Recap: 10/28/2006 Vipers vs Canucks

On Saturday night the Canucks played host to the lowly Vipers. The team was firing on all cylinders thanks to the addition of some smart hockey minds behind the bench. With revamped lines, added enthusiasm, and a new-found commitment to quality hockey, the Canucks easily dispatched their opponents in an 8-0 win.

The game started out with a lengthy re-adjustment period. New line-mates, positions and ideas, combined with shortened bench, and a hot Vipers’ goaltender, resulted in a scoreless first period. In the second period, the team shook off their cobwebs and got down to business. Mike, who was playing his best game of the season, scored the opening goal to get the ball rolling. A few more quick goals by John, Jack, and Dan resulted in a nice 4 goal cushion going into the third period. In the third, Dan scored two more to record a hat-trick, Mike got another, and Ken scored his first ever CRHL goal. The game ended with Chris recording his second shutout in three games.

The Canucks were a vastly different team than the one that took to the ice at the previous game. The coaches seemed to help the team a lot, as the team worked well together, executing some nice passing plays throughout the game. Complaining, yelling, swearing, and ref-bashing were pretty much non-existent, and even though we only scored eight goals, the team was in control of the play for almost the entire game. A few of our goons (Ken, Dave and Mark) did get a few penalties, but they all seemed legit, and it was nothing compared to the previous game’s fiasco. After the game, the team left the ice with grins from ear to ear in anticipation for games to come.

Loretta, the official filmmaker of the Burlington Canucks, was at the game recording some great action shots and has once again compiled them into a video. The video shows a number of our great goals and provides nice slow-motion analysis of some of our great plays. The game provided a lot of highlights, so this week’s video is even better than the one from last week. Check it out:

Next weekend the Canuckers travel down to T.O. to meet with the Titans. Nobody really knows what to expect from this team, but it doesn’t matter, because we are really good. There is a chance James may be back from his suspension, but that is still under review by the league. Matt should be back and hopefully Joel gets his priorities straight and finally shows up for only his second game of the season. So hopefully we’ll play our first game of the season with three full lines. Game time is 9:00 (not 7:30 like the old schedule had written on it) at Canlan aka Ice Gardens aka York U. Anyone who wants to carpool can meet at the Coachman at 7:30.

Canucks get coaching help

Due to the problems we encountered both on and off the ice at last week’s game, we’ve decided that getting a coach would be the best plan to help us get our act together. I’ve spoken to a number of players on the team about this decision and it seems that pretty much everyone is in agreement that this is the direction we need to take.

I’ve spoken to both Mr. Smouter and Mr. Poort, and they have agreed to take on the role of co-coaches for our team. Due to possible outside commitments, neither could commit full-time, so we agreed that sharing the duties between the two of them would be the best scenario. Both of them are aware of our reasons for needing a coach, and they are both willing to help.

At least one of them (hopefully both) will be at our next game to help start the process of building a quality hockey team. Please show up a few minutes earlier so that we can have some discussions prior to the game with them. I’m sure we all have a lot of ideas we’d like to share with them regarding: lines, strategy, or whatever, so that would be a good time to talk to the coaches, and make them aware of the current situation, and what direction we would like to go.

Having coaches can be a big advantage in maximizing our team’s potential. However, it will only work if everyone on the team respects and listens to their advice and direction. These men are volunteering their time to coach us, so if we as players start abusing them the way we abused each other last game, or don’t respect what they have to say, they will lose their effectiveness and they will have every right to just walk away. The coach’s responsibility is to read what the situation is and make decisions to help fix any problems. We, as a team, have asked them to take this role, so if anyone has any problems with their decisions, don’t start bitching and moaning in the middle of a game – take some time to chat calmly with them at an opportune time. I realize that I shouldn’t have to say all this because you guys are all good guys that know all this already, but hockey does bring out a dark side in many of us, so I think it is worth mentioning.

Anyways, if anyone has a problem with this decision, please don’t bitch about it here on the site or at the games. Give me a call and we’ll talk about it.

