Official: Vancouver Canucks W00T

[Aquaman]

Canucks face Avalanche in Denver

The Sports Network
11/27/2005 11:13:57 AM

(Sports Network) - The Vancouver Canucks will try to get back on the winning track this evening when they visit the Colorado Avalanche at the Pepsi Center.

The Canucks had a three-game win streak snapped Saturday night in Phoenix. Ladislav Nagy had a goal and an assist and Curtis Joseph made 34 saves to lead the Coyotes to a 2-1 win at Glendale Arena.

Anson Carter scored Vancouver's lone goal and Alexander Auld stopped 22 shots for the Canucks, who fell to 5-6-2 on the road this season.

However, the game marked the fourth straight time that Vancouver has allowed two or fewer goals.

Vancouver's Markus Naslund had an eight-game point streak halted and Daniel Sedin had a six-game point streak snapped

Meanwhile, the Avalanche ended a three-game losing streak Friday night with a rout of the reeling Columbus Blue Jackets.

David Aebischer made 35 saves for his first shutout of the season and Marek Svatos had a goal and two assists to lead the Avs to a 5-0 victory at Nationwide Arena.

Andrew Brunette had a goal and an assist and Joe Sakic, Brad May, and Ian Laperriere each scored for the Avalanche.

Svatos and Pierre Turgeon each have six game point streaks going. Svatos has four goals and five assists during the stretch, while Turgeon has notched three goals and eight helpers in his string.

Colorado is 6-3-3 on home ice this season.

This is already the fifth meeting of the season between the Avs and Canucks. Vancouver won the first matchup at home on October 22, but Colorado won the next three.

Cheers,
Aquaman

 

[silverpig]

Go 'nucks go!!!


<--- Going to the Grey Cup today!

 

[silverpig]

 

[clickynext]

Something about those avs...

 

[Aquaman]

Avalanche make short work of Canucks

Canadian Press
11/28/2005 12:51:41 AM

DENVER (AP) - Before Avalanche arch-enemy Todd Bertuzzi heard his first jeer, or even stepped onto the ice for that matter, Vancouver had fallen behind. It kept getting worse for the Canucks on yet another disappointing trip to Colorado.

Milan Hejduk scored 11 seconds into the game and the Avalanche scored three more times in the first period en route to a 6-2 victory Sunday night over Bertuzzi and the Canucks.

Vancouver fell to 0-3 in Denver this season by a combined score of 16-7. On this trip, the Canucks never gave themselves a chance.

"No explanation for the start. Not at all. I don't have an answer," said Bertuzzi, after enduring yet another night full of boos at the Pepsi Center. "This is an embarrassing loss."

After the opening faceoff, Hejduk streaked toward the Vancouver goal and took a nice feed from Alex Tanguay to beat Alex Auld for the second-fastest goal in franchise history.

Andrew Brunette scored at 4:02 to make it 2-0, and the Avs got two more goals before the first intermission, including one that bounced in off Vancouver defenceman Mattias Ohlund after Auld deflected Joe Sakic's shot into the air.

"We got a couple of breaks on a couple of goals," Sakic said. "None luckier than mine, obviously."

Sakic's odd goal - his first of two on the night - compelled Canucks coach Marc Crawford to burn the team's timeout 8½ minutes in, although the break didn't do much to sharpen things up for Vancouver.

Late in the first, after killing off a 5-on-3 power play, Canucks center Brendan Morrison lumbered from the penalty box to the bench to make way for Anson Carter. The whole thing went slowly, and by the time Carter reached the ice, Marek Svatos was skating in unhindered. Carter hooked Svatos, but couldn't prevent the goal and wound up replacing Morrison in the penalty box, to boot.

"We concentrated an awful lot on our start tonight. We talked about what we wanted to do and still got off to a horrendous start," Crawford said. "We're trying to make something happen and instead we gave a great chance right off the hop to one of the better shooters in the league."

