Canuckz.com » Special Feature

Canucks to Retire Nazzy’s Jersey and Not Everyone Agrees with it

Tonyz Tanti — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 04:33:13 +0000

The Canucks held their annual Summer Summit (formerly known as the state of the franchise) last night at Rogers Arena (yes, it will take a while to get used to the new name) where they announced that Markus Naslund will have his #19 jersey retired on December 11th. And so the debate begins: is he deserving of this honour? This was a debate Canuckz.com brought up at about this time last year, to which I thought he was deserving, but I thought the team ought to wait a few years before retiring it.

Why Now?

My reason for retiring Naslund’s jersey in a few years from now is because his disappointing last few years with the team are still too fresh in our minds. All some people can remember is the disappointment, while we gloss over the good times. As the years go by, we’ll remember the good times more. Retiring his jersey now sparks a debate among Canucks fans which leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Retiring a jersey should be a celebration, not a debate.

Does he Deserve it?

Well, it depends what your standard is. Is it playoff success? Is it regular season numbers? Is it community involvement? Is it some kind of x-factor? In my mind, if the standard is Stan Smyl and Trevor Linden, then Naslund deserves it. He’s the franchise leader in points and goals, and was putting up near 50 goal seasons in the dead puck era. I believe his 48 goal season should be thought of in the same light as Bure’s 60 goal seasons. Scoring 60 in 1993 was easier than in 2003. Naslund was also a class act and did a lot for the community. If he was born in Western Canada like Linden and Smyl, he’d be a slam dunk pick to have his jersey retired. Instead, he’s a stoic Swede, which rubs people the wrong way.

His Detractors

Naslund’s detractors mainly point to the team’s lack of playoff success. He never went past the second round of the playoffs. Smyl went to the Stanley Cup Finals and never made it out of the first round once other than that. Linden went to the Finals, but other than that never made it past the second round. But what allowed those teams to make it to the Finals while Naslund’s teams didn’t? The main difference was goaltending.

If Kirk McLean doesn’t make this save in game 7 of the 1st round in 1994, Linden’s resume looks a lot worse:

Conversely, if Dan Cloutier doesn’t meltdown against Detroit in 2002 and Minnesota in 2003, we probably look at Naslund’s career differently.

What about Pavel?

Another argument making the rounds today is the argument that Pavel Bure deserves to have his jersey retired ahead of Naslund. Personally, I couldn’t disagree more. Bure was a great player, no doubt, but the way in which he left Vancouver was inexcusable. A lot of people have glossed over the fact that Bure quit on his team and this city when he decided to sit out an entire season while under contract. He has still never provided the Vancouver fans a reason. I would also argue that Naslund accomplished more at his peak, winning the Pearson Trophy and regularly appearing in the top 10 in scoring. While Bure had better numbers, they were put up in an era where goals were easy to come by. Naslund scored 48 when the top goal scorer had 50. Bure scored 60 when the top goal scorer had 76.

The Best

It’s too bad that all of this debate is necessary concerning Naslund’s career in Vancouver because he simply had the best career (minus playoff success) of any player in club history. He was a consistent scorer, leading the team in scoring seven consecutive seasons. He finished second in league scoring in 01-02, 02-03 and fourth in league scoring in 03-04.

Ballard BC Bound

Tonyz Tanti — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 01:43:23 +0000

The biggest deal on draft day in 2010 once again involves the Vancouver Canucks. The same team that brought you Alex Mogilny (1995 draft), the Sedin twins (1999 draft) and Roberto Luongo (2006 draft) did it again. While not as big as the aforementioned trades, the acquisition of Keith Ballard is significant. The Canucks acquired Keith Ballard and prospect Victor Oreskovich in exchange for their first round draft pick, Michael Grabner and Steve Bernier.

In the short term I like this trade but I think it is a bad deal long-term. Keith Ballard is exactly what the Canucks need. He’s a mobile, gritty defenceman who can play big minutes in their top four (he’s also no longer on Tomas Vokoun’s Christmas card list). He’s also only 27, so he shouldn’t be over the hill. That’s the upside. The downside is that he makes $4.2 million and has five years left on his deal. That makes him the Canucks highest paid d-man. Can Ballard play in a shutdown role? Can he play on their first unit power play? That remains to be seen. He’ll be a useful player for them, no doubt, but to justify making $4.2 million he needs to be one of their top two defencemen.

