So what is the expectation for these play-offs and in particular the opening round against the San Jose Sharks? Well Canucks Captain, Henrik Sedin said yesterday that it would be similar to past play-offs in that the special teams would be a deciding factor. Okay, but if we can’t use the fact that the Canucks power-play finished 22nd and San Jose’s seventh, and the penalty-kill, Canucks – 8th, Sharks – 7th, then how do we measure Henrik’s statement?

You could say that the point shots of Alex Edler and Jason Garrison where non-existent during the early part of the season or the absence of Ryan Kesler had a huge bearing on both of those categories, but you know what, there were a lot of teams that had key injuries during the season. The Ottawa Senators come to mind immediately with the loss of Erik Karlsson and that seems to lead credence to that, because they finished 20th on the power-play without him.

Yes, the special teams will be keys in the play-offs but so will the make-up and physicality of the teams the Canucks play. It should be pointed out that the Stanley Cup champions of late, starting with the Chicago Blackhawks, Boston Bruins and Los Angeles Kings all have one thing in common, they are all big, physical teams that are built for the play-offs. There is that component throughout each line which cannot be said for the Canucks.

Take a look at the Sedin line where Coach Vigneault refuses to play Zack Kassian there, then move on down through the other two lines. Ryan Kesler’s line has plenty of grit and hard workers who will be strong on the fore-check and battle for the puck in Chris Higgins and Kassian - if Vigneault goes with that line-up.

The third line has Derek Roy, Mason Raymond and Jannik Hansen. Except for Hansen, that is a lightweight line which will have a huge problem on the road when the opposition matches up their bigger lines against them. Just how will Roy handle Joe Thornton when he makes his power move to the front of the net? Do you really expect Raymond to win any puck battles in the corner?

As far as fourth lines go, the Canucks had Andrew Ebbett between Max Lapierre and Dale Weise at Monday’s practice. Anyone who knows hockey can figure out that Ebbett will not match up against the other teams fourth line centre. To me it’s a no-brainer to have Lapierre centring Weise and either Tom Sestito or Steve Pinizzotto.

Moving on to the defense – that seems to be the only area, besides goal-tending, where the Canucks are strong. Jason Garrison/Dan Hamhuis, Alex Edler/Kevin Bieksa and who knows will show up in the third pairing. Andrew Alberts and his physical play seems to be made for the play-offs but without Chris Tanev and Coach Vigneault’s reluctance to play Keith Ballard, that leaves Cam Baker, Frank Corrado or Derek Joslin. When the Canucks are on the road that third pairing will be over their heads up against the oppositions first or second line.

I’m not sold on Edler, nor have I ever been, mainly because of his inconsistency. He can come out and be All-World in the first game and then disappear for the remainder of the series. If there’s two players the Canucks would be better off without during the play-offs – Edler and Mason Raymond top my list.

In goal, who knows if Cory Schneider is going to play the first game, or if Coach Vigneault has been leading the media and everyone else on. Schneider practiced on Monday but he’s being coy about whether he will play. If not, at least the Canucks have Roberto Luongo as the possible starter and you can say whatever you want, but is there a better one/two combination in these play-offs?

In closing, the match-up with the San Jose was the best of the three teams (Los Angeles, St. Louis) that the Canucks could have hoped for, but San Jose has a lot to prove, so this may be the year that they make their run. My heart says to go with the Canucks in seven, but my mind tells me that San Jose, who the Canucks have not beaten this season, and that was with Cory Schneider in-goal for all three, will grind the Canucks down and take it in six.

Ice Bits – An important question would be – can Kevin Bieksa make it through the first round? Wouldn’t it be ironic if Cory Schneider could not play and Luongo takes the Canucks on a run.

Why oh why does Coach Vigneault not have faith in Keith Ballard? Are you telling me that Ballard, with his experience, is not better than Corrado or Joslin?

Will we see David Booth? Does anyone care?

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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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There’s never a dull day in the season, albeit a shorten one, following the Vancouver Canucks hockey team. Today, we find out that Canucks goaltender Cory Schneider will not start tomorrow night because of an undisclosed injury.

