For those unaware, Mason Raymond’s arbitration ruling is set to be handed down later today. This is important for a number of reasons: first, there is a lot of anxiety over exactly how much Raymond will end up with in his arbitration award. Atlanta Thrashers forward Clarke MacArthur ended up with a $2.4M award last week, a rather substantial contract for someone who only notched 16 goals and 35 points last season. The Thrashers chose to walk away from the ruling, something which Mike Gillis could do if he were so inclined. So, whether or not Raymond stays with the club and how much he’d cost were he to stay will be known today.

I personally expect that Gillis will accept whatever the arbitrator hands out, barring a completely insane ruling (which I don’t think will happen.)

The other reason as to why today is so important is that Mason’s ruling will let Gillis know exactly how much money he has left to spend. The Canucks have been in a sort of a holding pattern ever since July 1st when they picked up Dan Hamhuis and Manny Malhotra. It’s been expected that Kevin Bieksa will be moved before training camp, Sami Salo’s recent injury notwithstanding. Raymond’s arbitration award will likely be the domino that sets into place the rest of whatever moves Mike Gillis will be making this offseason.

Will the Canucks see more free agent signing(s) to round out the bottom six? Will Bieksa simply bring back picks and/or prospects in any prospective deals or will there be something more substantial on the table? Very unclear until Raymond’s arbitration award is handed out.

As for the decision itself. I know some folks are concerned over how much exactly Raymond is going to get. There were comments made by Raymond’s agent, JP Barry, on the Team 1040 last week that supposedly has Raymond looking in the neighborhood of $3.5-$4.0M. Taking the MacArthur decision into consideration and it’s understandable how the Canucks could be footing the bill to a rather heavy caphit.

But I don’t think that’s going to be the case, for a couple of reasons. The first is that Rick Dudley, the GM of the Atlanta Thrashers, apparently didn’t make much of a case at MacArthur’s arbitration hearing. Depending on what rumors you listen to, Dudley wasn’t even present at the actual hearing itself. So, it’s hard to render a fair decision when one side doesn’t take the time to lay out a decent argument against giving a ton of money to a player. Gillis has made it very clear that he thinks very highly of Mason Raymond (see his post-Ballard trade comments at the draft if you don’t believe me) and will be coming out swinging for his hearing.

The second reason is that the criteria for what is and isn’t allowed as ‘evidence’ for arbitration hearings is very particular and limited. Since the Thrashers walked away from the arbitration award, JP Barry can’t point to his contract and say ‘Raymond deserves a similar award.’ All the anxiety over MacArthur’s contract being a factor can go away, in other words.

And, okay, fine. Let’s assume that MacArthur’s ruling shows that the arbitrators this offseason are going to be siding with the players rather than the GMs. Hold on, let me put on my tinfoil hat. Okay, that’s better. Even assuming that, this brings me to my third point: Clarke MacArthur made $1.4M last season. While the cap hit of $2.4M doesn’t seem to match up too well with MacArthur’s own performance, MacArthur was only seeing a $1.0M raise over his last contract, or a 70% increase.

Looking at Mason Raymond, he made $800,000 last season. In order to get the $3.5-$4.0M contract JP Barry is hoping for, we’d have to see Raymond get a 400-500% increase in salary which, even in the world of professional sports, seems a little too optimistic in my mind.

Take a look at Kyle Wellwood, the only other player who went to arbitration who is comparable to Raymond. Wellwood had several seasons of being a 40 point player and had his best season as a goal scorer in 08/09 with the Canucks. He went to arbitration and only saw a $200,000 raise. Again, I’d argue that Mike Gillis will have been prepared and made a solid case for what he thinks Raymond should get.

Which brings me to my last point. There is a solid case that can be made against Raymond getting that dreaded $3.5-$4.0M contract. He’s young and unproven at being a consistent NHL contributor. Yes, he did put together an impressive season this year: 25 goals and 53 points and yes, he has improved every year he has been with the Canucks.

But consider this: of those 25 goals, only 8 were scored in the last 41 games of the season, and he only went on to score 3 goals in 12 playoff games. Consistency is the one major issue with Raymond. If you look at his point totals from 07/08, his rookie year, to 08/09, there is an increase in games played from 49 to 72, but only a 2 goal difference in points totals.

Keep in mind: I’m not bagging on Raymond here, I’m simply pointing out that he isn’t quite yet deserving of that big money contract. I imagine that he’ll end up with an award between $2.75-$3.0M. A rather substantial pay raise, but it’s one I think he’s deserving of given the gains he has made and the potential he shows.

We’ll see.

So I’ve made mention in a couple of other blog posts that I was going to be doing up a piece talking about the Canucks bottom six. And why not? There’s been a lot of talk lately about certain members of the Canucks third and fourth liners, most of it laced with profanities.

Steve Bernier needs to be shipped out of town, Kyle Wellwood should be benched and so on and so forth. While I’m not in disagreement that the bottom six players are bad, I would argue that there are reasons why our bottom six hasn’t really been performing all that well that extend beyond ’such and such player sucks.’

At least that’s what I’m hoping to get across here.

I’ll start with the mainstays of the third line, Kyle Wellwood and Steve Bernier, both guys who have come under a lot of scrutiny so far this season. Some praise, first, though. Together, they’ve been on the ice for 27 goals against and 37 goals in 5 on 5 situations. Wellwood, in particular, has only been on the ice for 9 even strength goals against and is a +7 (this is including 4 on 4 situations.) They don’t take a lot of penalties, either, as they’ve combined for 27 PIM (22 minutes worth of minors.) All while averaging roughly 14 minutes of icetime a game. At the very least, the third line is responsible 5 on 5 and are capable of playing disciplined hockey.