The other player acquired in the deal is a prospect by the name of Victor Oreskovich. It doesn’t sound like he’ll be an impact player but he sure is big. The Whitby, ON native was a 2nd round draft pick in the 2004 draft and is 6’3″ and 215 pounds. He split time between the NHL and AHL last season. He’s got a cap friendly salary at $438,000 next season. I’m guessing his potential is to be a third or fourth liner that can provide some size and grit.

So what did the Canucks give up? In Michael Grabner, they’re officially giving up on Dave Nonis’ first round draft pick from the 2006 draft. He was picked 14th overall, so it’s disappointing that he wasn’t able to fetch more in return. I believe Grabner is just about ready to make an impact at the NHL level, and probably has potential to become a 30 goal scorer. The problem with him is that there isn’t much room for him with the Canucks next season. Their top six will be filled with the Sedins, Burrows, Kesler, Raymond and Samuelsson. To play Grabner on their fourth line certainly wouldn’t help getting grit into their lineup.

Steve Bernier’s time with the Canucks was filled with lots of effort, but no finish. The bottom line is that his lack of finish reduced his role to the third line and wasn’t particularly effective on the penalty kill or power play. He was set to make $2 million next season, so getting rid of his salary was a plus. He’s a nice player to have, but not at his salary.

The Canucks also parted with the 25th overall pick in this year’s draft. I’m a little bothered with the Canucks losing this pick, given that they already don’t have a pick in the second and third round. Mike Gillis must work at acquiring some draft picks or else the cupboard will be bare.

The Canucks gave up a lot to get Keith Ballard and for this trade to be viewed as a success, Ballard must deliver. While this trade doesn’t eliminate the chances of the Canucks landing another free agent like Dan Hamhuis, it doesn’t help it. This trade likely means Willie Mitchell won’t be back with the team, although that was already common knowledge. Ballard provides a lot of what Kevin Bieksa brings to the table, so this deal could be a precursor to the underachieving d-man being shipped out of town.

I also believe that this is an early sign from Gillis that he’s going to ‘go for it’. The window of opportunity is now for Gillis. Roberto Luongo had an off-year last season, but he should still be considered one of the top 5 netminders in the league. Their forwards are deep and have high end talent. Their defence needs improving and Gillis is attempting to do that in this trade and can improve it some more with some free agent signings. What I’d really like to see is a true #1 defenceman in blue and green, but those guys are hard to come by. Ballard is useful, but certainly not a true #1. In any case, I believe the window for this team is open for the next 1-2 maybe 3 years. The time is now.

Henrik’s got Hart!

Tonyz Tanti — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 02:20:39 +0000

Henrik Sedin has made club history by becoming the first Canuck to win the Hart Trophy. He walks away with the Hart and Art Ross trophies but not the Lindsay trophy, that went to Alex Ovechkin. The dream season is now officially complete. A player that nobody thought would be thought of as a top 10 player in the league is not only the Art Ross trophy winner, but the Hart trophy winner as well. A great honour for a true class act.

Henrik won the award with 46 first place votes to Ovechkin’s 40. The rest of the voting was as follows:

Pts. (1st-2nd-3rd-4th-5th)

1. Henrik Sedin, VAN 894 (46-34-27-19-4)
2. Alex Ovechkin, WSH 834 (40-35-22-22-13)
3. Sidney Crosby, PIT 729 (20-35-38-29-7)

Henrik for the Hart? NHL Awards Preview

Tonyz Tanti — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 05:56:08 +0000

Never before in club history have the Vancouver Canucks had the potential to steal the show on NHL awards night as they do on Wednesday night in Las Vegas (you can see it via tape delay on CBC @ 8:30pm…they wouldn’t want to pre-empt the Road to Avonlea or anything). For the first time ever, a Canuck, Henrik Sedin will win the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL’s scoring champion. Henrik also has a chance to be only the second Canuck to win the newly named Lindsay Trophy (MVP as voted by the players) and the first to win the Hart Trophy. Ryan Kesler also has a chance to become Vancouver’s first Selke Trophy winner, as he is nominated for the second consecutive season. The chances of the Canucks capturing these awards are open to debate, which is what we’ll do here with Canuckz.com’s preview/prediction of the NHL awards.

