The first, clearly, obviously, is the penalty kill. Allowing three straight goals on essentially the same plays is problematic, regardless of this the preseason, regular season or postseason. More worrying is the fact that the bulk of these goals came with the Canucks top penalty killing unit out on the ice. People can start pining for Ryan Johnson all they want, but the problems transcend any sort of contribution he could be making on the penalty kill. Kesler and Burrows are supposedly the Canucks best guys on the penalty kill and they were on the ice for 2 goals against, Burrows was on for 3.

Prior to tonight, Kesler and Burrows were on for 1 PP goal against in Game 1 and the game winner in overtime in Game 2. Including the 3 goals scored tonight on the man advantage, Burrows and Kesler have been on the ice for 5 goals against, all within 30-4o seconds of the penalty kill starting. Not a good number when the number of games played is 3.

Something needs to be done with the Canucks penalty kill. Whether it’s a matter of blocking shots or being less passive (seems to me that the Canucks are collapsing in on Luongo far too readily and aren’t clogging up passing/shooting lanes enough) the Canucks penalty kill needs to be readjusted to address the Kings and their approach to the man advantage.

I’d also argue that Luongo, while he has made some timely saves and has looked a lot better than he did in the regular season, needs to step it up and play better on the penalty kill. That one goal where he sort of blankly looked at the puck for a second before trying to glove it was heartwrenching, as though it were a sign of things to come. As Alain Vigneault said post-game, your best players need to be your best players.

The second thing that needs to be looked at in the face of tonight’s loss is how effectively the Kings are shutting down the Sedins. I thought that they looked good in Game 1 and 2 (despite no points in the second game) but tonight’s game was a continuation of the Kings efforts to basically crowd out the Sedins and their game. It’s clear that the Kings have been directed to lay into the twins at every opportunity and that they need to be aggressive with getting their sticks in the way of oncoming pucks to shut down their cycle game. I’d say the Canucks need to either start directing more shots from the point on net (shots on net, of course, being the rub) or find another way to stop the Kings from getting all up in their grills. No idea how they’ll be able to do that, as the Kings have been doing a great job of dictating the pace so far.

The third thing that needs to be looked at is the officiating. Now, I’m not looking to say that there’s a conspiracy. That’s rubbish. I was talking to @mlse over on Twitter and he made the point that the NHL is too inept to ever be capable of working out a conspiracy. I’d be inclined to agree. That said, I think that this series has been marred by bad officiating. Unfortunately, there isn’t a whole lot that the Canucks can do about it besides sucking it up. It’s frustrating, with the Henrik Sedin stick in the visor, the too many men call, an incredibly blatant holding the stick non-call against Bernier tonight as well as the ‘no goal’ call there are a lot of things Canucks fans can be complaining about.

Unfortunately, these blown calls don’t fix the PP nor do they get the Sedins producing. Canucks need to take a look at themselves and address those internal problems before they start looking outwards.

The NHL trade deadline came and went earlier this afternoon and man, what a difference it made with these new look Canucks. What do you mean, we only traded for one NHL regular? Oh well.

Amazing how tonight’s game worked out. Second game of a back to back, Luongo playing his first post-Olympics game against Detroit on the road, all signs pointed to a Canucks loss. But it was not meant to be!

The Sedins, after going cold for a long spell, seem to have finally broken free of whatever Satanic enchantment Mattias Weinhandl had woven on them. Both had 3 point nights and helped Alex Burrows continue his rampage on the scoresheet. Henrik reached a new season high in point totals and is within 6 points of Alexander Ovechkin’s lead atop the NHL’s scoring race. Ovechkin, it should be mentioned, went without a point in a 3-1 drubbing of the Buffalo Sabres. Should Ovechkin get cold and Henrik get hot…

There was also help from the Canucks secondary scorers. Ryan Kesler notched a pair for the Canucks second line while Mikael Samuelsson and Kyle Wellwood both chipped in with goals for the Canucks third line.

Basically, a perfect game for the Canucks top nine.

The defense also got in on it, with the Canucks powerplay only needing 5 seconds to let Salo score from the point. Aaron Rome also had a couple of points on the night and was throwing some great tape-to-tape feeds all night long. Where the hell has this guy been all season?

Unfortunately, there were some warts. Nolan Baumgartner will hopefully have played his last game as a member of the Canucks. Baumgartner’s inexplicable decision to simply stand there and let Zetterberg skate past him and shoot led to the second Detroit goal. Ryan Johnson, who played a mostly mistake free game, wound up blowing it during the powerplay, leading to Johan Franzen’s tally. While the Canucks bottom six played a vastly better game tonight, this sort of performance isn’t going to be the norm and I am desperately hoping that Steve Bernier is out for an extended period, not because I am wishing injury on him, but because with the roster limit being removed today, the Canucks could try and bring Matt Pettinger or Michael Grabner up.

Well, I can hope, right? Guh.

Still love what I’m seeing from Demitra. Thought Luongo played really well: Williams goal came out of nowhere off of a laser beam that most goalies would be hard pressed to find, nevermind stop, while the other two goals were the result of defensive zone cockups from the Canucks skaters. Great game from Luongo to ease back into the NHL game and a good warmup for Friday’s game against the Blackhawks.

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?

