote Credits – The Vancouver Sun and Province

To catch all the news, updates and new articles as they occur, you can follow me at http://twitter.com/nucksiceman. For up to-date scoring for the Chicago Wolves see The Wolves tab on the home page.

I write this knowing that the series is not officially over, but been down 3-0 against the LA Kings, I do know that the Canucks will not beat Jonathan Quick four straight. With that said, the prognosis on this team, that is about to expire, was taken into consideration.  

The makeup of the Canucks has not really changed since Canucks GM Mike Gillis took over in 2008. True, there have been a number of player changes but the core was already in place when Gillis arrived.

Since then the Canucks have won four divisional championships, two Presidents’ Cup Trophy’s and made it to game seven of the Stanley Cup final. In between they exited two playoffs in the second round courtesy of the Chicago Blackhawks and will be out in the first round against the Los Angeles Kings.

Off the current roster, Gillis is responsible for bringing in Chris Higgins, Max Lapierre, Manny Malhotra, Dale Weise, Zack Kassian, Andrew Ebbett, Byron Bitz, Andrew Alberts, Keith Ballard, Dan Hamhuis, Aaron Rome and Chris Tanev. I did not mention Sammy Pahlsson because to me he is a rental player brought in at the trade deadline.

I do know that defense wins championships and what the Canucks are still missing is a Norris Trophy candidate type defenseman. The following names you will be familiar with starting with Shea Weber, Zendo Chara, or even Duncan Keith. Without that type of D-men, the Canucks will never win a Stanley Cup. They will also not win it with Alex Edler or the playoff goaltending of Roberto Luongo.

I have already written about that so I will leave you with the link that breaks down the teams and names from the past that have won the Cup. The fact is, since 2000- 2011 (excluding the lockout year), only three teams out of eleven have won the Cup, without having a Norris Trophy winner on their team.

The other key components these Stanley Cup winners had in common were playoff type players that are big, tough, could score and could stand up to the other playoff teams. These players seem to excel at that time of year even if their regular season was average.

This Vancouver Canucks team is missing a number of those types of players. That is one reason that they are currently having trouble getting to Jonathan Quick because they are being boxed out by the LA defense. They’re not big or strong enough to establish position in front of the net and Quick is able to see the shot and make the saves look easy, which they have been.

This LA team has way more of those big, strong players that can impose their will on the Canucks in all areas of the ice, much like Boston did during the Cup final, and I’m not just talking about the fourth line players. The type of players I’m talking about are the likes of LA’s Dustin Brown, Jeff Carter, Anze Kopitar, Mike Richards, Jarrett Stoll, Trevor Lewis, Jordan Nolan and Kyle Clifford, before he got knocked out of the game.

Although the Sedins are tough enough to take the physical punishment that is handed out during the playoffs, they are not the type to impose that physical play that is needed. The same can be said for Mason Raymond, Chris Higgins, David Booth and Manny Malhotra.

Alex Burrows, Ryan Kesler, Jannik Hansen and Max Lapierre are left to provide that playoff warrior mentality and stand up for the team, but most times they are outnumbered two to one by the opposition. That’s not enough to create any respect against the intimidation that is dealt out on each shift. This is where Mike Gillis has failed big time.

I have not mentioned the fourth line because it receives very little playing time during the playoffs, and the Canucks seem to have a number of players that can play that role.

This area will have to be addressed in the off season and I will have more to say about that tomorrow in connection with which players need to be replaced.

Ice Bits – Cory Schneider played as well as he could, but having to shutout the Kings should not be the pre-requisite for winning. David Booth has had one shot on goal in the last two games and no points this series.

Keith Ballard is tied with Alex Edler for points among D-men, which is one. But then again, no Canucks stats will look impressive when you only score four goals in three games and give up nine.

Roberto Luongo has a 3.59 GAA and a .891 Sv% while Schneider’s is 1.03 GAA and .950 Sv%. Although Luongo cannot be faulted for the two losses, it does make you think what the outcome might have been had Schneider played those two games? Maybe he stops the Mike Richards goal from the bad angle in game one and Dustin Brown’s short hand goal in game two.

I would have to think that Newell Brown’s job as special teams coach is in jeopardy. With the power-play over the last half of the season around 13% and 0-fer in the playoffs, those numbers will necessitate a change.

Photo Credits – AP, Getty Images, Google Images and Yahoo Sports!

