Game one of the Canucks first round playoff series versus the Los Angeles Kings is starting in just a couple hours. To get you ready, I’ve compiled a plethora of numbers from these two teams in order to draw some comparisons. Ultimately, the numbers suggest that this will be a tougher series than the first-versus-eighth matchup would suggest.

Mason Raymond has been a target for criticism for the vast majority of the season and it’s easy to understand why. The speedy winger has just 8 goals and 8 assists in 46 games and has been noticeably prone to losing his edge and falling to the ice. He’s survived a broken back, but it’s unknown if he’ll survive the displeasure of Vancouver hockey fans.
His recent promotion to the first line with the Sedins made sense on closer inspection, but that didn’t stop Canucks fans from freaking right out and calling for Vigneault’s head. Fortunately, the Canucks organization installed a statue of Roger Neilson in front of Rogers Arena and not a guillotine, or things could have gotten ugly.

I’ve been quick to defend Mason Raymond this season, pointing out that his deficiencies frequently mask his proficiencies. After all, Raymond was often criticized last season for his lack of production, but his underlying numbers were still strong, indicating that he was still a useful player whose efforts were under-appreciated. It was easy enough for me to assume that the same was the case this year, that Raymond’s lack of offensive production was making him an easy, and undeserved, target of criticism.

I was wrong.

Drance Numbers is the silly research wing of PITB. While Messrs. Wagner and Mooney blog nationally and solve mysteries, Drance Numbers will look into the minutiae of quantifiable NHL data and bore you with it every Friday. Today, Drance defines some terms.

If you’ve been following this blog for awhile, you’ve likely figured out by now that Daniel is far more of an advanced stats guy than I am. That said, while I may not be a massive fan of tables and math, I’m still of the mind that it’s absolutely vital to pay attention to a few of the underlying numbers, especially in regards to the Canucks. Otherwise, you run the risk of coming to some spotty conclusions.

If you’re not following Alain Vigneault’s deployment strategies, for instance, you’re simply not getting the full picture. No NHL head coach pays more attention to zone starts, and it informs every aspect of his players’ statistical production. In Manny Malhotra’s case especially, if you understand his role, you’ll discover that his scoring and plus/minus stats border on completely irrelevant.

If you were only looking at Malhotra’s basic numbers, it would be reasonable to make the conclusion that Sportnet’s Mark Spector made on Friday, when he wrote the following:

“You have to believe GM Mike Gillis would move Manny Malhotra, whose job has been claimed by Cody Hodgson. But with 13 points and a minus-7 this season, we are sad to come to the accepted conclusion that Malhotra’s game has simply not returned in whole after the serious eye injury he suffered last season.”

While there are elements of this paragraph with which I agree (I’ll get to that), there are also elements that show a misunderstanding of how Hodgson and Malhotra are deployed.

Few seem to understand the value that Manny Malhotra brings to the Canucks. The Vancouver Sun’s own Fan Attic, for instance, recently argued that Malhotra is paid too much for his role as a fourth-line centre, noting his lack of point production, his minus-6 plus/minus, and his lack of hits.

Unfortunately, this fails to really account for what Malhotra contributes to the Canucks. He is certainly being paid more than the average fourth-line centre, but this is because he isn’t an average fourth-line centre. The way that he is used on the ice is essentially unprecedented in the NHL and is a key reason the Canucks are successful as a team.

Herein you will find a compendium of interesting stats. Take from them what you will. Or, if you’re feeling particularly sluggish this Monday morning, take from them what I have taken from them. Whatever.

The Canucks announced some great news today: Aaron Rome will be back in the lineup against the St. Louis Blues after missing 12 games with a broken thumb. With Sami Salo still out with a concussion, Rome’s return alleviates some of the concerns regarding the Canucks defensive depth.

Here’s the odd thing: he won’t be replacing Alex Sulzer, who would seem to be the obvious choice. Instead, he’s replacing Keith Ballard.