The Canucks pulled within 4-2 midway through the third, but Antti Laaksonen ended any thoughts of a comeback when he picked off Auld's long pass from the crease and fed to Dan Hinote. Hinote scored short-handed for his first goal of a season in which he has missed about half the games with injuries.

Every time he touched the puck, Bertuzzi was booed by Avalanche fans still bitter about the cheap shot the Canucks forward put on Colorado forward Steve Moore that broke Moore's neck in a 2004 game in Vancouver. Moore has not returned to hockey since the hit.

But this was nothing like last month, when Bertuzzi made his first appearance in Denver since the incident and was booed mercilessly and mocked by fans wearing jail stripes and neck braces.

Maybe most notably, it was the third time in three games in Denver this season that Bertuzzi has been little factor. He had an assist Sunday to make it a grand total of no goals and two assists over the three games. It has hardly been a representative effort from the team's second-leading scorer - or any of the Northwest Division leaders.

"There is no explanation," Crawford said of the struggles against the Avs.

Morrison and Bryan Allen scored for Vancouver, although the Canucks never really got to goalie David Aebischer.

Aebischer, in jeopardy of losing his starting job a week ago, made 38 saves. It was his second straight solid outing, this coming after a 35-save game in a 5-0 win over Columbus on Friday.

"Anytime you're not playing, you're not happy," Aebischer said. "But you know you're going to get to play again at some point. I kept on working at it and I came out and I think I've played pretty well the last two games."

Auld, who has been starting for Vancouver since Dan Cloutier hurt his knee last week, made 30 saves and lost his second straight, a night after a 2-1 setback in Phoenix.

Notes: Hejduk was involved in a minor car accident on his way to the Pepsi Center. Nobody was injured. ... Colorado's record for fastest goal to start a game is nine seconds, done March 24, 2001, against Boston. ... The Avs called up C Brad Richardson to replace Steve Konowalchuk, who had wrist surgery that will end his season.

Cheers,
Aquaman

 

[sandorski]

Couldn't watch the game, but saw highlights. Is it just me or has Auld totally melted down the last few games? Most of the Avs goals were just pathetic, I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

 

[silverpig]

Cloutier + Jovo for Luongo + Bouwmeester

It's GOTTA happen.

 

[Aquaman]

Belfour looks for win No. 447 on TSN

The Sports Network
11/30/2005 9:58:18 AM

Maple Leafs goaltender Ed Belfour will try to move into sole possession of second place on the career wins list as Toronto continues a three-game road trip against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Watch the game live on the NHL on TSN tonight at 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt as part of a doubleheader that includes the Colorado Avalanche in Vancouver to face the Canucks.

Belfour stopped 34 shots in a 2-1 victory over the Florida Panthers on Monday.

With his 447th career win, Belfour tied Hallf of Famer Terry Sawchuk for second place on the all-time list. With his next victory, Belfour will only trail Patrick Roy, who had 551 wins.

"I had a chance to read his biography," Belfour said of Sawchuk. "He was a very fierce competitor, very acrobatic and obviously very brave, not wearing a mask most of his career. I'm just honored to be tied with him."

Toronto has played very well lately, winning six of eight overall and three of four on the road.

Defenseman Bryan McCabe scored the go-ahead goal Monday on a 5-on-3 power play midway through the third period.

McCabe leads all defensemen this season with 10 goals, 23 assists and 33 points.

"We had 1:15 ... 1:20, so we knew, 'Let's be patient here, let's wait for the right play"' McCabe said. "We moved the puck around and I got a clear shot."

Tomas Kaberle, who assisted on McCabe's goal, has 10 assists in his last eight games. He is second in the NHL among defensemen with 19 assists.

Helped by an improved offense, Tampa Bay looks to make it six wins in seven games Wednesday.

The Lightning have scored four or more goals in four of their last five games, totaling 19 in that span. The resurgent offense has helped Tampa Bay win six of eight since it lost six straight from Nov. 1-11.

Fredrik Modin scored two power-play goals and John Grahame made 20 saves in the Lightning's 4-1 victory over Pittsburgh on Sunday.

