week in review

Jarkko Polo – The Boes-t A Fan Can Get

Going into this week things looked pretty rosy: Connor McDavid was held without a point and the Canucks, on the surface, looked like they could be a fun team to watch. Fast forward a week later and the injury-laden club will be lucky to relevant by Christmas. OK, that might be a tad harsh but it took three games to see rookie phenom Brock Boeser in the lineup. This is a team that everyone knew would struggle to get points and the young talent has been held in the barn.

Regardless, they still played the games and we know a lot more about new coach Travis Green, his thought process, and injuries.

Let’s recap the week that was:

 

The Good

Brock Boeser debuted and notched a goal and an assist in two games played. Chris Tanev is the unlikely co-leader in the clubhouse with two goals (Bo Horvat also has the same total). The Canucks will rely heavily upon Tanev now that Alex Edler is out 4-6 weeks with an MCL sprain. Going back to Boeser, he just fits and if Green chooses to keep him out of the lineup on any given night in the near future he’ll have some explaining to do.

Boeser couldn’t quite deliver on the power play after getting multiple opportunities to trigger a shot but it’s clear he has a gift and eventually that gift will reap many, many benefits for the Canucks.

Other than that, it wasn’t a very good week in Vancouver.

 

The Bad

Jacob Markstrom started this season on a high note and looked to be one of the few reliable pieces on the Canucks roster. Things have changed slightly since that first night. There have been some goals he probably wants back, some decisions he could have done without and probably a defensive unit that can keep the puck away from him. Anders Nilsson better be getting a start soon while they’re on the road because this could be a long season of shaking our collective heads.

The Sedins ice time has dwindled down to their early years in the league and it probably won’t get any better. It looked like they were going to be asked to be role players but even then it would be assumed they’d be getting third line minutes at the bare minimum. Nope, not happening this year. If this team is to survive and the Sedins are going to be getting zero ice time, put ALL the kids in, even Nikolay Goldobin.

 

The Ugly

The powerplay is a good place to start. At 8.7% the Canucks are already 25th in the league with the man advantage. The stat that hurts, even more, is that they’ve had the MOST power play opportunities at home. Zone entries have been alright but even with the new setup, Sam Gagner seems to be getting all the looks like the new kid in high school that transferred from across town, ugh man did I hate Kevin. Gagner isn’t exactly the best choice for “power play goals and such”.

Although, it doesn’t really matter who is on the PP as no one is even getting shots. Stop me if you’ve heard this before.

Oh, right; Alex Edler is out so the defense is basically doomed and Loui Eriksson will probably be out indefinitely after mangling his ankle crashing into the net against Calgary. That part isn’t as ugly for the team, more for Loui, himself.

 

With all the injuries Travis Green will be forced to play some of the younger guys and it might just attract a few more people to the games because, well, attendance is kinda low.

 

Maybe this road trip will give us some hope.

JARKKO POLO: Millionaires Bankrupted

The bad weeks always start good don’t they? A tease of maybe what’s to come and then WHAMMY! kicked in the junk. Watching the Canucks this past week was basically that; big win against the Jets, then rocking the Millionaires jerseys should have been so much fun but no, yet another embarrassement. Of course to cap it all off, the Stars found a way to shame the Canucks.

With the playoffs literally 2 weeks away, maybe now isn’t the best time to start flirting with disaster. Call me crazy but it probably isn’t safe. To make matters worse, I had my wisdom teeth pulled out and watching that OT loss to the Stars hurt just as much as the endless throbbing pain where my teeth once were.

I know there are wins hiding somewhere, come on out wins, we need you!

THE GAMES WE PLAYED

Vs. Winnipeg Jets – WIN 5-2

RECAP: Dare I tell you how it started? So we’re down 2-0, story of the century I know; all seemed to be lost once again. BUT WAIT! Chris Higgins is back and scoring goals? Yep sure is! So that made things feel a bit better and wouldn’t ya know it, our PP scored too! Yannick Weber was the latest edition to the man advantage and his booming slapper found its way to the mesh. Radim Vrbata would add a real goal and an empty netter as would Henrik and we grounded the Jets 5-2. This one felt pretty good at the end and those slick Millionaire jerseys were next.

Vs. Colorado Avalanche – LOSE – 4-1 (BURN THOSE JERSEYS)

RECAP: Vancouver trotted out their ever famous Millionaires jerseys paying homage to the 1915 Stanley Cup Champion team’s 100th anniversary. We’re seriously doing that now. Lets celebrate losing in ’82 and ’94 while were at it. I swear I am not copy/pasting this: Canucks go down 3-0 to the Avs and it just feels like we need to burn those jerseys before the end of the game, they aren’t helping. Yannick Weber would score his second PPG in as many games but that’s all the Canucks would get. Losing 4-1 to a team that played the night before and lost, not fun. Sadly, the week wasn’t over.

Vs. Dallas Stars – LOSE – 4-3 OT (Moral Victory?)