Now the only incident that I remember in the Chicago game, was when he seemed to strike his head in a goal mouth collision but he continued on to play the remainder of the game. So I would have to assume that he did not pick up a concussion. But that doesn’t mean the symptoms couldn’t surface later on, as it did with Toronto’s Joffrey Lupul.

It was reported by the media that Schneider was seen walking without any problem, so another assumption would be that he does not have a “lower body injury”. One thing he Canucks do not need is an injury to Schneider as they head into the playoffs in about six to seven days from now.

Will Kevin Bieksa, Chris Tanev, Keith Ballard or David Booth be back in time for the playoffs?

Has anyone even heard the mention of Booth’s name since he went down with that ankle injury? Because if they have please let me know. I have not heard a peep about Booth, so the next assumption on a short list would be that he will not be back for the first round.

Kevin Bieksa – well… I am going to go out on a limb here and predict that his groin injury is more likely a hip flexor (think Ryan Kesler) which will require surgery in the off-season. Whether he can play, be effective or remain in the line-up is another question. I’m not counting on him for the play-offs and he is one player that will be missed big-time.

Chris Tanev – as per usual the Canucks never did release just exactly what was wrong with him, but it seems that he could/should return for the first round. They have missed that right hand shot as it has caused all sorts of D-men to have to play their wrong side.

Keith Ballard – was hurt a few games ago in a fight and he seems to be game-to-game, but then again who really knows. I felt he had been playing pretty steady and they could sure use that, along with his physical play next week.

Looks like Ryan Kesler is getting tuned up for the play-offs as his game looked ever bit as good against Chicago, as it did against Nashville during last seasons play-offs. He finished the game with four hits, three shots-on-goal and was attacking with speed and power. That folks is a very good sign because how Kesler goes - so goes the Canucks!

The same can be said for Max Lapierre. On one shift in the second period he had three hits and finished the game with nine. That has to be a record (hits) for him in a game. He’s taken his game up another notch and you can see signs that his antagonistic side has surfaced just in time for the play-offs. To bad this team doesn’t have a couple more of those types for this time of the year.

Since Mason Raymond returned from his shoulder injury he has been pretty well missing-in-action. He might as well not be in the line-up for the play-offs because he takes up a spot in the line-up that a Dale Weise could fill a whole lot more effectively.

The Sedins came to life in the Chicago game but let’s see if this carries over into the play-offs. If not, then all the opposition has to do is shut down the Kesler line, and it’s series over.

The Canucks opponent in the first round will be determined most likely by the final games of the season between  San Jose vs. Los Angeles and Chicago vs. St. Louis. I have to think the best bet for the Canucks would be the San Jose Sharks and even at that it will be a very long, tough, and physical series.

Los Angels and St. Louis, another two big physical teams, will just be too much for the Canucks to match up against. I’m not going to go into the line match-ups at this time but will do so if either of these teams end up playing the Canucks in the first round. Suffice to say, the Canucks will not get by the first round if they meet either of these two teams.

These two teams are built for the play-offs while the Canucks are not.

Ice Bits – Okay, so the Canucks will load up the top two lines and hope that no one gets injured. They had better hope the latter does not occur because there is no depth at the forward position on the farm.

Dale Weise was a healthy scratch in the game against Chicago and he was not a happy camper. Look for his return in either of the two remaining games and for him to be motivated to earn a spot for the play-offs.

Personally, I think he’s a better player than Tom Sestito, faster, better hands and is more reliable for the play-offs.

Although Andrew Ebbett is not your proto-type centre for a fourth line, what other choice do the Canucks have?

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Alex Edler will never be the Norris Trophy candidate that they need, Sedins are not play-off guys, nor Mason Raymond, or small centres like Derek Roy or Andrew Ebbett. For example, Roy against San Jose’s Thornton is such a mismatch it’s not even funny.

Alex Burrows, as much as he tries, and give him credit for trying, is not the bodyguard the Sedins need in the play-offs. The speed of the game has passed by the Sedins, and with the play-off small ice to operate, they are easy to shut-down. It’s anyone’s guess if Ryan Kesler can make it through the play-offs without getting injured again.

Zack Kassian is still to inconsistent, Nik Jensen is not quite ready yet (two big bodies the Canuck need), and there is no talent on the farm to re-stock. Maybe the best thing to look forward to is if the Sedins will retire after their contract expires after next season. Then maybe the Canucks can add the right mix.

