Tag Archives: keith ballard

Botchford: Bad contracts not just a Canucks’ thing

Posted on May 15, 2013 by admin in Province Hockey | No comments

As second-round playoff hockey begins simmering around the NHL, there is still no joy in Mudville.

It’s been nine long days since the Vancouver Canucks last played, and would anyone be surprised if there are nine more before there’s word on Alain Vigneault’s future?

OK, that could be a bit much.

At least the wait to learn Vigneault’s fate is keeping fans distracted from the cruel and unusual punishment of another summer of Roberto Luongo speculation.

If it’s any consolation, the players at the Luongo poker table should have changed. After the embittered, some would say personal, negotiation with the Toronto Maple Leafs, it’s unlikely the Canucks or the Leafs will be willing to go back down the Luongo road.

The Leafs have their guy in James Reimer — they think — and the Canucks should have options. And not just the Philadelphia Flyers, who were kicking Luongo trade tires at the deadline. There will be a lot of moving goalie chairs soon...

Willes: Canucks can only make excuses while appearing to wring every nickel they can from fans

Posted on May 12, 2013 by admin in Province Hockey | No comments

Just so you know, Game 7 of the Canucks-Sharks series was scheduled for Monday night. Can't give you that but we can give you the Monday morning musings and meditations on the world of sports.

* If you listen to Mike Gillis' season-ending press conference, you'll hear the Canucks' GM begin by attempting to take some responsibility for his team's shortcomings, then spend the better part of 40 minutes explaining why it wasn't really his fault.

There was the lockout which completely altered the trade market. There were injuries that made it difficult to assess the team. There was a league-wide trend away from speed-and-skill and towards size-and-heft. There was the Canucks' own success, which hasn't allowed them to pick early in the draft. And there was the Eastern media, who've typecast the Canucks as divers and complainers and the Vancouver media who haven't done enough to change that perception.

Add it all up and it's no wonder the image which exists of this team...

Burrows: Canucks’ inability to ‘close games out is … frustrating, embarrassing’

Posted on May 12, 2013 by admin in Province Hockey | No comments

Humility, affordability and loyalty best describe the past four seasons for Alex Burrows. Reality may best describe the next four.

The Vancouver Canucks right winger has a four-year, $18 million US contract extension that kicks in next season and includes a no-trade clause. It's a palatable $4.5 million annual salary cap hit and the yearly payout of $6 million, $5 million, $4 million and $3 million rewards slogging through a previous deal that made Burrows one of the best NHL bargains at $2 million annually.

However, nobody understands the deep unrest sparked by being swept in the Western Conference quarterfinal series more than Burrows. He knows one postseason victory the last two springs has put the entire organization under the microscope and that the coaching staff may be gutted. Core players may be moved as general manager Mike Gillis attempts to re-set the organization under the constraints of a reduced $64.3 million salary cap ceiling that the club has already...

Canucks face killer cap crunch in reset mode

Posted on May 10, 2013 by admin in Sun Hockey | No comments

VANCOUVER — It’s not a rebuild or a reload for the Vancouver Canucks, it's a reset.

Whatever the term — and reset is kind of a catchy one, don't you think? — general manager Mike Gillis has some work to do in massaging the Canucks’ lineup. And it's going to be all about money.

The Canucks have been a spend-to-the-cap team under Gillis, but that cap is coming down significantly in the 2013-14 season due to the lockout that squandered millions in NHL revenues. Gillis will have to shed at least $6 million in salary to stay within the new $64.3-million limit.

The Canucks currently have 16 players under contract for 2013-14 at a total cost of $63,502,777. This includes out-going netminder Roberto Luongo (we think, finally) and out-of-favour defenceman Keith Ballard, which would remove more than $9.5 million of cap space.

The 16 players are broken down into two goalies, six defencemen and eight forwards, certainly not enough to ice a...