Another horribly late postscript. I apologize. My move from Toronto to Calgary has drained the hell out of me so I’m just getting things sorted out. I basically passed out after the game last night and had to run around doing errands today, hence the superlate post. I’m hoping things will be totally sorted come Saturday. We’ll see…

So last night’s game marked the last time the Vancouver Canucks will be gracing GM Place for a long, long time. Over 40 days and 40 nights, as a matter of fact. As such, it was important for the Canucks to leave Vancouver on a high note and hopefully carry their play into the beginning of what I’ve termed as The Road Trip From Hell. Unfortunately, their opponents were the St. Louis Blues, a team that has regularly had their number (outside of the post-season, that is.) If there was a team that could end up playing the role of spoiler for the fans at GM Place Wednesday night, it would’ve been them.

I have to say, for two teams that have a sort of mini-rivalry going between them and for a team that has been as red hot as the Canucks have been as of late, it wasn’t exactly the most exciting game in Canucks history. Lots of back and forth passing with minimal shots on goal. The second period, especially, was horrific and I think talk over at the Canucks live blog turned to hockey jerseys and other mundane topics.

Still though, despite the Blues best attempts at trying to bore the opposition into submission, the Canucks managed to cruise by them and earn another 2 points. Again, there’s a ton of positives to be taking out of tonight’s game, so let’s start with that.
I guess it’s nice that folks can complain when the Sedins are having a bad night when they play a game like they did and don’t put up any points. I thought that Trois Kronors (I’m going to make that nickname for that line stick, dangit) had a great night even though they didn’t put up any points. While they were out on the ice, they were dictating the play and had the Blues forced back on their heels. Yes, they didn’t score and Alexander Ovechkin loomed dangerously close to the scoring lead as a result, but it wasn’t from lack of chances or from effort. The line was capable of swinging momentum back in the Canucks favor which allowed for the second line to put up some points.

And how about that second line? In years past, having our top line held off the score sheet would have spelled disaster for the Canucks. Mason Raymond ‘only’ had a pair (what, no hat trick?) while Ryan Kesler had a big night. I’ve noted that the lack of offense from him as of late shouldn’t be worrisome as he’s been making plays and has been working his butt off. Working hard has got to be the mission statement for that second line: I’ve lauded Mikael Samuelsson for his efforts, while Mason Raymond has come a long way this season, looking like a bonafide NHLer, rather than a youngster who keeps falling down. That’s not meant as a diss, either, all players take time to mature and I’m glad to see Raymond finally hitting his stride.

I also thought Alex Edler has continued his strong play as of late. He looked good in the Buffalo game, hitting post more often than not and that continued into tonight’s game, where he kept hitting the iron. Over on Twitter, I had hoped that Edler would answer the challenge and elevate his play due to Bieksa, Mitchell and Salo being out and so far it looks like he’s been doing well. There was that giveaway he had, mind, but I thought that Edler’s overall play as of late has been some of his best hockey this season. Great to see.

The same can’t be said for some of the Canucks other defensemen. Shane O’Brien is starting his Jekyll to Hyde metamorphosis from respectable blueliner to ‘oh dear God what were you thinking?!’ disasterpiece as last night wasn’t his most stellar game, starting off with his delay of game penalty in the first (the team’s second such call that night) and continued with some questionable decisions out on the ice. I think it’s apparent that more icetime is something that needs to be carefully handled with SOB, otherwise problems develop. That, or he needs to get another tattoo done up, pronto.

Baumgartner, a guy whom I’ve been critical of since he has been recalled, yet managed to shut me up with his play against the Hawks and Sabres, also had a rather dodgy night. It’s to be expected when you’re dealing with AHL callups and Baumgartner did do a great job of absolving himself of one really bad giveaway in the first period by neutralizing the Blues attacker, but there were more than a few mistakes creeping in there.

Rhetorical question, but do we always need 2 of Tanner Glass, Rick Rypien and Darcy Hordichuk in the lineup? Look, I understand that coach AV likes having some guys who can chuck ‘em in his lineup but with Shane O’Brien on the backend and guys like Ryan Kesler and Steve Bernier already in the lineup who can throw ‘em (although I understand AV might not necessarily WANT those guys fighting I’m just pointing out that they can) is it really necessarily to have 2 guys who can fight in the bottom six?

I only ask because there’s that Jannik Hansen fellow who has been sitting for many a game and hasn’t had the chance to get into the lineup and because the three guys I mentioned haven’t exactly been playing electrifying hockey as of late.

One other thing, I came across this picture on game night. Check out the kid on the lefthand side. I don’t know why, but I found it amusing:

Canucks play the Leafs Saturday as part of Hockey Day In Canada. Hopefully I’ll be a bit better with updates by then!

Lots to talk about this week, both on ice and off. Olympic nominations! The World Juniors! Off-ice shenanigans! Oh yes, and the Canucks also played a couple of games as well. While everyone was out celebrating Christmas and Festivus, I was staying on top of things in Canuckland. Here’s what you need to know about the Week That Was.

Shameless Plugs (That Didn’t Play With The Sedins)

I wrote a bit about the Mikael Samuelsson ‘F-Gate’ situation and addressed some oddball decisions made by Sweden’s management in naming their Olympic Roster. The short of it? Sweden loves Samuelsson and I still have disdain for Mattias Weinhandl.

