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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.

Game 1 Recap – Canucks Storm Niemi

Tonyz Tanti — Mon, 03 May 2010 06:00:21 +0000

The Canucks looked like a team still pissed off about their series loss last year, storming the Blackhawks right off the hop, while the Blackhawks looked a bit surprised by the push and never really seemed to recover. They’ve earned at least a split in Chicago, which is huge for a team like the Canucks that is so much better at home than on the road.

Goaltending

The Canucks looked like the better team in game 1, no doubt, but if the teams switched goalies the score would have been much different. Roberto Luongo looked real good, while his counterpart Antti Niemi looked absolutely terrible. Niemi made some big saves early, but looked shaky while doing so. His pads were like trampolines, bouncing pucks into the middle of the ice for Canucks to pounce on. Meanwhile, Luongo looked like the Luongo of old. The only goal beating him being scored on a 5-on-3. He was square to the shooter, letting out very few rebounds and even making a couple of acrobatic stops. Cristobal Huet replaced Niemi in the third period which begs the question: who starts game 2? Well, evidently the Hawks have completely lost faith in Huet, because it will be Niemi playing again in game 2 according to Joel Quenneville.

Full Team Effort

The Canucks are 3-1 in this year’s playoffs playing in arenas with smoking hot ice girls (the Kings ice girls for your reference). Ok, seriously though, Saturday night’s game was a complete team effort. All four lines scored a goal, and all six defensemen looked very strong. Two of the guys most in my doghouse, Kevin Bieksa and Andrew Alberts, I have to admit looked steady.

Grit Factor

I thought that the Blackhawks were pretty good at finishing their checks on the Canucks d-men (which should scare the crap out of all Canucks fans, they can ill afford an injury to one of their top defensemen). The Canucks meanwhile, did much the same and their hustle was nice to see. Vancouver consistently won loose puck battles, including Mason Raymond outworking Brent Sopel to gain possession and set-up Christian Ehrhoff on the first goal.

Cheapness Factor

You know what I mean by “cheapness factor”, those dirty little cheap plays that are so huge in the playoffs but aren’t serious enough to warrant a penalty, but throw the other team off their game. Examples of these are face washes, spraying snow on/falling down on/bumping the opposing team’s goalie, and taking cheap shots on the other team when the game is out of hand. Chicago was great at this last year, but they were unable to do much of it in game 1. With all the talk of Dustin Byfuglien before this series, he was a non-factor, as were most of the Hawks getting into Luongo’s kitchen. It was Henrik Sedin, I repeat, Henrik Sedin spraying Antti Niemi instead. Every time a Blackhawk got near Luongo, he was quickly ushered away by the Canucks defensemen. Once the game was out of reach, I expected a few cheap shots by the Hawks or at least challenging someone to a fight. The Blackhawks did very little to respond in front of their home crowd and went very quietly.

Looking Ahead

As good as the Canucks looked and as bad as the Blackhawks looked, game 2 will probably look a lot different. Chicago got its wake-up call and will respond with a much better effort. If Luongo continues to outplay Niemi as bad as game 1, it probably won’t matter. Look for a more determined Blackhawk team with some mixed-up lines and the insertion of one or both of Adam Burish and Ben Eager. I expect the Canucks to go with the same lineup, with the only potential lineup change being Ryan Johnson in for Rick Rypien.

Henrik Sedin Nominated for the Hart Trophy

Tonyz Tanti — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 16:48:34 +0000

Breaking news: Henrik Sedin will be nominated for the Hart Trophy as the league’s MVP. He will be joined by Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby on the ballot. I don’t think he’ll win, but what great company to be with. I know that there was a movement for Ryan Miller to be on the ballot, but I don’t know if his numbers were stellar enough to get him on there with this crop.

This is only the third time that a Vancouver Canuck has ever been nominated for the league’s top individual award. The other Canucks to be nominated were Roberto Luongo in 2007 and Markus Naslund in 2003.

Game 4 Recap – Canucks’ Leaders Step Up

Tonyz Tanti — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 00:13:05 +0000

Game 4 had a similar feel to it to Vancouver vs Chicago in game 6 last year. The main difference, of course, is that the Canucks found a way to win this one. They did it on the backs of their top players.

Roberto Luongo

I’m going to put most of the blame on the shoulder of Kevin Bieksa on the first LA goal, and apart from that you couldn’t blame Luongo much on the goals that beat him. More importantly, he made some spectacular saves to keep his team in it. His breakaway save on Alexander Frolov in the 3rd period was probably his biggest.

The Sedins

Luongo had a bounce-back game in game 4, but it was Daniel and Henrik Sedin who stole the show. After a sub-par 1st and 2nd period, and a sub-par series (apart from game 1), the Sedins stepped up big time. They put up a combined five points in the third period, including a great goal by Henrik Sedin to seal it with less than three minutes to play. Never in my life have I seen Henrik Sedin that happy or that emotional.

That brings me to my next point, the Sedins are studs. It has been well chronicled that they are no longer the “Sedin Sisters”, but it’s more than that. Now, no longer are they a couple of quiet good players. They’re superstars now, and they’re doing it all. Before game 4, Daniel and Henrik approached Alain Vigneault about killing penalties. They wanted to step up, they wanted to do it all. And do it all they did. It was Henrik Sedin stepping up and calming down Shane O’Brien during his yelling match with Rick Bowness and it was Henrik Sedin refusing to get off a puck, killing valuable time late in the game, with 4 Kings Players spearing him.

Other random thoughts about game 4:

I thought the Canucks came out looking terrified of taking a penalty in the 1st and 2nd period, and for good reason. The problem with that is that playing terrified to take a penalty makes it hard to win puck battles, and consequently, the Kings had the puck a lot more.