Video Credits – YouTube

Stats Credits – http://www.hockeydb.com, http://www.nhl.com/ice/statshome.htm, http://capgeek.com, http://canucks.nhl.com.

Quote Credits – The Vancouver Sun and Province

To catch all the news, updates and new articles as they occur, you can follow me at http://twitter.com/nucksiceman. For up to-date scoring for the Chicago Wolves see The Wolves tab on the home page.

What surprised me was the poor defensive play that the Canucks displayed last night against the Kings. After gearing up for the playoffs for most of the last quarter of the season, to witness that type of zone breakdown and giveaways was puzzling.

True, the Kings had a lot to do with that but the Canucks except for Roberto Luongo, Henrik Sedin and Jannik Hansen, were downright horrible. Some may call the number of penalty minutes undisciplined; I say most of them were stupid; especially Bryon Bitz’s hit from behind on Kyle Clifford, which justly warranted a five minute major and game misconduct.

Yes, I realize it is only game one, but in order for the Canucks to get back in this series and not go down 2-0 there are some key areas that the Canucks need to improve on.

Power-play – The lack of success from the Canucks power-play did not surprise me as I wrote about it in my previous blog. When you go 13% in the final half of the season, it tends to carry over into the playoffs. This portion of their special teams will have to get them at least three goals in this series if they are to get past LA.

Penalty-kill – This becomes of even greater importance if the power-play is going to struggle. I believe the biggest difference this season with the Canucks is that they proved they could win with their five-on-five play. Even if their power-play does not perform up to par, their five-on-five play can win them this series, IF the penalty-kill tops LA’s.

Penalties – I shouldn’t have to mention this after what happened last night but you cannot be playing a period short-handed. That puts way too much pressure on the penalty killers, throws the lines out of balance, and takes away from any sustained pressure that they may develop.

Defensive zone play – Way too many giveaways by the D-men (8) in the defensive zone, which led to goals. Alex Edler accounted for three of those, of which two ended up in the back of the net. I will speak more about Edler in a moment. The forwards were constantly out of position and their reads faulty, like Chris Higgins not picking up Dustin Penner which ended up allowing the deciding goal.

The Pahlsson line was on for LA’s winning goal and Sammy was on for two goals against. That line must be the shutdown line for this team to be successful.

Coach Vigneault’s decisions – Coach Vee has some key decisions to make on who to play that will help this team in this series. If Daniel Sedin does not play, then someone else needs to take Mason Raymond’s place. Whether the Sedin line is shuffled some more depends on what type of presence Coach wants.

Alex Edler is not right and hasn’t been since just shortly after March 6th. Prior to that date he was averaging about 3-4 hits per game, but after that date it went to around one hit per game and on several occasions (Jets and Wild) he had no hits. Against one of the Canucks’ fiercest rivals, the Chicago Blackhawks on March 21st, he had ONE hit. In his last four games his hits were 1-1-1-0. In the LA game last night he had two.

I don’t know if he has re-injured his back again and the Canucks are trying to let him play through it, but he’s a shell of his former self, passive in his play and not effective. Coach Vee needs to make a decision about Edler being in the lineup.

With Keith Ballard apparently ready and Andrew Alberts having played down the stretch, either of those two would be better suited for the playoff style of play than Edler at this time.

If these keys are not improved on or implemented, the Canucks last game of the season will be April 24th in Los Angeles, when the Kings finish the series four games to two.

Ice Bits – Max Lapierre, the Canucks best playoff warrior, led all players last night with six hits and finished a plus one. Ryan Kesler led all Canucks forwards with three hits, two assists and was plus one. I doubt if he can get back to the player he was last playoffs, but a healthy Kesler will be better than one hobbling on one skate.

Roberto Luongo had probably his best game in the playoffs since maybe the Anaheim series in 2007. This game would have been 3 or 4 to 1 without those saves in the first period. Had LA scored on those chances, he might have then incurred the wrath of the fans, which would have been so unfair. If there was anyone that needed a wakeup call, it was the team that played so poorly in front of him. What a waste of such a great goaltending display.

Kevin Bieksa is another player that doesn’t look right and not because of these stats: one hit, two giveaways and a minus one. He just doesn’t look like the same D-man we saw prior to March 26th. After that he had a number of maintenance days off.

Don’t be surprised if Bryon Bitz’s hit from behind garners him a one game suspension. He has a disciplinary hearing today around 12:30 Pacific.

Update – Bitz received a two game suspension.