Too bad they never traded Alex Edler this season before his no-trade kicks in. They could have received a very good player and Jason Garrison has quietly become what the Canucks were hoping Edler would be. Garrison is a better offensive, defensive, and more physical player than Edler is right now. He can be that point man the Canucks need on the power-play if they could only get someone to feed him the puck.

As far as not trading Roberto Luongo, if you follow the media, there was a deal in place during the off-season – but Luongo was steadfast in his wish to go to Florida. Mike Gillis says that Luongo’s contact was not a problem. We’ll see in the off-season, when more starting NHL goalies become available at better prices. Yes Roberto – the contract “does suck”.

I don’t want to sound like a pessimist but the reality of the fact is – the Canucks will go out in the first round. Any of the teams they will face, and that includes Detroit, can outscore them and have just as good as goaltending as Vancouver. The bigger, more physical teams will eat them up and spit them out.

It’s time for the Aquilini’s ownership to prove they are big time hockey fans, and give the fan base a new hope – and that starts with firing GM Mike Gillis, Coach Alain Vigneault and his staff at the end of the season. Now is the time to bring in someone who has not been with the team and a number of the players since their days in Manitoba. Someone who can be objective, has no attachment to the players, and can try and add the necessary type of players needed to win in the play-offs.

In the off-season when the cap falls, that will start with buying out the contracts of David Booth ($4.2 million) and unfortunately Keith Ballard ($4.2 million). The sad thing is, Ballard is more versatile an asset than Edler, but the Canucks management are committed to Edler.

Mason Raymond should have been traded but now is the chance to move on and not resign him, clearing up so more cap space ($2.2 million). Others that will help the cap space by not resigning are Manny Malhotra ($2.5 million), Max Lapierre – $1 million (4th line centres are a dime a dozen) and even Derek Roy ($4 million). By my count those that I have listed account for $17 plus million of clearance. What I’m not privy to is if the buy-outs will count against the cap.

So at least the fans can thank themselves for not having to have gone through an 82 game schedule just to get knocked out in the first round – and there’s always next year.

Ice Bits – Will Derek Roy help the Canucks for the remainder of the season? Yes. But he’s still not the type of player they need in the physical play of the play-offs.

Don’t get swayed by the 4-0 score over a Oilers team that had just finished four games in six days. Even with Ryan Kesler back in the line-up next week, this team is still a couple of forwards short as I wrote about a couple of months ago.

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Quote Credits – The Vancouver Sun and Province

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Canucks’ – Sedins

Even with all the talent and skill Henrik and Daniel Sedin possess, the one flaw has always been their lack of speed. Yes they have adapted from the days when they first came into the league and their game relied more on strength, with all the clutching and holding, and they carried more weight. But now the game has so much speed, is this area causing them problems in their production on the ice?

First of all, when was the last time that either of them were not amongst the NHL’s top 20 in points? That would be 2007-08. Even their point per game totals are in jeopardy. Henrik as not been below that number since the 2008-09 season and Daniel the same, if you discount the 10 games he missed due to injury in 2011-12.

This season, the Twins have looked slow and tired right from the start of this condensed season. Daniel hasn’t scored in what is it – 13 games? In 2005-06 Henrik was in the top 20 for assists, and since then that has been his lowest ranking.

From that season on, he was either in the top 10 or number one (last three seasons). Currently he’s ranked at 17th and in the last five games he has two assists and 21 for the season.

Not since 2005-06 have one of them or both, not been in the NHL’s top 30 for goals scored and that was usually Daniel, although Henrik did it twice. This season Daniel is 65th and Henrik 88th. Are these the telltale signs of the speed of the game passing them by?

Now this team, except for a couple of seasons ago when Ryan Kesler had a career season, has appeared to be a one line team. On the road with the home team having the last change, the Twins at times had trouble scoring. At home, this was a different story and when the power-play used to work they would pad their stats.

Now it seems even at home the Sedins can’t score and without their production – this team is going nowhere. Coach Vigneault has tried a number of different wingers to help shake them out of their droughts. From Alex Burrows, Jannik Hansen, Mason Raymond and now Chris Higgins. To me it’s obvious that Alex Burrows is the best winger for them, but because of the number of injuries to the forwards this season, Vigneault has had to juggle the line-up and use Burrows to balance the others.