I also talked about Ryan Kesler and his Selke chances. He’s got a great opportunity to win the NHL’s trophy for best defensive forward and I compare him alongside some other current favorites to win the Selke. Spoiler alert: Kesler’s got the best chance in my estimation.

Games

Going into the week, the biggest concern with the Canucks was their road record and whether or not they could perform well on the road. With three wins and a SO loss (picking up their first ‘loser point’ of the season) I think it’s safe to say that the Canucks are starting to come around just in time. To recap,

The Canucks went out and absolutely destroyed the Calgary Flames, as Mason Raymond notched a hat trick. The C of Red wound up getting charted by Battleship Luongo, as the Flames faithful in Calgary gave booed their team thanks to salvos fired by Mason Raymond, who earned his first NHL career hat trick. Sadly, I missed the whole game due to the wonder that is Air Canada. And Mendoza. CURSE YOU, MENDOZA.

They followed things up with the aforementioned shootout loss to the Coyotes. Aside from some bad breaks, the Canucks played a pretty solid road game and they were rewarded with a loser point, which relieved many fans who had been fretting about the Canucks lack of any loser points.

Things continued to go well in the last game of 2009 as the Canucks as they walked into St. Louis and engineered a come from behind victory against the Blues, a team that had their number in the 2 games prior to this one.

Finally, the Canucks closed out their road trip with a win against Marc Crawford and Marty Turco’s Dallas Stars, a victory that saw Henrik Sedin briefly share the lead in the NHL scoring race with Joe Thornton.

Injuries

Unfortunately, all was not fine with the Canucks, as Kevin Bieksa hopped back onto the injured reserve with another deep laceration from a skate blade in the Phoenix game. Early reports have Bieksa out for up to three months, making this wound about as severe as the cut he suffered against Nashville’s Vern Fiddler, which forced him to miss 47 games.

Ryan Johnson had some tests done regarding his foot. No major updates on him, though.

Nothing new with Demitra, although Jason Botchford did state that he is ‘close‘ which should be seen as a positive sign.

Off Ice

The biggest news to come this week was the naming of the Olympic roster squads. The Canucks ended up with 7 of their players representing their countries. The Magnificent Seven include Roberto Luongo for Team Canada, Ryan Kesler for the America, Daniel and Henrik Sedin for Sweden, Sami Salo representing Finland, Christian Ehrhoff for Ze Germans and in a surprise decision, Pavol Demitra for Slovakia. While this is an impressive number of players going to the Olympics (tied for 2nd best among NHL teams), it’s one shy of the 2006 Olympians, which saw Ed Jovanovski and Todd Bertuzzi get named for Canada, the Sedins, Markus Naslund and Mattias Ohlund for Sweden and Ruutu and Salo for Finland. Naslund and Jovo both ended up pulling out, which resulted in six players actually participating in the Olympics. Congratulations to all players!

Two glaring omissions from that list were Alex Edler and Mikael Samuelsson who, depending on how injuries go for Sweden, may still have a shot at playing in the Olympics. For a more in-depth look at Sweden and Edler/Samuelsson, check out my thoughts on Samuelsson’s reaction to being overlooked.

More details have begun to emerge regarding Mathieu Schneider and it’s not really painting a great picture of someone who I had said was a ‘class act.’ This comes on the heels of Schneider being placed on waivers and clearing. Even with Bieksa getting injured, Alain Vigneault has said that the injury ‘changes nothing‘ with the veteran blueliner. What that exactly entails isn’t clear, but it is coming out that Schneider seemed to have rather different expectations of what his role was on the team than what was actually happening.

Unfortunately, Schneider’s ego was writing cheques that his body couldn’t cash as he missed a chunk of the season recovering from shoulder surgery and then didn’t look that good out there after finally getting healthy.

It’s really interesting that things turned so foul so quickly. Remember that Gillis was Schneider’s former agent and that Schneider had many great things to say about the city of Vancouver and the Canucks prior to this whole controversy coming to light. Then again, it seems Schneider may have always had this attitude in some way but it just wasn’t well publicized.

Bieksa’s injury did not stop Gillis from calling for some reinforcements, as Brad Lukowich was finally recalled by the Canucks and cleared. Strangely enough, I caught Lukowich’s last game down in the AHL, where he was playing with the Texas Stars. He looked decent and had one or two moments where he stood out for me in a good way. Glad to have him on the roster, as it’ll keep Shane O’Brien honest and will most likely see Aaron Rome sit.

Alex Bolduc was also called up to take over fourth line center duties for the injured Ryan Johnson. Bolduc has had a couple of moments where he’s looked out of place, but I still insist he’s a better alternative to Rypien centering the fourth line (no offense to Rypper, I just think he’s far more effective as a winger.)

As mentioned, Henrik Sedin was briefly tied with Joe Thornton for the scoring lead on Saturday. A great accomplishment for a great player. Hopefully he’ll be able to keep up the torrid pace he’s been on and make a challenge for the Art Ross by the end of the season.

Although this isn’t directly related to the Canucks, after their come from behind win over the Blues Thursday, head coach Andy Murray was fired from his position. This makes the second coach that the Canucks have gotten fired this season after a loss: the Philadelphia Flyers canned John Stevens as well.

Down On The Farm

The Moose ended up winning both games against the Abbotsford Heat, although I didn’t catch either game. They continued their winning ways New Year’s Eve against the Texas Stars winning 3-2 in a close affair and then destroyed two leads the Stars built up in their second game, winning in 5-4 in the shootout. Michael Grabner continues to impress, as he now has 7 goals in 9 games played with the Moose this season and has scored in three of his last four games since being sent back down from the Canucks.

