NorthWest Sports Blog brings you daily features on Oregon, Washington State, and BC amateur and pro sports teams.
Richard Hodges previews the Phoenix Coyotes vs. Vancouver Canucks Feb 27 matchup. Richard says this is the Canucks last game of February as they have a three day break before the Kings are in town on Saturday. They better enjoy those three days because it’s their longest until the end of the year. For the Canucks, Kevin Bieksa is battling his groin while David Booth is sick. Both probably won’t play. Cory Schneider will start in net.
Richard Hodges previews the Vancouver Canucks vs. Detroit Red Wings Feb 24 matchup. Richard says David Booth didn’t practice yesterday and might not play tonight due to illness, which might give Zack Kassian a chance to get back beside Ryan Kesler. Roberto Luongo will get the start as the Vezina buzz begins for the beleaguered backup. The Canucks will not have Kevin Bieksa. He’s out with a groin injury
Vancouver Canucks blogger Richard Hodges Love Em Hate Em hockey blog. He recaps and rewinds the overtime loss against the Chicago Blackhawks. Richard points out Patrick Kane did it again, figuring out that the only way to beat a red hot Cory Schneider in the shootout was to trick him into putting the puck into his own net.
NWSB Insider and Vancouver Canucks blogger Bryan McFarlane weighs in with his Nucks three stars post. Here are the few noteworthy performers from January 27th – Feb 3rd during the Canucks 2013 campaign. Roberto Luongo, Alexander Edler and Zack Kassian make Bryan’s list. The kid Kassian continues to impress. He is proving his worth in town by being that physical force Vancouver so desperately lacked.
Vancouver Canucks blogger Richard Hodges Love Em Hate Em hockey blog. He recaps and rewinds the win on Monday night over the Oilers. Richard says in this game for about 58 minutes, the Vancouver Canucks slogged through a muddled effort that looked like they had left their skateguards on. The Oilers were just flying. One big negative. When Ryan Kesler and David Booth get back, Chris Higgins will find himself squeezed out of the top six. Nice goal Chris Tanev.
Our man Mitch D. one of our NWSB insiders and Canucks bloggers weighs in with his January 2013 edition of Nucks All Access..the plus & minus report. On the plus side. What a pleasant surprise Jordan Schroeder has been. He hasn’t been lighting it up, in fact he only has one point, but he’s been a solid player when called upon to play. Zack Kassian in seven games is leading the team in goals with five. Negative. Chris Higgins has been the biggest dud so far.
NWSB Insider and Vancouver Canucks blogger Bryan McFarlane tells us today what Van city needs to do to achieve early season success for 2013. For starters he says increase the physical play. This has been lacking from Vancouver hockey for years. There are always glimpses of a physical resurgence, but it’s never sustained for any length of time. The addition of Zack Kassian last season was a great step in the right direction. Alex Edler and Kevin Bieksa can help here.
The Vancouver Canucks opened their 2013 training camp over the weekend, beginning a six-day sprint towards opening night on Saturday. While the absence of Ryan Kesler in Vancouver’s top-six provides opportunity for forwards to embrace new roles up front, the Canucks appear to have little room for competition on the blue line.
The NWSB staff weighs in with their 2013 Vancouver Canucks season player and team predictions. Next up is blogger Richard Hodges. As always Richard is very honest. He points out the Canucks are the two-time reigning President’s Trophy champions and they have all that high-end talent and Roberto Luongo could return something very nice but this feels like a trap year to him.
NWSB Insider and Vancouver Canucks blogger Kevin “the Flying V” Vanstone tells us the Nucks have less than a week to prepare for the beginning of the regular season and will be moving quickly through a compressed training camp to round out a roster suitable for Saturday night’s home opener. Ready to bet? Cory Schneider faces 10-1 odds of winning the Vezina according to Play Now, edging out Mike Smith, Carey Price, and Ryan Miller.
It’s time for another Coffee Shop post on the NWSB. Vancouver Canucks blogger Richard Hodges weighs in today with a fun post on the Best hockey playing province, NHL pro’s style. He’s long believed that a tournament of the provinces would be a fantastic idea. BC would have Jamie Benn, Milan Lucic, Evander Kane, Andrew Ladd, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Kyle Turris, and Ryan Johansen for starters.
NWSB Insider and Vancouver Canucks blogger Steve Lee weighs in today with another post in our Moments In Time series. Kirk McLean, Roberto Luongo, and Richard Brodeur all had one thing in common, they all backstopped the Canucks to the Stanley Cup Finals and they all came up short of hoisting hockey’s holy grail. When you break down the elements, which netminder should be honored as the Vancouver Canucks all time best goalie?