The Twins will be 33 this September, which for most players is past their prime, and especially so for those that play on West Coast teams that travel so much. They have also endured a lot of physical punishment from the opposition over the years, which taxes the body over time and contributes to slowing it down. Don’t forget that they have been playing for 13 years now.

So to me with time catching up to them, and one more season after this remaining on their contract, the Canucks have that amount of time if they are to return to the Stanley Cup Finals. Can the Sedins, who are even more exposed in the play-offs, still be a factor for the Canucks? Right now with the lack of key players in the line-up, and the oppositions success in shutting them down, I would have to say no.

It seems to always be about next season, but for the Sedins and the Canucks - that time has finally arrived.

Ice Bits – Not much more you can say about Cory Schneider except, why wasn’t he one of the NHL’s Three Stars of the Week?

Since the Canucks don’t have any depth on the farm, the asking price to high for rentals, and I would hope wouldn’t give away the likes of Nicklas Jensen or Zack Kassian, I don’t see how they can add a player of significant value at the trade deadline. Maybe an extra centre but not a blockbuster one.

Are the Canucks going to use that clause in the CBA to buy-out David Booth in the off-season? I would say so – to clear some more cap space when it drops. Booth won’t be the only one gone to clear cap space, as Roberto Luongo’s salary has to go via a trade.

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Before I get to these players, and I’ve based them on teams that will most likely be out of the play-off hunt, what would the Canucks be willing to give up? Most likely we’re talking about late draft round picks and with the recent lack of depth on the farm team anyways via the draft, GM Mike Gillis might as well go for broke. Heck, when this version of the Canucks expires, it will be re-building anyways, but let’s not go there now.

First centre is Washington Capitals’ Mike Ribeiro, who Canuck fans will know from watching him when he was with the Dallas Stars for the past five seasons. Here’s a player that is only 33, may not be big at 6′, 176 lbs., is a scrappy player and has proven in his NHL career that he can produce. In 769 games he has scored 183 goals and 411 assists. Since he would be a rental, his $5 million cap hit would be pro-rated to the number of games remaining in the season.

This season Ribeiro has played in 32 games and has 10G, 24A to go along with a +/- minus two, which is not bad on a poor Caps team this season. The draw-back here is that his face-off percentage is only 42.5%. Looking at his Dallas face-off percentage, it was very similar. So, with the need for some more scoring would the Canucks sacrifice his poor face-off percentage?

Another experienced centre that is currently with the Buffalo Sabres is Jochen Hecht who has similar numbers. He is a couple of years older at 35, has played in 817 games with 183 goals and 274 assists. His cap hit is only $1.25 million and this season on a poor Sabres team in 31 games, his stats are 2G, 6A with a +/- of plus 4. In the face-off circle he hovers between 42-45%.

This is a player that maybe his best years are behind him for play-off production, but maybe as an insurance depth player could be useful.

Mike Santorelli of the Florida Panthers is the final centre and at 27, if he proves valuable, the Canucks might consider signing him after his contract expires – plus he shoots right. His 194 games displays that he does not have a lot of NHL experience which also explains the 33G and 25 assists.

Santorelli is a different type of centre in that he thinks shoot first (33G) rather that pass (25A). Where this player would be an asset is in face-offs with a 58.7% rating. He has yet to play in an NHL play-off game so who knows how he would do.

Once again his cap hit at $1.6 million is affordable and a late round pick would be all that the Canucks have to give up.

Whether it is this type of player (UFA) or someone that maybe doesn’t fit into another teams plans, the Canucks have to add a couple of players by the trade dead-line if they are to go very far come play-off time.

Ice Bits – Much as been written about how well Cory Schneider has played in his last four starts, but let’s not forget the defensive play in front of him. The Canucks defender’s blocked 52 shots over the last four games.

Boy what a pounding the team took over those same four games, being out-hit 128-96. This is a team that paid the physical price to win and what gutsy wins they were!

