Goal Line Report
Entries with the tag: Vancouver+Canucks
Luongo Earning Every Penny
by Patrick Hoffman on 09/03/09 at 12:30 PM ET
Comments (0)
From Chris Botta at AOL’s NHL FanHouse:
If Roberto Luongo’s new contract was for 24 years and $128 million, he would still be worth every penny. The Vancouver Canucks did wonderfully for themselves and their fan base by getting him at half. Priceless is the professional athlete who just shuts up and plays his position as well as anyone on the planet.
The 30-year-old Luongo had three wishes: to get paid, to not bankrupt the Canucks from fielding a contender and to go very long-term. So what if the contract doesn’t end until the Jamie Moyer stage of his career?
Wednesday, everyone had a lot to say about what Luongo will be at 43 and what he is now at age 30. But a little history reveals why the All-Star goalie may have been so resolute in his demands.
Despite being the most-hyped goaltender of the last 15 years, he has delivered on his immense potential. Of course, there is the rather large matter of carrying a team to a Stanley Cup, but even his critics are forgiving. They acknowledge Luongo has been an NHL goalie for nine seasons, a member of a functional NHL franchise for only the last three.
Click here for more.
Filed in: | Goal Line Report | Permalink
Tags: Roberto+Luongo, Vancouver+Canucks,
Gillis Optimistic About Signing Sedins
by Patrick Hoffman on 06/25/09 at 06:08 PM ET
Comments (0)
From Ian Mendes at Sportsnet.ca:
The window is closing on Mike Gillis to land the Sedin twins before they hit the unrestricted free agent market in less than a week.
And on Thursday afternoon, the Vancouver Canucks general manager said he remains optimistic that he can strike a deal with the dynamic pair.
“I think there is common ground. We want them and they’ve made it clear they want to stay in Vancouver,” said Gillis. “Normally, when you have two parties that have that amount of common ground, you can figure out how to do it.”
Click here for more.
Filed in: | Goal Line Report | Permalink
Tags: Daniel+Sedin, Henrik+Sedin, Vancouver+Canucks,
Best Performance of This Year’s playoffs?
by Patrick Hoffman on 05/12/09 at 12:07 AM ET
Comments (1)
As all you hockey nuts are well aware of, there were two Game 6’s tonight in the Stanley Cup playoffs - one between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals and the other between the Vancouver Canucks and the Chicago Blackhawks.
The Capitals were able to once again extend a series to a seventh game (third straight series the team has done that) with a 5-4 in overtime on a goal by David Steckel while the Blackhawks put the Canucks in their place with a high-scoring 7-5 win, thanks to three goals and an assist from youngster Patrick Kane.
With that in mind, was Kane’s hat trick the best individual performance in this year’s playoffs? What do you folks think?
Filed in: | Goal Line Report | Permalink
Tags: David+Steckel, Patrick+Kane, Pittsburgh+Penguins, Stanley+Cup+Playoffs, Vancouver+Canucks, Washington+Capitals, Washington+Capitals,
Thoughts on Canucks’ Game Three Victory
by Patrick Hoffman on 05/05/09 at 11:20 PM ET
Comments (1)
In another short blog I penned for MaxHockey.com, I mentioned how a Versus analyst called the Vancouver Canucks’ play methodic and how the term suited them for tonight’s 3-1 victory, giving the boys from British Columbia a 2-1 series lead heading into Game Four.
Also, click here to check out Stan Fischler’s thoughts on the same game.
Filed in: | Goal Line Report | Permalink
Tags: Chicago+Blackhawks, MaxHockey.com, Stan+Fischler, Stanley+Cup+Playoffs, Vancouver+Canucks,
Thoughts on the Second Round
by Patrick Hoffman on 05/04/09 at 03:57 PM ET
Comments (0)
You can find my thoughts on the second round over at MaxHockey.com. Click below to find out my opinions on each series:
Eastern Conference
- Boston Bruins vs. Carolina Hurricanes
- Washington Capitals vs. Pittsburgh Penguins
Western Conference
- Detroit Red Wings vs. Anaheim Ducks
- Vancouver Canucks vs. Chicago Blackhawks
Also feel free to check out Zach Weinstock’s excellent NHL Playoff page.