Jack Adams (Coach of the Year):

Finalists: Joe Sacco, Dave Tippett, Barry Trotz

Analysis: This award almost always goes to the team that performed the best with the least expectations, and usually to coaches in their first year with their team. Both Sacco and Tippett fit this mold, while Trotz once again got his team into the playoffs despite a lack of talent on paper.

Prediction: Trotz deserves to win this award one day, but I believe it will be won by Tippett. Tippett took a team with very few expectations combined with the distractions of the whole Phoenix Coyotes ownership fiasco and lead them to the fourth highest point total in the league.

Selke Trophy (Best Defensive Forward):

Finalists: Pavel Datsyuk, Ryan Kesler, Jordan Staal

Analysis: Datsyuk has won this award the last two seasons, while Kesler was nominated last season. This award is usually given in part by reputation and in part by point production. Datsyuk has the best reputation, but his production was down this year. Kesler’s reputation is growing, especially given his play at the Olympics. Staal is becoming well respected as a defensive forward, but probably didn’t put up enough points to win.

Prediction: Despite only being a plus 1, I have a hunch that Kesler will win it this year. He was nominated last season and was even better this year. Datsyuk meanwhile wasn’t as good as his previous two Selke trophy seasons. I’m giving the nod to Kesler.

Lady Byng Trophy (Most Gentlemanly Player):

Finalists: Pavel Datsyuk, Brad Richards, Martin St Louis

Analysis: This award is usually a statistically-based award. The player with the best combination of high point totals and low penalty minutes tends to win it.

Prediction: Martin St Louis had the most points and had the fewest penalties. He’s also been nominated before and didn’t win it. Give him the trophy.

Calder Trophy (Rookie of the Year):

Finalists: Matt Duchene, Jimmy Howard, Tyler Myers

Analysis: Duchene proved himself as a dynamic scoring centre with the upstart Avalanche, Howard took over the starting job with the Red Wings and Tyler Myers lead his team in ice time.

Prediction: I don’t believe Matt Duchene put up big enough numbers to win this award, despite the fact that he might end up having the best career of these three. Jimmy Howard put up impressive numbers but he did it with the Red Wings, who have proved that they can put just about anyone in net and have a successful regular season. Tyler Myers lead his team in ice time, played against the other team’s best players and still managed to put up 48 points (7 less than Duchene). Look for Myers to take home the Calder.

Norris Trophy (Best Defenceman):

Finalists: Drew Doughty, Mike Green, Duncan Keith

Analysis: For the first time in a long time, the Norris Trophy finalists features three players who have never won the awards before. While Mike Green was nominated last season after a remarkable offensive season, he lost out because of his defensive play. Once again, Green is the top scoring d-man of the league. Meanwhile, Keith and Doughty played big minutes against the other team’s top players while putting up big numbers.

Prediction: This award typically goes to someone who has paid their dues. Expect this year to be no different. Mike Green didn’t win last year despite scoring 31 goals in 68 games. He put up fewer goals this year but notched more assists. The big knock against him is his defensive play, but he was a remarkable plus 39. Green will edge out Keith for his first Norris.

Vezina Trophy (Best Goaltender):

Finalists: Martin Brodeur, Ilya Bryzgalov, Ryan Miller

Analysis: All three of these netminders had excellent statistical seasons playing in front of relatively average teams. Brodeur has won four of the last six Vezina trophies while Miller and Bryzgalov are looking for their first.

Prediction: Of the three, Ryan Miller had the best goals against average and save percentage. He’s also got a great reputation and has never won the award before. All of those factors lead me to believe that he’ll be walking away with his first Vezina.

Hart Trophy (MVP):

Finalists: Alex Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby, Henrik Sedin

Analysis: Alex Ovechkin is the reigning MVP while Sidney Crosby is a previous winner. Henrik Sedin is nominated for the first time and of course came out of nowhere this year to win the scoring title. Henrik finished with 112 points while Crosby and Ovechkin were tied at 109.