Well, now we know that if Coach Vigneault doesn’t want to use Keith Ballard on defense, that he works just fine as a forward. I’d say he played as well or better than most of the third and fourth liner’s. Versatility and valuable are the keywords here.

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The first part is the long climb up and then it’s curves, plunging straight down where you think you’ll come out of your seat and the rest of the excitement. This season that roller coaster ride, except for that early winning run, has been like riding a plateau with no change. In other words mediocre..

Not all is lost though, as the Canucks at present sit fifth in the Western Conference (15-9-6), are even in goals-for vs goals-against, which is only 28 back of Anaheim and 36 from Chicago. Their home record is 8-5-3 and away, 7-4-3, shoot-outs are 3 wins in 5 attempts, and in the last ten games they have a 4-4-2 posting.

So if you look at it from the glass half full the home and away record is respectful, they are tied with Minnesota for first place in the Northwest Division, have won four of the last six games and are now on a two game winning streak. All of this in a condensed  season where it appears the players are being punished for signing a new CBA by this stupid and ridiculous schedule –  like five games in seven nights for example.

You can add-in the number of injuries that have occurred to the top six forwards such as Ryan Kesler and David Booth, yet the ship is still on course.

SURPRISES – The mediocre and inconsistent play of the team for most of the season. I thought once they got through the first ten games that they would really come around and continue.

Jannik Hansen

Now to some of the individuals who have shone. I’ll start with Jannik Hansen, because through out all of this, he has been the most consistent from game to game, rarely taking a night off. Third in points with 8G, 10A , and a +8, his play in the defensive and offensive zones, penalty-kill, and even his willingness to go the net has earned him a two thumbs up in my books. I must remember to retract the statement about him having “hands of stone”.

Mason Raymond, although I finger him out at times, has come back from that serious back injury and posted some good numbers with 7G and 9A and a +6. A number of his goals have come from his willingness to go to the net. You gotta like that.

Having never watched Jason Garrison before, I am really impressed with how good a defensive D-man he is. He plays the body, is tough in front of the net and along the boards, makes good reads, knows when to jump into the attack, and has a wicked shot from the point. This is one of Gillis’ better signings.

Dale Wiese has proved to be very good foot soldier, with his grit, speed and even surprising scoring ability, although you won’t find that in the stats (2G, 3A). This is a player where the stats don’t show the whole picture as he kills penalties, stands up for his teammates and provides energy on any line.

That Zack Kassian has gone into such a long goal drought is puzzling. I realize that he wouldn’t keep up the pace that he started with, but to not score for such a long extended period, nope I didn’t see that coming. What has been positive is that he continues to provide the grit and when his back is healthy again, the goals will return.

DISAPPOINTMENTS – Special teams jumps out at me immediately and you don’t need the stats – power play – 29th, penalty-kill – 16th, to realize that. Think about how many games have been lost just from the dismal power-play. The one positive thing about the 29th ranking — now that they’re at the bottom, the only way is up.

The other area that I have discussed many times is the face-offs where the Canucks are currently ranked 27th. It’s amazing really that this team is even in the hunt with the poor showing of the above mentioned.

I didn’t think that GM Mike Gillis, although by all reports he has had the phones a buzzing, would go this long without adding a much needed centre with face-off prowess. Like even 50% would place a new person second amongst the Canuck centres. There is no way that this team will go beyond the first round with that face-off and special teams rankings.

With 18 games remaining the rest of the schedule will be like the play-offs, as every game will become that much more important. If one of the goaltenders can ever get on a roll, then with the play from last nights win over Phoenix, while having to use Keith Ballard as a forward, this team can win the Northwest Division. I don’t expect the point spread to be anymore then two to three points, that’s how close it will be.

Who knows, maybe when Kesler and Booth return, the Canucks can get hot at the right time of the season and go on a winning streak into and including the play-offs.

Ice Bits – It was great to see Cory Schneider play so well. Maybe, just maybe, Cory can get on a roll to give this team some much-needed momentum.

Wow, the hits last night were 50-18 in favour of Phoenix. I’m amazed the Canucks had anything left in the third period. The blocked-shots – Canucks 17 to Coyotes 6, shows you the type of defensive game the Canucks played.

