The only real hole that the Canucks have to fill is to their fourth line. They have called up Cody Hodgson to try and fill an apparent void that exists on this line. If he is not able to do anything it will be apparent that canucks need to make a trade for a fourth liner. There is a lot of talk about Zenon Konopka however when it comes to fourth liners there are numerous opportunities.
According to Vigneault the starting lines for defence tonight will be :
Ehrhoff-ballard
salo-hamhuis
rome-tanev
You have to conclude that Vigneault is more worried about Hamhuis's recovery than Ballard. We all know Ehrhoff is a work-horse with his enormous minutes that he has put up all season long. Ballard is going to be tested tonight and hopefully the speedy canucks don't make him look bad. Hamhuis and Salo will also get some respectable minutes, but you would have to think not as much as the top pairing of ehrhoff and ballard.
The last time that the canucks lost to the HAbs at home was in the sedin's rookie season back in 2000. The Habs lost in edmonton 4-1 earlier in the week, and two nights ago they lost 4-0 against the flames. so far on this western swing they have lost 8-1. i feel really bad for all the Habs fans that have made the trip across Western Canada to watch the team. If the Habs lost tonight there will be a lot of angry Francophone's that are going to be flying out of YVC promising not to watch another Habs game all season.
-hark
Showing posts with label keith ballard. Show all posts
Showing posts with label keith ballard. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Ballard Powns Malkin. Version 2.0
Ballard sure has been a bum so far this season. But if he pulls out more checks like this maybe the canucks won't have to make him a healthy scratch again.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
What the long rest does for canucks?
Another defenseman got injured for the Canucks. Andrew NHlbert, injured his knee this week. The canucks next game is on monday. If Alberts does sit it out the canucks will not have to call up another defenseman because Hamhuis is supposed to be back in the lineup. If Alberts can play that means Parent might be sent down to the Moose (or it might be better to hold onto him for when the next canucks defenseman goes down momentarily). If Parent did go down to the Moose he would compliment an already amazing defense which has seen Kevin Connaughton and Lee Sweatt leading the Moose so far in goals this season, each scoring more than Schroeder, Hodgson and Shirokov combined.
Burrows is also supposed to be back next week after all this rest. Not on the Monday game however it is more likely that he will be back against the oilers on november 2nd.
with ballard's concussion we have to expect he will be out longer. At least this gives him more time to rest his knee which had surgery in the off season. When Ballard comes back he will be ready to go for a long haul for the rest of the season.
Burrows is also supposed to be back next week after all this rest. Not on the Monday game however it is more likely that he will be back against the oilers on november 2nd.
with ballard's concussion we have to expect he will be out longer. At least this gives him more time to rest his knee which had surgery in the off season. When Ballard comes back he will be ready to go for a long haul for the rest of the season.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
If the canucks didn't suck so much....
So the canucks have had a weeks rest pretty much. They've been struggling at home lately. Its luongo's first game at home in a while. And what happens? The canucks can't play defense. Can you blame a team for poor defense when they are compiled of manitboa moose call ups? Definitely.
The avs were playing their backup goalie and the canucks still couldn't put more than three goals past him in regulation. This should have been the type of game that is a blowout. Instead the canucks trailed the avs until the third when they got a lead. And then blew the lead with three minutes left. Fortunately we got a fluke goal in overtime to prevent luongo from being further humiliated in the shootout.
Its good for the canucks to have to learn to play with all these injuries. They're leading goal scorer from last year (burrows), they're top defenseman (hamhuis), plus their third and fourth defenseman (salo and ballard). When it comes to down the stretch and the playoffs there will be more injuries and the canucks have to learn how to make their depth guys step up. And if there are no injuries you need your third and fourth liners to be able to contribute (like chicago did last year with bolland, ladd, bifugly and versteeg).
For the love of christ canucks you gotta start playing with more dominance. Even with injuries the canucks should be a team that is feared. Unfortunately it does not look that way right now.
-hark
The avs were playing their backup goalie and the canucks still couldn't put more than three goals past him in regulation. This should have been the type of game that is a blowout. Instead the canucks trailed the avs until the third when they got a lead. And then blew the lead with three minutes left. Fortunately we got a fluke goal in overtime to prevent luongo from being further humiliated in the shootout.
Its good for the canucks to have to learn to play with all these injuries. They're leading goal scorer from last year (burrows), they're top defenseman (hamhuis), plus their third and fourth defenseman (salo and ballard). When it comes to down the stretch and the playoffs there will be more injuries and the canucks have to learn how to make their depth guys step up. And if there are no injuries you need your third and fourth liners to be able to contribute (like chicago did last year with bolland, ladd, bifugly and versteeg).
For the love of christ canucks you gotta start playing with more dominance. Even with injuries the canucks should be a team that is feared. Unfortunately it does not look that way right now.