Photo Credits – AP, Getty Images, Google Images and Yahoo Sports!

Video Credits – YouTube

Stats Credits – http://www.hockeydb.com, http://www.nhl.com/ice/statshome.htm, http://capgeek.com, http://canucks.nhl.com.

Quote Credits – The Vancouver Sun and Province

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I did some research on how important the Canucks power-play was to them during last season’s playoffs.

In round one against Chicago, the Canucks scored a total of three power play goals, of which one of them won them game two, 4-3. The other three wins were from even strength goals.  The Hawks won games four through six. Chicago’s power play actually out-performed the Canucks as they had five power play goals. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that the Canucks won that series (4-3) due to that power play goal, because without the Canucks power play win in game two, Chicago would have won the series four games to two.

Round two against Nashville also saw Canuck power play goals win games three and six, while the other two games were won by even strength goals. Suffice to say that the power play won them that series also, going four games to two.

Against San Jose, the power play was at its peak scoring nine goals of which three won them games one, two and four. Without that who knows if the Canucks would have got out of that series.

In the final series against Boston we all know that the Canucks power play was non-existent. The Canucks only scored two power play goals and all three games won were from even strength goals. Of those three games won, two were by 1-0 shutouts

Boston on the other hand, after having one of the worst power plays on record, went on to score five of them and three short-handed goals. They won two games from power play goals and two from even strength.

I bring all this up because the Canucks power play, which was number one during the first half of the season, would have ranked somewhere around 20^th or lower in the second half. This does not bode well entering into the playoffs and I would be concerned about that.

On paper the team stats favour the Canucks over the Kings. LA’s power play finished 17^th, while the Canucks 4^th. However, LA’s penalty-kill was 4^th which in reality could cancel the Canucks power play. That being said, the Canucks penalty kill which finished 6^th could also negate the Kings power play.

Where I feel the Canucks will have to win will be at even strength or five-on-five. Here the Canucks rank 4^th while the Kings are 17^th. Goals Against per Game are very close with LA ranking second and the Canucks fourth. This is where Jonathan Quick could steal the series, unless the Canucks get a lot of bodies in front of him.

The two teams’ plus/minus looks like this, LA a +12, which ranked them 13^th and the Canucks a +26, which placed them 4^th.

The final stat, which is Goals at Home and on the Road, if it plays out, favours the Canucks. At Home they ranked 7^th and on the Road 6^th. The Kings in comparison finished 29^th at Home and 25^th on the Road.

This will be a very physical series where Darryl Sutter’s team will try to impose their will on the Canucks. It will be imperative that Coach Vigneault places gritty type personnel on each of the lines.

With Max Lapierre being able to slide up and down the lineup, you may see him start on any one of the lines. I don’t see the third line changing and I believe Henrik Sedin and Alex Burrow along with Ryan Kesler and David Booth pairings will stay intact. Who plays with them will be a key to matching LA’s big and tough forwards. With Daniel Sedin apparently ready to return, it would be interesting to see if he could help the Kesler line get going.

Will we see Lapierre on the Sedin line and Byron Bitz on the Kesler line? Will Manny Malhotra be the centre on the fourth line with Byron Bitz, Dale Weise or Zack Kassian, if he is healthy?

I am hearing that Mason Raymond may start, but to me that is a huge mistake. Raymond’s perimeter play will be totally ineffective at this time of the year. If he does start, I give him one game before he’s replaced until injuries dictate otherwise.

All of this and more will be answered very soon as the real season starts tomorrow. Get ready for the ride of your life.

I’m calling this a seven game series with the Canucks winning, but it will be close one.

Ice Bits – In the West, the Detroit-Nashville series will be a dog fight, but I have to stay with my earlier prediction that the Predators will prevail. This will also be a seven game series.

St. Louis has just been too good at home and defensively to be beat by the Sharks. The Blues in six.

The way Phoenix’s hot goaltender Mike Smith has been playing and without Jonathan Toews, the Hawks will bow out in six.

The Eastern Conference has some interesting match-ups. The Rangers goaltending led by Henrik Lundqvist will take the Senators in six, but these will all be one goal games.

Boston is just too much for the Capitals who barely made it into the playoffs. The Bruins goaltending is miles in front of Washington’s – Bruins in five.

Although the Panthers won the season series over the Devils, New Jersey’s trademark is playoff style hockey and besides, Martin Brodeur has still got game. Devils in six.

