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Post by ocelot on Jul 2, 2006 20:00:47 GMT -5
The Canucks team is going to look quite different next season and it's exciting to me. Here are some changes:
- They got Luongo (G) (that means they finally have a great goalie, which has been their short fall in recent seasons) - They lose Jovo (D) to free agency - They signed Willie Mitchell (D) to a contract - Fired Marc Crawford and hired Alan Vigneault (head coaches) -They lost Todd Bertuzzi (F), Alex Auld (G) and Brian Allen (D)in a trade
They also resigned the Sedin twins to new contracts.
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Post by achebeautiful on Jul 2, 2006 20:06:44 GMT -5
Well, it's all new to me Leona, because I haven't followed hockey for a while, and even Vancouver less! But I hope you will keep us informed because after watching the Stanley Cup Finals my interest has been renewed!
It looks as if the Pittsburgh Penguins may be on the right track as well. For as long as I have been a fan of theirs, it is a little too late at this point for me. Tired of all the talk of leaving Pittsburgh if they don't get a new building and financial woes have taken a toll on me.
I am looking forward to the next hockey season. But when it begins, I will be rooting for Vancouver as well! So please keep me informed!
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Post by ocelot on Nov 7, 2006 22:22:40 GMT -5
Vancouver is doing better than a lot of people predicted because of their new coach, they are playing a much more defensive game. They are playing a much better complete game even though they lost a bunch of their star players. Loungo has been playing great. They are currently in second in their division and most of their games so far have been on the road.
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Post by achebeautiful on Nov 8, 2006 18:25:36 GMT -5
Oh hey! Very interesting Leona! I've watched very little hockey so far this season, but hope to soon as soon as we slow down a bit at work and I can manage to stay up past 8:00 pm! LOL Good luck to Vancouver! I'm cheering them on with you!
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Post by ocelot on Dec 28, 2006 0:45:00 GMT -5
Vancouver is currently in first in the Northwest division, but the division is the closest division in the NHL. Vancouver is at 39 points while Edmonton, Calgary, Colorado, and Minnesota are at 38. The thing with this division is that none of the teams are likely to fall off or pull away. It's still very exciting.
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Post by achebeautiful on Dec 28, 2006 13:03:30 GMT -5
That is exciting Leona, and promises to continue to be so! Go Canucks!
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Post by ocelot on Apr 12, 2007 18:36:22 GMT -5
Henrik Sedin Scores Winner in 4th OT
VANCOUVER (CP) - The relief outweighed the exhaustion after Henrik Sedin scored with 1:54 left in the fourth overtime period Wednesday to give the Vancouver Canucks a 5-4 win over the Dallas Stars in the opening game of their NHL Western Conference quarter-final series.
Sedin took a pass from behind the net from his brother Daniel and blasted a shot past Dallas goaltender Marty Turco.
The victory came after the Canucks blew a 4-2, third-period lead. Vancouver was forced to play the sixth longest playoff game in Stanley Cup history to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.
"It's a big relief to get off the ice," said Henrik Sedin. "To lose the game would have been tough." Vancouver players streamed off the bench to congratulate Sedin. The exhausted Stars, who had outshot Vancouver 76-56 and dominated most of the overtime, dragged themselves from the ice.
"I'd be lying if I said we weren't disappointed to not get the win," said Brenden Morrow, who had a goal and assist for Dallas. "You have to think about it, park it, forget about it and move on.
"We're not hanging our heads. It's a long series. It's going to take four wins and we're not the type of team that's going to quit after losing one hockey game."
Game 2 of the best-of-seven series goes Friday.
Canuck goaltender Roberto Luongo made 72 saves in his first NHL playoff game, one less than Kelly Hrudey's playoff record.
"I think everybody was exhausted," said Luongo. "It's a hard game to play.
"Guys were battling the whole time and trying not to make mistakes."
Luongo laughed when asked how frustrating it was to see a two-goal lead evaporate.
"It's not frustration because we won," he said. "It's such a long time ago I don't even remember."