Sergei Shirokov has also looked good as well, having a big 3 point night in the second Stars game. Evan Oberg and Eric Walsky show signs of improving their play, although Walsky could really, really use a goal (or four.) A lot of noise hasn’t really been made about them since being signed by the Canucks in the off-season, but they are starting to show improvement. Speaking of the Russian, Shirokov was named to the AHL’s ‘Team USA’ squad for the upcoming AHL All Star Game. For those wondering what the hell a Russian is doing playing for the World Police, the AHL All Star format is Canada vs. The World. Why they don’t just go with ‘the world’ is beyond me, but hey, whatever.

As mentioned, Nolan Baumgartner was also named to the All Star Game, although he’ll be playing as captain for Team Canada.

Baby Canucks

This week was also busy for the prospects in the Canucks system, as the World Juniors Tournament kicked off on Boxing Day.

Anton Rodin got off to a great start, posting 6 points in 2 games and looking like a Swedish Timex out there as he took a lot of punishment, including a rather nasty elbow from Team Canada captain Patrice Cormier. He’s been having a great tournament so far.

Jordan Schroeder got off to a rather slow start with the tournament, which was a little surprising given that this is his third time at the World Juniors. However, he turned on his (US)A game against quality opponents breaking out against Team Canada on New Year’s Eve, scoring a great shorthanded goal. Schroeder also had a three point performance Saturday against Finland which put him ahead of Jeremy Roenick for all time scoring by American players at the World Juniors tournament. He also passed Eric Lindros for third on the all time assists board. That’s good company to be keeping, for sure!

Taylor Matson injured himself Saturday in a game, injuring his ankle with what appears to be a minor sprain. Matson’s already missed a significant chunk of playing time last season as he went out with a knee and only played 13 games. Hopefully he’ll be back soon.

Cody Hodgson is alive and well and did his torch bearer stint in Markham earlier this week. Expect a Steve Simmons article complaining about the decision to have him run the torch in his hometown any day now.

So we’re officially at the midway point of the season. We have a relatively solid understanding on how things look right now in the NHL. For the Canucks, things are looking good, as they’re starting to carve out a playoff berth and are playing some great hockey. It’s a good time to do some evaluating of talent, which is what this post is about.

Today marked the announcement of America’s men’s hockey roster and as expected, Ryan Kesler was named to the squad, making it the first time he’ll be representing his nation at the Olympic level.

That by itself is a major accomplishment and is something Ryan Kesler can take pride in. I would suggest, though, that Kesler’s Olympic nomination provides a great opportunity for the 25 year old. Namely, that he has a great chance to capture the attention of the collective hockey media, a group that rarely has all of its attention focused on the west coast, nevermind Vancouver proper.

This isn’t meant to be a ‘TSN = Toronto Sports Network’ jab. I understand that the majority of the larger markets are out east (Toronto, Montreal, New York, Boston, etc.) so it’s understandable that most writers will be paying attention to teams that they cover. Given the fast turnaround you have to have with being a journalist, most publications don’t have the luxury of staying up until midnight to cover west coast games.

Fortunately, they won’t have much of a choice in the matter when the Olympics roll around, as the NHL shuts down to let their top players participate.

Why would this be important? Well, aside from having a shot at winning some hardware at the Olympics, Kesler also has a chance to gain some fans in the press that may not otherwise have watched him. This would have implications for winning the Selke trophy, awarded to the best defensive forward. The winner is selected by members of the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association.

Yeah, I think you can see where I’m going with this. While the Olympics won’t have a direct impact on earning Selke votes, they’re a good way to showcase oneself and get your name out there because everyone will be watching.

Fans of the Canucks know that Kesler is a great two way player and we also know that Kesler has really come on in recent memory.  Prior to last season, he was typically tasked with shutting down the top forwards on opposing teams and has been a key component in the Canucks penalty killing unit pretty much since his arrival with the club. He was seen as a good defensive forward, but questions about his offensive capabilities abounded.Last season, most critics were silenced, as he went on an offensive tear, setting a career high in points.  This season, he is well on his way to his third straight 20 goal season and is on pace to surpass 60 points, which would be a new career high for him.

We, the fans, know that Kesler is a great player. The problem is getting the message out there to the rest of the hockey world.

Kesler’s got some brand recognition right now, thanks to the votes he received last season as he was the second runner-up for Selke voting. The Olympic nomination puts his stock at an all-time high and thanks to issues plaguing the other Selke finalists from last year (Detroit’s injury woes and Philly just sucking in general), Kesler stands poised to earn his first piece of NHL hardware.

It’s not all about making friends with the media, though I’d argue that it helps significantly. Kesler also has the stats to back up both a Selke nomination and a Selke win. For the purposes of this article, I’m going to compare Kesler against Datsyuk and Richards, as well as Patrick Marleau, Tomas Plekanec and Travis Zajac, all players who have been getting some consideration for a Selke nod this season as well. I’ll be looking primarily at their stats from this season and last to try and explain why Kesler has a great chance at winning the Selke.