That’s about where the praise ends, though. Points-wise, the third line has combined for a grand total of 38 points (if you include Demitra, 48 if you include Tanner Glass’ 10 points.) When compared to the other top teams in the Western Conference, they’re dwarfed by San Jose’s and Chicago’s third lines of Clowe/Nichol/Ortmeyer (Manny Malholtra typically slots in, but my understanding is he’s been bumped up to the second line as of late) and Byfuglien/Madden/Versteeg, who have produced 70 and 75 points respectively. With Tanner Glass’ contributions factored in there, they’re only one point better than Phoenix’s third line of Korpikoski, Lang and former Canucks pariah Taylor Pyatt, although the Canucks line has been far superior defensively, as the Coyotes line is a combined -14 and have been on the ice for a combined 58 even strength goals against, while averaging about a minute less of 5 on 5 icetime.

Things continue to break down when you look at the ice time, though. I mentioned that the Canucks third line averages 14 minutes a game. That’s pretty respectable for your third line: San Jose’s averages about the same amount of icetime, Chicago’s third line averages close to 16 minutes a game and Phoenix’s trio averages around 13 and a half minutes of icetime. The problem, though, is how those minutes are distributed.

Bernier and Wellwood are both seen as offensive players and have been given time on the powerplay where they’ve been less than underwhelming: Wellwood has just 14 points on the year while Steve Bernier has 20, despite averaging 2 minutes a game on the powerplay.

Compared to San Jose, Clowe averages 2 minutes and change a game on the powerplay, while Nichol spends about the same on the penalty kill and very little time on the man advantage. Clowe’s point totals are almost double those of Bernier’s (39 points vs. 20) despite their icetime totals being damn near identical to each other’s. Nichol, who doesn’t spend much time on the powerplay, has as many points as Wellwood Remember, Nichol is a guy who averages a minute and a half of powerplay time a game, whereas Wellwood doesn’t. Heck, Wellwood is keeping pace with Pyatt with points and he averages less PP time than Wellwood.

Again, performance in certain situations is what’s led to the Canucks third line being so dismal. For the amount of powerplay time both Bernier and Wellwood get, they should be having some more to show for their efforts. The players on other teams are capable of playing at even strength and on special teams and producing results. Hopefully the addition of Demitra will spark some regular strength production, however, it does not explain the lack of PP production from them, which is what is truly hurting this third line.

While Wellwood and company are capable playing 5 on 5, the same cannot be said about the Canucks fourth line, generally consisting of Hordichuk, Johnson and Rypien. They’re a combined -10 and only average 8 minutes of icetime. That number is slightly inflated due to Johnson’s time spent on the penalty kill, where he’s been on for 20 goals against, half of the total number of goals the Canucks have given up while down a man. Factoring out Johnson’s PK minutes, the Canucks fourth line averages just over 7 minutes a game. That’s roughly a full minute less than both of San Jose and Chicago’s lines (yet both those lines don’t consist entirely of minus players and, in Chicago’s case, are producing a ton more) and almost 2 full minutes less than the Coyotes 4th line.

The Canucks fourth line also takes a ton of penalty minutes. Thus far, they’ve combined for 196 minutes worth of penalties, although Rypien and Hordichuk have 22 majors between them. Throwing in Glass, who really should only be playing on the fourth line, the Canucks have 33 fighting majors split between three players.

The only comparables for the Hawks, Sharks and Coyotes are Staubitz (with 7) and Bissonette (who has 15 majors.) Eager and Fraser also have 11 majors split between them, but they also are plus players and have 22 points. Phoenix’s fourth line has 41 points, while San Jose’s fourth line only has 17 points between them, but make up for it for more disciplined play by taking less penalties. Rypien and Hordichuk? Combined -8 and 8 points.

The impact this has had on the Canucks is rather apparent, especially on the road, where the home team has the last change advantage. When you have a fourth line consisting primarily of players whose main skill is fighting and are defensively inept, it essentially shortchanges your bench and makes it easy for opposing team’s coaches to match up against your squad. A common complaint I see in game day threads or on Twitter is ‘What is Steve Bernier/Kyle Wellwood doing out on the ice in the third period?’ Well, the reason for that is because you can only shorten your bench so much. I’d rather have Bernier or Wellwood out there than Hordichuk or Johnson. When your bottom six is a mess, you have to go with the option that is the least likely to come around and bite you. Other teams, like Chicago, have a bottom six of players who can go out and play in key situations, a luxury that Vancouver doesn’t really have.

So what can be done? Beyond the simple answer of ‘Trade or Waive ‘em!’ I’d argue that the Canucks don’t need to do a whole lot to try and fix things. But here’s what I think Mike Gillis may be looking at:

- Getting a replacement centerman for the third line. I’ve been defending Kyle Wellwood for ages and have even done so in this blog post, but it’s clear that he just isn’t capable of getting it done: his lack of overall finish on the powerplay is evidence of that. A trade for a Matt Cullen type would be phenomenal and help out the third line a great deal.

- Stop playing Hordichuk/Rypien/Glass so goddamned much. I understand that Alain Vigneault likes the idea of a ‘crash and bang’ line, but when that group spends too much time in its own end of the rink you really should be dialing back the amount of icetime Hordichuk gets. Glass is probably the best forward out of the three listed, based on production and overall icetime: he’s been the one seeing time on the third line and his overall icetime averages reflect that. Put him in a fourth line role, where he’s not out of his element.

- Look at utilizing some of our ’skill’ players down on the farm. This would involve waiving or trading individuals on the roster, as the Canucks are at the roster max presently. That said, Jannik Hansen, Michael Grabner and Matt Pettinger are all guys who could potentially fit with the Canucks (and regulate Hordichuk et al. to the pressbox.) Hansen is a solid skater who can also forecheck like mad. Pettinger is a guy who has NHL experience, is capable of chipping in some offense and can play on the PK. Putting those two guys with Johnson could give a fourth line that is defensively responsible and provide some options on the penalty kill…and may just improve it.

As for Grabner, he showed that he was capable of clicking with Kesler and Raymond earlier in the season. He has been cold as of late, but putting him on a line with Raymond and Kesler, arguably the two best Canucks as of late, could jumpstart him much in the same way pouring gasoline on a bonfire causes things to heat up. Failing that, you could bump him down to the third line and have him try and work something with Pavol Demitra, who is capable of playing the center position.