The overtime lasted 78 minutes, six seconds. The longest overtime game in NHL history was 116:30 when Detroit beat the Montreal Maroons 1-0 back on March 24, 1936.
"It was a strange game," said Henrik Sedin. "Personally I felt better the longer the game went. I got my legs going in the fifth and sixth period."
It was a rough night for Turco, who is trying to redeem himself after Dallas had two first-round exits from the playoffs.
"It's really disappointing right now," he said. "We had a big chance to win a game tonight.
"It's frustrating but I'm sure we'll turn it into a positive, too. It's tough right now to think like that but we carried the play. We just have to find a way to get more pucks . and sustain the pressure down there even more."
The Stars notched goals five minutes apart in the third period to force the overtime.< Antti Miettinen sparked the comeback by scoring at 8:31, and then assisted on Ladislav Nagy's tying goal at 13:46.
Trevor Daley had the other Stars goal.
Markus Naslund had a goal and an assist for Vancouver. Bryan Smolinski, Daniel Sedin and Mattias Ohlund, on the power play, also scored for the Canucks who missed last year's playoffs.
The game started at 7:11 p.m. local time and didn't end until 12:35 a.m.
Many in the sellout crowd of 18,630 had left before the longest game in Canuck history had ended.
The 76 shots given up by the Canucks was a franchise record. That exceeded the 54 the New York Rangers managed against Vancouver in Game 1 of the 1994 Stanley Cup final.
Vancouver's 56 shots on goal also broke the franchise record of 47 set against Toronto on May 24, 1994.
Dallas played 80 minutes, 48 seconds of overtime in a 4-3 loss to Anaheim on April 24, 2003. In that game the Stars had 63 shots on goal.
Canuck veteran Trevor Linden, who celebrated his 37th birthday Wednesday, said a loss would have been devastating for Vancouver.
"It would have been very difficult to lose this game," said Linden. "To be up two and let that go, to lose would have been a bitter pill to swallow.
"It's nice we got the win and can move on."
Vancouver paid a toll for the victory. Grinding winger Matt Cooke left the game after the second period with what the team said was a groin injury.
Forward Alex Burrows was clobbered into the boards on a hit from behind by Dallas's Mike Ribeiro in the first overtime. A groggy Burrows barely managed to stagger to the bench and didn't return for the rest of the game.
Centre Ryan Kesler, out since January after hip surgery, was a surprise addition to the Canuck lineup.
Kesler had surgery Jan. 29 to repair a torn labrum, the cartilage that lines the socket of the hip. He missed the rest of the regular season but began skating with the Canucks this week.
The Canucks finished first in the Northwest Division - claiming the third seed in the Western Conference - and set a franchise record with 49 wins and 105 points.
The Stars had 107 points but were the sixth seed after finishing behind Anaheim and San Jose in the Pacific Division. Notes - Defenceman Rory Fitzpatrick drew into the lineup after Brent Sopel was scratched with back spasms. .The Canucks had six players on their roster who played their first NHL playoff game. . .Prior to the game there was a ceremony honouring the 1982 Canuck team that went to the Stanley Cup final.
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kalel
Junior Member
Posts: 95
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Post by kalel on Apr 13, 2007 13:50:30 GMT -5
GO Swedes, GO.
Hehe
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Post by achebeautiful on Apr 13, 2007 16:54:35 GMT -5
Hey Leona! I'm very excited and happy for you and hope that your Canucks win it all! I will be cheering them on with you!
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Post by ocelot on Apr 24, 2007 9:01:53 GMT -5
Linden Scores Winner As Canucks Advance
VANCOUVER (CP) - The nerves Trevor Linden felt all day finally settled down enough for the veteran Vancouver Canuck to score a goal that may rid the franchise of some ghosts of past playoff failures.
Linden deflected a Mattias Ohlund shot past Dallas goaltender Marty Turco early in the third period to break a 1-1 tie, and the Canucks went on to a 4-1 victory over the Stars on Monday in Game 7 of their NHL Western Conference quarter-final series.