Prediction: This was Ovechkin’s award to lose midway through the season, and lose it he did in my opinion. His wreckless play (including a suspension for " target="_blank">this hit on Brian Campbell) will not endear himself to the voters, as well as not only losing the scoring title to Henrik Sedin but being caught by Sidney Crosby for second place. In my mind this will be a close race between Henrik and Crosby, with Crosby winning because of his high goal total and the fact that he put up points with relatively weak wingers. Henrik will make it close due to the fact that he performed so well while his brother was injured, but will suffer because he doesn’t have the same name value and didn’t put up as many goals as Crosby.

The 2009-2010 Vancouver Canucks, How Bad Was It?

Tonyz Tanti — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 05:30:48 +0000

Well, we’ve all had a chance to take a deep breath, sit back and really think about the year that was for our beloved Vancouver Canucks. Gone is the emotion/heartbreak/disappointment/anger from their second straight second round loss to the Chicago Blackhawks. What’s left is a better chance for impartial analysis as to what they did, what they have and what they should do.

Was it as Bad as we Thought?

It’s been over a month since the Canucks were ousted by the Blackhawks. At the time we knew the Blackhawks were good, but we also thought the Canucks could have and should have been better. Perhaps they should have, but consider this. The Canucks lost to the eventual Stanley Cup champions, which suggests they’re a pretty good team. The Blackhawks beat a hard working bunch with a strong defense (Nashville), a high scoring team (Vancouver), an all around talented team (San Jose) and a gritty team (Philadelphia). Basically, they beat different teams and it didn’t faze them one bit. The Canucks stretched the Hawks to 6 games, as far as any of their other three opponents.

I’m not arguing that the Canucks couldn’t have played better or that they don’t have problems they need to fix, but I’m starting to think that they weren’t as bad as we thought they were. We need to give the Blackhawks a bit of credit.

Your Best Players Need to be Your Best Players

So what just happened? Why did the Canucks look so terrible at times against the Blackhawks? For me, it starts with the old adage that your best players need to be your best players. I believe that Daniel and Henrik Sedin were good enough in the playoffs, each notching better than a point per game in the post season. It was the Canucks most important player, Roberto Luongo, who did not play up to par. True, the Chicago Blackhawks can make a lot of goalies look silly, but Luongo ended the playoffs with a save percentage below .900, not good enough for a goalie of his ability. Quite simply, the Canucks as they were constructed this year can’t and won’t win a Stanley Cup with average or below average goaltending.

But now, a little perspective. A lot of uneducated hockey fans are suggesting that the Canucks trade Luongo and “give Schneider a shot”. Lets not lose our minds here folks. Luongo may have had an off-season, but he can certain bounce back and giving the reigns to an unproven good AHL goalie is probably not a prudent move. For those of you in favour of letting Louie go, consider that his cap number will be going down next season, from $6.75 million to $5.33 million. That cap number puts him in 9th place among the other goalies in the league.

Who Would You Rather Have?

For those Luongo haters I also ask you this: how many goalies in this year’s playoffs would you want ahead of Luongo? Certainly not either of the Stanley Cup Final goaltenders. Would it be Evgeni Nabokov, he the man who plays behind all that talent in San Jose and year after year can’t get it done when it matters? How about Ilya Bryzgalov, who after a terrific regular season posted similar numbers to Luongo and lost in the first round. It’s getting harder and harder to make the case for Martin Brodeur now, with his best days behind him he looks like he’s beginning to lose a step and has had a few playoff flops in recent years. The Marc-Andre Fleury argument has always been “he’s got a Stanley Cup ring” but look at this year’s playoffs and I defy you to say that you’d be more comfortable with him in net. Steve Mason proved that having one amazing year doesn’t necessarily mean that it can be sustained, so lets forget about Tuukka Rask, Craig Anderson, Jimmy Howard, Brian Elliott and Jaroslav Halak. That leaves Ryan Miller, who was the best goalie in the league this year, and I would take him ahead of Luongo, but his teams (Team USA and Buffalo) didn’t do as well as Luongo’s this year.

The point? The best option for the Canucks remains to keep faith with Luongo and hope that he has a bounce-back season. Perhaps he needs to play less, and perhaps they’ve learned their lesson in that respect. Maybe he doesn’t need to play every game to be a great goalie, maybe he just needs to get used to resting more.