War will be the key word when the Penguins and Flyers play with the last man standing, if there’s any remaining. Another big IF is Sidney Crosby staying healthy. I said months ago that Pittsburgh would represent the East in the Stanley Cup, and I’m sticking with that. I can see this series going seven games.

Photo Credits – AP, Getty Images, Google Images and Yahoo Sports!

Video Credits – YouTube

Stats Credits – http://www.hockeydb.com, http://www.nhl.com/ice/statshome.htm, http://capgeek.com, http://canucks.nhl.com.

Quote Credits – The Vancouver Sun and Province

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Watching the Masters Championship this weekend I thought to myself, how can you not like someone named Bubba from Bagdad, Florida. I mean, he owns the original General Lee from the Dukes of Hazard, which is a 1969 Dodge Charger muscle car, with a Confederate naval jack painted on its roof, and the car’s horn plays the first line of Dixie. Just a good old boy!

He’s truly accessible via Twitter with over 275,986 Followers and after winning the Masters, that’s sure to increase. Bubba interacts with as many followers as time will allow him, which to me could be a full time job if he were to answer every tweet.

Here’s a guy that has never taken a golf lesson and yet when he needed an impossible shot from deep inside the trees on the right fairway off the 10^th hole, he hooked a 155 yard shot with a pitching wedge which landed on the green and had him positioned to win with a birdie putt.

After Louis Oosthhizen missed his par putt, all Bubba had to do was two putt to win his first major and fourth overall on the PGA Tour. The open emotion he displayed to us all after he won created a lump in my throat. Be honest now, you had one too. What a great thrill it was to see someone that plays with so much focus and determination win the grand prize.

It was just last week on Golf Channel’s Feherty program that David Feherty interviewed Watson. It was very refreshing to see someone so candid, because Feherty does ask some delving questions.

Feherty asked Watson about his lack of interaction with the crowd while on the course and Bubba said that he’s so focused on the game and it takes so much mental energy, that he just puts his head down to concentrate from shot to shot. That’s why he created his Twitter account, so as to be able to interact with them off the course. No wonder with all that built up tension and energy, that when he sank that last putt to win, the flood gates opened and he sobbed uncontrollably.

As he pointed up to the heavens to acknowledge his father, who passed away from cancer last year, he collapsed into his mother’s arms and buried his head into her shoulders and released all that emotion. Real men actually do cry.

When interviewed after the Masters he was asked about the shot on ten, and he said, “I could see the shot in my head. I’m used to the woods, I’m used to the rough.” When Oosthuizen saw the shot come out he said, “It looked like a curve ball. Unbelievable shot.” That, my friends, was “Bubba Golf”.

Recently Bubba and his wife Angie, became new parents when they adopted their first child, a boy named Caleb. To put things into perspective, this is what Bubba had to say about that.

“Golf is not everything. If I hadn’t won, I wouldn’t go home and pout. There’s another tournament next week, and you guys are going to be writing about someone else. I’m going to be changing diapers.” That’s why he has such a large following - he’s so refreshing.

In conclusion, being the top long ball hitter averaging about 315 yards on his drive and with the creativity and shots that he can make, it wouldn’t surprise me a bit to see Bubba win another major this season. Besides, it couldn’t happen to a nicer guy and the PGA could sure use more Bubba Watsons.

This is not just about the stats, although if you would like to see them here they are.

No, this is about who is better technically and would present the Canucks with the best chance in the playoffs to return to the Stanley Cup final.

Even if you are not a hockey purist or never played the goaltender’s position, I would say to you, watch for these characteristics during a few games. In the butterfly position, who is more upright? If you took a hockey stick and placed it against each goalie’s back, which is more vertical thus covers more net?

When they move laterally and push off with the opposite skate, which one gets to the other side without exposing too much area in between the pads. Does there seem to be any wasted effort in the movement?

Who is in a better position after making that type of save? Are they square, vertical, facing the shooter and able to smoother the puck if need be, or are they starting to fall forward? Who is able to recover quicker if out of position after a save? Who controls his rebounds better and is able to absorb them.

Is one better at catching the puck or the handling of it with their stick? Do they challenge the shooter or sit back in the net? Are they square to the shooter with the five-hole closed when they drop down into the butterfly position?

These are some aspects of goaltending that I look at when trying to decide who is the most technically sound player. When I take all of these into consideration, I feel that Cory Schneider is the better goaltender and not just because of his stats.