Fan-Attic: End-of-season Canucks player commentary

Posted on May 9, 2013 by admin in Sun Hockey | No comments

by Scott Taylor

As we begin yet another summer of our discontent, we present our annual player-by-player commentary, an invaluable reference as the post mortem begins:

Alex Edler (signed through 2019) – In scoring the go-ahead goal in game four’s short lived comeback, Edler finally delivered – but it’s not nearly enough to compensate for a brutal playoff showing and another mediocre regular season. For a team that must make changes, Edler should be a prime candidate to be moved in an off-season trade (before a no movement clause kicks in). Or if he stays, might benefit from the confidence of a different coaching staff.

Kevin Bieksa (signed through 2016) – Bieksa is really a microcosm of the entire team – undisciplined at times, oft injured, a fierce competitor when it matters most but physically under sized for the style of game that makes him most effective. Despite his ridiculous soap-box whining between games 3 and 4, arguably...

Canucks Odds: Who stays and who goes?

Posted on May 8, 2013 by admin in Province Hockey | No comments

Dale Weise: 75%

Weise moved his game forward in his sophomore NHL season and became a regular penalty killer along with fourth-line duties. Unless the Canucks radically retool their bottom six, the pending RFA looks safe.

Andrew Ebbett: 20%

The Canucks brought the versatile Ebbett back after the injury-riddled previous season, but lack of size will work against the 30-year-old.

Steve Pinizzotto: 20%

Getting Pinizzotto onto their NHL roster in March effectively cost the Canucks Aaron Volpatti, who was claimed by the Capitals off waivers and then re-signed. The pending UFA had a great first NHL shift but was scratched down the stretch.

Tom Sestito: 50%

The 6-foot-5, 230-pounder is tough as nails and completely understands his role. But if the Canucks look to upgrade the skill on the fourth line, the pending RFA may be a casualty.

Manny Malhotra: 0%

The Canucks have offered him work in the organization after deciding the effects of his eye injury two years ago put him in danger as a...

Canucks may need to play buyout game with Ballard, Booth

Posted on May 8, 2013 by admin in Province Hockey | No comments

Given the hugely disappointing way the last two seasons have ended for the Canucks, you would expect there to be significant change coming to a roster that has shown it’s not built to succeed in the playoffs.

With the assumption the team’s salary structure could be altered in a major way by trade, it’s not easy to project what personnel decisions will be dictated by financial need heading into next season.

But, based on what we currently know, it seems clear the Canucks will be forced to off-load at least one, and likely both, defenceman Keith Ballard and forward David Booth through the two allowed compliance buyouts as the NHL’s salary cap drops $5.9 million — from $70.2 million to $64.3 million. They are on the books for total salaries of $17.65 million over two years for both of them. They jump out as the two players whose profile within the team don’t line up with their paycheques. Between them,...

Canucks Game Day: Vancouver seeks to square series with Sharks in ‘very important’ game (with video)

Posted on May 3, 2013 by admin in Sun Hockey | No comments

VANCOUVER – In NHL playoff history, the team that has won the first game in a best-of-seven series has continued on to win that series 68.3 per cent of the time. So the Vancouver Canucks are already on the wrong side of the odds heading into Game 2 against the San Jose Sharks.

You can imagine how those odds will lengthen if they take another pratfall tonight.

“Obviously you don't want to go down 2-0 and have all the momentum going to them going back to their home ice,” Canuck defenceman Kevin Bieksa said today, understating matters. “But if you win the second game, it's funny how the momentum swings in the playoffs. All of the sudden, we've got a little momentum going to play them on their home soil. So there is going to be a lot of emphasis on tonight's game.

“I don't like using the phrase 'must-win' but it is a very important game.”

Based on this morning's on-ice...

Canucks seek to square series with Sharks in ‘very important’ game (with video)

Posted on May 3, 2013 by admin in Sun Hockey | No comments

You can imagine how those odds will lengthen if they take another pratfall tonight.

“I don't like using the phrase 'must-win' but it is a very important game.”

Based on this morning's on-ice...