"John Grahame was the reason why we won the hockey game," Lightning coach John Tortorella said. "We could have been down by two or three goals at the end of that first period the way we came out and played."

Modin has been one of Tampa Bay's most productive players lately with four goals and four assists in the last five games. Linemate Brad Richards also scored against Pittsburgh, giving him four goals and eight assists during a 10-game points streak.

That production has helped offset Vincent Lecavalier's struggles. The Lightning's top center has only one goal in his past 11 games.

The Canucks haven't been able to figure out the Colorado Avalanche recently. The Canucks will look to snap a four-game losing streak against their Northwest Division rivals when the teams meet at GM Place.

Vancouver lost 6-2 at Colorado on Sunday for its second straight defeat since a three-game winning streak. The Canucks have been outscored 21-10 in four straight losses to the Avalanche since a 6-4 win on Oct. 22 in the first meeting this season between the teams.

Vancouver's only home loss this season came against Colorado, 5-3 on Nov. 10.

"There is no explanation," Canucks coach Marc Crawford said of his team's struggles against the Avalanche.

Vancouver has lost all three meetings in Colorado, where Avalanche fans have mercilessly booed Canucks forward Todd Bertuzzi.

Milan Hejduk scored 11 seconds into Sunday's game and Colorado led 4-0 going into the first intermission.

"No explanation for the start. Not at all. I don't have an answer," said Bertuzzi, who ranks second on the team with 23 points. "This is an embarrassing loss."

The Avalanche won their third straight on Tuesday, beating the Edmonton Oilers 3-2. Joe Sakic scored the tiebreaking goal with less than nine minutes left and Ian Laperriere scored twice in the first period.

Colorado, which ranked second in the Western Conference with 95 goals going into Tuesday's games, has outscored its last three opponents 14-4.

Cheers,
Aquaman

 

[clickynext]

Originally posted by: silverpig
Cloutier + Jovo for Luongo + Bouwmeester

It's GOTTA happen.

Cloutier, a mediocre starting goalie, and a star defenceman for an already very good, potentially league leading type goalie and a good defenceman with a lot of potential. I don't think it'd work for Florida. Van would need to give up something more.

 

[silverpig]

Bouwmeester is underperforming this year so far, and Luongo wants out of Florida. Keenan has a hard-on for Jovo, and he's a UFA at the end of the year, so the Canucks will probably lose him anyways.

 

[sandorski]

woowoo Green

 

[sandorski]

woohoo H Sedin

 

[sandorski]

woowoo Morrison

 

[sandorski]

woohoo Rutu

 

[sandorski]

woowoo Naslund

 

[sandorski]

booyah, victory!

 

[Aquaman]

Canucks beats Avs to snap losing streak

Canadian Press
12/1/2005 3:02:31 AM

VANCOUVER (CP) - The Vancouver Canucks were looking for a good start against Colorado after giving up four first-period goals Sunday in a blowout loss to the Avalanche.

Instead, they gave up the first goal again in Wednesday's rematch but a great finish provided a 5-2 victory and propelled them three points ahead of the second-place Avalanche in the NHL's Northwest Division.

''We're so used to it now it doesn't really faze us,'' centre Brendan Morrison, whose second-period breakaway goal was the winner, said of falling behind early.

Joe Sakic scored 1:52 into the game when his shot deflected past goalie Alex Auld off the stick of Canuck defender Sami Salo. It was the sixth consecutive time and the 11th time in the last 13 starts that the Canucks had surrendered the game's first goal.

''Ideally, did we want to score first?'' asked Morrison, who has fired four of his five goals this season against the Avalanche.

''Yeah. But that's the way it went. We weren't going to sit there and hang our heads. We were going to go out and initiate and play our game and for the most part we did that.''

Morrison broke through the neutral zone to take Markus Naslund's pass as Colorado defencemen Karlis Skrastins and Brett Clark collided in the centre circle.