The Canucks still gave up two power play goals on four chances, which is bad, but I believe there is light at the end of the tunnel. The first man advantage goal by Drew Doughty was a product of nervousness by Kevin Bieksa. Too nervous to allow Luongo to cover the puck, he tried to clear the puck, giving it right to Doughty. The Kings second goal by Dustin Brown was just a good shot off of a faceoff. My point? The Kings didn’t pick apart the Canucks with great plays on the power play last night, despite the great percentage.

The Canucks have been the better team 5-on-5 in this series. If that continues, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out if they can match the Kings on special teams, they should win the game. The Kings and Canucks both scored two power play goals in game 4.

Kevin Bieksa struggled mightily last night. He was on the ice for three of the Kings four goals and was a -2. Conversely, Shane O’Brien was +2.

I think Alex Burrows is playing with an injury. He hasn’t been noticeable, was taken off the top line and has been a part of the woeful penalty killing unit. Not very Burrows-like.

The Kings fans sure are loud. Louder than GM Place for sure. I’m not sure they know all the rules or watch all the games, but they sure are loud.

Got to love all the Canucks fans that made the trip down to LA. Heard of a few nasty incidents on Team 1040 radio of Kings fans throwing beer/popcorn on them, sounds like they went over the line. I’m also sure it was still well worth it.

Love the nastiness developing between the teams at the end of the game last night. This is officially a series! And it looks like a classic so far.

Canucks vs Kings Series Preview

Tonyz Tanti — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 06:29:40 +0000

The moment Canucks fans have been waiting for all season is almost upon us. That’s right, round 1, game 1 of the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Canucks faceoff against the Kings in what promises to be an entertaining series. Lets see how the series breaks down.

History

This is the fourth time that the Canucks and Kings have met in the playoffs. The Canucks won in 5 games back in 1982, while the Kings won in 6 games in 1991 and 1993. Interestingly enough, two of those three series came in years in which the Canucks (1982) and Kings (1993) had miraculous runs to the Stanley Cup Finals.

Season Series

The Canucks won the season series 3 games to 1. Of course, the one Kings win was the most recent and the most lopsided, winning 8-3 on April 1st.

Goaltending

At first glance, Roberto Luongo vs Jonathan Quick is a lopsided matchup. Further analysis shows that they posted similar numbers this year though. Luongo posted a GAA of 2.57 and .913 SV% compared to Quick’s GAA of 2.54 and .907 SV%. Luongo is entering his third postseason and apart from the Chicago series last season, he has been a spectacular playoff performer. Conversely, Quick has never played a playoff game.

Defense

Once considered the Canucks’ strength, it is now their biggest wild card. The loss of Willie Mitchell is huge. Christian Ehrhoff, Sami Salo, Shane O’Brien and Aaron Rome are all banged up but are probably healthy enough to play. Kevin Bieksa is a key member of the blueline, considering he has the potential to be their top defender but has brought very little to the table this season.

The Kings have an underrated defense that boasts a nice mix of youthful skill (Drew Doughty, Jack Johnson) and veteran savvy (Rob Scuderi, Sean O’Donnell). Doughty is the clear #1 defenseman for the Kings, averaging 25 minutes of ice time per game.

Forwards

The Canucks have arguably one of the best lines in league, a strong second line anchored by Selke Trophy candidate Ryan Kesler and third line with talent and potential to score. By comparison, the Kings also have a lot of scoring depth. Ten Kings forwards scored in double digits this season, lead by Anze Kopitar with 34 goals. While known for their kids, don’t forget about their veterans up front, notably Ryan Smyth and Justin Williams. Look for Kesler’s line to be matched-up against Kopitar as much as possible. You can also bet there’ll be a fair amount of trash talking going on there.

The Canucks will win if: Luongo plays better than Quick and they hold their own on the penalty kill.

The Kings will win if: Quick can match the play of Luongo and the Kings forwards can pound the Canucks defensemen.

Prediction: The Canucks should prevail but it won’t be easy. I don’t think that the Kings inexperience will hurt them like some are predicting. They have enough veteran leadership and enough talent to give the Canucks a real test. Look for Luongo to step up his game and the Canucks to win in 6.

THE CHAMP IS HERE! Round 1 Henrik Calendar Wallpaper!!!

Sean Ovariez — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 05:07:30 +0000

THE CHAMP IS HERE! Canuck nation has gotta be f’n geeked about Henrik winning the Art Ross! Anyways, here’s Henrik on the round 1 calendar wallpaper! Enjoy ladies!

Download here:

King Henrik

Tonyz Tanti — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 18:55:19 +0000

After Henrik Sedin’s amazing four assist performance last night against the Calgary Flames, all that was left to do was sit back and wait for Alex Ovechkin to go out Sunday afternoon and beat him… wait a minute! Ovechkin was unable to beat Henrik, picking up zero points. What a great way for Henrik to win the scoring title and finally he’s getting a bit of recognition. No longer can I say that nobody is talking about him. He’s entered the MVP debate league-wide and is getting love from the home fans. Not only will Henrik become the first Canuck to win the Art Ross, but he has also broken Pavel Bure’s Canuck record for points in a season.

All that’s left to do now is hope, no, pray, for anyone but Detroit! That can happen with a Detroit win or a Detroit OTL if the Kings also lose. Stay tuned in the coming days for Canuckz.com’s playoff series previews and predictions.

Sedins April 2010 Calendar Wallpaper!!!

Sean Ovariez — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 00:53:10 +0000

We’re finally in the home stretch and we’ve saved the best for the last month of the regular season, the Sedin twins! PS, WHAT A F’N BARGAIN @ 6.5 MILLION!!!

Download here: