Canuckz.com » Kyle Wellwood

Kyle Wellwood January 2010 Calendar Wallpaper!!!

Sean Ovariez — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 01:06:17 +0000

This decade went by wayyyy too fast! Seriously, it’s been quite a blur! Or maybe that’s just a sign of getting old. Anyways.. here’s the January 2010 Calendar Wallpaper featuring everyone’s favorite underdog, Kyle Wellwood!

PS, Wellwood is still sexy.

Download here (missing a weird resolution that you use that we don’t have? Post a comment to let us know and we’ll gladly add it!):

Wellwood is Terrible and Everyone Loves Him

Tonyz Tanti — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 01:07:37 +0000

How great was it to see Kyle Wellwood score his first goal of the season last night against the Los Angeles Kings? Sure, it was an empty netter, sure he needed two cracks at the empty net, but to have a game where the crowd chanted his name, booed the announcement that his goal earlier in the game would be credited to Tanner Glass and have a standing ovation for a meaningless empty net goal was pretty special. And Kyle Wellwood is a special character for Canucks fans.

He’s amazingly popular considering that it took him almost two months to score a goal this year (check out the jubilation on the Canucks message board) and has a mere 14 points in his last 67 regular season games! Lets face it, he’s been terrible and everyone loves him… including me! The guy is just too damn lovable. Maybe it’s cause he’s a little guy, maybe it’s cause he doesn’t like to workout and stay in shape, maybe it’s cause he uses a wood stick, but it just seems like he’s someone that people can relate to.

Wellwoodmania overshadowed the return to form of Alex Burrows. Burrows had a goal and an assist, was plus two and had seven shots on goal against the Kings last night. This return to form, not surprisingly, has coincided with the return of Daniel Sedin. Nice to see, because if the Canucks want to go deep in the playoffs this year they’ll need a potent top line.

“Welly” also overshadowed the amazing game by Roberto Luongo. He was simply spectacular, and has been very good for a few games in a row now. He hasn’t given up more than two goals in a game since returning from injury and has a .934 SV% in that time. Those are Vezina trophy numbers. Needless to say, the Canucks are at the best when Luongo is on top of his game.

So was the game against the Kings a blip on the radar or a sign that a healthy Canucks lineup will mean chalking up a lot of victories? Probably too soon to tell, especially since they haven’t played a road game since the return of Daniel Sedin. The Canucks still need to prove that they can win consistently on the road to improve their 4-8-0 road record.

Treading Water

Tonyz Tanti — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 00:52:53 +0000

At the quarter-way mark of the 2009-10 season, the Canucks have successfully treaded water. With a record of 10-10-0, you’d think that the Canucks would be disappointed, and perhaps they are. For me, this is about what we should have expected, all things considered. If they had been 100% healthy, you’d maybe expect a record of 13-7 through 20 games. Consider that Luongo has started only 13 games, Daniel Sedin has played only four games, Sami Salo has only played 12 games and Pavol Demitra has missed the entire season, not to mention the other countless missed games here and there, a 10-10 start should be considered par for the course.

With that said, there are more than a few alarming trends through the first 20 games:

Injury or no injury, Roberto Luongo hasn’t been lights-out yet. He has a very mediocre 6-7 win/loss record, 2.74 GAA and .903 SV%. Those are not Team Canada numbers. It’s also alarming that he got injured, again. He needs to stay healthy.

Offense from the D. Alex Edler (he of the minus seven rating so far), Kevin Bieksa and Sami Salo have combined for ONE, just one, goal.

Kyle Wellwood. He’s been absolutely invisible through 20 games.

Team toughness. Where is it? The Canucks were a nasty piece of business to deal with last year. Perhaps injuries have changed that a bit, but still. They’ve got to get back to that blue collar attitude.

So will the real Vancouver Canucks please stand-up? We haven’t seen them yet, and might not this season given Pavol Demitra’s status, but once they get Daniel Sedin back (and that should be soon). The excuses will be all gone. And hopefully the losing will be gone too.

The Replacements

Tonyz Tanti — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:07:54 +0000

In a weird twist this season, the Canucks have all 8 of their defencemen healthy (defencemen usually are the most injury prone), and a whole whack of injuries to forward, and then of course there’s Roberto Luongo. The result has been a lot of dull hockey, with the team trying to play more defensive due to their lack of fire power. With that said, here’s a review of the replacements for Luongo, Daniel Sedin, Pavol Demitra and Ryan Johnson (as well as Kyle Wellwood and Rick Rypien here and there).