The proposed solutions may not work, but they’d be providing something different. With a Canucks squad that’s been struggling offensively on the road, getting scored upon first and has had major problems with their bottom six a slight makeover might do the Canucks a world of good.

It comes down to six.

The bottom six, specifically. Tonight’s game was a frustrating one that saw the Canucks put forth a rather solid effort, but found themselves lacking a bit in the ‘puck luck’ department. Unfortunately, were it only that, the Canucks probably would’ve had something to show other than a regulation loss to the Bolts.

Offensively, the Canucks continue to slide. The Sedins continue to be silent and the offensive contributions from the second line are starting to dry up: outside of a lone marker from Ryan Kesler there wasn’t much going on in terms of secondary scoring. Even worse, the Canucks gave up a short handed goal.

While the problems with the top six is worrisome, I’d argue that the real issue lay with the bottom six. All eyes were on two players in particular tonight: Steve Bernier and Jannik Hansen, both players who were out of the lineup. I’ll be honest, I was hoping for a strong effort from both of them, as I figured both players would have something to prove: Bernier was scratched against Boston, while Hansen had been sent down on a conditioning stint. Neither particularly overwhelmed me: Bernier looked flat out there, while Hansen didn’t do much to really stand out. I wouldn’t necessarily blame them individually, though.

The reason? Well, the Canucks bottom six is a mess and that leads to problems on the road where Alain Vigneault doesn’t have the luxury of the last change. When you have half of your forwards being ineffectual or lost out there it makes it very easy for opposing coaches to match up against the players who are actually capable of doing something out there and shutting them down.

There’s more to it, but the Sedins slumping can at least be partially explained by our problems in the lower lines. On the plus side, Ryan Johnson being out of the lineup meant that the fourth line didn’t spend all their time in the defensive zone. They still looked disorganized and out of sorts, but hey, some progress. I will say that Hansen’s forechecking skills helped keep that line out of their own end.

Defensively, the Canucks blueline was pretty bad, too. Aaron Rome, who had been quietly playing some acceptable hockey as of late, mucked that all up with a terrible performance, looking very lost out there. Edler was shooting the puck early and often, but wasn’t realy noticeable beyond that.

Positives from tonight’s game? I liked the start the Canucks had and the fact that they were working hard. Hard work only amounts to so much if you can’t get results, but I liked the fact that this road game looked more like the Montreal game (where the Canucks were getting chances) and less like the Ottawa game (where the Canucks looked like they were unable to find the offensive zone without a map.) I’d rather the Canucks lose while putting forth a good effort than have them lose and look like crap. Kesler’s goal was a thing of beauty and I’m glad to see he’s learning how to be effective on the road. Other than that, Luongo looked good, but not great and Shane O’Brien was really the only other Canuck who I thought was looking good out there.

Canucks square off against the Panthers Thursday.

What a fascinating game, today’s matinee affair was.

Partially because I’ve been high on cold medication all day and it took me a while to gather my thoughts, but also because this was pretty much the reverse instance of what went down with the Montreal game. The Canucks had a rather poor start (which saw the first goal being scored by the opposing team and which saw yet another early penalty leading to said goal) but were able to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat thanks to an absolutely stellar effort from Roberto Luongo, who responded well after being sat Thursday in Ottawa.

I mentioned in the Ottawa Postscript that I liked the decision to sit Luongo, as it maximized the chance to win against Boston, a team that’s been struggling as of late. A focused, rested Luongo was exactly what was needed against a Bruins team that had upstart netminder Tuuka Rask in net for them. Luongo had what was probably his best game in a LONG time, particularly in the second period where he was single handedly keeping the Canucks within one. It’s nice to see him getting hot and I hope the trend continues as the Canucks head down to Florida.

While I opted to defend Alain Vigneault’s decision to bench a player last game, I have to find fault with his decision to scratch Steve Bernier. Yes, I’m aware that he hasn’t been contributing any offense as of late, but you have to look at the other things that he brings to the table. Specifically, the fact that he’s not Tanner Glass, Darcy Hordichuk or Rick Rypien.

Look, I’ve become a fan of Tanner Glass. As a prairie boy myself, we have to stick together, and he’s been a pleasant surprise since Gillis signed him in the off-season. But he has no business playing on the third line. Especially when our fourth line is such a disaster zone as it is, having all three of Hordichuk, Glass and Rypien in the lineup is playing with fire. Don’t believe me? The two players in the box that resulted in both Boston goals were Glass and Rypien.

I’m not convinced that Jannik Hansen would be the solution to the bottom six’s woes, but he would’ve been a far better option in lieu of Glass to slot in place of Bernier. Alas, he’s down in Manitoba, so we’d have no way of knowing. Again, I don’t agree that Bernier should’ve sat in today’s game and in my eyes, it could have cost the Canucks another 2 points.

That said, I was glad to see Alain Vigneault distributing minutes to players who were having good games. For the third straight game, the Sedins looked off. I don’t know if it’s the schedule, potential flu bug (I say only because I’m under the weather myself right now and not because I’ve read anything) or just one of those things that happens to professional athletes, but AV noticed and reduced their icetime as a result. The minutes then went to players like Kesler (25:55 of icetime), Raymond (21:50) and Samuelsson (19:26.) I know we’re like almost 5 years past Marc Crawford’s time as bench boss of the Canucks, but I greatly enjoy how Vigneault holds his players accountable no matter who they are (Luongo and the benching, the Sedins and their icetime) even if I don’t always agree with it (Bernier, for example.) Far better than with Crow, where you had no real chance at seeing an increased role even if you were playing lights out.

I also find it hilarious that Alain Vigneault was getting Burrows AWAY from the Sedins as he put him alongside Raymond and Kesler as the game went on, rather than, say, putting Kesler with the Sedins. Who are the star forwards again?

Although Wellwood didn’t get as much icetime, he was being seeing some action as the Canucks tried to tie things up late in the third. I thought his play has improved as of late (not necessarily just because of that lone marker he scored against the Senators) and I’m glad that Vigneault is trusting him. He also beat Rask in the shootout, but hit the post, so all in all a good game from him.

