rypper-37 Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 First off, tonight's loss was a tough pill to swallow and there's no other way around that. We lost to our arch-rival, the Chicago Blackhawks and more importantly, our most prized left winger, Dank. However, taken into account off all that transpired, I can sense a different team tonight. Tonight, the whole team showed up. There were moments when the Canucks were hemmed in our own zone and couldn't get possession of the puck. We couldn't produce and score and even had bad turnovers at key moments of the game. But this is all as a result of us playing poor hockey lately and in a way, it is good that we're losing a regular season game and rather then losing in the playoffs. First and foremost, the team mentality that us fans loved so passionately was finally back there. We were feisty and fought back with tooth and nail. Hank, our "soft" captain transformed into someone else when his brother got hurt. He protected the puck well and even called out Duncan Keith (not to fight but to stand up for his brother). MayRay looked like a fire has been rekindled and was one of our best players tonight. All night long, the Canucks played with resilience, even when we took 5 straight penalties and there was tenacity in the Canucks that has been missing for months. Secondly, Lu looked like the Luongo that was the cornerstone of our team. He made key saves and looked so confident that I believed that only way we would've lost was in the shootout. He stood tall and had it not been for some bad bounces, he could've made it out of the night with a shutout. If he's able to feed off this momentum and keep it going into the playoffs, our chances of making another deep run looks very good. Last but not least, this game was a measuring stick for us. I truly believe that despite the loss, this would be a rude awakening to our team to stop slacking and start playing some real hockey. Our players have the skills, the confidence and experience to bring us back for another good run. Now it's just a matter of execution and where the team mentality is at. With such a sour loss, I expect our team to come back mean and hungry, and hopefully, this will spark some much needed motivation for a team that is poised for the 2nd spot in the Western Conference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toni Zamboni Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 this silver Luuuuing gives me a mayray of hope;O) get well soon Danny! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Common sense Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 Well, at least we know Hank can play without Dan if it gets bad... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lockhart Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 I would have loved to see Bitz or Duco dressed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
It's Bieksa's Fault Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 The only really bad thing was losing Daniel. Otherwise we got a huge emotional spark, Raymond played well, Hansen got a goal, our faceoff mojo seems to be returning and Luongo was solid (in Chicago, for crying out loud). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHodgson9 Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 The hope is that this is a truly galvanizing moment in the Canucks' locker room and they're motivated to play for each other more than before. That and Keith gets suspended at least 5 games....possibly rest of season if it was premeditated like Hank says it was. Deliberate premeditated intent to injure has no place in the game, and a 5 game suspension is NOT enough of a deterrent for someone to never do it again. Most importantly, I hope Daniel Sedin is not concussed or injured, and if he is that he recovers to full health quickly! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hafizzle Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 Dank? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace_of_Spades Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 First off, tonight's loss was a tough pill to swallow and there's no other way around that. We lost to our arch-rival, the Chicago Blackhawks and more importantly, our most prized left winger, Dank. However, taken into account off all that transpired, I can sense a different team tonight. Tonight, the whole team showed up. There were moments when the Canucks were hemmed in our own zone and couldn't get possession of the puck. We couldn't produce and score and even had bad turnovers at key moments of the game. But this is all as a result of us playing poor hockey lately and in a way, it is good that we're losing a regular season game and rather then losing in the playoffs. First and foremost, the team mentality that us fans loved so passionately was finally back there. We were feisty and fought back with tooth and nail. Hank, our "soft" captain transformed into someone else when his brother got hurt. He protected the puck well and even called out Duncan Keith (not to fight but to stand up for his brother). MayRay looked like a fire has been rekindled and was one of our best players tonight. All night long, the Canucks played with resilience, even when we took 5 straight penalties and there was tenacity in the Canucks that has been missing for months. Secondly, Lu looked like the Luongo that was the cornerstone of our team. He made key saves and looked so confident that I believed that only way we would've lost was in the shootout. He stood tall and had it not been for some bad bounces, he could've made it out of the night with a shutout. If he's able to feed off this momentum and keep it going into the playoffs, our chances of making another deep run looks very good. Last but not least, this game was a measuring stick for us. I truly believe that despite the loss, this would be a rude awakening to our team to stop slacking and start playing some real hockey. Our players have the skills, the confidence and experience to bring us back for another good run. Now it's just a matter of execution and where the team mentality is at. With such a sour loss, I expect our team to come back mean and hungry, and hopefully, this will spark some much needed motivation for a team that is poised for the 2nd spot in the Western Conference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Honky Cat Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 Mason Raymond was playing like a man possesed....good to see.Luongo was excellent as well,he gave us more than a chance to win (the winning goal was a fluke). On the downside,I expected a lot more from David Booth and Ryan Kesler..they were not nearly as noticeable as they usually are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace_of_Spades Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 Dank? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buddhas Hand Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 aahhh all is well with cdc again . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smackyo23 Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 At least they showed some heart and that they actually do give a crap. I'll take a hard fought loss like that in OT anyday as opposed to the crap we've been subjected to lately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burnsey Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 i agree the team showed to play. fought hard, went after the hawks a bit. Obviously scoring wise it wasnt good enough. We wont win the cup with only scoring one goal a game, but we look like we are slowly getting to where we need to be in 3 weeks time. As long as they play like that, we'll be fine and finally the fans on here will stop making topics about why we are losing (ie. we are throwing games to throw opponents off, etc.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jai604 Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 Mason Raymond was playing like a man possesed....good to see.Luongo was excellent as well,he gave us more than a chance to win (the winning goal was a fluke). On the downside,I expected a lot more from David Booth and Ryan Kesler..they were not nearly as noticeable as they usually are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toyotafan Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 I loved the effort. One instance during the game where TSN decided to listen in at the benches they caught Keith and Kassian chirping at each other. Keith yelled "well ,havn't you been a fine addition to your team" and all Kassian could reply was a dejected "shutup". After that exchange many players on the Canuck bench gave Kassian a pat on the back. I think it's a turning point for Kassian where he is going to start feeling like a bigger part of the team. Come playoff time he is going to be relied on to stick up for his team and this was his first taste of this rivalry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hotdawg Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 Losing can teach you alot if you allow it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeanBeef Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 This was one of the best games I've watched in a while. The 3rd line played great despite the one goal scored on them. Pahlsson looked like the Manny of last year, Higgins got quality scoring chances, and Hansen picked up a goal and a couple of hits. Kesler and Burr both had great defensive games. The hit on Bolland reminded me of when they were both two of the best third line grinders in the league. Also, Burr's punch to Kane's face was a beauty. Unfortunately, Booth wasn't as visible as he was in previous games, but if you watch carefully, he opened up a lot of space for Raymond to make great plays, he also drove to the net (as usual) whenever he could. Raymond looked like he was still in 2010 this game, just skating around defenders and creating good chances with his speed. Weise and Lapierre had solid games as usual. I was actually surprised that they didn't get that involved in anything. Kassian showed that he wouldn't take crap from the hawks and was in seabrooks grill all night. The defense was okay, Salo and Hamhuis were pretty steady. Tanev looked calm and speedy despite the fact AV kept putting him up against Sharp. Alberts also had a solid game with a couple of hits the only thing bad about his game was getting hit by Kane, which was pretty embarassing. Edler was okay as well, but I think he should have knocked Stalberg out when he started face washing him. Bieksa looked like the old tough Bieksa that played for us back in the day. Him getting involved with Keith was awesome. It was pretty funny watching it as Keith was struggling so hard to seperate himself from Bieksa's left arm even though Bieksa was being held back by Bolland. He also connected with a solid uppercut on Keith's face, which was better than Burr's on Kane. Luongo had a really solid game, and I hope he shows this during the playoffs. This game would have been even more fun to watch if KB4 was involved in the scrums. I can see him pissing off Keith and Kane and beating up a random hawk. We are really missing Ballard and need him for the playoffs. Btw. If we don't make it to the finals, I would like to see chicago go against the Bruins, just wanna see what its like for them to deal with Lucic, Marchand, and Thornton if they couldn't even deal with Kassian, Burr, and Bieksa. Marchand vs Kane: I would definately pay for that fight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaveFerris Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 I think the silver lining / blessing in disguise or whatever you want to call it is with Daniel now out for some time, this is going to light the biggest fire under Henrik's a** that you're going to see a whole different player from here on. This has to be the rally point for the whole team to unleash the fury we know they're capable of. This sh*t just got real. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.