Love ‘ Em & Hate ‘Em
The San Jose Sharks are off to an amazing start. They’ve been steamrolling every team they face to start the season, so their takedown of the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday was frustrating but not unexpected. They’re simply the Sharks latest victim.
It’s not even that the Canucks played horribly, they just didn’t have what it took to beat the NHL’s hottest team.
Still, this was their toughest test to start the year, played very physically, and the Canucks came up short.
Love ‘Em
1. Jordan Schroeder
Jordan Schroeder was flying in San Jose, playing well and coming close a few times to scoring his first of his career. He seems very stable on his feet despite his size and doesn’t look, in this very limited sample size, to have the same bambi legs Mason Raymond does.
Interestingly, when Ryan Kesler comes back, Schroeder could fill the Cody Hodgson role on the third line.
2. Volpatter
Volpatti has come to play in 2013!
Big game from Aaron Volpatti who had a couple of big hits and a fight with Douglas Murray. Aaron Volpatti has had a great start, and seems to be earning his place in the lineup. If more games are as violent as this, he’ll be needed.
3. Opening scrum
The Alex Burrows at centre experiment paid off when he immediately started a ruckus by jawing with Logan Couture and letting Ryan Clowe get involved.
It probably set the theme for the game, unfortunately the Canucks couldn’t ride the physical edge to victory.
Hate ‘Em
1. Unpowered play
This game was a tale of two powerplays. The Sharks were putting on clinics in puck movement and using the man advantage to win the game while the Canucks seemed lost in their seven opportunities and really could have used a marker in there somewhere to turn the game. Gotta score.
2. Bieksa on Gomez
Nothing will happen from this hit, but the Canucks really don’t need to be skirting a circus by blindsiding a hockey player known mostly for being irrelevant.
A suspension to a core player with an already fragile line-up could make the first third of the season a write off.
3. Those stupid posts
The puck was bouncing around both creases all night, but somehow the posts managed to keep a number of possible Vancouver goals off the scoreboard.
Frustrating luck, frustrating game.
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About Richard Hodges