Thanks guys…

Recap: 10/21/2006 Canucks vs Sharks

The Canucks met the Sharks this past weekend in a heated battle for the title of “the best team in the worst division”. The Canuckers were all fired up for the game expecting a hard-skating physical battle. As the team warmed up, talent oozed out of the players and the team was full of confidence. Then the game started… Within the first 5 minutes the team realized that no amount of talent or confidence was going to win the game. The referees looked up into the stands and saw a hoard of young parents out to drive their high-school aged sons to the game. Naturally the referees took this to mean that they were refereeing a Reach-Forth hockey game where any physical contact or extra effort was frowned upon. In the span of one or two shifts, half our team was in the penalty box, giving the Sharks power-play after power play for most of the first half of the game. Upset at the referees a few of our players took it upon themselves to speak to the referee in a manner which resulted in more penalties, a few misconduct penalties, and a multi-game suspension for a certain right-winger. The Sharks scored two goals in the first period during these penalties and so we were down two goals early. In the second period we found ourselves playing 5-on-5 for a few minutes which resulted in two goals to tie the game. The first goal was a beauty by Mike Smouter who was trying extra hard to make up for the fact that he didn’t score the previous week against the Predators when 7 other Canucks did. The other was a crash the net goal, possibly scored by Ken, but the refs took his moment of fame away from him by crediting the goal to Wade, who seems to be paying the refs to get him more points than James this year. Anyways, that was all the team could muster as in the third, the team collapsed and let in 2 goals which sent the team into a state of disorder and chaos. Not our finest moment as a team, but we’ll work on it. The game finally ended, with a final score of 4-2, and the team pulled their socks back up by a nice cheerful after party at the good ol’ Coach.

I requested in last game’s recap comments to get pictures taken at every game. Loretta showed up to take a few pictures and ended up making this sweet video. It’s pretty cool. (except for that ugly mug in the first bit) It shows a goal or two, some nice saves, as well as Ken’s penalty. Apparently he is our new team goon, now that James is gone for a few games. Anyways, thanks to Loretta for the video.

Next week the team meets the Vipers who are now a hardened team of Brampton veterans that are in a not-so-heated battle for the title of “worst team in the worst division”. It should be a good opportunity to get back to basics and pad the old score sheet. Game time is 10:00 at the Wave Twin Center.

Recap: 10/14/2006 Predators vs Canucks

October 14th, Wave Twin Center – James and Wade both racked up 5 points as the Burlington Canucks got their 06-07 season off to a fast start with a 9-0 win over the Burlington Predators. Two goals each by James and Wade, along with singles by Matt, Arie, Jack, Dan, and Mark, while Chris stepped up and made 6 saves for the shutout win. The game proved to be a good warmup for next weekend when the competition heats up as the Canucks meet a fast and improved Sharks team. Game time will be 7:00 at the (old) Wave Sports Center.
The Poort boys looked like they all got a nice home-cooked meal from Mama Poort before the game, as they were the only ones to score until the second period when Arie finally broke the family’s scoring streak.
The Predators only had one real chance to score, as a goalie miss-queue while trying the come out and play the puck almost broke Chris’s shutout, but thanks to Dave’s run-in with the goalpost, any damage was prevented.
Overall this was a good opening night, boosting our confidence, and helped us get used to new line mates.
It’s tough to tell our skill level playing against a young team like this, so next week’s game should give us a good idea of what we’re capable of. Everyone needs to come to the game in peak physical condition, so everyone hit the gym and do some good solid off-ice training this week… or just drink one beer less on Friday night. Go Nucks!


Photos courtesy of Jenn. Thanks!

Pre-Season Chatter

In an effort to get some Canuck chatter going, I figured I’d post a new topic up here. Let’s hear your predictions for the season. Here are a couple topics to start you off:
- will we come in 1st in the b-central?
- if so, could we win the overall b title?
- which b-central team will be our biggest competition?
- which line combination would be the most successful?
- which defensive combination would be most successful?
- the big question: should Mark play forward or defense?
- what should our PP/PK lines be?
- who is going to win our team’s scoring race?
- how many Canucks will make the top 10 in the b-central scoring race?
- how many goals will Ken score?
- who will be first to break the new 40 minute penalty limit?
- who will have the least penalty minutes?
- who is most likely to have a fans in the stands at every game?
- who is most likely to not miss a single game?
- who will spend the most on new composite sticks?
- how long before Chris buys a new helmet to match his new pads?
- we’ve had an offer or two for a coach - should we have one?
- should we have some more practices?
- how much will we beat the Vipers by? (this one’s for you M.L.)