Where was the Grit?

Against the Chicago Blackhawks it seemed to be non-existent. While the Canucks defensemen were getting pounded, the Blackhawks defensemen cruised around with ease. A little more grit that can play in their top 9 or even in their top 6 should be a high priority for GM Mike Gillis, but once again, a little perspective is needed. Yesterday, Alex Burrows underwent shoulder surgery, while Ryan Kesler revealed he also played through a shoulder injury in the playoffs. It should come as no surprise that grit would be an issue when the two grittiest players in the Canucks top 6 forwards have shoulder injuries. So maybe it’s not quite as bad as we thought.

Defense

What was once the Canucks greatest strength not long ago is now their greatest need. Losing Willie Mitchell hurt greatly, and I contend that he is their most important defenseman. Christian Ehrhoff had a great season, but is not great defensively. Sami Salo actually stayed healthy for longer than anyone predicted, and had a solid season. Kevin Bieksa is now another year removed from his great breakout season, and I’m among those who think that he won’t regain the form that rewarded him with a big contract. Alex Edler stepped his game up more than anyone in the playoffs, which was a pleasant surprise. The Canucks D is missing a bit of nastiness though, something Kevin Bieksa is supposed to provide. It’s also missing a stud on the blueline that can eat up big minutes against the other team’s best players while contributing offensively.

The Recap

The Canucks had a nice regular season, not a great one. They won their division, but finished fourth in points in the Western Conference. They were a clear notch below the Sharks and Blackhawks in the regular season and failed to make it past the second round. That is not the mark of an elite team ready to knock on the door. There were a lot of positive things that happened this year though (the emergence of the Sedins as elite players, Kesler and Burrows proving they can score consistently, Edler and Ehrhoff taking steps forward in their development). Mike Gillis has some things to tweak, no doubt. But how bad was it? It wasn’t so bad, and it can sure get a lot better.

Ten Days Away

The NHL entry draft is ten days away, which not only marks the day that teams pick future NHL stars, but also the start of the NHL trade frenzy! Speaking of frenzies, the free agency frenzy begins in just over two weeks.Check back before the draft and July 1st to get in-depth analysis of just what Mike Gillis’ options are.

Blackhawks Win the Cup… and Party All Night!

Tonyz Tanti — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 05:09:50 +0000

What a wild end to a wild playoffs. These playoffs pretty much had it all. Not one, but two miraculous 3-1 comebacks by the Montreal Canadiens, against the mighty Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins no less. The team that ends up tripping them up was a team that had the best comeback of all, the Philadelphia Flyers, who became the first team in over 30 years to overcome a 3-0 series deficit.

The 2010 playoffs also had a lot of players emerge to take on much larger roles in the playoffs than they had all season. Goaltenders like Brian Boucher, Michael Leighton, Antti Niemi and Jaroslav Halak all proved they belonged. Mike Cammalleri and Joe Pavelski took their games to another level, while role players such as Dustin Byfuglien and Ville Leino became front line players.

In the end, the Chicago Blackhawks were the class of the league. Antti Niemi was good enough in goal, while their depth on defense and in goal proved to be too much for their opponents. They were able to win in a lot of different ways and seemed unaffected by pressure and expectations (including the most lofty of expectations, getting the nod from Canuckz.com!).

The only time I can ever recall an overtime of this kind of magnitude causing this much confusion was Anson Carter’s World Championship goal in 2003. Of course that goal needed a lengthy video review to ultimately figure it out.

And the last time a cup winning goal had a more confused announcer trying to call the game had to have been in 1999 when Brett Hull scored the game winning goal. Bob Cole: “Mike Modanooooo!!! With Dennis Hull…”

Lots has changed from 1999 of course, notably the pictures/video that can be found from something like this! The Chicago Tribune chronicled their wild night from the moment they touched down in Chicago at 4am local time.

Pictured above is Jonathan Toews trying to eat breakfast at a restaurant in Chicago while being mobbed by fans. Apparently through the wonder of Twitter, word spread quickly.

Pretty cool stuff. Now the job for Chicago is to try and keep most of their parts together. Even if they can unload the monster contracts of Cristobal Huet and Brian Campbell, that may be an impossible job. Stay tuned in the offseason for draft coverage and trade/free agency news and rumours. Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/tonyztanti to keep up to date.

