Tag Archives: Ryan Kesler

If Vigneault goes, who’s gonna coach the Canucks?

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

The Vancouver Canucks’ second-straight first-round exit has certainly got people thinking that change is coming.

Does Mike Gillis turf Alain Vigneault as coach?

Does ownership part ways with Gillis as general manager?

Are they both gone?

Here are suggestions of possible replacements for Vigneault. Some, of course, are more logical than others.

And head to our White Towel blog, at thewhitetowel.ca, where we serve up five possible replacements for Gillis.

Scott Arniel

Where he is now: Guided the Chicago Wolves, the Canucks’ AHL affiliate, to a 37-30-5-4 regular season record. They missed the playoffs by six points.

In his favour: Arniel, 50, has worked in the Vancouver system, both with the Chicago and at the helm of the Manitoba Moose. He guided Manitoba to a spot in the AHL final in 2008-09, with a team led by Cory Schneider. He worked as an assistant under Lindy Ruff in Buffalo and is said to be a fitness fiend. Arniel, a left-winger by trade in his playing days, also suited...

I Watched This Playoff Game: Canucks vs. Sharks, Game 4

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

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I Watched This Playoff Game: Canucks at San Jose Sharks, May 7, 2013

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Trailing by a goal and facing elimination heading into the third period, Ryan Kesler made it very clear what the Vancouver Canucks needed to do to keep their scant playoff hopes alive. “We just got to go out,” he told Farhan Lalji, all fiery determination and temerity, “and compete like bastards.”

Now, admittedly, I’m not entirely sure how a bastard competes. Did he mean the Jon Snow type of bastard? Or the Inglourious, Nazi-killing type of basterd? Personally, I would have appreciated Kesler spelling it out loud instead of just saying it.

Either way, the Canucks did indeed come out in the third period like a group of lovechildren and, by the eleven-minute mark, they had turned a one-goal deficit into a one-goal lead. Unfortunately, Kesler’s speech had also inspired the officials to officiate like bastards. Two illegitimate powerplay goals against later, the Vancouver Canucks were...

Game Within Game: Words come back to haunt Canucks against Sharks

Posted on May 7, 2013 by admin in Sun Hockey | No comments

THREE STARS

ONE – Joe Thornton, Sharks. Set up series winner. Finished with three assists, four shots and 13-for-23 on faceoffs.

TWO – Joe Pavelski, Sharks. Two goals, nine shots, two blocked shots, 10-for-18 on the draw.

THREE – Alex Burrows, Canucks. One goal, one assist, three shots, plus-1.

PIVOTAL POINT – With the Canucks leading 3-2 in the third period and trying to protect their slim advantage, Kevin Bieksa shoved Tommy Wingels into the boards and drew a cross checking penalty. The Canucks lost the subsequent draw, the Sharks pressured, Cory Schneider coughed up a rebound on Joe Thornton's wrister, Logan Couture poked the loose puck over to Joe Pavelski, who roofed the tying goal with 4:27 left in the third. Patrick Marleau then put the Canucks away for good in overtime as Schneider couldn't handle another Thornton shot.

BY THE NUMBERS – Canuck coach Alain Vigneault's playoff record behind the Canuck bench fell to 33-35 and 2-12 in his last 14...

Sharks’ Adam Burish says Canucks have no right to lecture on diving

Posted on May 7, 2013 by admin in Sun Hockey | No comments

SAN JOSE -- If Kevin Bieksa's comments about embellishment were calculated to get a response from the San Jose Sharks, he partially succeeded.

San Jose forwards Logan Couture and Joe Thornton, the "so-called Canadians" targeted by the Vancouver Canucks defenceman on Monday for their lack of integrity, took the high road and didn't have much to say following Tuesday morning's game-day skate.

But Adam Burish? Yeah, you guessed it, he had lots to say before Game 4 was played at the HP Pavilion.

Burish and the Canucks have something of a history going back to his days with the Chicago Blackhawks. So when a huge throng of reporters gathered around his dressing room stall, the Sharks' winger did not disappoint.

Ladies and gentlemen, start your tape recorders.

"To be honest, I don't think we're worrying about what he is saying," Burish said. "I guess if I was him while he is up on his soap box and trying to save the integrity of...