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Gillis was responsible for the rest of the team, either through trades, off the waiver wire or free agency.  The draft choices that may turn out to be keys are Zack Kassian (via Cody Hodgson), Nicklas Jensen and Eddie Lack. Not counting the last three names mentioned, none of the rest have been impact players.

There are several players that are very good foot soldiers like Chris Tanev, Chris Higgins and Jason Garrison, and depth position guys like Andrew Alberts, Cam Barker and Dale Weise who are also important. But the big signings of David Booth and Keith Ballard did nothing but tie up $8.4 million of cap space, which leaves the Canucks with about $665,000 at the trade deadline. With the cap space changing to $64.3 million next season, well… that’s for another time.

It’s fair to say that GM Mike Gillis must answer for his ineptitude as the GM that is responsible for all this, because Coach Alain Vigneault did not draft the players, sign them to contracts, or pick them up via free agency.  Yet Vigneault may very well end up being the fall guy, because GM’s don’t usually get fired until the end of the season.

So if this were to happen, to me the logical choice to take over the reins behind the bench would be someone who is in the Canucks system, knows a number of players from a coaching standpoint, and has some NHL coaching experience. That person would be Scott Arniel, who is presently the Chicago Wolves coach, and was also the head coach of the Manitoba Moose from the 2006/07 to 2009/10.

Throw in the fact that he was their most successful coach, setting records for most wins in a season (50), led the Moose to their only first place finish in the AHL, and won the Louis A.R. Pieri  Memorial Award as the league’s outstanding coach for 2008.09. Think about it, in four seasons under Arniel, the Moose won over 40 games each season, compiled a record of 181-106-33 in 320 games, and earned two North Division regular season titles (2006.07 & 2008.09).

Now Arniel was not as successful with the NHL Columbus Blue Jackets over the two seasons (2010/11 & 2011/12) he coached, going 45-60-18 – but then again who was? With the Canucks, Arniel would be working with a core and support players that I feel still has a chance to make something happen before the season ends, even if Gillis does not add the missing two players that I have discussed in previous blogs.

If this coaching change is to happen, I believe it will happen within the next week, after the Canucks lose to the Blues and Coyotes and fall below the play-off spot. Watch for this if the ship keeps sinking.

Ice Bits – I’m not going to spend much time on last night’s loss to Minnesota, because you could tell who wanted the win more if you watched the game. Now as professional players, the Canucks are supposed to be able to motivate themselves, but something is missing.

No, it’s not fair to blame the coach for the above, but maybe Coach Vigneault’s shelf life has expired. As we all know, the NHL coaches tenure is not long on most teams and Vigneault has had a good run.

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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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First of all, they were playing one of the hottest teams in the NHL and to come from a goal down and win in the shoot-out, which has not been kind to them this season – was a building block. Except for the poor read on the first goal by Zack Kassian, who was caught watching the puck instead of picking up the open man in front, the Canucks played a solid defensive game backed by the goal-tending of Roberto Luongo.

Luongo’s play was tight as he made the stops at key times of the game to keep the game within grasp of the Canucks. The penalty-kill did its job blanking the Jackets on two opportunities but the power-play continued to struggle (0/2).

All the soldiers were marching to the same tune last night as everyone contributed in some small way, even if it was a simple chip out along the boards from the defensive zone. I witnessed good back-checking, simple plays to clear the defensive zone, much better reads at both ends, and the usual second period blahs, turned out to be one of the Canucks best, as they out-shot Columbus 18-6 and 38-27 overall.

I wish I could say something positive about the Canucks face-offs, but everyone but Max Lapierre (63%) were 45% or lower.

Jason Garrison, after his slow start to the season, has been the second best defense-man behind Kevin Bieksa, and with the tying goal, now has four for the season. What’s even more impressive is his +/- plus nine, which is tops amongst ’Nucks D-men and is tied for second with Daniel Sedin and Alex Burrows on the team.

Cam Barker continues his strong showing picking up another assist, and now has two points in only four games played. That means he has as many points in four games as David Booth has in 10. Barker is also a plus player (+1) which is another sign he is doing all the right things on the ice. So far, this has been a very good acquisition and by his play, may very well have played himself into the starting rotation.

Chris Higgin’s line generated 10 shots-on-goal with Mason Raymond contributing seven on those, and you didn’t need to know the numbers to see that Raymond was flying last night.