10 minutes into the first period of Wednesday’s game against the Detroit Red Wings, Canucks fans got a chance to see a delightfully old-school moment: a slap-shot off the rush that rang off the post and in. That type of goal used to be a lot more common: the highlight reels from the 70′s and 80′s are full of players flying down the wing and unleashing a slap-shot from the top of the faceoff circle past a helpless goaltender. That just doesn’t happen anymore.

What was even more electrifying was who scored the goal: it was Cody Hodgson, the rookie, giving the fans a flashback to the golden years of the slap-shot.

It was a surprise not just because of how rare the slap-shot goal off the rush has become, but also because we haven’t seen that side of Hodgson’s game yet. The majority of Hodgson’s shots this season seem to have been wristshots, with most of them being, to put it as nicely as possible, unimpressive. Hodgson’s goal on Jimmy Howard Wednesday night should serve to remind everyone that he was considered to have one of the hardest shots in the OHL: he was voted as having the second hardest shot in 2009 by OHL coaches and the third hardest in 2010, the year he only played 13 regular season games. Clearly, OHL coaches respected his shot.

Suffice it to say, a lot of people were talking about Hodgson on Twitter, the radio, and the Canucks.com forums. Oddly enough, though, most of them weren’t talking about his gorgeous goal and his hellacious slap-shot. Instead, they were talking about his icetime.

One of the biggest questions heading into this season for the Canucks was how they were going to replace the scoring of Christian Ehrhoff. The German blueliner had a career-high 50 points in 2010-11, leading all Canucks defencemen in scoring by a margin of 17 points.

Many worried that Ehrhoff’s absence would be gravely missed, particularly since the Canucks didn’t acquire anyone to replace him. Back in September, we noted that while the Canucks would miss his potent offensive talents, they would be able to replace his production from within, and they wouldn’t miss his defensive lapses. Henrik suggested they wouldn’t miss Ehrhoff at all, saying “I don’t think we lost anything,” which seemed a bit strong at the time.

Turns out, he might have been right.

If I told you before the season started that, 20 games into the season, Chris Higgins would be tied with a Sedin for the team-lead in goals, you would assume I was joking. If I told you the Sedin was Henrik, you would know I was joking.

Drance Numbers is the silly research wing of PITB. While Messrs. Wagner and Mooney blog nationally and solve mysteries, Drance Numbers will look into the minutiae of quantifiable NHL data and bore you with it every Friday. Today, Drance looks at the situations in which the Canucks are most likely to drop the gloves.

While it is unrealistic to expect the Canucks’ to repeat the franchise-best season they had last year, fans still expected a better start than this. The Canucks are 9-9-1 through 19 games, capped off by a frustrating loss to the Blackhawks on Wednesday. There are many who see an echo to last year’s game 19, a 7-1 thrashing at the hand of the ‘Hawks that came to be known as the Voldemort game. Here’s the thing: at that time, the Canucks had a record of 10-6-3. The Canucks have gotten off to a worse start than last year, and last year caused endless hand wringing.

The issue thus far for the Canucks is neatly demonstrated by Wednesday’s game in conjunction with their previous meeting with the Blackhawks. Back on November 6th, the Canucks systematically took apart the Blackhawks in a 6-2 victory. 5 of their 6 goals in that game were scored on the powerplay. On Wednesday, the Canucks didn’t receive any powerplays and only scored one goal. The common factor: in both games, the Canucks only managed one goal at even-strength.

Popular wisdom is that the easiest way to shut down the Sedins is to play a tough, physical game. The theory goes that the Sedins wilt under physical pressure, with the Stanley Cup Final submitted as proof. The takeaway from that series for a lot of people is that the Sedins are too soft and that all that is required to shut them down is to hit them. Is this view true? How do the Sedins perform in more physical games? Are the Sedins soft?