Short Handed

Kesler logs a lot of time on the penalty kill. Last season, he spent more time on the PK than the other six players listed. His numbers are slightly lower this season, but that’s because the Canucks have been taking less penalties and are on pace to actually take less minors than they did last season. In addition to playing slightly less, Kesler has also not been on the ice for as many goals against, on pace for 20 compared to 28 shorthanded GA last season.

Datsyuk, thanks to Detroit being such a disciplined team, doesn’t log a ton of minutes on the PK, but when he is out there he is quite good as he only allowed 15 goals against on the PK last season and has only been around for 3 this season.

At first glance, Plekanec seems to compare well to Datsyuk on the penalty kill: the Hab was on ice for only 9 goals against shorthanded last season while getting a comparable amount of icetime to Datsyuk. This season, however, his minutes have more than doubled and he’s on pace for 18 goals against.

Marleau tends to be rather consistent, year over year his penalty killing numbers are looking to be more or less on pace, although he has logged more time on the PK this season (due to the Sharks taking more trips to the sin bin.)

Richards and Zajac are two interesting players to compare, as Richards was a Selke nominee last year while Zajac is getting some praise this season. However, Zajac doesn’t seem to be an effective penalty killer: despite seeing the 4th least amount of playing time last season and the 5th least of PK time this season, he was 2nd overall in shorthanded goals against in 08/09 and tied for third this season.

For Kesler, we see that he’s a horse on the penalty kill and that his short handed goals against have been improving, as he was on the ice for 32 GA in 07/08, 28 last season and on pace for 20 this season (which would put him one better than his short handed GA in 06/07 of 21. Remember, Kesler was serving primarily in a shutdown role that season and was on our third line.) Marleau is arguably his biggest competitor here as he’s been seeing more icetime without a noticeable increase in goals against.

Richards, who was 2nd in icetime last season, has seen a greatly reduced profile on the PK but is having a terrible season as a penalty killer. Plekanec and Zajac don’t look that great when compared to Kesler, while Datsyuk remains quietly efficient.

Selke Nominees based on penalty kill: Datsyuk, Kesler and Marleau

5 on 5 Play

Note: Keep in mind that I’m referring to 5 on 5 play here, not +/-. Plus/Minus considers short handed goals scored, which is what I’m not really looking at here. So if you see discrepancies when I’m talking about players being plus or minus, that’s why.

Kesler struggles a bit here, based on Goals For and Against. His differential is the smallest out of all the players being compared here as last season his differential was +6. It’s better than Plekanec’s -7. But when compared to everyone else, it gets pretty ugly. Richards and Marleau were both +13, Zajac was +24 and Datsyuk +36.

Things are a little better this season, as Richards and Datsyuk have both struggled and are both a +4. Zajac leads the way, as he’s +17 5 on 5. Marleau is also looking good as he’s a +15 this season. However, Kesler is a -1 5 on 5 and Plekanec is a +2. Not good company to be keeping.

A possible explanation for this would be that Kesler typically draws up against opposing team’s top lines, while guys like Marleau, Datsyuk and Zajac are on teams that are stacked up front and are playing against lesser lines…but I’m not familiar with how players on these other teams are utilized by their coaches and in some instances there have been situations where the coaching staff has changed (notably with Jersey and Montreal, who both switched to more defensive minded coaches this season.) That said, Kesler isn’t that great 5 on 5, while other players are, whatever the reason may be.

Icetime doesn’t really explain it, either, as Kesler averages the least amount of even strength time per game and is middle of the pack for total icetime. Zajac and Marleau are the clear winners here, as they have a great 5 on 5 differential and they eat up a lot of even strength minutes. Richards as well, especially when you factor in how horrible Philly has been all season.

Five on five play is certainly Kesler’s weakest area when thinking about Selke aspirations although he is no slouch.

Selke Nominees based on 5 on 5 play: Marleau, Richards, Zajac

Overall ‘Defensive’ Statistics

This is where things get interesting. Looking at some other stats, like blocked shots, giveaways, takeaways and faceoff percentage, we begin to see some players really start to assert themselves, both for bad and for worse.

Plekanec would be the worst of the lot. Looking at him year over year, an increased role seems to have hurt him, as he’s coughing up the puck with more regularity and his faceoff stats have dropped below 50%, the only player in this group that has done so for this season. He has become far more adept at blocking shots, though, but when you factor in his PK and 5 on 5 performance, an increase in blocked shots is hardly cause for celebration, as he’s regressed more overall, which has to hurt his chances.

Richards isn’t the greatest faceoff guy (49% last season, 51.6% this season) and he is a turnover machine, but he is a great shot blocker, having led all forwards (alongside Chris Drury) in blocked shots last season. Richards is like Plekanec in that he is okay in some areas but excels in others (and is also vastly more talented than him!)

Marleau, on the other hand, has actually gotten better at hanging onto the puck, as he has slightly more takeaways than giveaways at the midway mark, a vast improvement compared to last season where he has 46 takeaways and 61 giveaways. He’s also managed to slightly improve his shot block and faceoff percentage. If he can keep it up, having a demonstratable area of improvement will help.