-hark
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Analysis of the Canucks Defence thus Far into preseason
this is a list of the potential Canucks defence for the coming year ranked by my preference so far in the preseason from what I have seen from each player.
1) Christian Erhoff- Strong on the point on the powerplay. Not the hardest slapshot but very accurate. Is comfortable playing with the Sedin's and dealing with the pressure to perform that that entails. Looks really good alongside Hamhuis.
2) Hammer (Hamhuis)-Solid defensively which will help fill the void left by Willie Mitchell however hammer has way more offensive upside. Is very physical and you dont want to mess with this mahf.
3) Alex edler- five years ago this guy was playing in hockey beer leagues in sweden. Now he's emerging as one of the premier defenseman on the canucks. Great Puck mover, as well as the best slap passer the canucks have. Edler, slap pass to henrik, goal.
4)Sami Salo- Even though he will be injured until november his booming slapshot will not be forgotten. hopefully he will pull a lance armstrong and play better with one testicle.
5) Bieksa- As bad as he was in the playoffs last year against chicago, he still has a lot of potential. he is very bad defensively where he constantly finds himself out of position, but so far this preseason that has not been evident. he has dealed with a lot of injuries over the past three seasons. If he can stay healthy this year and get into the swing of things hopefully he can once again regain his status as one of the canucks premier defenseman.
6) Keith ballard- terrible preseason until yesterday. Him and bieksa were on the ice for the first three goals against against edmonton. It can be explained by the fact that he had hip surgery and was on crutches for two months starting in may. He is a few months behind schedule but expect him to start showing why we traded 2 players that were first round draft picks plus a first round draft pick for this guy. look at this hit from yesterday:
7) SOB (shane o'brien)- a very physical defenceman that is not afraid to fight. he was the only canucks player that could stand up to bifugly last year. unfortunately he hasnt had much preseason time. Expect OB to play in Manitoba a lot this year, however he will be called up to the canucks when we need an enforcer. This guy has a history of taking stupid penalties.
8) andrew Ahlberts- the more i see this guy play the more i ask why we traded a second round pick for him last year. he is so bad. what him in this play from yesterday spend too much time trying to look up the ice to make the right play before joe pavelski makes a pinball of him:
1) Christian Erhoff- Strong on the point on the powerplay. Not the hardest slapshot but very accurate. Is comfortable playing with the Sedin's and dealing with the pressure to perform that that entails. Looks really good alongside Hamhuis.
2) Hammer (Hamhuis)-Solid defensively which will help fill the void left by Willie Mitchell however hammer has way more offensive upside. Is very physical and you dont want to mess with this mahf.
3) Alex edler- five years ago this guy was playing in hockey beer leagues in sweden. Now he's emerging as one of the premier defenseman on the canucks. Great Puck mover, as well as the best slap passer the canucks have. Edler, slap pass to henrik, goal.
4)Sami Salo- Even though he will be injured until november his booming slapshot will not be forgotten. hopefully he will pull a lance armstrong and play better with one testicle.
5) Bieksa- As bad as he was in the playoffs last year against chicago, he still has a lot of potential. he is very bad defensively where he constantly finds himself out of position, but so far this preseason that has not been evident. he has dealed with a lot of injuries over the past three seasons. If he can stay healthy this year and get into the swing of things hopefully he can once again regain his status as one of the canucks premier defenseman.
6) Keith ballard- terrible preseason until yesterday. Him and bieksa were on the ice for the first three goals against against edmonton. It can be explained by the fact that he had hip surgery and was on crutches for two months starting in may. He is a few months behind schedule but expect him to start showing why we traded 2 players that were first round draft picks plus a first round draft pick for this guy. look at this hit from yesterday:
7) SOB (shane o'brien)- a very physical defenceman that is not afraid to fight. he was the only canucks player that could stand up to bifugly last year. unfortunately he hasnt had much preseason time. Expect OB to play in Manitoba a lot this year, however he will be called up to the canucks when we need an enforcer. This guy has a history of taking stupid penalties.
8) andrew Ahlberts- the more i see this guy play the more i ask why we traded a second round pick for him last year. he is so bad. what him in this play from yesterday spend too much time trying to look up the ice to make the right play before joe pavelski makes a pinball of him:
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
malkin gets powned
i think willie mitchell would be very pleased to see this. i wonder if the canucks will resign mithcell? i wouldnt mind taking him for a million, but then we might have too many defenseman. plus hes probably going to get another concussion. canucks need to rely on defenseman that can stay healthy. its tough developing a player to be one of your star players only to have him getting injured in the second half of the season. canucks need to make stars out of the durable young forwards that are ballard, hamhuis, edler and erhoff... and maybe even OB....jk.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)