Tag Archives: Ziemer

Canuck Mason Raymond ‘surprised’ after being scratched from lineup

Posted on March 11, 2012 by admin in Player profiles, Sun Hockey | No comments

>Mason Raymond of the Vancouver Canucks says he'll play any position or on any line that coach Alain Vigneault thinks will help the NHL team prosper at it gears up for the post-season.

Brad Ziemer Vancouver Sun ST. PAUL, Minn. - Mason Raymond said he was surprised, but he may have been the only one. The struggling Vancouver Canucks winger was pulled aside for a brief chat with coach Alain Vigneault during Monday morning's game-day skate at the Xcel Energy Center and told he wasn't playing against the Minnesota Wild. He probably should have seen it coming. That kind of thing tends to happen when a guy counted on to be a significant offensive producer falls into the kind of slump Raymond is mired in these days. Raymond hasn't had a point in eight games and has just eight goals and 16 points in 46 games this season. He missed the first 25 games of the season after suffering a serious back injury in last season's Stanley Cup final. "I don't think you go into a day thinking you are going to be a scratch," Raymond said. "So yeah, it was a surprise. "You just have to carry...

Sammy the sniper downs Jets; New shutdown centre chips in with winning goal for Vancouver

Posted on March 9, 2012 by admin in Player profiles, Sun Hockey | No comments

Brad Ziemer Vancouver Sun The puck just hasn't been finding the net this season for Sammy Pahlsson. Mind you, that could be said for most of Pahlsson's National Hockey League career. The 34-year-old makes his living at the other end of the ice, shutting down the opposition's top guns. That has earned him the label "defensive specialist" and is the reason the Vancouver Canucks acquired him at the trade deadline. But on Thursday night, Pahl-sson the shutdown guy became Sammy the sniper as he scored the game-winner in Vancouver's highly entertaining 3-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets at Rogers Arena. Pahlsson took a pass from defenceman Kevin Bieksa just inside the blue-line and launched a long slapshot that beat Jets goalie Ondrej Pavelec high to the glove side at 14: 17 of the third period. The goal was Pahlsson's third of the season and his first as a Canuck. "It hasn't been going in for me at all this season, so it's nice to get the first...

Gragnani determined to shine for Vigneaul

Posted on March 6, 2012 by admin in Player profiles, Sun Hockey | No comments

Brad Ziemer Vancouver Sun He had been a healthy scratch for the better part of the last six weeks with the Buffalo Sabres and now Marc-Andre Gragnani is getting a chance to quarterback the first-unit power play of the Vancouver Canucks. Excuse Gragnani if he pinches himself. When Gragnani got the news last Monday that he had been dealt to the Canucks, he figured it was good news. He had played two seasons under Alain Vigneault in the Quebec Junior League and knew his old coach would give him a chance to play. But he never dreamed of this. "When they told me I got traded I was really nervous for about half a second and then they told me Vancouver and then I was ecstatic," Gragnani said Monday. "I was so happy. I know how he [Vigneault] works. I had a really good time when I was coached by him and I performed well under him. So I know everything is here...

Struggling Raymond relegated; Winger dropped to fourth line as coach juggles lines to find missing offence

Posted on March 6, 2012 by admin in Player profiles, Sun Hockey | No comments

Vancouver Canucks left wing Mason Raymond controls the puck against the Dallas Stars during their NHL hockey game in Dallas

Brad Ziemer Vancouver Sun There are still 16 games remaining in the regular season, but Alain Vigneault is already beginning to put the pieces of his playoff puzzle together. And the Vancouver Canucks coach, like many of the team's fans, is wondering exactly where winger Mason Raymond fits. Right now, Raymond is one of those pieces that doesn't seem to fit very well anywhere, which explains why he figures to start tonight's game against the Dallas Stars on Vancouver's fourth line. Raymond's offensive struggles, combined with the intriguing play of newcomer Zack Kassian, have cost him his spot on the Canucks' second line. No one is saying it is permanent - and let's face it, with a chronic line-juggler like Vigneault, nothing is - but Kassian is going to get a good look at filling Raymond's spot alongside Ryan Kesler and David Booth. "This is done on gametogame basis," Vigneault said after Monday's practice. "We are finding out what Zack can bring to the table,...

Young projects are polar opposites patrolling blue-line

Posted on February 28, 2012 by admin in Player profiles, Sun Hockey | No comments

Vancouver Canucks' Luongo, Bieksa, Tanev, Gragnani and Rome watch after Minnesota Wild score goal during NHL hockey game in St. Paul

Brad Ziemer Vancouver Sun SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ - Chris Tanev is working on his offence. Marc-Andre Gragnani figures to be working on his defence. The question now is whether the Vancouver Canucks have room for both young defencemen in their lineup. They'd probably like to combine the two. Gragnani, part of Mike Gillis's big trade Monday with the Buffalo Sabres, is regarded as a puck-moving offensive defenceman, who can work the power play. His defence is a work in progress. Tanev, on the other hand, has been a steady presence on Vancouver's back end, demonstrating considerable poise as he moves the puck out of his own end. "We're now working with Chris on his offence," associate coach Rick Bowness said of Tanev on Monday, before the Canucks made the trade. "Defensively, he makes the right reads, moves the puck really well out of the zone and we want him shooting the puck more." Bowness figures to be working on some of the defensive fine points...