Demitra’s starting to round into form. Don’t mind him taking some time to get into gameshape, actually, as he has missed a significant chunk of time. The Olympics should do him some good, as he should be seeing some solid icetime.

Aaron Rome’s been quietly playing some decent-to-good hockey as of late. There are the odd miscues that will go on (the Montreal game, where he was on the ice with Lukowich and the fourth line) but he’s a +3 in his last 10 games and has been a minus player in only one game (the Montreal one.) He’s not going to win the Norris any time soon, but he’s been a damn sight better than Lukowich (who I like) and Baumgartner (who I don’t particularly care for.) I’m glad he’s sticking in the lineup right now.

That about does it for my thoughts on the game. The Canucks next game is Tuesday against the Bolts. On PPV. Woo?

Hey, that’s a pretty good impersonation of a post-game Canucks fan, there Spezza!

…

Do I have to talk about the Canucks game?

Really?

Okay. There’s a lot of hating, complaining and wringing of hands going on with tonight’s loss. Oh no, we’ve lost two in a row. The end of the world is coming and the Canucks are sinking like the Titanic.

Steve Bernier’s breakway attempt was nothing short of pitiful, yes. He’s been horribly inept offensively, yes. So have Pavol Demitra and Kyle Wellwood for that matter. Unfortunately, Steve Bernier is in a really odd position with the Canucks right now.

He’s one of the few folks in our bottom six who can play a gritty game and isn’t a complete defensive liability. In tonight’s game, Bernier had 3 hits and was an even player. Going back over the last 20 games, Bernier’s been an even player. So the BIG problem, and I emphasize the word big, is that Bernier simply can’t get the puck into the net, yet the other tools he brings to the table: defensive awareness and size, are a combination that is sorely lacking in our bottom six. Darcy Hordichuk and Tanner Glass may provide grit for our bottom six, but they can’t be trusted to keep the puck out of the back of the net.

I know that some people will point to Jannik Hansen. To that, I’ve got a blog post coming regarding Hansen, a player who I actually happen to be a fan of, and the general condition of our bottom six in the near future. At this moment in time, I’m not necessarily convinced he’d be an upgrade over Bernier on the third line.

I also am somewhat bemused that folks are slagging Kyle Wellwood. In a game where the Canucks were limited to 4 shots for about half the game, you would figure that one of the big guns, like Raymond (who had a glorious chance in the first) or the Sedins would be the ones managing to get one past Brian Elliott. The fact that Kyle Wellwood came up big, virtually at the last minute, shouldn’t be a sticking point for fans. I’ve maintained that the third line has been making an effort: if they’d been stinking it up in both ends of the rink and looking uninspired I’d probably be irate. Like Bernier, Wellwood has also shown some defensive flair and it’s the lack of offense that is utterly frustrating. Unfortunately, there aren’t many options for the Canucks to replace Wellwood right now, as our depth down the middle is just as bad as our lack of competent grit in our bottom six.

The other BIG complaint from folks right now is the decision to start Andrew Raycroft. To which I have to say, Roberto Luongo probably wouldn’t have won this team the game were he in net tonight. I actually liked Alain Vigneault’s decision to rest the captain, even with the loss tonight.

Here’s why: the Canucks were going into the Corel center against a red hot Ottawa team. Luongo was going to be needing some rest somewhere on this road trip, especially after the rather dodgy performance he had against the Canadiens. The rest of the team didn’t look particularly well defensively (although the coaching staff wouldn’t admit to that) so putting Raycroft out and hoping the team would tighten up defensively didn’t look like a bad idea on paper. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out that way, so Luongo, at the very least, was able to get some rest.

The Canucks play the Bruins tomorrow before having 2 days off against Tampa and then have three more games to close out the first half of the road trip before the break. I’m sure the plan was originally to start Raycroft against Boston, but Luongo’s poor play and showing signs of fatigue nixed that. That said, having a fresh Luongo up against the Bruins would maximize the team’s chances of getting 2 vital points, whereas a worn out Luongo probably wouldn’t have made a difference tonight.

Beyond all that, Trois Kronors had probably their worst game in a long time tonight. I mentioned they looked a little out of synch against Montreal. Tonight, it got even worse as the Sedins and Burrows just couldn’t put anything together. Unfortunately, this marks roughly 8 periods where the top line has been largely invisible. They really need to come up big against Boston, insert cliche about your best players have to be your best players, yadda yadda yadda.

I dunno what else to say about tonight’s game. The Canucks should taking last night’s game as motivation. Luongo should hopefully have a fire lit underneath him. Here’s hoping the rest of the team follows his example.

So the road trip goes on. Despite some late game heroics and a lucky double minor in the latter half of the third period, the Canucks were unable to come from behind yet again against the Montreal Canadiens. Or should I say the Canucks could not find a way to solve Jaroslav Halak and subsequently are STILL without a win in February.

You know, it’s really hard to try and stay positive about this club, but not having a win for the entire month of February is pretty goddamned bad. You start looking ahead. Can the Canucks still make the playoffs? Does the Olympic roster freeze necessitate GM Mike Gillis blowing up the core? Do we look at moving the Sedins, who were without any points tonight? Especially since Henrik Sedin’s lead in the NHL scoring race is held by only the slimmest of margins (Alexander Ovechkin sits behind him by only a single point now.)

You also have to wonder about Roberto Luongo and if he’s smarting over the Olympic snub, where he was not named the bonafide starter for Team Canada. I mean, it’s one thing to make several miraculous saves late in the third period when the opposing team is only leading by one goal and it’s another thing entirely to melt down after the third such save and allow yourself to be scored upon. You can’t help but start second guessing if he truly is one of the best in the league.

Lots of soul searching must go on now, in this bleak, dreary second month of the year. It may have been Groundhog Day today, officially, but it seems like the Canucks have been trapped in the Bill Murray film for quite a while. I now know the pain that Edmonton Oilers fans are enduring.