Stanley Cup Final Breakdown, Matchup and Prediction

Tonyz Tanti — Wed, 26 May 2010 05:54:06 +0000

With a 8 for 14 prediction rate so far in these playoffs, Canuckz.com has predicted about as accurately as Maggie the Monkey. With that said, we’re pretty stubborn here at Canuckz.com and we’re not giving up. So without further ado, here is the MUCH anticipated Canuckz.com Stanley Cup Final prediction:

The Matchup:

The Chicago Blackhawks and Philadelphia Flyers have a few things in common. They both have goaltenders who nobody thought would be starting goalies at the beginning of this season, nevermind playing well for Stanley Cup finalists. They also have a very strong defense corps, especially their in their top four. Chicago’s Keith, Seabrook, Campbell and Hjalmarsson are probably equaled by Pronger, Timonen, Coburn and Carle for the Flyers. Up front, both teams are lead by young captains, surrounded by a good mix of young and veteran forwards.

Goaltending:

Antti Niemi versus Michael Leighton. Who would have predicted that these two goalies would be squaring off in the Stanley Cup Final before this season started? Amazingly, neither one has been a weakness for their team in these playoffs. I think both goalies will be in for a rude awakening in the finals. Neither goalie has had to face the kind of net presence, bumping and overall chippy play that they’re due to see in this round. The Blackhawks have made Anderson, Luongo and Nabokov look very ordinary, often due to traffic in front. You can bet that the Flyers will be trying much of the same on Niemi, and the types of players to make it happen effectively. As for who has the edge, based on play you’d have to say Leighton, but I believe that his strong play has been more a product of Philly’s defense. The edge goes to neither team, it’s a wash.

Defense:

The way Philadelphia’s defense is playing, I think you have to consider this position a wash also. The difference between now and the regular season has been Chris Pronger. Pronger has really stepped up his game and is playing over 28 minutes a game. He’s also the perfect guy to battle with Chicago’s big strong forwards in front of the net. With that said, Keith and Seabrook might be the best defense pair in the NHL. Philadelphia’s defense also hasn’t had to face a team with a decent offense since they faced New Jersey in round 1.

Forwards:

The edge at the forward position goes to Chicago. Jonathan Toews has been the best player in the playoffs, and is playing alongside the always dangerous Patrick Kane and the red hot Dustin Byfuglien. They’ve rolled through the playoffs nicely, and they still haven’t gotten much production from Marian Hossa. The rest of their forwards are all playing at the top of their game and appear to be very healthy.

As for the Flyers, they’ve now got Jeff Carter back in the lineup, but how healthy is he? He only got 17 minutes of ice time in the last game against Montreal, so things appear to be looking better. Mike Richards, Danny Briere, Claude Giroux and Simon Gagne are carrying the mail for the Flyers forwards, who are good and gritty. They aren’t as deep as the Blackhawks though, and they don’t have as much top end talent, although it’s close.

Coaching:

Both Joel Quenneville and Peter Laviolette come into this series with great resumes. Laviolette has won a Stanley Cup, while Quenneville has been one of the more successful coaches in this decade. It has been said that Quenneville has an easier time winning the matchup game because of his personnel, and I happen to agree with that. He is able to throw Keith and Seabrook on the ice to eat up big minutes, while he has four centres who are excellent defensively. David Bolland is his shutdown centre, but John Madden, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Sharp could all play that role if needed. Laviolette is in a similar situation with his defense, as he has two excellent pairings that eat up huge minutes.

X-Factor:

There are two x-factors are play. The Blackhawks have been good all season, and came close last year. How many times do we see teams lose in the conference final or Stanley Cup final and come back to win the top prize the following season?

The X-Factor for the Flyers is the incredible roll they’re on. This team was the last team to qualify for the playoffs, needing a shootout win against the Rangers on the last day of the season just to squeak in. They’re also the first team in 35 years to come back from a 3-0 deficit, as they did in round 2 against Boston.

Who’s Hot?

The Flyers are hotter than they’ve been all season and have won 8 of their last 9 games. The Blackhawks are rolling also, winning 8 of their last 9 as well. One might give the edge to the Blackhawks, considering they knocked off the Canucks and Sharks, better teams than the Bruins and Canadiens.