Canucks seeking to square series with Sharks in ‘very important’ game

Posted on May 3, 2013 by admin in Sun Hockey | No comments

You can imagine how those odds will lengthen if they take another pratfall tonight.

“I don't like using the phrase 'must-win' but it is a very important game.”

Based on this morning's on-ice...

Fighting feelings of rejection, Ballard looks to Luongo for inspiration

Posted on April 30, 2013 by admin in Province Hockey | No comments

Keith Ballard was asked before a playoff game against the San Jose Sharks if he thought his coach had confidence in him.

Raw and honest, he admitted he had no clue.

That was two years ago. On the surface, not much has changed.

However, it doesn’t take much scratching to see Ballard is different and in significant ways.

First of all, he cracked up when reminded his situation is the same as it ever was. At this point, what else can he do?

"I’ve had some practice at this," he said, laughing at the prospect of another healthy scratch.

He’s on the outside looking in, as another green rookie passes him on the depth chart. Two years ago it was Chris Tanev. For Game 1 against San Jose, it will be Frank Corrado who is set to play on a pairing with Andrew Alberts, pushing Ballard and his $4.2 million salary to the press box. Again.

Ballard, too eager to beat himself up, has always...

Canucks draw Andrew Alberts in, drop Keith Ballard out, for Game 1 vs. Sharks

Posted on April 30, 2013 by admin in Sun Hockey | No comments

VANCOUVER — For 17 consecutive games, Vancouver Canucks defenceman Andrew Alberts had the three most dreaded words in hockey written beside his name: Did Not Dress.

That's the politically correct version, too. There are others less appealing ones like scratched, benched and getting the tap. Being a 'DND' means staying out late after practice to shoot on the backup goalie. It means another workout before the game and then having your shower prior to the puck drop, rather than following the final horn.

“I mean, it's no fun,” Alberts said Tuesday. “It was probably the most frustrating start to the season I've had. To be where I am now, it feels good.”

Alberts is where all players want to be at the start of playoffs, which is in the opening night lineup. Barring a last-second attack of influenza — you know, he opened up the door and in flew enza — Alberts will be on the Canucks' third pairing with rookie Frank...

Lookahead: Who will the Canucks face in the playoffs? (with video)

Posted on April 25, 2013 by admin in Province Hockey | No comments

They’re calling it a possible playoff option, and defenceman Keith Ballard is expected to return to the lineup disguised as a fourth-line winger tonight against the Anaheim Ducks.

Ballard, 30, has been a defenceman since he switched from forward at 17, so it’s an unorthodox move that isn’t seen that often at the NHL level. A lack of confidence in the veteran when the Canucks are playing rookie Frank Corrado in the top four? Or a compliment to Ballard's versatility? You be the judge.

Ballard, who’s ready to return to the lineup after missing a game due to a sore back suffered in a fight on Saturday against Detroit, played forward three times in a short stretch in late March.

“Not real extensively,” said Ballard, following the Canucks’ optional morning skate. “I think I did well over maybe four or five games when I was there. I don’t know exactly their line of thinking that far ahead. I try to do...

Canucks Game Day: Vancouver wants to ‘keep ramping it up’ vs. depleted Ducks

Posted on April 25, 2013 by admin in Sun Hockey | No comments

VANCOUVER — With nothing at the stake in the standings for the Vancouver Canucks, they have two ways to approach tonight's meeting with the Anaheim Ducks in their last home game of the regular season (7 p.m., Sportsnet Pacific, Team 1040).

The Canucks can tiptoe through the tulips in an attempt to avoid injury, or they can keep pedal to metal as they did Monday vs. the Chicago Blackhawks. Veteran defenceman Dan Hamhuis figures it should be the latter.

“We need to keep ramping it up for the playoffs,” he said. “That's what our focus is. If our systems are good and tight, then it will take the strain off individual play and that's what we have to continue to work on.”

Daniel Sedin wholeheartedly agreed.

“For us, it more about how we play,” said Daniel. “I think we took a really good step in the right direction last game against Chicago (3-1 win) and we want to do the same things...