Winless for the month of February. When will the pain stop?

…okay. I’m pretty sure I’ve beaten THAT particular topic into the ground. As you could probably surmise, the Canucks ended up running into a hot goaltender tonight. While there are some people who are losing their minds over this loss, I thought I’d try and put things way into perspective here with the Canucks. Yes, the Canucks lost. As much as I hate to have it happen against the Canadiens, losses can and do occur and the Canucks had just completed a great 7 game stretch where they beat some of the best teams in the league (Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Chicago.)

That said, while I can be accepting of the Canucks losing, that doesn’t mean I’m not going to be critical. I know that the popular target tonight is Roberto Luongo because Luongo failed to make a save on one of the first shots of the game from the Habs. Prior to Sergei Kostitsyn’s tally, the game was all Canucks, as they generated several quality scoring chances but were unable to convert.

So, fair enough. I gave Nolan Baumgartner grief on Saturday for his whiffing on a momentum killing pass in what turned out to be a win against the Maple Leafs, I’ll do the same here and hang Luongo’s first goal against as being a momentum killer and saying he had played bad.

But that means the blame needs to be spread around as well. The defense, in my estimation, was a jumbled mess tonight. I thought Sami Salo and Shane O’Brien looked good in spots, but that was about it. Edler looked bad, disappointing considering he had been playing well prior to this game. I am not a huge fan of the Rome/Lukowich pairing (can we not pair each of them up with more responsible/talented partners?) Ehrhoff and SOB were on the ice for two of the goals scored (remember how I said SOB looked good in spots?) All in all it was a bad night for the Canucks blueliners. As much as I was hoping Luongo would sit for tonight’s game despite knowing that there was zero chance of it happening (Luongo sitting in Montreal? Yeah, right) I hope that Alain Vigneault seriously considers starting Raycroft against Ottawa to let his defensemen understand that having a star goaltender is a privilege, not a right. Plus, it’d give Luongo a rare night off and get a chance to get rested.

Beyond that, a lot of talk has shifted towards the Canucks bottom six. Steve Bernier is getting a lot of flak over his play as of late, moreso than Kyle Wellwood, which is unusual. While Bernier’s gone cold, cold, cold and the third line has been an offensive black hole right now, they still are managing to be quite adept at not being scored against. I’d be very interested in seeing how our third line matches up against the third line of other teams, as I’m not convinced they are as horrible as some people are making them out to be.

Don’t get me wrong, the lack of offense is frustrating, but people are acting like our third line is like our fourth line which IS a complete disaster. I loved Ryan Johnson’s piece he wrote for the Province and I know he is capable of being a good, quality bottom six guy, but for whatever reason he just isn’t working out in Vancouver and oh my god I cannot wait until he is gone from this team. I feel bad writing that, but goddamn.

Throwing him AND a mix of Glass/Rypien/Hordichuk out there is a disaster on ice. Hence why the second goal was scored: our fourth line plus Rome/Lukowich equals chaos.

At the very least, there’s hope for that third line, if they can ever get their act together. Same thing can’t be said for the fourth line.

On the plus side, the Canucks top lines looked fairly solid. The Sedins seemed a little out of synch tonight, although they were dangerous and had a number of golden scoring opportunities right on Halak’s doorstep. The second line did their job, as Mikael Samuelsson continues his post-Olympics snub tear.

Anyway, the Canucks didn’t play a perfect game, a costly early goal ended up deciding things and they ran into an incredibly hot goalie. It happens. Let’s see what happens against Ottawa now on Thursday.

The Canucks were looking to extend their hot start post-Christmas with a win over the Phoenix Coyotes. The Yotes were looking to earn a franchise best 10 straight victories at home. Whatever happened tonight, someone was going to be going home disappointed. Unfortunately, it was some bad decision making in the second period that resulted in the Canucks going to overtime and eventually losing in the shootout to the Desert Dogs.

The Canucks continued their impressive play, matching up well against yet another hot team, led by former Dallas Stars coach Dave Tippett. The game was somewhat reminiscent of the playoff matchup against the Stars: a conservative game with both teams clogging up the neutral zone, along with some fantastic goaltending from both goalies. Jason Labarbera looked great, the former Canucks backup having gotten the start over Ilya Bryzgalov, who played the night before. Roberto Luongo continued to look good tonight, coming up with some huge saves and for once not having his one soft goal come up.

Defensively, this game was played pretty well by the Canucks. Offensively, though? The Sedins had a quiet game and weren’t really doing anything until OT, where the open ice gave them some space to work their magic. Shane Doan and Scottie Upshall were looking a lot more dangerous in the offensive zone than the Sedins did tonight. While Henrik did manage to notch a point on Samuelsson’s goal, the top line had 4 powerplay opportunities, including one that bled into OT, and could generate absolutely nothing. That simply won’t do and the Sedins need to bounce back Thursday against the Blues.

Alex Burrows is someone else who is going to have to redeem himself for me on Thursday, as he took a rather undisciplined penalty in the second, slashing at Radim Vrbata, who sold it like it was Mattias Ohlund taking the lumber to him. This was an especially questionable decision on Burrows’ part, as he was mixing it up with Ed Jovanovski immediately prior to his actions, so it’s not like he could’ve expected much sympathy from the referees out there.

Sidenote: Radim Vrbata was just fine, thank you, and was the first shooter in the shootout.

Burrows journey to the penalty box opened up the scoring for the Coyotes, after call-up Alexander Bolduc’s stick ended up getting broken and the Canucks ended up looking like chickens with their heads cut off in their own end. That play also resulted in Luongo losing his stick and was generally a very messy effort. Thankfully, the Canucks were better the other times they were penalized, otherwise things could’ve gotten ugly in a hurry.

The second Coyotes goal, scored by Petr Prucha, came as a result of Kevin Bieksa apparently getting injured. I at least hope that’s what happened, as he was way up at his own blueline, leaving no one out in front of the net to cover Prucha who had a great chance on Luongo. Bieksa did not return, so I hope that whatever it is that was bothering him is relatively minor. Remember: Mathieu Schneider was put on waivers today so the next guy in line to suit up on the Canucks blueline is Aaron Rome. After that? Nathan McIver.