Now neither of them handle the puck very well, and except for stopping the puck and setting it up for their defenseman, they should just stay in their net.

Another matter to deal with is who has played better for the last two to three months. Why? Because the Stanley Cup is 28 games in duration if they were all to go to the maximum seven games limit. So who had the better winning percentage since the end of December?

If my research is correct, Schneider has only lost one game since that time and that was against Phoenix on February 28^th in a 2-1 shoot-out. True he has not played as many games as Roberto Luongo, but if that was the stretch in the playoffs that Schneider played, well, you can do the math.

Will Schneider start the playoffs? No, I think Luongo will get that privilege, but as Bob McKenzie said last night on TSN during the intermission, if Luongo falters and Schneider goes in – he may not come out again.

Ice Bits – With the way David Booth and Mason Raymond are currently playing, they may both start the playoffs watching from the press box. On the other hand, the way Andrew Ebbett has been playing since returning from his injury, look for him to replace Raymond. Ebbett’s not the biggest of players, but he seems to be able to battle for the puck better, comes out with it, goes to the net, makes the right reads and his passes are right on the tape.

If Zack Kassian is not able to play or start the playoffs, no problem, the Canucks have a great amount of depth. They have Byron Bitz, Mike Duco and possibly Aaron Volpatti who may be available. This time there will not be a lack of toughness.

The way Henrik Sedin, Alex Burrows and Max Lapierre are playing, it would be a shame to break them up. Lapierre would ride shotgun for Henrik and he gives that line a whole lot more grit.

With the Ryan Kesler line going nowhere, it would make sense to place Daniel Sedin on that line with Andrew Ebbett. Maybe Daniel would get Kesler going, which is paramount to the Canucks going anywhere in the playoffs.

The third line looks like it’s going to be a handful with Pahlsson, Higgins and Hansen. The fourth line could be any of a myriad of players that can supply energy and grit.

Even though there will be fewer penalties called during the playoffs, I’m still concerned about how poorly the Canucks are playing on their power play. Their success rate has been in free fall over the past several months.

It is now less than a week before the real season starts and I’m very interested to see how the Canucks will do. I’ll have more about the matchups in a few days. 

Photo Credits – AP, Getty Images, Google Images and Yahoo Sports!

Video Credits – YouTube

Stats Credits – http://www.hockeydb.com, http://www.nhl.com/ice/statshome.htm, http://capgeek.com, http://canucks.nhl.com.

Quote Credits – The Vancouver Sun and Province

To catch all the news, updates and new articles as they occur, you can follow me at http://twitter.com/nucksiceman. For up to-date scoring for the Chicago Wolves see The Wolves tab on the home page.

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From the outside looking in, the title may seem like an odd question, but the way the Canucks have played in the past several months, one never knows just which team is the playoff one. Having secured a playoff spot some two to three months ago there hasn’t been much to motivate this team except pride.

During the past several weeks the Canucks have battened down the hatches and are in playoff mode, very much like most of the teams they have been playing, except those teams have been at it for most of the season. It must be draining to have had to play for months on end just to make the playoffs and I wonder whether those teams will be emotionally exhausted by the time the playoffs start. Nah, probably not. Those teams are mostly comprised of good Canadian kids.

What this Canucks team has shown us lately is that it can play solid defensive playoff style hockey, minus the goal and power play production. If you refer back to last year’s playoffs, once it got down to the semi finals with the Sharks and then the finals with the Bruins, a number of those games were one or two goal differences.

In the San Jose series all the games were decided by one goal except for the 7-4 and 4-2 Canucks wins. Yes, the Boston series had a number of blowouts, but the first two games were decided by one goal and that may have continued had the Canucks not lost a number of players to injuries and a hot Tim Thomas.

One positive that has surfaced during the last several weeks is that the Canucks have had great goaltending, penalty killing, been defensively responsible all over the ice and have won with five-on-five scoring. That was definitely missing in the Stanley Cup finals.

Another positive this season is the depth. Key areas in the playoffs seems to be right down the middle of a team, starting with the centre position and working back to the defense and goaltending. Make no mistake about it, defense wins championships but so does the five-on-five play.  

There are not a lot of penalties called anyway in the playoffs and with the reduced calls on interference; these playoffs may look like games played prior to the last CBA. So with that in mind, the Canucks have joined the rest of the league in understanding that it will take superb play at even strength to get to the Promised Land.

