What the hell happened to the ice? It was horrible for the players.
Anyway, good game for the Nucks, but man o man.... Minnesota has some real issues. I liked what i saw in Pouliot. He looks bigger than listed. There was no puck sustainability on the offense for Minnesota. They have injuries, but no excuse to really show talentless hockey. They actually have some talent, and yet they seem to just run around too much.
Posted on 10/17 11:19 PM | IP: 74.233.200.114
Hi Mick,
GM Place used to have good ice but something is definitely wrong. It's almost as if they forgot to freeze the pucks before the game.
Both teams were missing key players but their absence hurt The Wild more than the Canucks. Either that or the Canucks felt more urgency to win. That's the quietest I've heard a group of fans as well. It's almost as if they were waiting for Minnesota to come back and win it. I didn't like how the Canucks went into defensive mode mid way through the third period. A team with more fire power than The Wild would have capitalized. It wasn't until they began forcing the play back into Minnesota's end that the noise level came back up.
I am curious as to your impression of Raymond and Grabner? Kessler is a given on that line and should have an excellent chance of being on the US Olympic Team but the other two have a ways to go. They were easily the Canucks' most dominant line last night which was a real bonus as Grabner has had a reputation of being invisible at the NHL level. If he keeps playing like he did last night, he is making a better case for his staying. As for Raymond, it may well have been the ice issue you referred to that prevented his scoring in the third. Speed really does kill and that line has it.
Posted on 10/18 8:40 AM | IP: 24.71.45.246
Mick or anybody, what were the number for shot on goals and scoring chances
Posted on 10/18 9:15 AM | IP: 66.25.42.164
I don't think Grabner is anywhere near ready, actually. His mentality just doesn't seem to keep up with the NHL pace. It looked like that he was waiting for Kesler to do something before he initiated anything, and since Kesler had a hell of a game, Grabner managed to play well, too. That shows he is not ready for the NHL yet, though. He has potential, but he has a lot of learning to do and right now AV has no time to teach youngsters. Yet, he showed glimpses of good play, but one game isn't enough, especially against a team that didn't even know how to keep the puck in the offensive zone for more than ten seconds.
I like Raymond. I feel that he is the kind of player that you can put on any line and he'll do what you want him to do. Scoring potential is somewhat questionable. I think that he can either be very helpful offensively, or be slightly helpful offensively. The range is too wide to guess where he'll be; however, i really like his game and he should be kept in the line-up.
The main difference between Raymond and Grabner is that Raymond appears to be the kind of guy that learns as he plays with the group. Grabner needs more "tutoring" by himself. And you know what? That's ok. Some players really need a lot of one on one practices with coaches.
Grabner's best chance to really be a regular in the NHL is next year where he shows up to camp in superb shape and gets a lot of attention from the coaches.
Still, i like Raymond more.
Posted on 10/18 9:28 AM | IP: 98.77.175.161
hey SR,
i'm a big advocate of having that 2nd line being the "speed" line. kesler, raymond and grabner may be one of the fastest lines in hockey. i've always said kesler is a strange guy to play with, as he's so individual, but i think raymond is much the same way, and it just kinda works - 3 guys that can beat you with nothing but speed (and skill). i like it. grabner, i'd like to give him more time - it's all in his head - if he can get confident and just work hard, the results will show. but seriously that line needs a center and the absence of sundin/demitra is really being felt.
i also thought it's about time to put samuelsson with sedin and burrows. he's such a smart player, and versatile too - along with his size, he makes the ideal versatility forward on a team almost always hit with injuries. btw, you can really feel how less dangerous henrik looks without his brother - you can just key on henrik now, before when you did that, you paid big time as the puck went the other way and back, and likely into your net.
btw, isnt it nice to finally have a top notch looking powerplay? number one! it's been a long time - and heck, M.Schneider hasn't even joined the ship yet. if we can go back to being a hard forechecking team with speed, we'll created lots of man advantages - which could be the real difference in the standings. (speaking of standings i dont think we're gonna see SJ, DET, Ana, Van sitting at 8th, 11th, 12th and 13th for very much longer. =0)
Posted on 10/18 9:37 AM | IP: 96.49.79.153
I'd keep him on the big club...
He's got NHL talent, he just needs to convince himself he does...
Take care...
Posted on 10/18 10:26 AM | IP: 99.199.174.104
Hi upice,
The Canucks dominated on both. Backstrom was named the first star and deserved it. Without his effort, the score would have been far more lop sided.
Thanks Rodney, I caught the first period on center ice but the sleep factor got the best of me.
Posted on 10/18 11:23 AM | IP: 66.25.42.164
Scoring chances i don't know, but Nucks definitely had around 10 give or take. Shots on goal? Forgot...but the scoreboard on TSN or NHL.com should tell ya.
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Scratch that, didn't notice it was answered.
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