Sidenote: be honest. Who amongst you had Sami Salo pegged as the dman who was going to go down with an injury?

Mikael Samuelsson decided to channel his rage against Team Sweden’s top brass into some on-ice productivity, tying the game a scant 49 seconds after Ed Jovanovski had opened things up. Some people like to rag on the guy because he had gone 15 games without a goal. One of the reasons I think Gillis targeted Samuelsson was because he has a knack for scoring timely or ‘clutch’ goals: take a look at his playoff performance in Detroit for more of what I’m talking about. The problem is that Samuelsson has always been a streaky guy when it comes to scoring, so you have to take the bad with the good. Hopefully this snub by the Swedish officials will motivate him and have him go on a tear.

Kyle Wellwood is also starting to come on after what was probably the coldest and slowest start to a season for a player, as he redirected the puck and tied things up for the Canucks. He’s been skating a lot better and gaining some confidence out there. I like the fact that AV named him in the shootout, although I don’t know if having him go first would’ve been the greatest decision: poor guy will probably be sitting on his hotel bed, watching PPV and crying into a box of rocky road tonight.

Sami Salo hasn’t been getting a lot of press around here, but I thought he had a really good game tonight and has been playing well overall in this last stretch of games. He was all over the ice and was looking good for the most part. Nothing especially standout, but I like to mention players who may otherwise be going unnoticed from time to time.

Darcy Hordichuk also had another good game, including a great shift with Rypien and Bolduc where they had some nice sustained pressure. It looks like he finally understands that his spot on the team isn’t a gimme and has motivated himself appropriately. Hansen, who hasn’t been looking great recently, sat tonight. If he draws in on Thursday, I hope he takes a cue from Hordichuk and motivates himself into having a great game. Yeah, I never thought I’d be saying that Hansen could learn from Hordichuk, but there you go.

Outside of that, I would like to suggest that Alain Vigenault fashion a chain around Luongo’s ankles, or perhaps his neck, and ties it to the goalpost. Despite showing SOME improvement this season, puckhandling is still not his forte and there were two moments in the game where I just about had a heart attack due to Luongo stumbling out of the crease, enchanted with the small, magical rubber disc that was floating towards him. Both times they very nearly led to goals against. There was much profanity on my end and much confusion from the folks following the Canucks.com Live Blog. So please, cut it out, Luongo!

Finally, Shane O’Brien.

What the hell. No, seriously. What in the hell was going on there in OT? I understand you’ve been very good at staying out of the sin bin as of late, but there is no quota that you have to fill, no obligation for you to get X number of penalty minutes for Y amount of time. Your beaking and challenging Adrian Aucoin there was completely bizarre. It’s like whatever evil spirit that was inhabiting Kevin Bieksa was exorcised by the laceration he suffered and decided to re-possess you. Please let…whatever that was be a one-off incident and that you’re not going back to having a severe case of the stupids…I’m doing a fine job of that on my own as is.
The Canucks square off against the St. Louis Blues Thursday in a game that is NOT on PPV. Shocking, I know!

PS, For those wondering about the title, the ‘10′ came from the Coyotes 10 game winning streak. The ‘100′ came from the opportunity the Canucks had to lay out 100 games without a victory against the Coyotes. I tried to throw in a 1v100 joke there, but couldn’t think of any, so, there you go.

While tonight’s game against the last place Edmonton Oilers may not appear to have the makings of a changing point for the Canucks, it could very well end up being one for them.

Prior to tonight, the Canucks had fared incredibly well against opponents that were on hot streaks or above them in the standings and were absolutely dreadful against last place teams. Expectations for some fans weren’t really that high against the last place Oilers, so having a convincing 4-1 win against the Oilers may have been just what the doctor ordered.  Add in a Boxing Day victory at home, something the Canucks haven’t accomplished in 35 years, and things are suddenly looking very good.

The Canucks looked top to bottom like a solid team. Role players like Rypien and Hordichuk put in efforts. Some folks may recall I’ve bagged on Hordichuk as of late and made note of his icetime. Not tonight. Hordichuk had 8 minutes of icetime tonight and didn’t look out of place. Rypien dropped the gloves with Zack Stortini and continued to show why he owns the man known as Huggy Bear.

The Canucks also ended their homestand on a high note, having gone 6-2 and have improved their record against the NW Division. All in all, things are starting to look very good for the Canucks, as they are now 1 point back of the Calgary Flames and are once again in playoff contention, after a brief stay on Tuesday after they beat the Predators.

Again, there’s so many positives to take out of this game. The second line had another good game, although Mikael Samuelsson is starting to drag that line down a bit. It’s hard to rag on Samuelsson given that he is an incredibly streaky player and he is still putting forth an effort out there, but he’s gone stone cold offensively. Conversely, Raymond, although he only had 1 point, drew 2 penalties and was skating like the wind out there. Kesler also had a great game with the eventual game winner, although he paid for it, including getting a hit on the knee, taking a couple of pucks off the body on the PK and getting whacked in the faceoff circle.

Beyond that, Luongo has looked a lot sharper out there, as he had a number of big saves for the Canucks. Despite that, though, Luongo is still good for his oddball goal, as the Potulny goal was a weird one that he should have had.

The Sedins were buzzing all game, with numerous chances in the third and continued to press the issue with the Oilers. Daniel also opened up the scoring, scoring his 188th career goal, which tied him with Todd Bertuzzi for 7th overall in goals scored by members of the Canucks. Henrik also potted an empty netter and continues to rack up points. Based on his play so far this season, I’d say he’s an easy early candidate for the Cyclone Taylor trophy for Canucks MVP.