Just in case the Young Stars Tournament has not been over-analysed enough, PITB presents an overabundance of statistics, including the top scorers, PIM leaders, goaltending stats, and complete stats from each team. Please keep in mind that this data is the very definition of small sample size and judge accordingly.

Like “Henry the 8th”, it’s second verse, same as the first. Once again we find ourselves nearing the end of the NHL offseason with no contract for Kyle Wellwood in sight. This season it is even more inexplicable than last season. Long time Bulies will remember my impassioned defense of Kyle Wellwood’s defensive abilities after the 2009-10 season, pointing out that he led the entire NHL in the admittedly oddball statistic of Ratio of Goals Against to Total Time on Ice. To put it simply: when Kyle Wellwood was on the ice in that season, the opposition didn’t score. At least, not very often.

Instead of other NHL teams noticing his surprising defensive responsibility, the epic saga of Wellwood’s World happened, as Welly signed in the KHL, saw the coach who had him signed fired and replaced, rode the bench, was released from his KHL contract, had a baby, signed a contract with the St. Louis Blues, was picked up off re-entry waivers by the San Jose Sharks, and made it to the Western Conference Final, where he was eliminated by his former team, the Vancouver Canucks. It was a crazy, crazy year for the easy-going Wellwood, and likely one he doesn’t want to repeat.

The Sharks post-season story bears a strong similarity to that of the Canucks, simply reversed. While the Canucks went up 3-0 in the first round, only to have their opposition with 3-straight and push them to 7 games, the Sharks did the same in the second round. Against the Predators, the Canucks won the first, third, fourth, and sixth games of the series. Against the Kings, the Sharks had the exact same pattern of wins and losses. It’s uncanny.

It’s fair to say that Daniel and Henrik Sedin have struggled so far in these playoffs. It’s fair to say that the Canucks need more from their two Art Ross winners. It’s fair to say that the Canucks will need the Sedins to be better if they have any chance of hoisting Lord Stanley’s Cup.

It’s not fair to combine their plus/minus ratings as evidence for these fair claims.

Every now and then we at PITB like to take a step back and just post some statistics. This is one of those times. Read them quickly before they’re outdated.

* Maxim Lapierre is the current playoff leader in hits with a Wellwood-approved and Adams-certified 42. His closest competitor who is actually still competing in the playoffs is Shane O’Brien with 38, but immediately behind him are Kevin Bieksa, Alex Edler, and Ryan Kesler with 37, 36, and 35 hits respectively. That means 4 of the top 6 hitters this postseason are Canucks. It should come as no surprise, then, that the Canucks are leading the playoffs in total hits with a whopping 385 hits in 11 games. That’s 95 more than the Tampa Bay Lightning, who are second in that statistic. They have more hits than Martin Q. Blank. They have so many hits they’re thinking of buying The Hit Factory and re-opening it. For a month after playing the Canucks, their opponent’s favorite song is “It’s a Hit” by We Are Scientists. It’s especially impressive because the Canucks were 20th in the league in hits during the regular season. They have stepped it up in a big way for the playoffs.

The reactions to the Vancouver Canucks round one victory over the Chicago Blackhawks were many and varied. There were two particular reactions, however, that were such polar opposites that they bear investigating. For every person who cried out “The Canucks have defeated the Stanley Cup Champions!” there was an equally loud voice saying “The Canucks barely managed to beat the 8th seed!” The Blackhawks were simultaneously hailed as one of the best teams in the NHL and derided as a weak team that backed their way into the playoffs on the last day of the regular season.

So which is it? Who are the real Blackhawks? Were the 2010-11 Blackhawks a terrible team with remnants of past greatness still clinging to them or were they a great team that for some reason had a terrible regular season? Should the Canucks feel proud for defeating the Blackhawks or should they feel shame at their narrow escape?

