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Brock Boeser named rookie of the month; Vancouver Canucks host Ducks |
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Tuesday January 2 - Vancouver Canucks vs. Anaheim Ducks - 7 p.m. - Sportsnet Pacific, Sportsnet 650
Vancouver Canucks: 39 GP, 16-18-5, 37 pts, seventh in Pacific Division
Anaheim Ducks: 40 GP, 18-14-4, 44 pts, fourth in Pacific Division
The Vancouver Canucks kick off 2018 with one final home game before they leave Rogers Arena for most of January. Their five-day bye week at mid-month and the All-Star break combines for a light schedule of just 11 games in January before the workload intensifies with 14 games in February and 15 in March on the way to the finish line.
They'll hit the halfway point of the season this Saturday when they visit the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Air Canada Centre. Coming into tonight's game, they sit 27th in the NHL standings—in the middle of a cluster of underperforming Canadian teams that also includes Edmonton, Montreal and Ottawa.
As the injury train picked up speed, the Canucks went 4-8-1 in the month of December and were outscored 51-33 in those 13 games—all while Brock Boeser was continued to make his case for the Calder Trophy.
This morning, Boeser was named Rookie of the Month for December thanks to a point-a-game month—eight goals and five assists, so he was in on nearly 40 percent of the goals scored by Vancouver during the month of December.
It's his second-straight win, after also receiving the accolade in November, and comes in a month where his production dropped slightly—he had nine points in eight games in October and 16 in 15 games in November. Considering the Canucks' harsh goal differential last month—and the fact that 15 of Boeser's 38 points this season have come on the power play, which doesn't impact plus-minus—perhaps his most impressive stat from last month is his plus-one.
Vancouver had just three other plus players in December—Brendan Gaunce (+2), Bo Horvat (+2 in two games) and Nic Dowd (+1 in nine games).
Now with 38 points in 36 games, Boeser goes into tonight's game with a two-point lead over Mathew Barzal in the rookie scoring race. Barzal received honourable mention for the December award, as did three other centres: Danton Heinen of Boston, Pierre-Luc Dubois of Columbus and Yanni Gourde of Tampa Bay.
In the last 10 years, the Calder has gone to four wingers, three centres, two defensemen and one goalie so if history holds and Boeser keeps scoring, he could have the inside track. On the back end, don't forget about defensemen Mikhail Sergachev of Tampa Bay (8-16-24, plus-16) and Charlie McAvoy of Boston (5-15-20, plus-nine, 23:05 per game)—not to mention goaltender Malcolm Subban in Vegas, who's now 10-2-0 with a 2.25 goals-against average and .922 save percentage. I suspect they'll all get votes at season's end if they keep up their current levels of play.
As far as tonight's game goes, the bad news is that the Ducks have gotten healthier and, as a result, have won four of their last five games. Patrick Eaves remains sidelined with Guillain-Barre syndrome and Corey Perry's still on the shelf with a leg injury, but the defense is now healthy and the Ryans Kesler and Getzlaf are back and ready to do some damage. Kesler picked up his first two assists of the year in Anaheim's 5-2 win over Arizona on New Year's Eve, while Getzlaf has 13 points in 10 games since returning from a fractured cheekbone.
Tonight's game marks the first of a five-game road trip for the Ducks, with the usual three games in B.C. and Alberta this week, then the five-day bye week before finishing off against L.A. (not exactly a tough travel game) and Colorado. Our old pal Ryan Miller get the start tonight for his 11th game of the year, giving John Gibson a rest. After getting past a lower-body injury in November, Miller has amassed a solid .928 save percentage and 2.23 goals against average in 10 appearances this season but has been burned in extra time—his overall record is 4-1-4 thanks to one overtime loss and three in shootouts.
As for the Canucks, Chris Tanev is back in action after missing seven games with that groin injury.
Here's how the lineup looked at the team's full practice on Monday.
Thanks to some sharp eyes in the comment section, please note that it's Jake Virtanen (18) on the third line, not Derek Dorsett (15). And to my surprise, Anders Nilsson gets his first start in two weeks tonight.
Before I get to World Juniors, a quick look at Olympic rosters, which are now starting to take shape. USA Hockey had a select group of players on hand as it announced its full men's and women's rosters as part of the Winter Classic on Monday, and there are a few Canucks-adjacent names on the blue line:
Bobby Sanguinetti was a standout for the Utica Comets during their strong 2014-15 season, when they reached the Calder Cup Finals, collecting 40 points during the regular season, then adding another 14 in the playoffs. He was called up a couple of times by the Canucks that year, but didn't get into an NHL game. Now 29, he's playing with Lugano of the Swiss League this year.
Chad Billins returned to North America after three years in Europe to spend the 2016-17 season with the Utica Comets, where he put up 20 points in 72 games. Disgruntled that he didn't see any NHL time during the year, the 28-year-old returned to Linkopings of the Swedish League this season, where he has 16 points in 31 games.
Former Vancouver Giant Jon Blum also made the team. Part of the 2007 Memorial Cup-winning team, Blum was a rare draft miss by the Nashville Predators—a defenseman chosen 23rd overall who ended up playing just 110 NHL games before spending the last three seasons with Admiral Vladivostok of the KHL. Blum will turn 29 at the end of January and has 19 points in 31 KHL games this season.
Finally—World Juniors. It's do-or-die Quarterfinal day today, and an intense match between Finland and the Czech Republic is already getting into crunch time.
As I type this, Finland has just taken a 3-2 lead with 13:30 to play in the third period. Olli Juolevi scored Finland's second goal—his first of the tournament—and is playing well with added responsibility.
Jonah Gadjovich and the Canadians take on Switzerland at 1 p.m. PT, then Elias Pettersson and the Swedes play Slovakia at 3 p.m. before Team USA finishes off the day against Russia at 5:00.
After all that, we've got Canucks at 7:00. Happy Hockey Day!
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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