Roberto Luongo stopped 38 shots in Vancouver’s win over Detroit.
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Luongo lifts Canucks past Red Wings
Luongo lifts Canucks past Red Wings
Roberto Luongo stopped 38 shots in Vancouver’s win over Detroit.
Luongo lifts Canucks past Red Wings
Roberto Luongo stopped 38 shots in Vancouver’s win over Detroit.
NHL Trade Deadline: Vancouver Canucks
Filed under: Canucks, Western, Trade Deadline
At first glance, Vancouver general manager Mike Gillis has few concerns about his team’s play.
The Canucks are sitting comfortably in first place in the Western Conference and have a good chance at locking up top spot overall, too. But, with a little over $800,000 in salary cap space remaining, he must answer one key question: Can the Canucks win now and stay strong for the future?
Gillis abhors trading, but if he does not act, he risks losing three veteran defensemen — Kevin Bieksa, Sami Salo and Christian Ehrhoff — to unrestricted free agency in the summer. He also risks going into the playoffs with a lack of secondary scoring as the Canucks have the best chance at a Cup in their 40-year history.
O, yeah, it might help if he acquired a defenseman or two as insurance. Last summer, it looked like Gillis would be forced to trade a veteran blue-liner to remain under the salary cap. But in July, Salo suffered yet another one of his freak injuries and, after remaining healthy before Christmas, other rearguards started going down on a regular basis.
Alexander Steen Gets An Assist From Roberto Luongo (Video)
Filed under: Blues, Canucks, NHL Videos
The St. Louis Blues picked up a huge win on Monday night, knocking off the best team in the NHL (the Vancouver Canucks) by a 3-2 margin. Coming into the game the Blues season was starting to circle the drain as they had won just four of their previous 17 games and dropped the bottom (or close to it) of the Western Conference.
Monday’s win may only pull them to within six points of the eighth and final playoff spot in the West, but it was still a much-needed victory. Jaroslav Halak stopped 23 of 25 shots in net for St. Louis, while Andy McDonald, Alexander Steen and Patrik Berglund provided the offense.
Steen’s goal came at the 12:17 mark of the first period to give the Blues a 2-1 lead, and while it goes in the books as an unassisted tally, he managed to get a little bit of help from an unlikely source: Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo, who badly misplayed a puck setting up Steen for what had to be one of the easiest of his 16 goals this season…
Taylor Hall Improving, Rewarded With All-Star Trip
Filed under: Oilers, Western, NHL All Star Game
Taylor Hall continues to make the adjustment to the NHL from junior look easy.
The Edmonton Oilers rookie carved another early inroad on his path to superstardom Tuesday as he was invited to participate in the NHL‘s SuperSkills Competition during All-Star weekend in Raleigh, N.C.
“It’s definitely been a big change, coming from junior,” he said following a recent game in Vancouver. “Especially the hockey is a lot faster. There are certainly a lot of games that are making me a better player and a better team player. So far I’ve had a lot of fun.”
After a slow start, Hall, 19, has accumulated 12 goals and 11 assists and is emerging as a rival for rookie-of-the year honor with teammate Jordan Eberle and Jeff Skinner of the Carolina Hurricanes, among others. Hall, who was born in Calgary and moved to Kingston, Ont., when he was 13, is clearly justifying Oiler general manager Steve Tambellini’s decision to make him the first overall draft pick last June.
Canucks Douse Flames With Relative Ease as Calgary’s Scoring Woes Continue
Filed under: Canucks, Flames, Western
The rivalry between the Vancouver Canucks and the Calgary Flames isn’t what it used to be.
The Canucks might as well have been playing Carolina the way they handled their Northwest Division rivals 3-1 in a game that had little if any atmosphere on Wednesday night. The only suspense was whether Roberto Luongo would get his shutout. Alas, Tim Jackman stole his goose egg with 10.8 seconds left on one of the few occasions when the Flames went to the net hard.
“We’ve had so many battles with these guys in the past, but I’d say this was probably one of the more tamer ones,” said Kevin Bieksa, who scored the winning goal and assisted on another one.
Cory Schneider Making Most of Backup Role With Canucks
Cory Schneider’s chance in the spotlight has finally arrived, and he’s making the most of it — while it lasts.
The Vancouver Canucks backup goaltender holds the best record (7-0-2) among non-starting NHL netminders after saving 32 of 35 shots in a 4-3 victory over the Sharks in San Jose on Monday night.
“It’s great. As a backup, I’m just trying to give the team a chance to win and spell Lou at the same time,” said Schneider. “If I can get points and give Lou breaks and he can play his game, I’d take that over stats or whatever. I’ll take the wins.”
Lou is starter Roberto Luongo, one of the league’s best and most consistent goaltenders, who rarely gets a night off. But Schneider spelled him recently as he made two trips to Florida in a week to be with wife Gina before and during the birth of their second child.
Canucks Starting to Look Like NHL’s Best
SAN JOSE — After his team’s Monday morning skate, San Jose coach Todd McLellan was asked about Vancouver’s depth, and he said that the Canucks have lots of it — and “that’s how you become a championship club.”
Vancouver, with numerous lines that can score, a solid stable of defensemen and an elite goaltender, has shot to the top of the standings by going 14-1-2 in the past six weeks. Add that backup goalie Cory Schneider has yet to lose in regulation — he’s starting tonight at HP Pavilion — plus, Mason Raymond is back after missing 10 games, and he scored the game winner on Sunday night.
This is a team with few weaknesses, it appears.
“We hit a rough patch in November and had a meeting, we had to get back to basics,” Schneider said. “We’ve been taking care of business at our end, we have six great defensemen, we have four lines that can all play. If we play smart, we’re a hard team to beat.”
“We’ve been playing well as a team,” No. 1 goaltender Roberto Luongo said. “Different guys are contributing, and we need that. You can’t have a shutout every night. Sometimes you need the guys on the fourth line to come through.”
On Sunday at Colorado, Alex Boldic scored his first career goal, playing on the fourth line, and he also assisted on Raymond’s game-winner. Forward Ryan Kesler said that it was good to see Raymond score right away, and, he said, “When you have four lines that can score in this league, that’s big.”
Ryan Kesler Quietly Becoming Offensive Force for Canucks
Ryan Kesler continues to let his play do most of his talking.
Rarely a good quote for reporters, the Vancouver Canucks centre has zipped his lip this season when it comes to chirping at other teams. As a result, the Livonia, Mich., native’s actions are speaking louder than words — and teammates are singing praise — as he plays some of the finest hockey of his NHL career.
Kesler extended his points streak to eight games as he enjoyed a three-point night in a 6-2 thumping Tuesday night of the Philadelphia Flyers, one of the league’s top clubs. He scored two goals and added an assist — after hitting the crossbar on what would have been his third goal of the night — as the Canucks handed the Philadelphia Flyers their first loss in Vancouver since Jan. 17, 1989.
But don’t expect Kesler to get overly excited about his offensive prowess.