The puck rolled as Morrison made his move but he flipped the go-ahead goal over the left pad of goalie David Aebischer.

''I thought I had it but somehow I think he fanned on it and it went in,'' said Aebischer, who faced 44 shots in the free-wheeling game.

''It was a huge game for us. Unfortunately now we're three points back again. We worked so hard to get close, it's frustrating to lose that game where we could have surpassed them.''

The Canucks had lost four straight to Colorado and Morrison said Wednesday's rematch was a test of wills.

''It's a mental test,'' he said. ''We know we can beat these guys and play with them.

''Everyone knows we're a talented team but we can't win games just by going out there and showing up. Teams respect us and they're going to be ready for us.

The Avalanche, who handed the Canucks their only home loss of the season on Nov. 10, had a modest win streak snapped at three games.

Vancouver (16-8-2) improved to 11-1 at GM Place while Colorado (14-9-3) saw their road record evened at 6-6-0.

Jarkko Ruutu and Naslund, with his team-leading 15th goal of the season, AHL call-up Josh Green and Henrik Sedin also scored for Vancouver. Alex Tanguay gave the Avalanche a 2-2 tie in the second period.

Ruutu made it 4-2 with his first goal in 13 games by deflecting Nolan Baumgartner's point shot.

Naslund scored on a backhand during 4-on-4 play and Todd Bertuzzi drew an assist, his 400th point as a Canuck.

''It was a tough goal but we worked hard all night,'' Ruutu said of Sakic's fifth goal in four games.

''Lately we've been losing through laziness but we worked hard tonight. It was little things that made the difference.

''There's nothing you can do when your own player tips it in like that. But overall, we had a pretty good start even though we were down 1-0.''

Naslund said the Canucks were more determined after Sunday's disappointing 6-2 loss to the Avs.

''We had a lot of chances and created a lot so that's a good thing. We showed ourselves that if we are committed and play the right way we can beat them.''

Colorado defenceman Rob Blake said his club knew the game was important in the standings.

''We knew the magnitude of this game,'' he said.

''We knew how Vancouver was going to play. We just didn't match up to them.''

NOTES: Vancouver winger Anson Carter left the game after he was high-sticked by Antti Laaksonen in the third period ... The Canucks will wear vintage uniforms against three Original Six teams starting Sunday against Boston ... The other home dates are Jan. 10 (Toronto) and Jan. 21 (Montreal) ... Colorado and Vancouver have played six times but don't face each other again until Jan. 28.

Cheers,
Aquaman

 

[Aquaman]

All six Canadian NHL teams in action

The Sports Network
12/1/2005 11:28:43 AM

The Toronto Maple Leafs look to keep their offence rolling against the Atlanta Thrashers and the injury-riddled Canadiens will be without their captain when they host the Buffalo Sabres.

The nation's capital hosts the new-look Boston Bruins, Jarome Iginla looks to heat up on the scoreboard in Motown, while the Canucks try to build off Wednesday's victory over Colorado when they stop in Edmonton.

Those are the big storylines to look out for as all six Canadian teams take to the ice tonight in the NHL.

Viewers in the Leafs viewing region can see Toronto take on the Atlanta Thrashers on TSN tonight at 7pm et/4pm pt.

The Maple Leafs will start Mikael Tellqvist in net tonight. On Wednesday, Ed Belfour came up short in his first bid to pass Terry Sawchuk on the career wins list, remaining stuck on 447 wins following a 2-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday.

"It just wasn't meant to be tonight," he said. "I thought we worked hard. Just keep working hard and it will eventually happen."

Belfour stopped 22 shots and allowed fewer than three goals for the fourth time in six starts.

"Ed was fine," coach Pat Quinn said. "He made some good stops for us. In the third period, when we needed to have some guys playing, we didn't get the guys playing very well. Your goaltender can keep teams off the board for so long."

Nik Antropov scored the lone goal Wednesday for the Maple Leafs, who are 7-3-1 is their last 11 games.