Datsyuk is the model of consistency with these stats, as he continues to be very talented at stealing the puck, is on pace for the same amount of shots blocked (although he isn’t a great shot blocker) and he remains at the head of the pack with a solid faceoff percentage (56% last season vs. 56.9% this season.) Zajac as well, although his faceoff percentage has slipped by about 3% this season (53.1% to 50.9%)

Kesler has been a beast in ALL of these categories. He had the third most takeaways last season (behind Richards and Datsyuk) and the second best ratio behind only Datsyuk this season. He’s also a shot blocking fiend (2nd last year and leading the way this season) and is second best at faceoffs with 54% effectiveness last season and 55.4% this season (again, behind only Datsyuk.) No other player is as good as Kesler in all categories and this is why he is such a great two way player.

Selke nominations based on ‘Overall Defensive Stats’: Datsyuk, Marleau, Kesler

Offensive Performance

Like or not, offense is a factor when it comes to deciding who wins the Selke. The award is for the best 2 way forward, and the other end of the ice is where goals are scored, so, yeah.

Unlike last year, where Richards and Datsyuk were offensive juggernauts (80 and 97 points respectively), both players have cooled down significantly when it comes to offensive production. This is no doubt because of the Flyers struggling this season and the glut of injuries the Red Wings have suffered. While unfortunate, having them fall off the map does open things up for other players, as the offense is, more or less, on a far more even playing field.

Plekanec leads the way offensively, with 46 points. If there’s one category that Plekanec has on lockdown it would be offense. That said, there are glaring problems in other areas, as discussed earlier, which really take the shine off of him being a great 2 way player and one worthy of Selke consideration. What is noteworthy here, though, is that Plekanec has had significantly less powerplay icetime than the rest of the players I’m looking at: most players are around the 125-130 mark for PP time, while Plekanec has only had 104. All but one of his points has come from 5 on 5 play.

Marleau is on pace to slightly improve his numbers from last year, but looks to be doing it primarily through scoring goals, as he’s on track for 50. His offensive stats, when combined with his performance in other areas and being more or less consistent year over year makes him very attractive for potential Selke voters.

Zajac has also rbeen reliable with his offensive production, as he’s on pace for more or less the same offensive totals as last season. Kesler is as well, but he has the added bonus of doing it essentially ‘on his own’, critics of Kesler would say that his going on a tear coincided with the arrival of Mats Sundin and that he rode both Sundin’s and Demitra’s coattails last season to career highs. Well, Sundin is retired and Demitra hasn’t played all season, which means Kesler has been generating his offense with a combination of Mason Raymond, Mikael Samuelsson and Michael Grabner. Grabner is a rookie and Kesler can’t be ‘leeching’ off of him. Raymond’s been the only one to have shown any consistency through the course of the season, as Samuelsson has been streaky. It’s an important distinction that has to be considered when looking at Kesler’s numbers.

Selke nominees based on offense: Kesler, Marleau, Plekanec

Conclusion

I think that Kesler stands a very good chance of earning another Selke nomination if things continue along the pace that they’re at for all players involved. He’s great on the penalty kill, does all the ‘little things’ that defensive players do and is being consistent with his offense. The other two players I see making some Selke noise are Patrick Marleau and Travis Zajac, who garnered a number of votes last season.

Plekanec I can’t see getting too many (outside of the Quebec based writers), as he seems to be struggling defensively with an increased role. This becomes especially true if his team doesn’t manage to make the playoffs.

While things may be different if the Red Wings weren’t the walking wounded or if Philly was playing better overall, Kesler is the only nominee from last year who is still looking dangerous. If he has a strong Olympics and is able to turn some heads and get his name out there by having a great tournament, he has an excellent chance at winning the Selke. Especially since it’s entirely possible that Patrick Marleau may get lost in the shuffle amidst all the other great Team Canada players.

He’s got the resume, he just needs to be able to win the ‘interview’, so to speak.

The Canucks continue with their topsy turvy play as they came into tonight’s matchup suffering an ugly loss to the St. Louis Blues. Sound familiar? Yeah, I realize that these recaps sound like I could have simply did a Find and Replace in Word, but better the Canucks win a game than lose all the time. But, tonight’s game did have two guys dressed in green spandex (see above), so this most assuredly wasn’t a repeat!

Things could have gone either way tonight, as the Predators were a hot team, having won 6 of their last seven and have been dynamite against the NW Division as of late. Conversely, they were also a Central Division team, the sole division which the Canucks have had a losing record against all season (1-7-0 before tonight.) Thankfully, things went in favor of the Canucks.

Lots of things to love about this game. Lately, the Canucks weren’t playing with the same jump that they’ve had a lot of success with through the course of the season. There was the lethargic effort against the Blues and the game against Anaheim, where they took forever to register a shot on net. Not tonight, as the Canucks came out flying. The first period saw a strong effort from the Kesler line, as they were buzzing all over the place, particularly Raymond and Kesler. Alex Edler, who had missed a number of games due to an injury suffered the last time the Canucks played the Predators, was back in the lineup and looked great: he had a solid hit in the first and was involved in the power play, shooting the puck.

The defense looked good. How good? When Shane O’Brien is leading the backend in icetime, you know they’ve been playing a good game. Sami Salo also chipped in with some offense, adding a final indignity to the Predators who looked tired and on their heels for most of the game.

I think that Ryan Kesler’s tilt with Shae Weber. At 6′4 and 234, Weber was a bit out of Kesler’s weight class. However, Kesler, who took umbrage with a hit from Weber, decided to stand up to him and show that he wasn’t going to suffer any sort of shenanigans on behalf of the Predators. The resulting 4 on 4 led to Wellwood’s hard work over the last couple of games finally paying off as he worked to contain the puck in the Predator’s end before dishing it to Bernier who scored his 10th of the season. I cannot understand why people continually make reference to Bernier being trade bait. He’s our best bottom guy and one of the more physical players on our team. Boggles the mind.