Cam Cole: Who, really, to blame for fall of the Canucks?

Posted on May 7, 2013 by admin in Sun Hockey | No comments

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Mike Gillis wasn’t around to be interviewed Monday, probably because he sensed the media’s eagerness for a post-mortem on his Vancouver Canucks, and it’s bad form to perform an autopsy on a corpse that’s still twitching.

But who’s kidding whom?

This series, and this season, and this Canuck era are all over.

For a lot of reasons — not the least of which is the coming realignment that will no longer allow them an exalted playoff seeding by virtue of sitting atop the weakest division in hockey — it is time to start getting used to how the other half lives.

Yes, Vancouver. Again.

There is only one way for an organization to remain strong while its core ages gracefully, a la the Detroit Red Wings, and that is with a constant replenishment of NHL-level talent that can grow into bigger roles as the stars begin to fade.

That will not happen with the Canucks, not soon enough, because the...

Talk to Burrows and Kesler about diving: Bad boy Burish takes a poke at Bieksa’s ‘embellishment’ comments

Posted on May 7, 2013 by admin in Province Hockey | No comments

SAN JOSE — Adam Burish has never warmed up to the Vancouver Canucks. So when Kevin Bieksa accused Logan Couture and Joe Thornton of embellishing hits to draw penalties in Game 3 of the Western Conference quarterfinal series, Burish heated up Tuesday morning prior to Game 4.

“If I was him, while he was up on his soap box and trying to save the integrity of the game and all that stuff, I’d swing by player No. 14 (Alex Burrows) and player No. 17 (Ryan Kesler) and have a little talk about diving and the integrity thing,” said the San Jose Sharks winger.

“Then they can work their way over to our room, but I’d start with their room.

“It’s silly to sit there and call out the refs and worry about what we’re doing. Please, keep worrying about us. We’re going to worry about what we can do better instead of having props and interviews and video evidence and all...

Canucks: Bieksa calls out Sharks for embellishment tricks

Posted on May 6, 2013 by admin in Province Hockey | No comments

SAN JOSE, Calif. — It was a masterful performance by Kevin Bieksa.

With the Canucks struggling to win faceoffs and struggling to score and on the brink of being swept in their Western Conference quarterfinal series, the defenceman switched the talking point on Monday.

The manner in which the San Jose Sharks are using embellishment to draw penalties and fuel a potent power play that has struck four times was the basis of Bieksa’s beautifully timed delivery.

And if it results in the supposed embellishers being penalized on Tuesday in Game 4 — Bieksa cited Logan Couture and Joe Thornton as the guilty parties in Game 3 — then the Canucks believe it could lead to a Game 4 win.

It was a bold and calculated move by Bieksa because Ryan Kesler and Alex Burrows are usually the targets of embellishment angst by the opposition. Now it’s Couture and Thornton in the Canucks’ crosshairs.

“It doesn’t take away the fact that it (embellishment)...

Who, really, to blame for fall of the Canucks?

Posted on May 6, 2013 by admin in Sun Hockey | No comments

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Mike Gillis wasn’t around to be interviewed Monday, probably because he sensed the media’s eagerness for a post-mortem on his Vancouver Canucks, and it’s bad form to perform an autopsy on a corpse that’s still twitching.

But who’s kidding whom?

This series, and this season, and this Canuck era are all over.

Yes, Vancouver. Again.

That will not happen with the Canucks, not soon enough, because the...

Bold moves needed to stop Canucks from aging into oblivion

Posted on May 6, 2013 by admin in Province Hockey | No comments

SAN JOSE — When next season begins, the Vancouver Canucks will once again be a strong contender to make the playoffs — and if things go well, perhaps even challenge for the lead at times in their newly realigned environment.

They’ll still have outstanding goaltending, and a decent back end, and general manager Mike Gillis will have done something, anything, to improve this popgun offence which has literally choked the life out of what was once a promising shortened 2013 season.

They’ll still have Ryan Kesler — although who knows in what condition — the deteriorating Sedins, David Booth, Alex Burrows, etc., which is fine for the regular season, and perhaps it might even be refreshing for next year’s team to be free of the weighty illusion that they are Cup contenders.

But really, for management, next year is not the issue.