Michael Grabner:

Chicks are digging the speedy Austrian sniper, and why not? Grabner has been impressive with the big club. He has five points in his first nine NHL games and has been generating a lot of scoring chances. Unfortunately, a replacement for this replacement will be needed. Grabner was lost to an ankle injury that he suffered during the pre-game hallway warm-up. It’s been that kind of season for the Canucks (kind of reminds me of when the Canucks lost all those defencemen in the 2007-08 season and Lukas Krajicek slipped on some ice and injured himself).

Tanner Glass:

Glass has looked good thus far. Sunday’s game against Colorado was probably his best, notching a goal and hitting a crossbar. He’s been pretty reliable, finishing all of his checks and responsible in his own end.

Aaron Rome:

The Canucks’ forward (forward!? Yes, forward) has been impressive since being moved from defence. Vigneault moved him from defence to forward because of all the injuries up front, and must have sure liked him there. He lead all Canucks forwards in ice time in Friday’s game versus Anaheim. That’s clearly ridiculous, but he hasn’t looked out of place at forward (unlike Mathieu Schneider who looked completely lost in his one game at forward… Vigneault clearly hasn’t heard of not being able to teach an old dog new tricks).

Alexandre Bolduc:

Bolduc, like Grabner, has also been injured since being called-up. While healthy, he played pretty much error free, but didn’t offer anything notable.

Sergei Shirokov:

The “Pocket Russian Rocket” hasn’t been able to lift-off as of yet. In six games in the NHL, he has been unable to get a single point and is a minus four. Disappointing, sure, but even more disappointing is that he hasn’t been noticeable. He has been sent to the Moose a couple of times already, and continues to rip it up down there, but so far he hasn’t been able to translate that to the NHL level.

Andrew Raycroft:

Raycroft has played pretty well in his limited action. I thought he was unfairly pulled in the loss to Anaheim on Friday, but responded with a shutout against his old team, the Colorado Avalanche. He wasn’t tested a lot against Colorado, but still, I have more confidence in him than any back-up goalie they’ve had since Alex Auld. He should get all of the starts until Luongo comes back.

Wellwood Back for Another Season… at $1.2 million

Tonyz Tanti — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 21:11:10 +0000

While Wellwood’s salary/term has yet to be figured out, in an interview with the TEAM 1040, Wellwood’s agent said that he would be back in Vancouver. Apparently Wellwood’s demands were not high enough for the Canucks to walk away from.

So what’s next? This now gives the team 10-11 top 9 forwards (assuming that Cody Hodgson and/or Michael Grabner are ready for prime time). I’m expecting a trade for a defenseman before training camp. Stay tuned…

***UPDATE*** Wellwood’s arbitration case has been settled. TSN is reporting that Wellwood has been awarded a one-year deal worth $1.2 million. Great deal for the Canucks. Good in the shootout, good on the power play, good on faceoffs, and as he proved in the playoffs, good defensively. He provides a lot of intangibles, and still has a lot of upside.

Pratt and Taylor Feud and Wellwood’s Sweet Tweets!

Tonyz Tanti — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 20:09:14 +0000

David Pratt and Don Taylor are off the air! Well, for one day at least. The co-hosts of the popular radio show on the TEAM 1040 got into an argument on Monday that lead to David Pratt throwing down his microphone which was followed by 12 minutes of commercials and then a previously taped interview. Afterwards, Pratt returned, without Taylor. On Tuesday, both were given the day off in order to “cool off”. Both, apparently, are to return to the air today at 3:00pm. If you ask me, both are acting a bit like radio divas, as the argument was centred around the comparison of Tom Watson’s accomplishments at the British Open, to 75 year old poker champion Doyle Brunson. My two cents: interesting comparison, poker requires mental strength, golf requires mental AND physical strength.

***UPDATE*** Pratt and Taylor went to air on Wednesday and all appeared to be forgiven. They did not make mention of the pissing contest that happened on Monday until a caller made mention of it. They downplayed the incident and the show went on as normal.

Kyle Wellwood’s arbitration case is around the corner and I believe there is a high chance that the Canucks will walk away from the deal if he is awarded too much. The Canucks will probably walk away from anything nearing $2 million but if I had to guess, I think he’ll get in the neighbourhood of $1.5 million.

That’s right! It’s time for another Canuckz.com TWITTER TRACKER! Today’s edition looks at the best tweets from the FAKE Twitter account of Kyle Wellwood:

Eagles + Moosehead = good off season. true story.
It took me 14 tries to type proportional on T9 in that last update.
The size of your stick is not proportional to anything else. althoug maybe inversely to how awesome i am.
salary arbitration fun fact number one: I deserve more money. true story.
god damn the canucks sure Love us ex leafs players, ugh. i mean, hey Raycroft My old fwend!
I think Don Cherry has a crush on me.
Does anyone know the special Seasoning for KFC chicken? Paying 200$ for it.

Contracts, Arbitration and Speculation!

Tonyz Tanti — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 19:57:43 +0000

When you look at the Canucks payroll right now, one thing is clear: something has to give. If Michael Grabner and Cody Hodgson are ready for the NHL this season, then Mike Gillis currently has 15 potential NHL forwards. When you consider that most teams carry 14 or fewer forwards, then yes, something has to give. Here’s a list of where they’re at:

Top 9 forwards under contract (one-way contract):

Daniel Sedin
Henrik Sedin
Pavol Demitra
Ryan Kesler
Alex Burrows
Mikael Samuelsson
Mason Raymond
Steve Bernier

Top 9 forwards under contract (two-way contract):

Cody Hodgson
Michael Grabner

Top 9 forwards not under contract (restricted free agent)

Kyle Wellwood
Jannik Hansen

Fourth liners under contract:

Ryan Johnson
Darcy Hordichuk
Rick Rypien

Assuming they play with 14 forwards, then someone is on the trade block if both Grabner (he is not a certainty) and Hodgson (he is) make the team. Now assuming that the 4th liners stay in the line-up on a regular basis and that they re-sign their restricted free agents, they will have some players in the press box that they don’t want there. If Hodgson and Grabner make the team, they will want them playing often, most likely on their top 3 lines. That means that Wellwood, Raymond and Hansen will be in the press box (or traded) unless Gillis makes a move. With Ohlund gone, their need is clear on defence.

So who is on the move? I think that Wellwood and/or Demitra will be on the move. Wellwood’s probably in line for a raise and is also probably penciled in to be in the press box with Hodgson and Samuelsson on their way. Demitra makes $4 million, and is the most expensive of their forwards not named Daniel or Henrik. Look for them to find a defenceman from a team without depth up front and good depth on defence.

A team like Toronto would make some sense, if not for the grudge that Brian Burke has with the Aquilinis/Canucks. A team like Philadelphia might work. They’ve just acquired Chris Pronger, and probably no longer need a guy like Matt Carle, who would surely help the Canucks power play. He’s young and only has a cap hit of $3.438, which fits him into the Canucks payroll structure nicely. Philly has just lost Mike Knuble to free agency and Joffrey Lupul via trade. They’re deep at centre, but could use wingers like Demitra or Hansen. They could also use a goaltender of the future like Kevin Weekes Cory Schneider.

Raycroft’s In, O’Brien’s Back, Wellwood’s to Arbitration

Tonyz Tanti — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 00:08:19 +0000

Will the real Andrew Raycroft please stand-up? Andrew Raycroft, pictured above with the Calder Trophy, was named rookie of the year with the Bruins in 2003-04. Since then, he has had one sub-par year with the Bruins, two with the Leafs, and backed-up the immortal Petr Budaj last year in Colorado. I don’t think anyone thinks the Canucks are getting the Raycroft of 2003-04, but I think he can be an effective back-up for a good team. He signed a one year deal for $500,000, so the risk is minimal.

With a body like that, how could you NOT have him back!? O’Brien signed a 1 year, $1.6 million deal with the Canucks on Monday. This likely cements himself as the team’s #5 defenceman, and I think they may have paid a little much for him. Maybe that’s just the going rate for young defencemen. I guess when you compare his contract to the player he was acquired for, Lukas Krajicek (1 year at $1.475 million), maybe it’s a fair deal after all.

Kyle Wellwood will be going to salary arbitration if he can’t reach a deal with the Canucks soon. He’s an interesting case, as he was so up and down all season. He ended up with 18 goals, but only 27 points in total. He also put up 6 points in 10 playoff games. If I had to guess, I think an arbitrator would award him $1.5 million, which would be reasonable for the Canucks to take.