Dan Hamhuis will have to enjoy the view from the press box for tonights game. The Star Defenceman is sitting out with his second concussion in 48 games. Samuellson and Glass will also be sitting out with Edler and Alberts.
I am most looking forward to getting Andrew Alberts back from injury. He was playing some really intimidating hockey before he went down with his first injury. He didn't get much time to show off after he got back before getting injured again. Alberts plays a unique style of defence that sees him get in the right lanes to prevent shots from going towards the net. He also plays very physical and is able of laying out some of the best hits on the Canucks on opposing players. He has been playing really smart hockey for the Canucks this season and you couldn't ask for a better defenseman to have in your third pairing. Obviously Edler will bring a lot more to the team offensively and defensively, but Alberts contribution could go a long way especially if he can stay healthy while other Canucks D-men continue to drop like flies (knock on wood).
It will be a good game against the Predators tonight. David Legwand is playing really hot right now so the top pairing will have a tough time shutting him down. Mike Fisher is coming off of a 2 goal night and he also scored his first goal as a Predator against the Canucks. Hopefully his wife is in the stands so we can get some good Carrie Underwood shots
The battle between Luongo and Rinne tonight will involve two goalies who in my opinion will definitely be nominated for the Vezina. The third goalie would be Tim thomas who at this point in the season is probably most likely to win because of his GAA and Save percentage.
Also Shea Weber is bound to have a good game against his home province team. We have to be careful not to take too many stupid penalties because the last thing i want to happen is for Burrows or Kesler to have to block a Shea Weber shot from the point. It's too bad we can't put Torres on the 1st line PK to stand in front of those shots.
All in all it will be a very good game. The Canucks definitely need to win this game so they can have confidence facing Nashville in the playoffs. Currently the Preds lead the season series 2-1. The last thing the Canucks want is for O'brien to have more fuel to jokingly criticize the Canucks about
-Hark
Showing posts with label shane o'brien. Show all posts
Showing posts with label shane o'brien. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
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:
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