Q&A: GM Mike Gillis optimistic about the team’s prospects for 2012

Posted on December 30, 2011 by admin in Player profiles, Sun Hockey | No comments

Brad Ziemer Vancouver Sun Q. Your team played an awful lot of hockey in 2011. If my math is correct, heading into tonight's game against the Kings the Canucks have a 2011 record of 55-23-6 in 84 regular-season games. Plus, you played 25 playoff games. What sticks out in your mind about the last calendar year? A. A lot of resiliency. There have been a lot of guys hurt over that period of time and I feel pretty good about this team. It's a well-balanced team, with a lot of scoring, a lot of speed, good size. Goaltending is getting back to what we're used to. I think if we keep playing the same way we are going to be all right. Q. The goal each season is to improve upon the previous season. That's quite a challenge for your team given where you got to last season. Where do you think this team has improved over last year? A. Having Max [Lapierre]...

Higgins hopes to put best foot forward; For second time, he’s been treated for swollen extremity that has kept him off skates

Posted on December 10, 2011 by admin in Player profiles, Sun Hockey | No comments

>Canucks winger Chris Higgins's teammates haven't started calling him Bigfoot, even though his right foot became swollen by a mystery infection that had sidelined him since last weekend.

Brad Ziemer Vancouver Sun OTTAWA - He was able to laugh about it Friday, but Chris Higgins also used the word scary to describe the mysterious infection that invaded his right foot for the second time in a year. With the help of an early selfdiagnosis and a serious dose of antibiotics, Higgins seems to have fought off the virus and could play tonight when the Vancouver Canucks meet the Ottawa Senators in the second stop of their five-game eastern road swing. Higgins skated hard in Friday's practice at the Ottawa Civic Centre and will test his foot again at this morning's game-day skate. "It was a good first step, we'll see how it feels tomorrow," he said. Higgins hasn't played since last Sunday night, when he scored a goal and added two assists in Vancouver's 5-1 win over the Calgary Flames. His foot was a little sore after that game, but he didn't think it was anything out of the ordinary. "I thought it...

Scrimmage scorer has got game, too; Hansen translating celebrated practice prowess into lighting the red light when it really counts – on game day

Posted on December 6, 2011 by admin in Player profiles, Sun Hockey | No comments

Brad Ziemer Vancouver Sun Perhaps Jannik Hansen has finally heard the last of those cracks from his teammates about being a great practice player. Hansen seems to be the antithesis of Allen Iverson, the former NBA player whose anti-practice rant became a You-Tube classic. Hansen has always seemed to thrive in practice. You could fill a highlight reel with some of the goals Hansen has scored during practice. Many of them have come against goalie Roberto Luongo, who joked about Hansen's practice prowess on Monday. "Best in the league," Luongo said. "Luckily, this year he's not scoring in practice, but he's scoring in games. That's a good change of pace for us." Hansen's goal in Sunday night's 5-1 win over the Calgary Flames was his seventh of the season. That's just two shy of his career-high of nine, which is what he scored in each of the past two seasons. Considering that we are not even one-third of the way through the season, the 25-year-old Dane...

Canucks’ Chris Higgins back at the top of the class

Posted on October 30, 2011 by admin in Player profiles, Sun Hockey | No comments

>Chris Higgins remembers playing football on the street.

Brad Ziemer Vancouver Sun ST. PAUL, Minn. - Chris Higgins had a perfect 4.0 grade-point average all through high school in Smithtown, N.Y. How else do you think he got to play hockey at Yale University? Higgins jokes that his grades dipped slightly during the two years he spent at the renowned Ivy League school. "It was a little more difficult there," he says with a smile. "A little more competition, as well. I got by, put it that way." Eight years later, Higgins is back on the honour roll. His start this season with the Vancouver Canucks deserves straight A's. A month into a new season, the case can be made that Higgins has been the team's most valuable player. He leads the team with six goals and Higgins, of course, does a whole lot more than score goals. His work ethic is impeccable, perhaps a reflection of his blue-collar roots. Higgins' dad is a longtime New York City firefighter who spent many weeks digging...