Filed in: | Goal Line Report | Permalink
Tags: Boston+Bruins, Carolina+Hurricanes, Chicago+Blackhawks, Pittsburgh+Penguins, Stanley+Cup+Playoffs, Vancouver+Canucks, Washington+Capitals,
Canucks Getting Restless
by Patrick Hoffman on 04/28/09 at 03:35 PM ET
Comments (1)
From Brad Ziemer at The Vancouver Sun:
With no opponent on which to channel their aggression, a couple of the Canucks spent part of Monday’s practice going after each other.
Defenceman Kevin Bieksa and forward Ryan Kesler are best of friends off the ice. You never would have known it Monday, when Kesler delivered a hard shoulder check to Bieksa and Bieksa later responded with a spirited cross-check. The two teammates subsequently spent much of the practice yapping at one another.
“Before practice the coach said we had to be more game-like, so I don’t think he liked the cold shoulder I gave him,” Kesler said with a smile, before adding, “I think everybody in this room is sick of practising.”
Click here for more.
Filed in: | Goal Line Report | Permalink
Tags: Vancouver+Canucks,
Time to Battle
by Patrick Hoffman on 04/26/09 at 10:15 PM ET
Comments (0)
Note: I apologize for not posting this weekend as I was out of town with my fiance this weekend. Looks like I picked a good time to go, huh?
Well, folks, here we go. The New York Rangers and Washington Capitals are headed to a Game 7 on Tuesday night at the Verizon Center, thanks to huge back-to-back wins for the Caps by scores of 4-0 and 5-3, respectively.
It’s easy to see why the Caps won these last two games by a combined score of 9-3: they know how to put the puck in the net. Alex Ovechkin is heating up, the Caps power play is converting and getting more dangerous by the game and more importantly, they are making Rangers’ superstar netminder Henrik Lundqvist look human.
Through the first four games, Lundqvist had stopped an amazing 141 of 148 shots and was the main reason why the Blueshirts were up 3-1. However, in Game 4 and 5, Lundqvist was shaky, allowing four goals on 14 shots in Game 5 on Friday night and five goals on 20 shots this afternoon at Madison Square Garden.
Filed in: | Goal Line Report | Permalink
Tags: Note:New+York+Rangers, Alex+Ovechkin, Henrik+Lundvqist, Vancouver+Canucks, Washington+Capitals,
They’ll Be Fine
by Patrick Hoffman on 12/18/08 at 09:30 PM ET
Comments (1)
Well, it’s official folks. Mats Sundin has found a new home and it’s not on Broadway.
As reported by TSN, Sundin has signed a one-year contract with the Vancouver Canucks. This is someone that the New York Rangers could have used but if you think about it, with a 22-11-2 record, the team must be doing something right.
Yes, the team relies on their goaltender Henrik Lundqvist to bail them out a lot and yes, they are primarily a defense-first team. However, these are two elements that have allowed the Blueshirts to be successful the past three seasons.
Filed in: | Goal Line Report | Permalink
Tags: Dmitri+Kalinin, Mats+Sundin, New+York+Rangers, Vancouver+Canucks, Wade+Redden,
Christmas Could Come Early
by Patrick Hoffman on 12/16/08 at 09:15 PM ET
Comments (1)
According to Vancouver Canucks’ General Manager Mike Gillis, Mats Sundin will have his decision by Thursday.
All I can say is, and I think the rest of the hockey world will agree with me, it’s about time. Since last season ended, all anyone could talk about was “What is Mats Sundin going to do?” “Is he going to retire?” “Is he going to stay with the Toronto Maple Leafs?” “Is he going to be a Montreal Canadien, Vancouver Canuck, Philadelphia Flyer, New York Ranger, etc.?” “Will he really just be a rent-a-player?”
That question will finally be answered on Thursday and right now, it’s tough to say what he is going to decide.
Filed in: | Goal Line Report | Permalink
Tags: Daniel+Sedin, Fredrik+Sjostrom, Henrik, Henrik+Sedin, Markus+Naslund, Mats+Sundin, Mike+Gillis, Montreal+Canadiens, New+York+Rangers, Philadelphia+Flyers, Toronto+Maple+Leafs, Vancouver+Canucks,
Intrigued
by Patrick Hoffman on 12/15/08 at 09:30 PM ET
Comments (0)
I know that many of you New York Ranger fans out there were certainly intrigued by reports that Mats Sundin had selected the Blueshirts as the team he wanted to play for this season.