Prediction:

Cinderella often makes it to the Stanley Cup Final but never wins it. I don’t think this year will be much different. The Blackhawks are healthier and more battle tested than the Flyers, who have scraped and clawed their way past relatively weak opponents. The Flyers will make it interesting, but ultimately the better team will win. Blackhawks in 6.

Conference Finals Predictions!

Tonyz Tanti — Sun, 16 May 2010 08:54:07 +0000

Well after a stellar 6 for 8 success rate in round 1, Canuckz.com went a woeful 1 for 4 in predicting round 2 (our only correct prediction was bravely picking Chicago to beat Vancouver). With that said, lets set-up round 3, the conference finals:

Western Conference:

(1) San Jose Sharks vs (2) Chicago Blackhawks

Call me crazy, but I still don’t believe in the San Jose Sharks. Sure they got by the Red Wings last round and their most notable playoff chokers have seemingly found their form, but I think that will come to an end in this round. The Blackhawks have a certain moxie that will bother the Sharks. They will push and prod the likes of Thornton, Marleau and Heatley and bother Nabokov. Keith and Seabrook should be able to neutralize the Thornton line, so the key for Chicago will be to shutdown the Sharks second line with the likes of Campbell, Hjalmarsson and Sopel.

Prediction: Blackhawks in 6

(7) Philadelphia Flyers vs (8) Montreal Canadiens

For the first time, a conference final will be played between the two bottom seeds. The Flyers enter this round as a beat up team. They’ve lost Jeff Carter and Brian Boucher in these playoffs and many other players are playing hurt. Remarkably they’ve just kept on marching along. Meanwhile, the Habs have shocked the world with two huge upsets over Washington and Pittsburgh. The key for Montreal will be figuring out how to play without being underdogs. Philadelphia will have to find a way to solve Halak. In the end, I think Montreal is catching the Flyers at the perfect time.

Prediction: Canadiens in 6.

McTuzzi’s Corner: Canucks Season Ends with Explosive Diarrhea

Stu Mctuzzi — Thu, 13 May 2010 05:07:58 +0000

Get ready Vancouver, it’s time to introduce Canuckz.com’s newest blogger: Stu McTuzzi

Well, it’s that time of year again, folks.

We’ve all, yet again, just watched our team collapse in the playoffs, seen our hopes dashed, our choruses of “This could be our year!” shoved back in our big, stupid faces, as our beloved perennial losers skated of the ice, heads hung in shame, all of it oddly familiar, comfortable even.

So now what? We all know how the rest goes, don’t we? Cheering for whatever Canadian teams are left in the playoffs, whom we had previously professed to loathe passionately. Several weeks of Team 1040 call-in show switchboards lighting up. “Trade Luongo!” “Give Cory Schneider a chance!” “Trade Wellwood for Crosby!” etcetera, etcetera, ad infinitum. Then, when the pain and humiliation have begun to fade, a strange, dull silence will descend upon our fair city. We’ll all pretend to care about the BC Lions for a while, until the Ne’er-do-well Canucks and their fans start gearing up for next season.

Then the bold predictions will begin, because when the day does come that our boys go the distance, we all want to be able to say we knew it all along, right? Plus, Things are looking up: The coming of age of the Sedins, an obvious upward trend in point totals over the past 3 seasons, Luongo locked in long term, Mikael Samuelson paying dividends, and competitive young players emerging from within our farm system. All perfectly valid reasons for hope.

A couple minor offseason acquisitions and signings, a harsh word here and there from management, crocodile humility from Luongo about how he should’ve been better, all sprinkled with a Vancouver-sized portion of positivity and hope for next year.

We’ve heard all that before too, right? “We have a good, young nucleus here”, “we’re just one or two players away from being real contenders”, etcetera, etcetera, ad infinitum.

The 2010 season begins, hopes are mixed, maybe they come out of the gate flying, maybe they struggle at first and turn it around a month or two in, but turn it around they do. A winning streak here, a 7-0 win there, beating the Capitals, Ovechkin held pointless! Could they? Would they?

It’s all just part of being a Canucks fan. They are our team and we love them.