Currently the Canucks sit tied with Pittsburgh for fifth place in the five-on-five for/against ratio of 1.77. No surprises with the teams above them who are the NY Rangers in fourth (1.18), third is Boston (1.31), second St. Louis (1.43) and first is Detroit (1.48). I would expect to see any two of those six teams in the Stanley Cup finals.

Will it matter about the penalty kill and power play? Not if you think about how bad Boston was on the power play last year and still won the Cup. To me, they won because of their physical play which dictated the five-on-five results.

Can the Canucks remain in this playoff mode and raise it to another level to match whichever team they face? I believe that they can but my biggest concern is the softness of a couple of players on the back-end - namely Alex Edler and Sami Salo.

I have been watching Alex Edler very closely over the last month and I believe that he tweaked his back sometime after March 6th. Prior to that date he was averaging about 3-4 hits per game, but after that date it is around one hit per game and on several occasions (Jets and Wild) he had no hits. Against one of the Canucks fiercest rivals, the Chicago Blackhawks on March 21st, he had ONE hit.

Sami Salo looks like a player that is playing not to get hurt and on many a nights he has registered no hits. If you don’t think the opposition’s scouting hasn’t picked up on this then you’re dreaming. What the oppositions also know is that they can pound away on these two without any threat of retaliation.

As I mentioned in a previous article, I believe that Edler is one hit away from being knocked out of the playoffs, likewise with Salo.

With Keith Ballard still not cleared for contact that leaves Andrews Alberts as the only healthy depth player on defense currently with the Canucks. Aaron Rome is out with a lower body injury (knee), which had him in and out of least season’s playoffs. The Canucks had better hope that Yann Sauve (plus 12) and Ryan Parent (plus 6) are ready to play in the playoffs.

In answering my lead question from the title, I’m not sure right now but I think we will all know after the first couple of games in round one, whether the Canucks are Stanley Cup contenders – or pretenders.

Ice Bits – It was reported in the media today that Daniel Sedin will be ready for the start of the playoffs. I don’t really think it will matter because I don’t expect the Sedins to be a factor. Why? Because the interference that will be prevalent and not called in the playoffs, will negate their effectiveness.

They have also not proven as yet, that they are playoff performers and can make a difference.

Keith Ballard’s injury will suddenly improve dramatically as the playoffs start and there is no salary cap. They will need him if they expect to go deep into the playoffs.

Steve Reinprecht and his 10G, 27A, and plus 10 rating, will not be a surprise call up for the playoffs. With Andrew Ebbett close to returning, centre depth will be the deepest it as ever been for a Canucks team in the playoffs.

Photo Credits – AP, Getty Images, Google Images and Yahoo Sports!

Video Credits – YouTube

Stats Credits – http://www.hockeydb.com, http://www.nhl.com/ice/statshome.htm, http://capgeek.com, http://canucks.nhl.com.

Quote Credits – The Vancouver Sun and Province

To catch all the news, updates and new articles as they occur, you can follow me at http://twitter.com/nucksiceman. For up to-date scoring for the Chicago Wolves see The Wolves tab on the home page.

Note: www.nucksiceman.com is now mobile friendly. From the web address on your iPhone, you can choose Options/Mobile formatted and the site will appear in its entire living colour for you to view. Check it out.

In Daniel Sedin’s case it was turn the other jaw, which Blackhawks Duncan Keith firmly planted his elbow. That was at 13:36 of the first period and although Sedin came back for a brief time on the ice, he quickly retired to the dressing room for the rest of the game.

For that Keith received a two minute penalty for elbowing. Here’s what Coach Alain Vigneault had to say about that. “Deliberate, principal point of contact, everything you are trying to take out of the game…I expected a major, I got a minor.”

Let’s have a look at a similar incident the night before when Phoenix Coyotes Shane Doan through a glancing elbow at Dallas Stars Jamie Benn’s head. In a question and answer segment that was written on TSN.ca, this is what retired and former well respected referee Kerry Fraser said about the Benn hit. “For whatever reason it happened, the protruded elbow that made direct contact with Benn’s chin was worthy of a five-minute major and game misconduct. This type of direct hit to the head of an opponent is not only illegal but is also worthy of a suspension.”

With two referees and two linesmen on the ice, and the puck in the area of Sedin, how did the officials miss that call and why wasn’t it a five minute major and game misconduct?

