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.