It’s sort of like going over to your parents house for dinner: Mom’s going to make her famous potroast, Dad’s going to make his hilarious jokes, there will be a guilt trip about how you don’t come around to visit enough, you’ll all talk about your career, “Are you seeing anyone?” “Can we meet her?” ”Whatever happened to [insert girl’s name here], she was so nice and so beautiful…” etcetera, etcetera, ad infinitum.

It kind of sucks, but hey, they’re your family, its warm and comfortable, there are no big surprises, and you are entertained for a few hours. At the very least, you get something free to eat, even if you do go home feeling angry and empty and spend the night on the toilet with explosive diarrhea.

Canucks vs Blackhawks – Round 2 Series Preview and Prediction

Tonyz Tanti — Sat, 01 May 2010 03:41:50 +0000

This image (along with this song) has haunted Canucks fans for almost an entire calendar year. Patrick Kane, mouth guard dangling and all, scoring the insurance goal late in game 6, his third goal of the night. The Canucks insist that they should have won that series, to which I disagree (they had fewer points than Chicago, and were beaten in six!). The Hawks were the better team last year, and throughout the regular season have been the better team this year. No doubt, they are the favourites. With that said, this series should be a close one and could go either way, depending on a few keys of the series:

Traffic in Front of Luongo:

The Blackhawks were very successful last season getting traffic in front of Roberto Luongo, bumping him, falling on him (accidentally on purpose of course), basically completely throwing him off his game. The Canucks defensemen will need to make life miserable for Blackhawks wishing to crash the crease. But more importantly, Roberto Luongo needs to not let it bother him. Last year he showed his frustration, which only fueled the fire.

Traffic in Front of Niemi:

Something I never understand about teams in the playoffs is that when a team is playing a star goalie, they try to get lots of traffic in front, but when they play a mediocre goalie, they’re not so concerned with it. Just because Antti Niemi doesn’t have a great resume shouldn’t mean that the Canucks shouldn’t become concerned with screening him, bumping him, etc. He put up good numbers against the Predators in round 1, but he’s never really been tested mentally as much as he will this series. Shaking his confidence will be key.

Seabrook and Keith:

No doubt Joel Quenneville will try to get this pairing out against the Sedin line as much as possible. The Sedins will need to outplay them to win the series. It’s also important because both Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith play so many minutes. If the Sedins can tire them out or the other lines can wear them down with body checks and sustained pressure, it will go a long way to helping the Canucks’ cause.

Shutting Down the Hawks Top Guns:

The Blackhawks have a lot of fire power. Toews, Kane, Hossa, Sharp, etc. are very dangerous players and the Canucks will need to keep them in check. That job will be shared primarily by the Canucks defense corps. This is the biggest mismatch going into this series. With 2-3 potent scoring lines, their d-men will be tested big time. Last year the Canucks D seemed incapable of handling the Hawks speed. This year the Canucks have pretty much the same group, save for Christian Ehrhoff in for Mattias Ohlund.

The X-Factor

I believe the X-factor of this series is revenge. The Canucks seem to still be pissed off about last season’s playoff loss and they seem more mature. I also think they’re better equipped to deal with the roller coaster ride that Chicago can take you on with their crazy goal spurts.

What’s Different this Time:

Going into last season’s playoff series against the Blackhawks the Canucks were on a roll. They had ended the regular season well and steam rolled a good young St Louis Blues team. Roberto Luongo was sensational in that series.

The 2008-09 edition of the Canucks was bigger and slower than this edition. Gone are Mattias Ohlund and Mats Sundin. Willie Mitchell is gone due to injury. In are Christian Ehrhoff and Mikael Samuelsson.

As for the Blackhawks, all of their young players are a year older and a year better. Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Duncan Keith have gone from good young players to bonafide superstars. Hossa, Niemi and Madden are the notable additions to their lineup while Havlat, Khabibulin and Barker are the most notable players no longer with their club.

Prediction:

This is a Canucks blog but it is not a homer blog, I’m going to say Chicago in 7. The Canucks have a great opportunity to beat the Blackhawks but they will need either Kevin Bieksa to play like he hasn’t played like in two seasons or Roberto Luongo to get on a roll like he hasn’t been able to do for a few months. Both are unlikely, which is why I believe Chicago will come out with the series victory.