Toronto, which entered the game with the best road power-play percentage in the league (28.8), was 0-for-5 with the man advantage against the defending Stanley Cup champion Lightning.

Mats Sundin, who has 1,101 career points, played in his 1,100th NHL game but did not record a point.

Atlanta has lost five straight to Toronto.

The Montreal Canadiens will be without captain Saku Koivu tonight when they host the Buffalo Sabres at the Bell Centre.

Koivu, with one assist in the last five games, is suffering a groin injury and the team will call up a player from Hamilton of the AHL.

The Canadiens come into this game struggling, having lost three in a row and seven of nine. They've scored only 10 goals in their last six games. Goaltender Jose Theodore has won once in his last six starts. Theodore made 26 saves Tuesday as Montreal was blanked for the first time this season, 4-0 to the Ottawa Senators.

The Senators tallied twice on the power play against a Montreal penalty-killing unit that has allowed multiple goals in three consecutive games.

It didn't help that Montreal played one defenceman short after Mike Komisarek was forced to leave the team because of a family emergency. Sheldon Souray (groin injury) will retutrn tonight and Andrei Markov is serving the second game of a three-game suspension for pushing a linesman during Saturday's 4-3 overtime loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Sabres, tied for the fourth-most victories in the Eastern Conference with 15, go into this contest having won their last four games. They haven't won five straight since a six-game streak from Dec. 31, 1992-Jan. 10, 1993.

The Detroit Red Wings host the defending Western Conference champion Calgary Flames at Joe Louis Arena.

Calgary has lost two straight games after winning 10 of 11, including Tuesday's 2-0 setback to Nashville.

Calgary, which averages just 2.38 goals per game, outshot the Predators 31-17 but went 0-for-6 on the power play. Captain Jarome Iginla has been held goal-less for the last six games.

"They did a good job killing and any chance we did get, (Tomas) Vokoun was there," Flames winger Darren McCarty said.

Detroit is the second stop on Calgary's five-game road trip, which also includes visits to Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and New Jersey. The Flames have struggled to a 4-7-1 record on the road this season, allowing 3.42 goals per game away from home.

At the Rexall Centre in Edmonton, rookie goaltender Michael Morrison looks to bounce back from his first career loss when the Edmonton Oilers host the Vancouver Canucks.

Morrison has made four straight starts for the Oilers, and had a 4-0 career mark in six NHL appearances before Tuesday's 3-2 loss to the Colorado Avalanche. The 26-year-old netminder still boasts some impressive numbers, including a 1.76 goals-against average and .924 save percentage.

"They wanted to get me back for what we did to them in Colorado," said Morrison, who made 31 saves in Edmonton's 5-2 win at Denver in his NHL debut on Nov. 14.

Tuesday's loss ended a three-game winning streak for the Oilers, who have won five of their last seven with Morrison's help.

Despite their recent surge, the Oilers have managed just two goals in three of their last four games. One reason for Edmonton's decline in scoring is a power-play unit that has converted only one of its last 18 chances.

Marc-Andre Bergeron delivered that goal during the second period against Colorado. Defenseman Chris Pronger assisted on Bergeron's goal in his return to action after missing two games with a knee bruise. He has four assists in his last five games.

Vancouver's Brendan Morrison scored the go-ahead goal on a late breakaway in the second period Wednesday as the Northwest Division-leading Canucks beat Colorado 5-2. It was his second goal in as many games after going 12 straight without one.

The victory came after the team held a players-only meeting Tuesday following consecutive road losses at Phoenix and Colorado.

Alex Auld, who made 30 saves Wednesday, is likely to remain in net as Dan Cloutier continues to work his way back from a knee sprain that has kept him out the last five games.

Cheers,
Aquaman

 

[clickynext]

Last night was one great game. Even though Colorado scored first, I thought the 'nucks played well from the beginning to the end, and had the avs beat all game.

 

[sandorski]

wooo D Sedin



belated woot for Green

booyah that rhymes!