What they should be trying to do is position this team such that in the very near future it doesn’t...

Sharks 5 Canucks 2: Schneider’s wheels come off, Vancouver on brink of elimination

Posted on May 6, 2013 by admin in Province Hockey | No comments

SAN JOSE — They yanked the stunned starter and changed defensive pairings, but couldn't change what has crippled the Vancouver Canucks in successive playoff series. They're in a world of hurt because they can't score enough. Not even a friendly bounce off a stanchion and a surprise dribbler bouncing into the net to ease the pain.

In their last eight postseason outings, the Canucks have managed 13 goals and the telling 5-2 loss to the San Jose Sharks on Sunday that has put them on the brink of elimination — and another extended summer of navel-gazing and finger pointing — was further proof that their 2011 Stanley Cup final run seems like a mirage.

The worst part of being down 3-0 in the Western Conference quarterfinal series — and knowing just three NHL teams have clawed back from that hole to win a playoff series — is the wounds have been self-inflicted.

The Canucks had a 4-on-3 power play in the...

It’s the world vs. the Canucks

Posted on May 4, 2013 by admin in Province Hockey | No comments

If you’ve given up on the Canucks this year, you’re not alone.

Just ask Henrik Sedin. He said everyone has.

“Going into San Jose, there’s no pressure (even if) it’s a must-win for us,” Henrik said. “No one is believing in us, apart from us. That’s the way we have to look at it.”

So it’s the Canucks against the world. Well, the Canucks and the handful of their fans who were at the airport to wish them a bon voyage to San Jose.

In this town, you can cut the apathy with a knife and feel the hopelessness rush over you by simply sticking a wet finger into the air. It’s everywhere.

That’s what happens when you lose ten of your past 12 playoff games and score only 15 goals while doing it.

But, like this blessed run of summer weather, it can all change. The good news is Cory Schneider travelled with the team to San Jose. If he’s healthy, and there’s...

I Watched This Playoff Game: Canucks vs. Sharks, Game 2

Posted on May 4, 2013 by admin in Sun Hockey | No comments

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I Watched This Playoff Game: Canucks vs San Jose Sharks, May 3, 2013

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One day while growing up on my parents’ farm, I was playing outside with a couple friends. It was summer and were having a water fight, running through the fields. The sun was shining, birds were singing, and I was laughing. Life could not have been better.

Then I ran full-speed, directly into an electric fence along the cattle run. It hit me directly in the gut, simultaneously taking my feet out from under me and shocking me. Normally when you get shocked by an electric fence, you pull away immediately. Since I was running, I couldn’t pull away from the wire. Also, I was wet from the water fight. I went from joyful laughing to dry heaving in an instant. It felt like I had been punched in the gut and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get enough oxygen in...

Canucks Nation, process this: Signs, signs, everywhere are signs

Posted on May 4, 2013 by admin in Sun Hockey | No comments

VANCOUVER — Hockey coaches will tell you it’s all about the process. Except in the playoffs, when it’s all about wins.

But since the Vancouver Canucks don’t have any of those, let’s look a little at the process that is leading them to a second straight first-round elimination from the Stanley Cup playoffs.

It was a very poor sign Friday night that with their National Hockey League season hinging on preventing the San Jose Sharks from sweeping two games in Vancouver, the Canucks couldn’t hold a lead in the final minute of the third period and lost 3-2 in overtime. A very bad sign.

It was not a good sign that the Canucks wasted a mighty, inspired final 30 minutes from Ryan Kesler, who scored twice in the third period and played with the physical abandon and head-to-the-net determination rare among teammates.

It was not a good sign that on the winning goal in OT, Kevin Bieksa, second among Canuck defencemen in NHL...

Iain MacIntyre: Canucks Nation, process this — signs, signs, everywhere are signs

Posted on May 4, 2013 by admin in Sun Hockey | No comments

VANCOUVER — Hockey coaches will tell you it’s all about the process. Except in the playoffs, when it’s all about wins.

But since the Vancouver Canucks don’t have any of those, let’s look a little at the process that is leading them to a second straight first-round elimination from the Stanley Cup playoffs.

It was not a good sign that on the winning goal in OT, Kevin Bieksa, second among Canuck defencemen in NHL...