Round about the time the Canucks were up 3-0 in their series against the Blackhawks, fans got a bit cocky and started pondering who the Canucks would face in the second round. It was a little bit premature. But, sure enough, the Canucks eked out the victory and will take on the Nashville Predators. There are a plethora of stories here: two Vezina candidates will face each other for a goalie duel (sadly without pistols or sabres). A favorite for the Hart trophy (Daniel Sedin) will face a favorite for the Norris (Shea Weber). The favorite for the Selke (Kesler) will face…Mike Fisher, I guess? Meanwhile, former Canuck Shane O’Brien and former Predator Dan Hamhuis will enrage their former fanbases by being better than they remembered.

Poor Keith Ballard. Mike Gillis made a big splash in acquiring Ballard at the NHL Entry Draft last summer, paying the steep price of a first round draft pick, Calder candidate Michael Grabner, and Steve Bernier. He and Dan Hamhuis were meant to shore up the defense and allow for the trade of the ill-favored Kevin Bieksa. Ballard was meant to play a big role in the revamped top-four. Instead, Salo got injured, Bieksa stuck around, and Ballard found himself on the third-pairing averaging 16 minutes per game.

Poor Keith Ballard. His first chance to play in the NHL Playoffs and his skates barely touch the ice, averaging 12-and-a-half minutes per game and finding himself in the pressbox for games 5 and 6 in favor of journeymen Aaron Rome and Andrew Alberts. It seemed that the only reason he found himself back on the ice for game 7 was yet another mysterious Sami Salo injury.

Poor Keith Ballard. The Canucks’ playoff record this season with Keith Ballard in the lineup is 4-1. Without Ballard in the lineup: 0-2. And yet, he can’t seem to find his way into Alain Vigneault’s good books.

The Vancouver Canucks and Nashville Predators open their second round series Thursday night at 6 p.m. Here’s a look at some of the numbers on each team going into game 1. Vancouver Canucks Key players vs Nashville (4 GP) this season: LW Alex Burrows – 3G 0A Sedins: LW Daniel: 1G 3A +2 C Henrik: [...]

Everyone in Vancouver remembers well how our last two playoff series went against the Chicago Blackhawks: ashes, sackcloth, gnashing of teeth. I also recall some wailing and saw a few torn garments on the streets. It was, like the Chicago Blackhawks, bad.

But neither the Blackhawks nor the Canucks are the same team as they were in those match-ups. I went over some of the changes to the Blackhawks lineup on Monday, but the Canucks have also experienced a fair degree of turnover. The bottom-six was completely remodeled: gone are Kyle Wellwood, Pavol Demitra, Steve Bernier, and Ryan Johnson. In are Raffi Torres, Cody Hodgson, Victor Oreskovich, and Maxim Lapierre. Unfortunately, this isn’t as big an upgrade as it would be if Manny Malhotra hadn’t had his season ended by a malicious puck.

On defense, Mike Gillis pulled off the extremely rare double cannonball, making two big splashes. He acquired Keith Ballard in a trade with Florida and Dan Hamhuis in free agency. Then the most unlikely event in the history of the world occurred: Sami Salo got injured. With the injury, Kevin Bieksa miraculously did not need to be traded. A combination of seemingly convenient injuries throughout the season allowed the Canucks the luxury of entering the playoffs with a top-six defensive corps making 22.3 million dollars per season while still employing other hockey players.

While the core of both teams has remained the same, the surrounding flesh of the hockey apple has changed significantly. So how did these two new teams match up in the regular season. And are the Canucks a Golden Delicious or a Granny Smith?

With the news that Kevin Bieksa has started practicing with the team again, the next step will be his return to the Canucks lineup, maybe even as early as tomorrow’s game against Detroit. This means that one of the Canucks’ current defensemen will be hitting the pressbox, unless Sami Salo breaks again. It’s almost a [...]

It wasn’t that long ago that Manny Malhotra was receiving premature buzz for the Selke Award. Now, mired in a 16-game pointless drought, questions are being raised about his role as the third-line center, with some suggesting that Hodgson might supplant him before the season is done. I heard from some quarters that Hodgson’s line [...]