The Canucks seemed to feed off of Kesler’s actions, as the Sedins, who have been rather quiet and had probably their most invisible games of the season against the Blues and Capitals woke back up. After getting some chances in the first, the Sedins exploded and had a great night. Daniel’s goal, placing him at 8th overall in all time goals scored by the Canucks, surpassing the mighty Don Lever. Henrik, not to be outpaced, notched his 125th career goal, giving the Canucks a stranglehold in the game.

If I had to pick one Canuck to criticize, it’d probably be Hansen. He had a couple of oddball decisions and took a penalty to boot. Still, he was skating well, was doing what he was supposed to do and created enough havoc in front of the net to draw Dan Hamhuis to him, allowing for Salo to score and score midway through the third.

Samuelsson might be the other guy I’d give some grief to. Dude’s been working hard like Wellwood, but has nothing to show for it. Ah well, Detroit fans advised us that he was streaky, so you have to take the good with the bad.

All in all, this was a great game from everyone, top to bottom. The Canucks dominated on the shot clock, in hits, on the scoresheet, had powerplay contributions and were perfect with the penalty kill. For once, can the Canucks please take this great effort into the next game, a tilt against the last place (where have I heard that one before?) Edmonton Oilers on Boxing Day.

Playoff drama in December. Consistency was the big thing going into today’s game. There’s been much noise made regarding the Canucks being weak in the second period, I’ve written about how the Canucks need to be getting their special teams sorted out and Mike Gillis sounded off earlier in the week.

The good news? Special teams weren’t a problem, as the Canucks ended up going 3 for 5 with the man advantage and were flawless on the PK, including killing off a double minor in the second period. The unfortunate news is that some bad habits die hard, as despite the solid effort on the PK, the Canucks were still outworked in the second, getting outshot 18-8 and getting some incredibly lucky bounces, including Marek Zidlicky missing a completely wide open net. The Canucks were also throttled in the faceoff circle and nearly let the Wild tie the game up late in the third period, a period that was otherwise solid. The problem, though? Consistency!

Believe me, I’m as sick of writing that word as you are of reading it.

Luongo has been good for letting in one bad goal per game and this trend continued in tonight’s game as Luongo let in an utterly weird goal at the end of the first period. That said, he’s continuing to look sharp out there, making a couple of brilliant saves prior to that gaffe.

Defense starting to look a little confused out there and I’m not sure what the issue is here. Bad read by Salo on the first goal, Schneider taking an absolutely unnecessary boarding call and Ehrhoff just looking ‘bleh’ out there (including a ‘what were you thinking’ giveaway in the second) were the lowlights of the Canucks D-Corps. I’m not sure I’m a huge fan of having both SOB and Schneider in the lineup at the same time but, injuries. Surprisingly, Bieksa played a solid game, looking dangerous in both ends of the ice, nothing really stood out to me with his play tonight.

Hordichuk ended up with 2:57 of icetime, while Johnson was a piddly 29% in the faceoff circle tonight. I bring up Hordichuk, because it’s good to see AV recognizing when players aren’t playing well and penalizing them for it. I bring up Johnson because, hey, isn’t this guy supposed to be a faceoff specialist in addition to being a shot blocking fiend? Just saying.

Here’s a comprehensive list of players who have more points than Henrik Sedin:

Joe Thornton

And people still don’t think they’re first liners or great players. Ridiculous!

Love Mason Raymond’s play as of late. The Sedins and Burrows have been playing with a lot of confidence right now and it’s showing on the scoresheet. That swagger has rubbed off onto Mason Raymond and is oozing off of him out there. Before this season, if Mason had the puck in the neutral zone he’d be making a bee line for the boards, get rubbed out and cough up the puck. Looking at him now, he’s going up the middle, making smart use of his speed and is creating quality scoring chances. It’s a treat to see.

Ryan Kesler, on the other hand. I was all prepared to write out that I felt bad for him, as he’s been working hard game after game, without much to show for it. But he scored tonight after getting some glorious chances right at the beginning of the first.

Samuelsson had what was probably his best game in recent memory, as he’s gone back to shooting and wasn’t coughing up the puck. Samuelsson’s at his best when he’s playing a basic game. I’m hopeful we’ll be seeing him scrabble back onto the scoresheet in the next game or two.

Also, Kevin Weekes. I hate ragging on him, because he’s clearly enthusiastic and it’s plain to see, but he really needs to move away from doing nothing but rattling off endless sports cliches. I remember when Kelly Hrudey first started on HNIC and he was also pretty bad. Hopefully with some experience under his belt he’ll get better out there. That said…

Next HNIC, set up a team drinking game: team 1 takes a drink everytime Weekes says ‘nuts and bolts’, team 2 takes a drink everytime Weekes says ‘laser beam’ when referring to a player shooting the puck, team 3 takes a drink everytime Weekes says ‘folks.’ I insist on teams, because you’d be blackout drunk by the end of the first period were you to do it individually.

Canucks play their next game Monday against the LA Kings. Hopefully we’ll see a con….vincing win against the Kings.

