It's such a weird world. Most of the time (and I would say all of the time, if not for today), the majority of Canucks fans are pessimistic and I'm optimistic. Today, however, the exact opposite is true.
Never, after a string of losses (especially a string that includes a loss to the Blackhawks) have 7th Canucks around both nations been so happy. We're not already that team, are we? Are we so bad that a "nice loss" gets the masses happy? That doesn't sound like us. However, one night after a thrashing by the Wild that was even worse than the thrashing Rypien handed out to that douchey Wild fanboy, we lost in a shootout to the Blackhawks, despite our goalie having probably his best game of the year. The expected result of Orca Nation would usually be reaching for our collective suicide axe. However, almost unbelievably to me, Canucks fans are rejoicing over this most recent loss. Comments like, "It's nice to see Luongo back on his A-game," and "Well, that was a much better game," are all over the various Vannie blogs. Those are usually my comments when the members of Orca Nation are securing the noose. Instead, the majority of Canuck fans are stoked after the loss, and I'm slowly kicking the chair out from under me. What's going on?
In all honesty, this WAS a much better game than the previous night in Minnesota. It was a close battle, with amazing stops by each goalie. Despite how defensive of a game it was, it was the Canucks allowing the worst of goals as the first period expired. I hate that! With 37 seconds to go, Viktor Stalberg took a pass from Jake Dowell, and wristed the puck over the shoulder of Luongo. After that, it was basically the Canucks stuffing the Blackhawks preferred open, offensive style. Meanwhile, the Hawks generally kept the 'Nucks to taking long and tough angled shots, rather than getting in close. One exception was the sweet garbage goal that the Vannies potted just one minute into the final frame. There was a scramble, Turco thought he had the puck sealed against the post, but it actually slide across the crease enough for Daniel Sedin to bash it home. We were tied, and headed to overtime, which as we all know usually leads us to the dreaded shootout in today's NHL. The main highlight in OT was Hossa's crazy breakaway chance. Bobby Lu was equal to the task, however, saving the point with an amazing stop. That was highlight real stuff, to be sure. In the shootout, the Hawks scored three and the 'Nucks scored two, and that was that. I will point out that two of the Hawks shootout "goals" were very lucky, initially stopped by Luongo, both dribbled slowly through. Meanwhile, Michael Samuelsson didn't even get close in the third round, sending a shot well wide and off the boards. It was weak, especially after Sedin and Kesler's impressive moves.
Now, I don't want to sit here and make excuses, but we were hardly playing with our best defense here, right? We all know Mr. Glass (aka Sami Salo) is out forever, but we also missed Ballard (still "concussing") and Hamhuis (foot problem), and that makes a huge difference (especially in a game where you are limited to slappers from the blue line for offensive chances). I will say that Edler and Ehrhoff looked great, and Parent was much better on defense than I ever would have dreamed.
By the way, feck Turco for his "poke check" attempt on Glass' near breakaway that was really just a trip. Stay in your net, Turco, it was cheap on your part and dangerous for our forward.
Sorry, I get really fired up in LSF battles. Congratulations, Jon Davis, you deserve it. At 2-3-2, the Canucks are now -2 of Colorado (4-2-0), even with Calgary (3-2-0), +1 on Minnie (2-2-1), and +2 on Edmonton (2-2-0) in the division. Within the West, we are in a tie with #7 Calgary, #8 Columbus, and #9 St. Louis, each of whom have the same 6 points we have. The Canucks SRS (I've covered what that is enough by now, right?) is now a lowly -0.54 (21st in the league) and their SOS (okay, for the last time, it stands for "strength of schedule") is an above average 0.18 (12th), and I think the Hawks helped that second mark. While our penalty kill has now dropped 2% below the league average, our power play is still rolling well (over 8% above league average).
Can I take a little time to point out that we may be looking at a chance to have Daniel Sedin take a run at the Art Ross and Hart Memorial trophies that his brother won last year? He's quietly blowing up early on this season, and hopefully as the season goes on and the Canucks get better, he'll continue to do well and he'll get the National exposure he deserves. In case you haven't noticed, Daniel has 7 goals and 3 assists in 7 game so far this year with 3 goals coming on the power play. His shot percentage is even as high as 35%, which is amazing for a shooter on a team's top line. His GC/Game is a really impressive 0.61. As far as how he matches up with the greats in the league, Daniel is ranked 1st in goals for the entire NHL, 2nd in GC, 2nd in points, 1st in power play goals, 6th in shooting percentage and points per game, and 1st in Hockey-Reference.com's Adjusted Goals statistic. Could we actually see a 117 point season? I'm salivating. In case you are wondering, Wayne Gretzky (of course) holds the single season point record of...wait for it...215. Wow.
The Canucks now look to Friday for a rematch against the Wild. Let's just hope they aren't rallying around this whole "fan attack thing." I'm just glad the game is at home.
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
0 comments:
Post a Comment