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CANUCKS HOCKEY BLOG

Monday, April 03, 2006

Canucks 2 Ducks 6

It's too bad games don't get settled in the first 10 minutes, or the Vancouver Canucks might have come out with a win. After opening up the scoring with a powerplay goal 8:53 in the first period, the Canucks imploded, played their most undisciplined hockey in a couple of weeks, and fell 6-2 to the Anaheim Mighty Ducks.

The Canucks, currently in seventh place in the Western Conference standings, failed to distance themselves from the Edmonton Oilers, San Jose Sharks and Los Angeles Kings - all three teams hold games in hand over the Canucks.

Game Recaps: canucks.com . ESPN
Statistics: Score Sheet . Stat Sheet
My notes from the game:

  • About the only positive from this game is that the Canucks don't have any time to dwell on the beating. They face the Kings in Los Angeles tonight; the Kings are only four points behind them in the Western Conference standings. The Canucks are best to forget this game and re-focus for tonight.
  • The Canucks' defensive coverage was horrible - Chinese fire drill comes to mind - and allowed the Ducks to go to the front of the net with almost constant ease.
  • With fifth place in the standings on the line, you can sense that the Ducks wanted the game more. They won most of the puck battles and controlled most of the play. They gained momentum after Selanne tied the game at 1-1 and never gave it up.
  • What the heck was Jarkko Ruutu thinking taking a triple-minor when his team was only down by a goal? I was hoping Crawford would bench his ass the rest of the game.
  • I was going to say that Eric Weinrich probably had his worst game as a Canuck, but then realized that the rest of the defense wasn't much better. As good as they had been against the Wild, they were just as awful against the Ducks.
  • I really thought it was going to be a good afternoon when Naslund and Bertuzzi came out flying the way they did. Naslund has three shots on goal in the first period; Bert had two. Bert, of course, opened the scoring on the powerplay. Both combined for seven shots on goal, almost 25% of the Canucks' total (29).
Next up: Sean Avery and the Los Angeles Kings tonight.

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Comments/Questions: Feel free to post in the comments section or email me at gocanucksgo10 (at) hotmail (dot) com.

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posted by J.J. Guerrero, 6:57 AM

3 Comments:

At April 03, 2006 9:17 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm a transplanted Vancouverite, and live in LA. I thought the day was off to a good start when we got 3 tix for $40 total, saw the warmup, and then the first goal from our nosebleed seats.

Then we made the mistake of spotting 3 of the hundreds of empty lower bowl seats and making a run for them. Only a few seconds after settling in, the game was tied. Then 2-1. It was all downhill from there...

By the way, I thought Weinrich was awful on TV...he's doubly worse in person. I hope they bench his ass tonight...row 15 in my pocket baby!

 
At April 03, 2006 1:30 PM, Blogger Aids said...

I agree with both of you. Eric Weinrich's best days are long behind him. I've never been a fan of the way he plays. He's not a physical defensemen and he doesn't work hard enough to get the puck out of the Canucks' Zone. This is particularly why I like Keith Carney, he emodies the grit that Weinrich lacks. Weinrich would be best suited on the bench from here on in.

Cheers, Aidan....i like your blog, i myself am a fellow Canuck fan. I've started my own Canuck blog @ canuck-blog@blogspot.com

 
At April 03, 2006 7:22 PM, Blogger J.J. Guerrero said...

Thanks for swing by, Aidan.

I like what Weinrich brings to the team in terms of experience and veteran leadership. That said, I thinks it might be too much to ask him to play the close 18+ minutes he gets right now, especially given the Canucks' system's demands for speed and skating. I imagine that when Jovanovski and Salo come back - if they come back - that his ice-time would be cut to the 15 or so minutes that is more appropriate.

 

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