 

[sandorski]

woooo Carter

 

[sandorski]

5-3 defeat :|

Maybe we should just concede the rest of the Road games and try to make the playoffs on Home wins?

 

[clickynext]

Hey, Vancouver used to be so good on the road with pretty much the same players! What happened?

 

[Aquaman]

Oilers skate past Canucks

Canadian Press
12/2/2005 2:10:26 AM

EDMONTON (CP) - Raffi Torres knows the key to the Edmonton Oilers' second-line success.

"Confidence," said Torres. "We're reading off each other and having some fun out there."

Torres scored the game-winner in the third period to cap a two-point night and linemate Jarret Stoll had a pair of goals as the Edmonton Oilers beat Vancouver 5-3 Thursday.

Torres has six points in his last four games after he assisted on Stoll's goal in the first. He made the most of a bad clearing attempt by Vancouver defenceman Wade Brookbank to score the deciding goal in the third.

Edmonton (15-11-1) improved to 2-0 against the Canucks this season, and has won four of its last five games.

Marty Reasoner and Ryan Smyth also scored for the Oilers before the 10th sellout crowd of 16,839 at Rexall Place.

"You`ve got to get dirty sometimes," said Stoll. "Tonight there was a couple of rebound goals, and that's what we need. It's a good step forward."

Stoll and Reasoner scored two minutes apart in the first period. Stoll had the Oilers final goal, wiring a long slap shot past Canucks goalie Alex Auld in the third to spell the end of his night after allowing five goals on 28 shots.

"To point the finger at any one particular player wouldn't be right," said Canucks coach Marc Crawford.

Josh Green, Daniel Sedin and Anson Carter scored for Vancouver (16-9-2) , which extended its road losing streak to three games, falling to 5-8-2 away from GM Place.

"It's definitely something we need to work on - our road record," said Green. "You have to be good on the road. We have to get better."

Mattias Ohlund and Henrik Sedin each finished with two assists for Vancouver.

The Canucks also fell to 0-4 in the second of back-to-back games after the Northwest Division-leading club beat Colorado 5-2 at home Wednesday.

"It's the mental breakdowns," said Vancouver centre Brendan Morrison, held to three shots after steady defensive work throughout the night by Oilers centre Mike Peca.

"We didn't really work hard enough to get those ugly goals," said Canucks captain Markus Naslund. "It came down to work ethic, and I thought they worked harder."

The Canucks started with a bang after Green wristed a shot that required video review past Jussi Markkanen on the first shot of the game 18 seconds in. Stoll and Reasoner then scored two minutes apart later in the period for a 2-1 lead.

Smyth took linemate Ales Hemsky's pass to put a soft backhand past Auld in the second for a 3-1 Oilers lead before Torres and Stoll put the game away in the third.

The first period ended without one penalty being called, with only five penalties called the entire game.

The Oilers end a three-game homestand Saturday against Boston. The Bruins are in Vancouver Sunday.

NOTES: The Oilers visit GM Place Dec. 17th and 21st .... Edmonton was 9-5-0 in November ... Smyth was honoured in the pre-game for winning the November Molson Cup...Oilers No. 1 centre Shawn Horcoff hasn't scored in 13 games.

Cheers,
Aquaman

 

[Aquaman]

Canucks get goalie Ouellet from Caps

Canadian Press
12/2/2005 6:03:45 PM

VANCOUVER (CP) - The Vancouver Canucks acquired goaltender Maxime Ouellet from the Washington Capitals on Friday in exchange for a fifth-round pick in the 2006 draft.

Ouellet will report directly to the Manitoba Moose of the AHL.

Ouellet, 24, has played in just one game with the AHL's Hershey Bears this season.

In 2004-05, Ouellet posted a goals-against average of 2.89 and a record of 15-20-3 in 40 games with the AHL Portland Pirates.

Ouellet has played in eight career NHL games with Philadelphia and Washington, recording one shutout and a goals-against average of 2.99.

Cheers,
Aquaman