I was listening to a sports radio station in Toronto the other day and the question put forth by the host was simple—if you ran the Vancouver Canucks what would you do with Roberto Luongo?   I thought he was asking a rhetorical question but no he actually wanted to know.   I thought it was rather [...]

In all the hype surrounding the acquisition of David Booth from the Florida Panthers, there have been repeated descriptions of the fleet footed Booth as a “power forward”.  And, as is often the case in this hockey mad market, such claims are over blown. The notion of a “power forward” implies a few things typically.  [...]

Just in time for Halloween, the ghost of Dale Tallon has struck again.  Since becoming general manager of the Canucks, Mike Gillis has not been a terribly active trader, but his biggest deals have been with the Florida Panthers (whose GM is ex-Canuck Dale Tallon, Vancouver’s consolation prize in their inaugural season wheel spinning that [...]

On a night where the Bronx cheer was reserved for incumbent Vezina Trophy finalist Roberto Luongo instead of New York goalie Henrik Lundqvist, the goalie controversy was clearly back on again (after a respite that lasted maybe two periods). Luongo, getting his second straight start for the first time this season, got plenty of support [...]

Hockey is no longer about the rock ‘em sock’em style so prominent generations ago—there is a newfound awareness and emphasis on the protection of its players and if that affects the game’s violent nature then so be it.  The safety of the players, once a complete afterthought, has moved to the front of the line [...]

On the eve of the Canucks’ forty first NHL season, it will be nearly impossible to top the performance of the 40th anniversary edition. That team put up not only the greatest regular season performance in franchise history, but arguably one of the best regular seasons of any team anywhere. Don’t believe us? Well, it’s [...]

Four games into the preseason, the Canucks continue to hide their veterans in a cave in the mountains. As a result, tonight’s lineup was again a combination of AHLers, fourth liners, invitees, and animals dressed as people. Meanwhile, for the second game in a row, their opponents — tonight, the Anaheim Ducks — dressed something akin to their opening night roster. Needless to say, Vancouver did not win. The Canucks came out strong in the first, but by the second period, they’d run out of moxie (and some of the animals’ moustaches had fallen off). From that moment on, the discrepancy in talent was impossible for those that watched this game to miss. Hence, I saw it, because I watched this game.

The Vancouver Canucks have just released their 2011 training camp schedule, with two of the dates open to the public. The camp will kick off on Friday, September 16th with a press conference, with the open practices taking place over the next two days. Fans can register for the open practices on the Canucks website. Doors open at 8:30 am on Saturday, September 17th and Sunday, September 18th.

The team has also released the expected roster of players. While the press release indicates that 38 players plus prospects will attend the camp, the released roster has 40 players, with the late additions of Manny Legace and Matt Clackson likely explaining the difference.

Trying to get inside the heads of those that determine who gets to enter an athletic hall of fame is an impossible task, no matter the sport.  The mechanics of every hall of fame are distinct and the appointments often controversial.  The Hockey Hall of Fame (“HHOF”) is no exception.  And likely ripe for a proper [...]

Signing high-priced free agents has always been a risky proposition: they can instantly improve your team or, just as easily, destroy its finances for generations to come. With the start of NHL free agency on Friday, we take a look back at how the local team has historically faired in the free agent pool. Happily [...]

Just because Christian Ehrhoff’s contractual rights were dealt today to the New York Islanders doesn’t mean absolutely that he’ll wide up in Wang’s World when the season starts, but the simple fact that he reportedly turned down the same offer that Kevin Bieksa got (including a no trade clause) is mind boggling.  There is no doubt that Ehrhoff will command [...]

So now that the fires have stopped burning we can begin to look into the reasons behind the destruction, and analyze exactly why the fate of the hockey team invades the souls of the Vancouver populous and drives them to injure their city.

Standing at the intersection of Granville and Robson at midnight a full four hours after the Canucks’ game two win, it was easy to get swallowed up by the collective good vibrations from the epicentre of it all. So moved by this experience, we were motivated to prepare a blog entry to celebrate this uniquely Vancouver happening.

And while we had hoped this headline might apply to the Canucks’ franchise 40 year Stanley Cup drought, we are relieved that this season (the longest ever in team history) has finally come to an end. And while, upon reflection, it will become a season to celebrate, right now it’s impossible to feel anything but disappointment. [...]

After another decisive road loss during a post season that has had its share of dizzying heights and now back-breaking lows (with all apologies to Mason Raymond), the members of good ship Canuck were all heard to declare they had once again turned the page and were only thinking about game 7.  At this time [...]

Vancouver-based investigative interviewer Nardwuar taps into the hockey madness sweeping his hometown for his latest video: CBC personality Don Cherry. Nardwuar tracked down Cherry last Friday, just ahead of Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals.

This is what happened:

So what kind of Canucks’ blog goes two days between posts with a Stanley Cup hanging in the balance?  Well, this one.  And for that we apologize.  But these are almost unprecedented times, and Friday’s game left us a little speechless.  And our weekend at Hockey Night in Canada’s “Play-On 4 on 4″ street hockey tourney had [...]

In light of the Canucks’ disastrous trip to Boston, we expect some significant line-up tweaks from the occasionally esteemed Coach Vigneault. During the last Canucks’ meltdown (the first round near suicide swoon against Chicago), we threw out some ideas for roster changes (see our April 23rd posting where we recommended reuniting Ryan Kesler and Alex [...]

Clearly, there is no easy path to the glory.  And if there is, the Canucks mostly refuse to follow it.  And when they do, they get dragged into the alley. Yes, there is plenty wrong in Canuck land right now.  Roberto Luongo seems incapable of making a big save to bail out a team that [...]

Welcome to our second edition of Blog Wars, in which we pit our Vancouver Canucks blogger, Harrison Mooney of Pass It To Bulis against Boston Bruins bloggers, Jon and Justin of Days of Y’Orr. The two blogs will debate the fine points of each game of the Stanley Cup Finals.

Today the overlords at the NHL discipline department did the unprecedented.  Yes, in the Colin Campbell era, there was never this type of expediency and over-reaching. You must feel for Aaron Rome, a player with a clean record and a player who was in interim discipline chief Mike Murphy’s words, involved in a “typical hockey [...]

After what could only be considered a successful first period, the Canucks’ world unraveled.  And when it was all over the Canucks were the victims of the second biggest Stanley Cup Final blow out in NHL history.  Meanwhile, Premier Christy Clark was seen lighting an Olympic cauldron. And while we certainly expected the Bruins to finally get [...]

With the Canucks in full command of a series that they could just as easily be trailing two games to nothing, you have to like their chances to finish off the Bruins sooner rather than later. No doubt the Boston faithful feel that their team is most unlucky to be returning to Beantown without at least [...]

We hate having to jump on board this story, but at this point you have to ask yourself, what is more miraculous, Manny’s recovery or the infinite legs that this story seems to have? In his very short time here, Malhotra, a one-time prized prospect, first round draft pick and a player on his third team in three years, is [...]

Welcome to our first edition of Blog Wars, in which we pit our Vancouver Canucks blogger, Harrison Mooney of Pass It To Bulis against Boston Bruins blogger, Jon Fucile of Days of Y’Orr. The two blogs will debate the fine points of each game of the Stanley Cup Finals.