One player that seems to have gone unnoticed this season is Dan Hamhuis. His 14 points in 25 games is tops amongst the Canucks D-men and his play in both zones may not be flashy but is execution is.

Overall, this was a solid defensive game backed by stellar goal-tending. I don’t see why Coach Vigneault would not come back to Luongo again and if he gets on a roll, stay with him. One of these goaltenders needs to step up and take the job and I don’t think Canucks management, at this time in the season, cares which one it is.

Ice Bits – Calling Alex Edler, would you please make an appearance. Is this player an enigma or what? How can this guy be a -5 with the supposedly talent he has? No points in the last five games, what’s with that! Once again I throw out the question, is his back bothering him again? If not, how come he never gets a spot in the press box, or is that just reserved for Keith Ballard?

Zack Kassian continues to work hard with his physical play – four hits last night. He just hasn’t picked up the nuances of the defensive side of the game as yet. I hope he gets another goal before the end of the season. Ditto for David Booth.

If you think the depth at centre is bad, take a look at the defenseman that are currently with the Wolves. Promising at one time, Kevin Connauton (-10), Yann Sauve – played 12 games with the Wolves and is now with the Kalamazoo Wings of the ECHL. At least he’s playing better at that level, in 22 games he has 8G, 7A and is a +7. But, it’s a long ways from the ECHL to the NHL.

Adam Polsek had also joined Sauve on the Wings for 34 games but has recently being recalled to the Wolves.

That means right now, the Canucks have no NHL D-experience help on their farm team even in an emergancy basis. Ouch!

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.

In the last 15 games the Canucks have five wins, six losses, one over-time loss and three shoot-out losses. Something has to give here and someone must be held accountable and no – it’s not Alain Vigneault. He’s still the same coach that brought them to within one game of the Stanley Cup and two Presidents Cup Trophy’s.

So let’s not go there, and start calling for the coach’s head, because he can only work with the talent that has been given to him by the GM, Mike Gillis. Suffice to say this team does not have enough talent starting with the obvious position – centre ice. Now, Gillis did draft Cody Hodgson and Jordan Schroeder, and Hodgson has turned into Zack Kassian, but Schroeder is a depth player at best.

With Ryan Kesler out, this really exposes the need at centre, but nothing has developed with the Roberto Luongo asset, by turning it into a much-needed centre and another right-hand D-man. Nope, this team just slugs along playing un-inspired hockey with not enough scoring, no power-play or penalty-kill.

Now by all accounts Gillis has been on the phone constantly trying to pull off a trade for a centre, but when you are trading from a weak position, the other teams want the moon.

Maybe Luongo is not the goalie they should consider trading after all, as I don’t see Cory Schneider making that key save that turns a game around. Whichever goalie it turns out to be, the Canucks need to move on this because right now they are one loss from being out of a play-off spot. As I mentioned in a previously blog, if the play-offs were to start tomorrow, the Canucks would be one round and out.

With a start to trying to revive the power-play, how about changing the assistant coach that is responsible for it – Newell Brown. Since about the middle of last season till now, this team has resided in the bottom eight, somewhere between 22 to 30th. This also includes the poor showing in last season’s play-offs – like near the bottom. Right now the team is grasping at straws in their deployment of Schroeder on the point (when he was here) and some of their mixtures on the second team power-play.

Another area that needs to be re-visited is the Manny Malhotra’s shut-down. Now, I’m not privy to the tests that were done to his eye to determine whether his vision was placing him in jeopardy, but I’m hoping that this is the case. If not, then his league-leading proficiency before he was shut-down, would surely help the team with puck possession and increase their dismal ranking (22nd) in face-offs.

One line team’s, like the Canucks are at present, are usually found out of the play-offs or near the bottom of the league. The Canucks really have only a few quality offensive players – and that’s the Sedins, Ryan Kesler – when he is healthy, and Alex Burrows.

On defense, the supposedly number one player Alex Edler (-2), should now be considered a bust. I don’t have enough information to know whether he signed a no-movement clause when the Canucks re-signed him, but if not, it’s time to move him. This team will never, and I’ll repeat – never, win a Stanley Cup without a Norris Trophy Winner/Candidate.