Someone should check and see if Kevin Bieksa is starting to grow some hooves: he’s been wearing the horns as goat of the Canucks for a while and tonight’s game really didn’t help matters. While there’s no real specific incident I could highlight as indicative of Bieksa having a bad game, he was generally underwhelming for a supposed top 4 defenseman. Especially when you compare Bieksa’s play to Shane O’Brien’s, it’s quite confusing. SOB had another great game, holding the line in the third when the Oilers were pressing for a goal and showing some great moves in the second to try and drive to the net. The contrast between the two of them is night and day and quite frightening.

And I know this is starting to go homertastic here, but I think that Wellwood has really improved his play as of late and it continued into this game. He had some nice passes and was actually showing some grit out there. There was a nice moment in the third period where he fought off a defender (sucks to be whoever THAT was) and tried to move towards the net. Yikes.

Last but not least, I thought Tanner Glass had a great game. For someone who I didn’t expect to even make the roster, Glass has continued to impress the hell out of me with his play. Stepping in on the second unit PK in relief of an injured Ryan Johnson, Glass helped to keep the Canucks perfect on the PK. He’s also starting to find some chemistry with Wellwood and Bernier. If they can start really firing on all cylinders…

The Canucks square off again tomorrow against the Flames for a game in the Saddledome. Unfortunately, my trip home to Calgary ends with a 7am flight back to Toronto tomorrow, so I won’t be around in person. Boooo. I should be around to liveblog the Moose game against the Abbotsford Heat AND cover the Canucks game tomorrow, if I don’t keel over from exhaustion!

Happy Holidays everyone!

A bit later than usual on this one, apologies. I got distracted with some other stuff. Anyway, here’s my thoughts on tonight’s game against the Washington Capitals.

After putting forth a performance not even a mother could love Wednesday night against the Anaheim Ducks, the Canucks were looking to put forth a far better effort as they went up against the Washington Capitals, a team ranked third overall in the NHL.

They got off to a good start for the Canucks, as they managed to get their first shot off within the first thirty seconds of the game, after being held off the shot clock for 14 minutes against the Ducks. Things continued to improve from there as the Canucks were recipients to some puck luck: a weird bounce off of Jeff Schultz’s skate led to a goal for Ryan Kesler, who was also successful in keeping Alexander Ovechkin off the scoresheet. I guess signing all those autographs (and charging almost NINETY BUCKS a person) must’ve worn him out.

The Canucks PK was also fantastic as they went 3 for 3 on the night and have now killed off 18 of their last 19 penalties. I know I’m sounding like a broken record here, but Alex Burrows is a big reason as to why our PK is looking so good right now as he had another big night when the Canucks were down a man. He may not be getting onto the scoresheet, but the guy’s finding other ways to contribute.

The game belonged to Mason Raymond, though, who apparently took a cue from the Minnesota Wild’s equipment van, as he was on fire tonight, scoring 2 goals both showing incredible patience and poise, something which wouldn’t have been the case with him last year. Raymond’s really starting to come into his own and I love it.

Roberto Luongo did let in 2 goals tonight, including one which was the result of everyone on the ice (including the cameraman) stopping to admire Tanner Glass knocking Brooks Laich into the bench. Kudos to Alexander Semin for not stopping to admire the carnage, as everyone else was caught flatfooted. So, Luongo’s back to the one bad goal a game. What’s it going to take to shake him of this habit?

Chris Clark’s goal, despite being a beauty of a shot, came at the hands of Kevin Bieksa, who thought it’d be a good idea to drift over towards Eric Fehr (who a returning Aaron Rome was already covering), watch him take a shot and then ignore the subsequent rebound, resulting in the goal.

Darcy Hordichuk took a turn in the pillory last game in my recaps and now it’s Kevin Bieksa’s turn. There’s only one real way to describe his play tonight:

TRAIN WRECK.

There was the aforementioned gaffe on the Clark goal. There was the fact that he was on the ice for both goals against (along with defensive partner Shane O’Brien for the first goal in what was probably the shortest lived defensive pairing in Canucks history. Never thought I’d see the day where SOB would’ve been the SMARTEST guy on a pairing, but here we are), the nonsensical pinching and his fouls which included taking a hooking penalty and getting a penalty shot called for Alexander Semin. I don’t know if Bieksa’s feeling the pressure, has lost his mind or has got something else that’s effecting his game, but he’s been a complete mess this year and is getting worse each game. As a matter of fact, I wouldn’t mind seeing Bieksa sit once Alexander Edler comes back, which looks to be pretty close.

Beyond that, the Sedins had a rather ho-hum game, not really coming on until the second period and ‘only’ notching 1 point between them, as Henrik managed to extend his points streak. Thankfully, our scoring depth is rather solid this year so the Sedins being kept off the scoresheet isn’t as huge a concern as it’s been in recent years. Plus, they’re allowed the occasional night off.

Kyle Wellwood looked to be a stabilizing force on the third line as they looked good in the early parts of the game, generating some scoring chances and keeping the action in the Capitals end of the rink. I made mention earlier today that having Wellwood in the lineup allows Alain Vigneault to let the Sedins and Kesler the chance to get some rest. Also, Wellwood’s a far better faceoff man than Rick Rypien and it showed: Wellwood was 57% in faceoffs tonight and was the only other person besides Ryan Johnson (87%) to be above 50 in faceoffs, Henrik and Kesler having uncharacteristic off nights.  Kyle Wellwood is clearly the guy to have in the lineup…for now.

I’ll also give credit to Johnson, who I sort of bagged on in that Wellwood post. He had a big game, as along with the dominance in the faceoff circle he also had a scoring opportunity (!) big shot block in the third period. I wouldn’t be surprised if Don Cherry has a rant about it on Coaches Corner tomorrow night.

I also thought Ehrhoff had a pretty amazing game in both ends of the rink: there was his nice use of his stick to break up a Capitals rush up the ice and he also had 3 very nice shots on net, one of which resulted in a rebound that led to Raymond’s game winner. Salo and Schneider may have hard as hell shots, but I’d be interested in seeing AV try and arrange set plays with Ehrhoff on the point…I think he may be a little more accurate than Salo or Schneider.