However, Sam Weinman, Rangers’ beat writer for The Journal News, reported that Sundin’s agent, J.P. Barry, said in an e-mail that the big Swede has yet to make a decision but at the same time, noted that the Blueshirts have expressed their interest.
The plot thickens folks. It will be interesting to see what happens in the next couple of days because it’s a rematch of the 1994 Stanley Cup Finals for Mats: the New York Rangers vs. the Vancouver Canucks, who already offered him a two-year deal worth $20 million.
Filed in: | Goal Line Report | Permalink
Tags: Glen+Sather, J.P.+Barry, Mats+Sundin, Michal+Rozsival, New+York+Rangers, Nikolai+Zherdev, Petr+Prucha, Sam+Weinman, The+Journal+News, Vancouver+Canucks, Wade+Redden,
Valiquette to Start
by Patrick Hoffman on 11/22/08 at 12:00 PM ET
Comments (1)
According to Sam Weinman of The Journal News, the New York Rangers have elected to start Stephen Valiquette this afternoon against the Ottawa Senators.
Valiquette played half the game on Wednesday night against the Vancouver Canucks and stopped all 15 shots he faced after Henrik Lundqvist was pulled by Rangers’ head coach Tom Renney (five goals allowed).
However, according to Weinman, Valiquette had been penciled in for this game for a long time and it’s not just a coincidence that he is starting after Lundqvist’s struggles on Wednesday night.
Filed in: | Goal Line Report | Permalink
Tags: Eastern+Conference, Henrik+Lundqvist, New+York+Rangers, Ottawa+Senators, Sam+Weinman, Stephen+Valiquette, The+Journal+News, Tom+Renney, Vancouver+Canucks,
Deserving the Boos
by Patrick Hoffman on 11/22/08 at 10:00 AM ET
Comments (3)
It looks like New York Ranger fans have found themselves a new Marek Malik to boo in defenseman Michal Rozsival, a guy the team signed a $20-million contract extension over the summer.
This is something that the Rangers cannot afford to have and Rozsival needs to change things fast or else he is going to make Rangers’ management look extremely stupid for resigning him over the summer.
Filed in: | Goal Line Report | Permalink
Tags: Boston+Bruins, Marek+Malik, Michal+Rozsival, New+York+Islanders, New+York+Rangers, Tom+Renney, Vancouver+Canucks,
Embarassing
by Patrick Hoffman on 11/20/08 at 05:30 PM ET
Comments (3)
Last night’s 6-3 loss to the Vancouver Canucks can be described in one word: embarrassing.
Through the first 30 minutes of the tilt, the New York Rangers were nowhere to be found, especially in the defensive zone as Rangers’ goaltender Henrik Lundqvist was hung out to dry.
That brings me to my next point: Lundqvist did not pull himself from the game last night.
Filed in: | Goal Line Report | Permalink
Tags: Henrik+Lundqvist, New+York+Rangers, Ottawa+Senators, Sam+Weinman, Scott+Gomez, Stephen+Valiquette, Tom+Renney, Vancouver+Canucks,
Underappreciated
by Patrick Hoffman on 11/18/08 at 09:30 PM ET
Comments (1)
In the Rangers’ 2-1 shootout victory over the Ottawa Senators last night, players such as Chris Drury, Markus Naslund, Nikolai Zherdev (with the exception of the lone shootout goal), Brandon Dubinsky or even Dan Girardi were not the team’s best players. Far from it, in fact.
In my eyes, it was Blair Betts, Fredrik Sjostrom and Lauri Korpikoski that shined as they got the team back in the game by scoring a goal in the third period. Not only that, but they kept the game simple, something that the other lines have not learned how to do yet.
Filed in: | Goal Line Report | Permalink
Tags: Alex+Auld, Blair+Betts, Brandon+Dubinsky, Chris+Drury, Dan+Girardi, Fredrik+Sjostrom, Lauri+Korpikoski, Markus+Naslund, New+York+Rangers, Nikolai+Zherdev, Ottawa+Senators, Vancouver+Canucks,
