NorthWest Sports Blog brings you daily features on Oregon, Washington State, and BC amateur and pro sports teams.
Richard Hodges previews the Colorado Avalanche vs. Vancouver Canucks Jan. 30 matchup. The Canucks started their California swing well, but the effort levels were maddingly inconsistent in losses to the Sharks and Kings. In net tonight will be Roberto Luongo. Injured. Ryan Kesler and David Booth are still hunting popcorn in the pressbox. Richard predicts a nice cleansing home win. 4-2 Canucks. We all go home happy.
Vancouver Canucks blogger Richard Hodges Love Em Hate Em hockey blog. He recaps and rewinds the loss on Monday night to the LA Kings. Richard says the Canucks have a reputation for diving, which is weird because they don’t have either Anze Kopitar or Dustin Brown. Why’d Van City lose? Aside from Alex Edler’s two goals in the first two games, he and Jason Garrison have been black holes of offence.
Richard Hodges previews the Vancouver Canucks vs. LA Kings Jan. 28 matchup. Most likely in net tonight will be Roberto Luongo. Lu has lost 4 of his last 6 regular-season starts in Los Angeles with a 3.68 GAA. Cory Schneider has started the last three games, making 30 saves in Friday’s 5-0 win at Anaheim to open this trip. The return of Manny Malhotra should also help with face-offs, where the Canucks were absolutely brutal last night.
Vancouver Canucks blogger Richard Hodges Love Em Hate Em hockey blog. He recaps and rewinds the loss on Sunday night to the San Jose Sharks. Jordan Schroeder was flying in San Jose, playing well and coming close a few times to scoring his first of his career. 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.
Richard Hodges previews the Calgary Flames vs. Vancouver Canucks Jan. 23 matchup. The key matchup Richard is watching is between the pair of first-round rookies in Jordan Schroeder and Sven Baertschi. Schroeder got the call up earlier this week after an impressive Canucks camp, and looks to finally have a chance to prove himself at the NHL level. The Canucks will go back to Cory Schneider, he of the 11.11 GAA and .643 sv pct.
NWSB Insider and Vancouver Canucks blogger Mitch Dyck reports today on the news going on in Nucks land after 2 games of the 2013 shortened season. The downside. Andrew Ebbett. For Mitch Ebbett has been non-existent, both at five-on-five and on the power play. He’s a -1 and has no shots on goal. Mitch thinks its early but says we got to see a little bit of what Zack Kassian can bring to the table.
NWSB Insider and Vancouver Canucks blogger Richard Hodges weighs in with some analysis of what he thinks Jordan Schroeder’s chances are for sticking with the big club come the 2013 regular season facing off. He points out initial reports out of camp have Jordan a bundle of nerves, gripping his stick tightly, making mistakes in drills and getting pushed around by Andrew Alberts.
The NWSB staff weighs in with their 2013 Vancouver Canucks season lineup prognostications and team roster predictions. First up Mitch says Ryan Kesler is still rehabbing from two off-season surgeries, and we’re going to see a big hole to start the year down the middle on the second line. Andrew Ebbett, and Jordan Schroeder are competing for the spot. We know Henrik Sedin, Daniel Sedin and Alex Burrows will man the top line.
NWSB Insider and Vancouver Canucks blogger Richard Hodges weighs in with some burning question marks surrounding the 2013 Vancouver Canucks hockey club now that the NHL lockout appears to be over. Question 1. So what happens? Roberto Luongo told the Toronto Sun that he gave Mike Gillis “the green light” to do whatever he had to do, which could mean he’ll go anywhere or he’ll go anywhere on his shortlist or anything really. And we wait…
NWSB Insider and Vancouver Canucks blogger Mitch Dyck makes some 2013 fearless predictions for our Vancouver Canucks. Mitch thinks the reign is over, the Canucks won’t capture a third straight President’s Trophy. He thinks Zack Kassian has the potential to play more minutes in Vancouver if he can stay consistent and play his game effectively. He thinks Jordan Schroeder may be undersized but he feels like he’ll have a good camp.
NWSB Insider and Vancouver Canucks blogger Richard Hodges weighs in with an update on the Canucks farm team in the AHL the Chicago Wolves. The Wolves are benefitting from Chris Tanev being back in town thanks to the lockout. The cerebral blueliner has four points in his first 10 games. Also in the mix and looking good Kevin Connauton was last year’s breakout star under Craig MacTavish.
NWSB Insider and Vancouver Canucks blogger Mitch Dyck weighs in today from his depressed life that includes the 2012 NHL Lockout. He wants you to know the five things he was really looking forward to seeing at the Canucks 2012 training camp. Jason Garrison, the Vets, Zack Kassian, Kevin Connauton, Keith Ballard, Jordan Schroeder and the Canucks youth movement make Mitch’s sad list. Enjoy…