The best Canucks D-man this season is the one that is currently back in the line-up, and I’m speaking of Kevin Bieksa. It’s not hard to see why the Canucks struggle even more - without him in the line-up.

All that I know right now is that the Minnesota game tonight will determine in which direction this team is going.

Ice Bits – I’m not suggesting any whole-sale changes at this time, because that would upset the chemistry of this team, but a couple of major ones, might wake up this under-performing bunch. If top prospect Nichlas Jensen, who is currently with the Chicago Wolves, proves he can continue to score at the professional level (5 games - 2G), then I would have to say that David Booth is expendable – if he can ever remain healthy long enough.

Jason Garrison leads the D-men in the +/- stat with a +8.

In the last two games against Detroit, Roberto Luongo had 13 goals scored against him. I would expect Cory Schneider to start tonight as Luongo doesn’t have much luck against the Wild.

Here are the face-off percentages from the Canucks/Detroit game. Chris Higgins – 36, Andrew Ebbett – 36, Henrik Sedin – 48, and Max Lapierre – 30. Need I say more about why this team is struggling. It’s pretty hard to beat a team that has possession of the puck most of the time, when you are chasing them all night.

Just in case you missed that brawl between the Chicago Wolves and Rockford Icehogs, here it is

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.

If this team were to enter the playoffs at this stage of the season, they would be one and out. So if Gillis can not get a couple of players before the trade deadline, will he target some of the teams that appear destined to miss the playoffs, like Columbus and Florida?

The Blue Jackets may be interested in parting with centre Mark Letestu, who will be a free agent at the end of this season and his cap hit is only $625,000. I would class him as a third liner, but with his 5G, 8A in 21 games and more importantly 51.8% in face-offs, he would be a sharp improvement over Jordan Schroeder. He’s not big at 5’10″, 195 lbs. but even that is better than the diminutive Schroeder, who is unable to handle the bigger centres in the defensive zone, never mind only winning 44% in the face-off circle.

Another team that has a huge number of free agents coming due, with five of those being centres, and who might not be able to sign their best one in Stephen Weiss ($3.1 million), are the Panthers. This is a player that the Canucks have had a knee interest in every since the word leaked out that Roberto Luongo was up for grabs.

He’s the same size as Letestu, but has way more offensive skill. In the past three seasons his goal production has been 20, 21 and 28 respectively and his average point total has been 55. Like Letestu, he also is over 50% in face-offs sitting currently at 51.1, second on the Panthers team. But this is a player that Florida will not let go easily.

The other type of player the Canucks need is a right handed shot D-man. This would have to be someone that can play the 5/6 position. Columbus has a player that the Canucks know quite well, as Adrian Aucoin played for them for four seasons in the late 1990′s. He’s 39, but may jump at the chance of playing with a team that has a legitimate shot at the Cup.

His right handed shot would come in handy on the power-play, and a veteran like him should be able to play with any of the left-sided D-men that have, or are currently, on the third pairing. Let’s not forget that he was on the Chicago Blackhawks Stanley Cup winner, so he brings that experience also. It’s just a matter of fitting in his pro-rated $2.2 million salary into the Canucks cap.

One thing that is obvious, the Canucks are going nowhere fast and can ill afford to wait for Kesler’s return, expected to be sometime towards the end of this season.

Ice Bits – Speaking of trades, if Keith Ballard’s agent is speaking for him, maybe Ballard could be a piece of the trade bait with Luongo. Heck, while they’re at, why not ship both Ballard and David Booth back to Florida, although before Ballard got hurt, I still don’t see why he was removed from the starting line-up.

Once again this Canucks team is easy to shut-down on the road, as all the NHL teams know that once the Sedins are nullified, there’s nothing else to worry about.

Currently only one centre, Max Lapierre, is over 50% (50.8) in face-offs and the Canucks continue their free fall in the NHL (22nd). Ask any coach why the Detroit Red Wings were so successful in their hey-day, and they’ll tell you one of the key reasons was because they were a puck possession team. That all started in the face-off circle and coming out of it with the puck.

With the re-alignment almost certain to be ratified by the NHL’s board of governors, this may be the last season the Canucks ever win their division.

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.