RECAP: Thankfully, after Jamie Benn opened the scoring, yup playing from behind again, the Canucks answered back with a real good goal by Nick Bonino. I know, he still plays for the Canucks; I was confused too! Chris Higgins would put Vancouver ahead and it was all coming together. Midway through the third, Dallas tied it up and then went ahead with about 6 minutes to go. Radim Vrbata would PPG it late and off to overtime we go. I’m not sure if the Canucks know how OT works but the point is to score the last goal, they did not. A point was awarded to the Canucks but they could have used the second one.

 

3 THINGS FROM TWITTER

There wasn’t much to be happy about this week but there were a few gems:

I agree with Jeff here, but they are neato looking

Things may seem bad in Canucksland, but David Booth fought Phil Kessel in practice..Things are fine here.

https://twitter.com/nine30shineshop/status/581532065465651201

I didn’t see WM but it sounds like a lot of my buds did. Sting is back?

It’s not that the Canucks are playing awful, they just are losing some games right now that hurt my feelings. Having Zack Kassian and Brad Richardson out of the lineup is huge and that extra grit and grind is missed. Hopefully on this final stretch the boys will bring it all together, or at least enough to beat out LA or Calgary. Good thing is no more Millionaires jerseys so things should be fine.

Follow me on twitter: @always90four

JARKKO POLO: BIEGA BOMBS, BIG APPLES AND BO KNOWS
It was another week of milestones and surprises for the Vancouver Canucks. Clinching a huge win against the Wild at the beginning of the week, capping it off with a win against the Islanders on Sunday and watching the Sedins get back to form kept us buzzing on the twitters, the radio and at the coffee machine, because really, why work?

 

The Games We Played
Vs. Minnesota Wild  – WIN 3-2 (NAIL BITER ALERT)
RECAP: Rookie Alex Biega was called up the night before and was inserted in the lineup when Chris Tanev was a no go. He scored his first NHL goal in his first game and wouldn’t ya know it? It was the game winner. Bo Horvat scored again, feels like we say this a lot now, and Eddie Lack stood on his head at the end of the game but not without a bit of crazy suspense. We beat the Wild, life is good!

 

@ New York Rangers – WIN VIA SHOOTOUT 5-4
RECAP: This one was basically a dog fight from start to finish. The Canucks stepped up to the challenge and earned their 2 points. Ryan Miller was less than bad against NYR and his team should expect a sizable free dinner in the near future. Bo Horvat scored again on a dirty feed from Ronny Kenins (he’s not two names anymore). Henrik Sedin had a deuce and has been a key member of the Canucks work ethic lately. Huge win against AV; Alex Burrows did a thing with his stick on his shootout goal, meh, it was different.

 

@ New Jersey Devils – Losedid 4-2 (But C’MON WE SHOULDA WON)
RECAP: Alex Burrows was a late scratch before the game started so even though Zack Kassian wasn’t supposed to play, he played anyways….and he played good! Eddie Lack had a Ryan Miller type game and let in 3 goals early. You could imagine that probably isn’t a good feeling to have when you are in net. Thankfully, good ol’ Zack Kassian continued to impress the coach and put up BOTH goals for the Canucks. The Sedins were in on both goals and quietly are getting back to form. An empty netter sealed the Nucks fate but man what a finish. Sucks to lose those ones.

 

@ New York Islanders – WIN 4-0 (Is it pronounced IS LANDERS?)
RECAP: So, I’m gonna be honest, I had to work Sunday. So the replays had to do for this one. The early starts sure are buzz killers let me tell you. So Zack Kassian scored the opening goal in the second period which was also a PPG. Willie D is starting to trust young Kass and he is making his coach proud. Miller got injured shortly after and Lack came in to save the day and save the day he did. Radim Vrbata stared in a goal, rookie superstar Bo Horvat and Yannick Weber all had goals. These road trips, I’m telling ya, we’re good.

 

OK, there is actually a lot to talk about but you know most of it already. Alex Biega’s call up and surprise start for Chris Tanev paid off with a HUGE FNHLGWGG (First NHL Game winning goal goal). Bo Horvat has been an absolute stud lately and it really is a shame he didn’t turn it on earlier, he might have been up for ROY.

 

Henrik got the 2nd star of the week from the NHL HQ for his sick ton of multi point games last week. The goalie situation took another turn this past week with Miller getting injured. It doesn’t sound good as of right now and Jacob Markstrom got the 911 call to back up steady Eddie.

 

This is a huge break for the Canucks and may determine how they maneuver at the deadline. Still saying, move one of them for Kelowna Rocket and Capitals prospect Madison Bowey, they won’t be sorry.

 

And finally….3 things from twitter:

 

 

 

 

I really don’t know how I feel about the Yeezy Boost by adidas. Does it have ANYTHING to do with the Canucks? Nope. But I’m sure you’ll let me know how you feel.

 

If you like this, submit something to me and see if it makes the cut. I’m pretty low on the follower totem pole so you’ll probably make it.

 

Follow me on twitter: @always90four and @hankthetank10
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