The Canucks square off against the struggling St. Louis Blues. They have the chance to get a coach fired Sunday, as Andy Murray is on incredibly thin ice after an ugly affair against the Tampa Bay Lightning tonight. Hopefully we won’t see repeats of the Anaheim and Carolina games that saw the Canucks lose out to the worst ranked teams in the East and West.

Alright, this is sort of an extension from my postscript on Wednesday, where I talked about the problems that are going on in the Canucks bottom six. Kyle Wellwood has been catching a lot of flak from people as of late as his offensive production so far this year has ranged from miniscule to dreadful. Just as Wellwood’s waistband has been shrinking, so too have his numbers on the scoresheet. Some fans have called for his being waived or bought out, as we simply must have him off the roster post-haste. Others have been content to let him stew up in the pressbox, letting him have a couch potato’s seat for his couch potato efforts.

But are ALL of these criticisms fully deserved? Is Wellwood truly as bad as everyone is making him out to be, or are people getting caught on the lack of offensive numbers and roasting him on a spit as a result? I don’t think so, as even without Wellwood’s offensive contributions, he actually improves the team and gives them a better shot at winning when he is in the lineup. So, here comes the analysis!

Right off the bat, I want to say that this isn’t meant to be a discussion about offensive production or lack thereof. There’s no way to get around the fact that Wellwood has not had great offensive stats this season and no amount of lipstick will be able to pretty up that particular pig. This is going to be examining the effect Wellwood’s presence has on the team in other ways.

The first thing I’d like to point out is that Wellwood eats up a lot of icetime in comparison to his other bottom six companions. This is important, as having players who can play gives our top lines some rest, rather than players who can’t (eg, Hordichuk’s 2:22 of icetime against Anaheim.) In particular, I looked at Rick Rypien (who has centered the third line when Wellwood is out), Ryan Johnson (our fourth line center) and Darcy Hordichuk (who tends to get into the lineup when Wellwood is out.) Wellwood’s average icetime is 13:43, 5 minutes more than Rypien’s average of 8:05, 2 minutes and change more than Johnson (11:07) and double Hordichuk’s average TOI (6:40.)

For comparison, Ryan Kesler and Henrik Sedin average just over 19 minutes a game. They’re top players for the Canucks, so they should be getting lots of icetime. Wellwood’s icetime is middle of the pack, sandwiched between his usual linemates, Bernier and Hansen. Rypien and Hordichuk are at the very bottom of icetime amongst Canuck forwards. Also, when Wellwood is out of the lineup, Henrik and Kesler’s icetime shoot up to an average 1:39 increase for Hank and 1:14 for Kesler. While this is not a significant increase, the number of games Wellwood has missed is minimal and the stats are skewed as a result. Looking at it game by game, there are 5 games (out of 7) where Kesler or Hank logged more than 2 minutes than their average and in some cases were logging as much as 4 minutes more than their average. That sort of icetime will add up over time and indicates that Alain Vigneault doesn’t have a lot of confidence in Rypien to be a third line center, as he leans heavily on Kesler and Henrik when Wellwood isn’t centering the line.

Looking at their time on the ice, things get a little uglier. Despite having more icetime than the other players listed, Wellwood has only been on the ice for 6 goals against, second best amongst the forwards I’m comparing. Hordichuk and Rypien have been on the ice for 7 goals against, a rather significant stat given the limited amount of icetime they see. Based on projections, Hordichuk would be letting in twice as many goals in the same amount of icetime as Wellwood. Rypien doesn’t fare much better, yet he is given third line center duties, which is an increased role over being a winger on the fourth line. Yikes.

There’s also the fact that Rypien can’t seem to perform an essential duty as a centerman:  the ability to win a faceoff. Rypien’s average is 44.4%, although that stat is slightly inflated by several nights where he only took 1 faceoff after someone was tossed from the circle. In his last three games where he served as center for the third line Rypien went 25%, 28.6% and 66.7%. Faceoff specialist Ryan Johnson is 50.5% in the circle over the season. Kyle Wellwood? 51.1%. It should also be noted that Johnson is wildly inconsistent in the dot, having a face off percentage of 48.5% last season and in 30 games this season has gone 11 games below 40% and 18 games below 55%, which was his 3 year average prior to coming to Vancouver.

To again refer back to how AV relies on Kesler/Henrik more when Wellwood is out of the lineup, they take way more faceoffs when Wellwood is out of the lineup. Presumably, this is to protect Rypien. Kesler and Henrik average 20 faceoffs a game with Wellwood out and 17 faceoffs when Wellwood suits up. Again, this may not seem like a significant number, but when you consider that Rypien isn’t taking many faceoffs at all and he almost certainly isn’t taking any KEY faceoffs (defensive zone, offensive zone, late in the period/game, etc) and that Kesler/Henrik see way more icetime in general when Wellwood is out, you up the chances of those players getting stuck in a bad situation like being hemmed in their own zone, tired due to playing big minutes and unable to change.

Now, you can argue the same thing about Wellwood, but the fact that he doesn’t tend to get scored upon when he’s on the ice AND that he’s capable of winning faceoffs reduces the chance of this situation happening. Wellwood being defensively sound is also supported by the fact that he has an equal number of giveaways and takeaways, whereas Rypien and Hordichuk cough up the puck far more than they ‘pick the pockets.’ Throw in the fact that he’s good at faceoffs, rarely takes penalties and can log a respectable chunk of icetime and I can’t see why Wellwood is being scratched in favor of Hordichuk, who has been a disaster defensively. On an embarrassing sidenote, Wellwood has also blocked more shots than Hordichuk has this season.

So in summary? Wellwood gives our top centers time to rest, is effective in the faceoff circle, doesn’t get scored upon when he’s on the ice, doesn’t expose Rypien’s weaknesses and keeps Darcy Hordichuk out of the lineup. While he may not be the longterm solution for the Canucks third line center, he is certainly the best current option. If the offense ever comes, he’ll certainly be looking a LOT better than he is now. Given that he won’t score up in the pressbox, he should stay in the lineup until a demonstratably better player comes along to replace him.