Official 2008-09 Vancouver Canucks Season Thread

[Rammer]

So the first pre-season game is tonight in Edmonton.

I wonder who the new Captain and two Alternate captains will be.

Well unofficially Luongo had been placed with the Captaincy of the team, although he won't be able to be one officially as goaltenders aren't allowed to wear the 'C'. Interesting move in that it would seem to me that you wouln't offer that up to a player you expect to move after this season.

So Mitchell should be the on ice Captain, and allow Luongo to step up for everything else. That leaves Matius Ohlund and Kessler as the other two alternative captains, along with Mitchell.

[Robbie]

So Mitchell should be the on ice Captain, and allow Luongo to step up for everything else. That leaves Matius Ohlund and Kessler as the other two alternative captains, along with Mitchell.

So will Mitchell be wearing a 'C' or an 'A' on his uniform?

[Bosco]

No one will actually be wearing the "C" on ice as a goalie cannot wear a letter, but Luongo is the appointed captain.

[Soundy]

Vancouver, B.C. – Vancouver Canucks General Manager Mike Gillis announced today that the Canucks have acquired defenceman Shane O’Brien and right wing Michel Ouellet in exchange for defenceman Lukas Krajicek and right wing Juraj Simek from the Tampa Bay Lightning. O’Brien will report to Vancouver and Ouellet will report to Manitoba.

O’Brien, 25, spent the 2007-08 season with the Tampa Bay Lightning, recording 21 points (4-17-21) in 77 games played. The Port Hope, Ontario-native has played in 158 NHL games, scoring six goals and 31 assists for a total of 37 points and recording 330 penalty minutes. The 6’2”, 235-pound defenceman was selected in the eighth round, 250th overall in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft by the Anaheim Ducks.

Ouellet, 26, has played in 187 career NHL games with Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh, registering 116 points (52-64-116). The 6’0”, 201-pound right wing was named to the AHL All-Rookie Team in 2004. Born in Rimouski, Quebec, Ouellet was selected by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the fourth round, 124th overall in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft.

[WestCoastJoe]

Canucks 5 - Flames 0 half way through the 3rd period.

It is looking like the success of the preseason was not a fluke. It might have indicated a team that can play well.

Gotta give Mike Gillis some credit. Starting with his decision to keep Alain Vigneault.

Playing hard, playing well, looking good so far ..........

[WestCoastJoe]

Rypien, short-handed. 6 - 0. Whoo Hoooooo

[Toppy Vann]

Canucks 5 - Flames 0 half way through the 3rd period.

It is looking like the success of the preseason was not a fluke. It might have indicated a team that can play well.

Gotta give Mike Gillis some credit. Starting with his decision to keep Alain Vigneault.

Playing hard, playing well, looking good so far ..........

It's a long, long, looonnnnnnnnnnnngggggggggggggg season. Don't plan the parade route yet.

It is great to get a good start but more important in hockey to get a better finish.

Remember that his decision to keep AV as coach could be a smart move for his own job later on down the road. If the season doesn't work out, AV can be fired thus ensuring the GM stays on longer as he never had his guy in there. Not saying that is how the decision went down but it has been done by many GMS. I wondered why it took him so long to decide on AV when it is clear in the media reports and from AV's own statements that not a lot of communication was going on between them leading to a bit of a surprise when he got the GMs confirmation.


I am not sure that any GM can come in and make massive changes and that is the reality of the NHL. There are no free agent camps as there are no free agents like in US college football when hundreds of good college football players go undrafted every year and they can be found paying their try out fee to the team and then landing a spot and becoming a starter very soon. Some of these free agents - Buck Pierce, R. Phillips, etc or NFL cuts like Logan turn out to be very special players. It doesn't work like that in hockey.

[Sir Purrcival]

You're quite right Toppy, it is a long season. However, it was a good effort last night and made the Flames look rather beatable. Whether that is because the Nucks are better that people thought they might be or the Flames are worse or simply had a bad early season game, I don't know. But full credit for a convincing win. There have been all too few of those in recent history.

[Soundy]

Wow. 5-4 OT win for the 'Nucks! 2-0 to start the season... and even more impressive, they managed to do it coming back from being down 3-1... how often did that happen last year?

[WestCoastJoe]

Great win. Down 3 - 1. Win the second period. Down 4 - 3. Win the third period. Win it in Overtime. Wow.

Back to back against the Flames. Keenan is going to go ballistic at some point. I feel sorry for Kiprusoff. He and Keenan could be a bad mix.

No matter what anyone says about it's early, etc., the Canucks are playing with speed, energy, toughness and determination. The Sedins are looking better than ever. Slick and smooth. Kesler and Burrows look awesome. Big, capable defense. El capitán (Luongo) ain't bad either.

Of course it's early, but you have to enjoy how they are playing. The preseason and first 2 league games are indicative of a competitive, fun to watch team.

[WestCoastJoe]

Nucks 4 - Wings 3 Overtime

Goal scorers: Hansen, Kesler, Raymond, Burrows

Kesler and Burrows are playing so well. Kesler has much family in Detroit. Good for him. Must have been some mixed feelings amongst his family and friends.

Canucks win the third to tie. Win the Overtime. Nice.

Salo plays almost 28 minutes.

Edler plays over 27 minutes. He has the most power play minutes and the second most penalty kill minutes. That is a lot of confidence in him from Vignault. Amazing.

Burrows and Kesler are both +3. Edler is +2, as is Hansen.

Burrows, Kesler and linemate Hansen all score. As does Raymond.

This might be more impressive than beating Calgary twice.

It's early, I know, but it is so nice that the team is playing well. That is enough. Just that they play well and play entertaining hockey.

Don Koharski was one of the referees. The media says it was 20 years ago that Jim Schoenfeld of the Sabres told him to eat another doughnut.

[Rammer]

Canucks should win contests that they can score 4+ goals in, in fact I bet it is a league wide phenomenon. That said, with Luongo that has to be a giveme, considering the stature that he has been elevated to in the NHL goaltender category. I suspect once teams start to par down and play D, that the Canucks will begin to find it hard to score 3 goals a game and that is where the drive for the playoffs will be won and lost on. Luongo will have to steal some games this season, something that he wasn't able to do last season.

Great start, but thankfully I am not holding my breath on this, Detroit is still the team that everyone has to gun for.

[Sir Purrcival]

Credit where credit is due. I criticized the Nucks last season for their inability to finish. So far this year, with the exception of Washington, they have played very well. I don't expect them to necessarily walk into an opponents den and take points away, just to play competitively. They have done that in spades this season so far so congrats to them.

[Robbie]

Will anyone confess that they went next door instead and saw the Canucks put on a good show with their 6-3 win over the Oilers and hopefully change their current slump?

[Soundy]

What really amazes me is their *four* power-play goals, which is twice what they have in the first seven games *combined*. And better yet, all the scoring came from the new and/or young guys - two PP goals for Mason Raymond and one each for Jason Krog and Kyle Wellwood, plus both even-strength goals by Jannick Hansen.

I was running late on the SkyTrain trying to get to the Lions game, and since I didn't have a radio, I was listening to the streaming broadcast from the TEAM on my phone (couldn't for the life of me find a "listen live" link on 1410's website, at least not on my mobile browser). As I was walking past GM place from the SkyTrain to BC Place gate C, I heard the horn going off inside the Garage, just as the play-by-play was announcing the save on Edmonton's shorthanded 2-on-1. It was nearly a full minute later that the stream caught and I heard the goal actually called.

Kinda weird...