Looking back, you could probably say that that there were a lot of odds stacked against the Canucks winning in Raleigh.

There was the fact that it was a criminally early start, part of Gary Bettman’s efforts to forcefeed the NHL to markets that are less than interested in watching the game, sometimes at the fans expense.

There was Alain Vigneault’s decision to start Andrew Raycroft in lieu of Roberto Luongo, who had looked great in back to back starts against the Devils and Flyers. Given how crazy the Canucks schedule will be coming up, you can’t necessarily blame Vigenault for wanting to give Luongo an afternoon off.

Couple in the fact that this was the third game in four nights and you begin to understand why the Canucks looked bowling shoe ugly against the last place Carolina Hurricanes. Yeah, there are a number of excuses you could dip into to justify the Canucks dismal play, all of which I am sure played a factor in the 5-3 affair, despite a late third period comeback attempt.

While it’d be convenient to chalk up the Canucks loss to the schedule, today’s game had bigger concerns than the Canucks not being able to sleep in. Despite being number one in the league for goals scored on the power play, the Canucks have been absolutely impotent with the man advantage lately, failing to cash in on three attempts, leading to the Canucks being shut out on their last twelve powerplay attempts. Improving the powerplay was one of the areas Mike Gillis focused on this past offseason and seeing such inconsistency with the Canucks has got to be frustrating for the GM and fans alike.

Especially when playing against the Hurricanes, a team ranked 20th overall with their efforts on the penalty kill, a team that is also missing their number one goaltender, Cam Ward. Interestingly enough, the Canucks rank just below the Hurricances, clocking in at 21st overall on the PK. It should be noted, though, that the Canucks have been impressive at killing off penalties lately, having killed 12 of their last 13.

Special teams have got to be a concern for the Canucks, as their 5 on 5 play has actually been solid over the course of the season, as their 5 on 5 goals against ratio rates them 4th overall, behind only Washington, Calgary and San Jose. That said, I don’t care how great of a team you are or how poorly the team you’re playing against is, if your powerplay isn’t producing chances, you’re going to get caught eventually.

As for the schedule? There should be some cause for concern from the Canuck faithful as well, as they haven’t fared too well in games that have been clustered closely together. Up until now, the Canucks schedule hasn’t been that challenging. There’s the 14 game road trip coming up due to the Olympics, followed up with 5 games in 8 nights. There’s also a similar three games in four nights coming up in December, including back to back NW division matchups. If the Canucks are exhausted or taken out of the swing of things this easily, it’s going to be hard for them to make the playoffs come springtime.

All that said, there ARE some positives to come out of this game. Steve Bernier continues to play well this season and is on pace to smash his previous career high offensive totals…all while playing on the third line. Kyle Wellwood was one of the few Canucks who looked like he gave a damn in the second period, showing some flashes of his play during the playoffs where he actually went to the net. Kesler, despite being absolutely snakebitten right now and ending up a -2 in the game, had some great chances along with Raymond. I really hope that Iain MacIntyre was wrong in his assessment that Michael Grabner will be sent down to the Moose once he’s healthy, as I’d like to see that second line come together again. That said, if Pavol Demitra will be healthy, it looks as though there won’t be much of a choice. Sigh.

Sidenote: I can’t get over the fact that Kesler is ‘only’ 25 years old. Seems like he’s been a Canuck for ages. Hopefully Gillis will get him signed and make that a reality.

The Canucks close out their road trip with a trip to Music City, taking on the Predators Tuesday at 5PM PST/8PM EST. They’ll then enjoy an 8 game homestand.

Basically, when you have a mostly healthy team going up 4-0 against the Edmonton Oilers, a team that played the night before and has been ravaged by the injury bug, there’s no reason why you should be letting that team get back into the game.

Luongo had a rather uncharacteristic off-night, including a really weird goal that he gave up to Colin McDonald, McDonald’s first NHL goal. As I mentioned over on my Twitter, perhaps there was another couple making out in the stands. If so, looks like the opposing team may have found Luongo’s kryptonite.

Also wasn’t too happy with Hordichuk’s play: his shying away from a check led to a turnover that resulted in a goal. Sure, he dropped the gloves and looked good, but aside from the fight and his gaffe he was pretty much invisible. C’mon, Hordi, I WANT to like you!

Kesler and Ehrhoff were both beasts for the Canucks, Kesler wracking up 3 assists and being instrumental in Mikael Samuelsson’s goal in the third period, while Ehrhoff notched a goal and an assist for his efforts. I seriously cannot stop singing ze ‘Hoff’s praises right now.

Bernier had a really solid game, showed lots of hustle tonight and it would’ve been nice to have seen him get rewarded with a goal.

There’s also Tanner Glass. Coming off of last game where I sung his praises, he’s continued his stellar play, potting yet another goal. He now has four times as many goals as Kyle Wellwood, which signifies what a great pickup he was by Mike Gillis. Our best bottom six player by far.

Surreal moment of the night came when Jim Hughson likened Kyle Wellwood to Robert Pattinson. What?

Anyway, the Canucks play again tomorrow against the San Jose Sharks. The Sharks will be well rested and ready to go. The Canucks cannot afford to play sloppy and must not relent if they get the lead, as this is a Sharks team that doesn’t give up easily: witness Patrick Marleau’s miraculous game-tying goal the other night against Edmonton which eventually led to a Sharks victory over the Oil.