It was Vancouver's second power-play goal of the game, but Linden didn't even know he had scored until he heard the roar of 18,630 towel-waving fans.
''I knew I had tipped it between his legs but I wasn't sure it had enough to get over,'' he said. ''I didn't see it until much after. I don't even know if it touched the back of the net.'' It was the ninth Game 7 of Linden's career but the 37-year-old veteran still was as nervous as a cat in a dog pound in the hours leading up to puck drop.
''I was so nervous, literally sick, feeling bad,'' said Linden, who also assisted on Bryan Smolinski's empty-net goal. ''It was a lot of nerves but I think our team accepted the challenge.''
The win moved Vancouver into the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 2003. It also loosened the noose that had been tightened around the team's neck after the Canucks blew a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series and let Dallas force a deciding game.
The Canucks were shutout in back-to-back losses and drew the wrath of coach Alain Vigneault following Saturday's defeat in Game 6.
''It was a big challenge for us,'' said Linden. ''It wasn't a comfortable feeling coming back for Game 7.''
The Canucks had lost the last two seventh games they played at home and especially wanted to erase the memory of their 2003 collapse against the Minnesota Wild. The Canucks led that Western Conference semifinal 3-1 but couldn't put the Wild away and ended up losing the deciding match at GM Place.
''There are a few guys around here that have been through a couple tough defeats, Game 7s on home ice,'' said centre Brendan Morrison.''You don't want to be labelled as a loser.''
Henrik Sedin had a goal and assist for the Canucks, who battled back from a 1-0, first-period deficit. Taylor Pyatt also scored into an empty net for Vancouver.
''We showed a lot of character,'' said Sedin. ''It would have been a real disaster to lose the seventh game. ''
Sedin scored on the power-play at 15:12 of the second period off an assist from his brother Daniel. The points were the first for the twins since the opening game of the series and the goal was Vancouver's first against Turco in 167 minutes and four seconds.
It also was Vancouver first power-play goal in 27 man advantages.
Dallas coach Dave Tippett was frustrated that his team faced 10 power plays.
''It's a mystery to me how the standard can change,'' said Tippett. ''It was a different refereed game than the other six. Baffling.
''Some of the calls . . . it's game seven. Let's let the players decide it.''
Dallas captain Brenden Morrow hesitated to play the referee card.
''We can blame the refs all we want . . . there was a couple of questionable calls, I guess, (but) we didn't earn it tonight,'' he said. ''They got after us and I think we sat back a little bit.
''They took the momentum and we tried hard to battle back and we just didn't get the bounce.''
Joel Lundqvist scored for Dallas, which was knocked out of the first round of the playoffs for the third consecutive year.
Linden's goal was the 34th playoff goal of his career, tying Pavel Bure's franchise record.
The Canucks needed goaltender Roberto Luongo to make some big saves down the stretch. He stopped Stu Barnes on his doorstep, bringing chants of ''MVP, MVP'' from the crowd.
Luongo, playing in his first playoffs, also got lucky when Mike Modano rank a shot off the post with less than four minutes remaining. Modano looked skyward in frustration.
The Stars badly outplayed Vancouver in the first period, beating them to pucks and breaking up passing plays. In the second the Canucks finally began to play with some desperation and took advantage of a string of Dallas penalties to outshoot the Stars 14-4.
Vigneault had called out his team after Saturday's loss and accused the Canucks of not working hard enough.
''I think it wasn't about me challenging them,'' he said after the win. ''It was more about them understanding what they needed to do.
''They did it for the right reasons, they did it for themselves, they played hard for their teammates and they played hard for the fans. It was a lot more about them than it was about me tonight.''
The Stars had trailed 3-1 in a series 12 times but never before fought back to force a Game 7.
The Canucks are now 5-4 in Game 7's while the Stars are 5-6.
Dallas played the game without defenceman Sergei Zubov who suffered a pulled stomach muscle Saturday.
Notes: It was the fourth consecutive playoff series that has gone seven games for the Canucks. . .Since the NHL introduced the best-of-seven format 119 series have gone to seven games. The home team has won 75 of the deciding games.
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