The change several months ago in the officiating is now quite prominent and is so inconsistent, the players and fans have no idea what’s going to be called and what’s not. Penalties are at all time low and not since 1977 have these been this low. Just who decided to change the interference penalties called and the enforcement of the hits to the head? Wasn’t it the NHL that has verbalized on many occasions in the media, they want that taken out of the game?

You and I may never know, but if you understand the hierarchy of the NHL starting with the Commissioner’s office, they would not make the decision unilaterally without some input. I believe that input came from a number of the “old boys club”, the Board of Governors.

I remember following the injury reports for the previous two seasons and it was very evident that the NHL defenseman were falling like flies. For example, last season both the New Jersey Devils and the St. Louis had at different times, four out of their six starting D-men out of the lineup. They were out with various injuries such as concussions (prevalent) and lower and upper body injuries.

That season (2010/11) the Devils were mired near the bottom of the Eastern Conference for months before they got enough healthy starting D-men back and ended up missing the playoffs. If you know anything about the Devils, this team has been consistent about making the playoffs year after year.

The same thing happened to the Blues who also never recovered. If you are a Canuck follower then you will remember that they went through 13 different D-men that season also.

What has happened is that enough NHL owners collectively, have not only tampered with the officiating but also with the enforcement of the head hits. They were not about to let their team and particularly their D-men, get constantly knocked out of games or lose their players to lengthy suspensions.

Brendan Shanahan’s suspensions have changed dramatically from the beginning of the year and anyone that knows hockey can see that the inference calls have been reduced. This inference is something that I wrote about months ago and what you now see is subtle tugs, hooks, and positioning to impede the wingers entering into the attacking zone. Not only that, but it’s happening all over the ice as the players are now cognizant of what they can get away with.

You think its bad now, wait till the playoffs, which takes me back to my opening comments about the hit to Daniel Sedin.

The philosophy of Canucks Mike Gillis was fine last year during the regular season when the penalties were called and the power play was working, but everyone knows that it changes in the playoffs. Not only that, but the play is so ramped up that everyone on the team becomes shot blockers. Trying to get the puck on net through the shooting lanes, is like flying a single prop airplane at low levels through the Cathedral Grove’s giant Douglas firs.

Gillis needs to let the horses out in order to protect themselves. If the opposition is going to constantly take liberties with the Sedins, then show them how to carry their sticks a little higher. Ryan Kesler, Alex Burrows, Max Lapierre and Jannik Hansen just to name a few, play better when they are at their antagonistic best. If that means getting in the oppositions faces after the whistle, then at least they will have the opposition chasing them all over the ice instead of the reversal.

The one thing I do know about the NHL, is that if you offer the other cheek it will get you hurt. So with the playoffs nine games away it’s about time Gillis changes tactics, because every other team will be walking that fine line of dishing out punishment.

Ice Bits: The Canucks tried their best to get back at Keith last night but they didn’t quite finish. Karma says – What goes around comes around. If that were the Boston Bruins instead of the Canucks, one of Hawks would have paid for it.

It has been reported that Daniel Sedin has been flown back to Vancouver to see a specialist and to receve treatment. It will be interesting to see how Mike Gillis spins this.

As TSN’s Bob McKenzie said during the intermission, so what if Keith get’s three or five games, it doesn’t help if Daniel Sedin is out for any length of time. Look at what happened to Washington Cap’s Nicklas Backstrom from a similar hit from Rene Bourque, (Jan.3/12) and he’s still not back. He had to be placed on the LTIR.   

Cory Schneider and Manny Malhotra to start tonight against Dallas.

Roberto Luongo‘s best game in a dozen and Mason Raymond was the second best player. The Canucks didn’t take advantage of the Hawks having played the night before and the game was lost in the first period when the Canucks went 0-3 on the power play. Canucks then received the next five penalties before the Keith melee broke out.

Hawks Andrew Shaw looks like the second coming of Bruins Brad Marchand.

Photo Credits – AP, Getty Images, Google Images and Yahoo Sports!

Video Credits – YouTube

Stats Credits – http://www.hockeydb.com, http://www.nhl.com/ice/statshome.htm, http://capgeek.com, http://canucks.nhl.com.

Quote Credits – The Vancouver Sun and Province

To catch all the news, updates and new articles as they occur, you can follow me at http://twitter.com/nucksiceman. For up to-date scoring for the Chicago Wolves see The Wolves tab on the home page.

Note: www.nucksiceman.com is now mobile friendly. From the web address on your iPhone, you can choose Options/Mobile formatted and the site will appear in its entire living colour for you to view. Check it out.