Gillis was right

Before Nonis got canned, it did feel nice to hear him say how close the Canucks were to being an elite contender in the league, as long as everyone was healthy. And I believed him, too.
Last season they did look like a contender, winning the division, winning a tight series against Dallas and amounting the [...]

Proof the Smartest Hockey People Are in Vancouver

If you needed any more proof that the smartest hockey people aren’t in Toronto, but rather in Vancouver, then today, you probably got it.
The Canucks owner, Francesco Acquilini, has finally hired a brand new general manager after firing Dave Nonis such a long time ago.  Eight long, agonizing days ago.
The new boss:  Mike Gillis.  249 games [...]

Farewell to the Fallen

Part of us knew it already. But part of us didn’t want to admit it. Vancouver never had enough to make the playoffs, let alone win a round in it.
But who can blame fans for this false sense of hope?
I mean, if you thought the hot blonde babe with the mini-skirt at your school was [...]

Keepin’ It Simple

Today, I’ve had a lot of time to listen to the radio shows and read the papers in preparation for tonight’s Canucks game against the Oilers.
The Canucks need to win their next two games combined with a Nashville loss to either to St. Louis tonight or Chicago on Saturday night to get into the playoffs.
There’s [...]

Canucks vs. Oilers: Round 7

The last time the Vancouver Canucks and Edmonton Oilers played each other was just one of those nights when apparently all of hell had broken loose in General Motors Place.
The two teams combined for over 190 penalty minutes and the last minute of the game took a lot longer to play than usual because of [...]

Cookie Made of Chicken

In a game full of fights, line brawls, big hits, beauty goals and more fights, did anyone else notice that Vancouver Canucks forward Matt Cooke did not drop his mitts?
The problem with the Cookie Monster not scrapping out there against the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday night’s mock-up of the UFC was that he should have.
In [...]

Trade Rumour A Source of Hilarity

As I was driving around Port Coquitlam, B.C. today, I found myself in absolute hysterics, laughing so hard that I am sure the people in the cars beside me thought I was crazy.
What made me laugh so hard? 
Are you ready for this?
The newest trade rumour has the Vancouver Canucks trading Ryan Kesler, Luc Bourdon, [...]

Canucks Finally Get Two Points for Effort

At least for tonight, the Vancouver Canucks feel like they have had a massive load lifted off of their shoulders. 
Winless on a four-game road trip that saw them fall at the hands of the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3, the Florida Panthers 4-3 in a shootout and then to the Dallas Stars 3-2 in another shootout, the Canucks limped into [...]

Shoot ‘Em Like Detroit

Besides having the best defencemen in the league and some dynamic young forwards, there is one glaring reason as to why the Red Wings are the best NHL team.
They shoot the puck.
It might sound too simple but there’s no other possible explanation.
Heading into tonight’s schedule, the Red Wings average 34.6 shots on goal a night, [...]

Time is Now

For the Vancouver Canucks, leaving for the Sunshine State is anything but a mid-season vacation.
The Canucks sit eighth in the NHL’s Western Conference, just one point ahead of the Pheonix Coyotes and the Columbus Blue Jackets for the final playoff spot in the west.
But tonight’s game, and this roadtrip for that matter, may be the [...]

No Life in Leader Markus Naslund

It’s on every fan’s list of how to improve the Canucks, and there’s no denying it.
Markus Naslund, the captain and the leader of this team, needs to start playing as such. I might be a couple years too late to point this fact out but I kept suppressing hope that Naslund would pop out of his [...]

Trade Talk Getting Ridiculous

Well, the NHL All-Star weekend has come and gone and now it is onto the stretch drive in the NHL regular season. 
With the stretch drive comes an all-too-familiar brand of talk: trade rumours.  Listening to the local sport talk shows on the Team 1040, all you hear now is “will the Canucks make a big [...]

No More Trading for Scraps

Martin Rucinsky, Geoff Sanderson, Brian Smolinksi, Marc Bergevin, and the list goes on.
Do these names sound familiar?
Those are some of the players Vancouver has acquired during the past few years on deadline day in order to see them flop come playoff time. It’s getting tiresome and repetitive. 
Dave Nonis and the Canucks need a different approach [...]

Courage Luongo’s Word

He had been called out by head coach Alain Vigneault on Tuesday following practice, he got agitated with reporters following today’s game-day skate and was the focal point of scrutiny after winning just once in the Canucks last seven games.
Even after all that, and two suspect goals tonight against the St. Louis Blues, the Canucks [...]

Why Forsberg Does Not Belong in Vancouver

By no means is this post meant to put anyone’s opinion down or belittle anyone that writes or leaves comments on this site.  It is simply a look into why Peter Forsberg does not belong in Vancouver.
It’s simple.  My colleague Hosea said it best in his last post when he referred to Forsberg as injury-prone.  [...]