The Canucks came into the Staples Center for a key battle against the Los Angeles Kings with both teams jockeying for playoff position in the NHL's tight Western Conference. Still smarting from a blowout loss at home to the lowly Columbus Blue Jackets and having been owned by the Kings in recent years, things didn't look good early on as LA took a 1-0 lead 7 seconds into their first power play of the game. Usually a 1-0 lead is all the Stanley Cup Champions need to cement a win. Especially at home. Especially, especially against the Vancouver Canucks.
But not today.
No today, would be different. The Canucks came alive
A different take on Vancouver sports
Showing posts with label hockey. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hockey. Show all posts
Saturday, 21 March 2015
Friday, 20 March 2015
Canucks Face Do or Die vs Arch Nemesis
Dating back to Round One of the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the LA Kings have absolutely owned the Vancouver Canucks.
Yes, the Canucks have had difficulty with all of the California based teams in recent years, but the LA Kings it seems, have proved to be kryptonite to the Canucks Superman
Yes, the Canucks have had difficulty with all of the California based teams in recent years, but the LA Kings it seems, have proved to be kryptonite to the Canucks Superman
Sunday, 26 January 2014
Canucks Explosion of Scoring
Canucks Explosion of Scoring
The Vancouver Canucks, somehow, managed 5 goals tonight at home against Mike Smith and the Phoenix Coyotes, a team chasing them for a playoff spot in the NHL's Western Conference. This comes on the heels of a run of games that has seen the team's scoring drying up of late, further exacerbated by injuries to Henrik Sedin and Mike Santorelli -courtesy of Martin Hanzal of these same Phoenix Coyotes.
Though none of the Canucks players risked a $5000 fine (the penalty that the NHL levied on Hanzal for committing stick fouls on 3 Canucks players in one game shaking up one and seriously injuring two) to go after Hanzal or his teammates in earnest, they did exact some revenge by beating them on the score sheet with a 5-4 overtime win, albeit in overtime. The Canucks once again gave up a 3rd period lead, something that has plagued them this season especially of late, but managed to get it together in time to pull 2 points out of the fire courtesy of a Kevin Bieksa overtime goal. Bieksa had two on the night doubling his season total.
The team faces another division rival tomorrow, the lowly Edmonton Oilers before battling the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday.
Tuesday, 9 October 2012
What if... we lose another season?
With labour talks between the NHL and the NHLPA appearing as though they have met another impasse, and more and more October days tick off the calendar, it looks like we might have to start bracing ourselves for the possibility that we might lose another season.
With now over 100 NHLPA members seeking employment in Europe, and the NHL owners keeping in line behind their fearless leader Gary Bettman, it looks more and more like we are in for another pissing contest instead of a constructive negotiation.
From this humble blogger's standpoint, having been a huge NHL fan long before Mr. Bettman arrived on the scene, I have noticed that the league just hasn't been the same since he became league commissioner. The man carries himself with a certain arrogance that, frankly, makes me want to hurl. He constantly talks down to people and answers reporters questions as though they are something he just scraped off the bottom of his shoe. This is not a pleasant man. Just the kind of guy you want leading your negotiation team if you're an NHL owner, but certainly not who you want running your favourite sports league if you're an NHL fan.
This is now Mr. Bettman's THIRD lockout in less than 20 years. It took him about 7 minutes to fire up the first one when he got the job back in 1993. Everyone knew we were headed for another lockout this year because this is Gary Bettman's negotiation style. He could care less about the game. He has no time for a reasonable negotiation where both sides come away with something. No. He wants the players to grovel. he wants the players to kiss his shiny loafers AND thank him for the privilege. This is what Gary Bettman wants. During the last lockout, after losing an entire season, the owners got the players to finally agree to a hard cap. Fast forward 6 years and, somehow, this is not good enough for our friend Gary. In fact, it is so terrible that he was forced to lock the players out rather than start the season and continue to negotiate...this is WITH a cap! If the owners can't figure it out with a hard cap in place, maybe they need to take a look in the mirror, or better yet have a good long look at the man who is leading them down this path.
You can follow Sporting Vancouver on Twitter @vansport
With now over 100 NHLPA members seeking employment in Europe, and the NHL owners keeping in line behind their fearless leader Gary Bettman, it looks more and more like we are in for another pissing contest instead of a constructive negotiation.
From this humble blogger's standpoint, having been a huge NHL fan long before Mr. Bettman arrived on the scene, I have noticed that the league just hasn't been the same since he became league commissioner. The man carries himself with a certain arrogance that, frankly, makes me want to hurl. He constantly talks down to people and answers reporters questions as though they are something he just scraped off the bottom of his shoe. This is not a pleasant man. Just the kind of guy you want leading your negotiation team if you're an NHL owner, but certainly not who you want running your favourite sports league if you're an NHL fan.
This is now Mr. Bettman's THIRD lockout in less than 20 years. It took him about 7 minutes to fire up the first one when he got the job back in 1993. Everyone knew we were headed for another lockout this year because this is Gary Bettman's negotiation style. He could care less about the game. He has no time for a reasonable negotiation where both sides come away with something. No. He wants the players to grovel. he wants the players to kiss his shiny loafers AND thank him for the privilege. This is what Gary Bettman wants. During the last lockout, after losing an entire season, the owners got the players to finally agree to a hard cap. Fast forward 6 years and, somehow, this is not good enough for our friend Gary. In fact, it is so terrible that he was forced to lock the players out rather than start the season and continue to negotiate...this is WITH a cap! If the owners can't figure it out with a hard cap in place, maybe they need to take a look in the mirror, or better yet have a good long look at the man who is leading them down this path.
You can follow Sporting Vancouver on Twitter @vansport
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