Booth adds charge to American Express line

Posted on October 25, 2011 by admin in Player profiles, Sun Hockey | No comments

Vancouver Canucks' David Booth celebrates his second goal against the Buffalo Sabres during their NHL hockey game in Vancouver

Brad Ziemer Vancouver Sun It has already been dubbed the American Express line and the Vancouver Canucks most definitely did not leave home without it on Monday. This is, after all, the second line the Canucks are banking on in a big way to give them a lethal one-two offensive punch. David Booth, who was acquired on the weekend from the Florida Panthers, is viewed as the topsix forward the team was missing and a player who will complement centre Ryan Kesler and winger Chris Higgins. Booth practised with his new team for the first time on Monday at Rogers Arena and will make his Canucks debut tonight in Edmonton against the Oilers. He pledged Monday to return to the 30-goal form he displayed three seasons ago. "I feel like I can get back there and get even higher," Booth said. "I'm playing with some good players now." Good players and familiar faces. Booth knows Kesler and fellow American Higgins very well. He was a teammate...

Grinders earn tough-to-keep jobs; Volpatti, Oreskovich on fourth line

Posted on October 1, 2011 by admin in Player profiles, Sun Hockey | No comments

Brad Ziemer Vancouver Sun Aaron Volpatti and Victor Oreskovich have earned starting jobs on the fourth line of the Vancouver Canucks. Now comes the hard part. Keeping them. When the Canucks make their final dress rehearsal before the regular season tonight at Rogers Arena against the Edmonton Oilers, Volpatti and Oreskovich will be skating alongside centre Maxim Lapierre. But coach Alain Vigneault made it clear that it will be up to both players - who are each on a two-way contract - to play well enough to hang onto those jobs. Vigneault did not exactly give Oreskovich a ringing endorsement, almost suggesting that had Steve Pinizzotto not separated his shoulder on Sunday night against San Jose, Oreskovich might have been heading to the Chicago Wolves. "In Victor's case, with Steve Pinizzotto getting hurt, he is the guy we have there right now," Vigneault said after Friday's practice. "I thought he played a little bit better in the last couple of games and I'm expecting him to...

Hansen nets three-year deal to stick; Danish winger gets his raise, but is also thrilled to stay with a winner in Vancouver

Posted on July 29, 2011 by admin in Player profiles, Sun Hockey | No comments

Brad Ziemer Vancouver Sun Jannik Hansen isn't the first Vancouver Canuck, and probably won't be the last, to sound a little like Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. Hansen is just the latest to discover that there's no place like home, or at least there's no hockey home like Vancouver. On Thursday, he joined an ever-growing list of Canucks to take a little less and do his part for the greater good of the team. Like those before him - the Sedin twins, Ryan Kesler, Alex Burrows and Kevin Bieksa - Hansen likely left some money on the table when he signed a three-year, $4.05-million deal that averages out to $1.35 million a season. Hansen also forgoes a year of unrestricted free agency by signing for three years. He said he wanted the security of a long-term deal and also very much wanted to remain with the Canucks, the only professional organization he's ever known. "It's nice to get the three years and not have to...

Malhotra’s return to lineup full of emotion and faceoff wins

Posted on June 6, 2011 by admin in Player profiles, Sun Hockey | No comments

Vancouver Canucks v Boston Bruins - Game Three

Brad Ziemer Vancouver Sun Man oh Manny, that was a lot of fun. In fact, except for one lost faceoff, it was just about perfect. Centre Manny Malhotra made an emotional return to the Vancouver Canucks lineup in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final, welcomed back to thunderous chants of 'Manny, Manny' from an appreciative Rogers Arena crowd. "I got some goosebumps out of it," said Game 2 hero Alex Burrows. Imagine how Malhotra felt. "It definitely got me thinking from March 16th to where I am now," Malhotra said after the Canucks' 3-2 overtime win over the Boston Bruins. "It's a privilege to play in front of fans like this. When you come to Vancouver, to say that the fans here are passionate would be a gross understatement. "So just to be able to be out there again, to hear them cheering, to hear an ovation like that, it definitely makes you feel like a Canuck. You just feel like a part of this...

Canucks trio were bros before pros; Kesler, Bieksa and Burrows didn’t like each other at first in Manitoba, but now they’re like family

Posted on May 28, 2011 by admin in Player profiles, Sun Hockey | No comments

Canucks left wing Burrows celebrates scoring in the second period against the Predators with teammates Bieksa and Kesler during Game 2 of their NHL Western Conference semifinal hockey playoff in Vancouver

Brad Ziemer Vancouver Sun Ryan Kesler refers to teammates Kevin Bieksa and Alex Burrows as his brothers. "Not like Hank and Danny brothers," he says of the Sedin twins. "We're like brothers that fight. We get into our arguments." But they always settle them and have been now for about seven years, ever since that day the three of them, all greenas-grass pros, became teammates with the Manitoba Moose. Bieksa remembers it like it was yesterday. "I didn't like Burr at first, I know that," he says. "He didn't make a good first impression. I think the first time I met him was in an intra-squad scrimmage in tryouts for the Moose and he went into my goaltender and I tried to keep him in the netting and wouldn't let him out as the play went into the other zone. I was trying to fight him and that's kind of where it started." Little did he know that would mark the beginning of a special...