Carol Schram: Vancouver Canucks Game Review: Luongo Wins as Sedins Shine Roberto Luongo and the Vancouver Canucks triumphed over their old teammate Cory Schneider and his New Jersey Devils with a 3-2 overtime win at Rogers Arena.

Daniel and Henrik at the top of the scoring race, where's Vantel?

Carol Schram: Vancouver Canucks Game Review: Luongo Wins as Sedins Shine
Roberto Luongo and the Vancouver Canucks triumphed over their old teammate Cory Schneider and his New Jersey Devils with a 3-2 overtime win at Rogers Arena.
- Carol Schram

Cut and paste mistakes (Edmonton)? Makes for a jarring read. Kesler has been invisible for most of 4 games. It's time for him to get it going.

Cut and paste mistakes (Edmonton)? Makes for a jarring read. Kesler has been invisible for most of 4 games. It's time for him to get it going.
- rdfred

Thanks, Fred. Fixed now.

The team needs 4 effective lines. I would really like to see Dalpe earn more minutes. They need to figure out what to do about the fourth line. This will be the teams Achilles heel come playoff time if they don’t. Nice to see a blogger who is actually on the ground in YVR!

Nice blog. A good sign for the Canucks is that they are not giving up after being down a couple goals. If Kessler can find his game and you guys can stay healthy it can be a fun year for the canuck fans.

Nice blog. A good sign for the Canucks is that they are not giving up after being down a couple goals. If Kessler can find his game and you guys can stay healthy it can be a fun year for the canuck fans.
- waitforawhistle

Kesler.

The team needs 4 effective lines. I would really like to see Dalpe earn more minutes. They need to figure out what to do about the fourth line. This will be the teams Achilles heel come playoff time if they don’t. Nice to see a blogger who is actually on the ground in YVR!
- VanHockeyGuy

As would the coaching staff I'm sure, but he doesn't seem to be doing a very good job of that so far. Perhaps that's the reason he's never been able to make the jump to NHL action in the past...

Nice blog. I like the shots on goal, block shots and penalty minutes review for each game, how do you feel about adding hits too??

As would the coaching staff I'm sure, but he doesn't seem to be doing a very good job of that so far. Perhaps that's the reason he's never been able to make the jump to NHL action in the past...
- 1970vintage

Didn't Gillis say that they have been coveting Dalpe for the past few years? Why, does he have nicer eyes than Taylor Pyatt?

Nucks could grab Jagr at the Deadline for a Pick. Wouldn't hurt to have him in the lineup.

Nucks could grab Jagr at the Deadline for a Pick. Wouldn't hurt to have him in the lineup.
- Byfuglien Ate Me

Not if Jersey makes the post season, with Shneids in net and that veteran offense I don't think it's out of question.

Nice blog. I like the shots on goal, block shots and penalty minutes review for each game, how do you feel about adding hits too??
- sdoney

I don't have to record hits for my STATS gig, so I don't pay much attention to the official count, but I can certainly include it. I do know what counts as a hit varies pretty dramatically at different rinks around the league—it could be entertaining to track the numbers consistently.

As would the coaching staff I'm sure, but he doesn't seem to be doing a very good job of that so far. Perhaps that's the reason he's never been able to make the jump to NHL action in the past...
- 1970vintage

Meh, he's a skilled offensive player(still trying to transfer his AHL game and confidence to the NHL) and he's playing with Sestito for a few minutes per night. You'd have to be a pretty damn good player to stand out in that situation, but I can't blame Torts either with others playing well.

I don't have to record hits for my STATS gig, so I don't pay much attention to the official count, but I can certainly include it. I do know what counts as a hit varies pretty dramatically at different rinks around the league—it could be entertaining to track the numbers consistently.
- Carol Schram

Bets way to track how physical a player really is in the NHL is to only use road "hits" since every home bulding views a hit differently, that way the numbers are less skewed. Same with the takeaway and giveaway stats.

The early signs that this team is actually controlling the play against teams like CAL/NJ/EDM and not just benefiting from a really high team shooting percentage with average/bad puck possession tells me that this team is still good enough as a lock to make the playoffs. Now we'll have to see if they can sustain it, and play well against better teams. Getting back Burrows will definitely help, we'll see how Kassian and Schroeder adjust and fit in. Kind of hard to slot in Schroeder and Kassian right now when I'm coming up with a lineup, I'm assuming Weber, Dalpe and one of Sestito/Weise would be out, but a forward would still have to be waived as well.

Cut and paste mistakes (Edmonton)? Makes for a jarring read. Kesler has been invisible for most of 4 games. It's time for him to get it going.
- rdfred

I think everyone here agrees that Raymond sucks, right? He was a fanbase whipping boy for the past few years for his lack of production/consistency...

Well, since the beginning of the 2011/12 season, Mason Raymond has played in 114 games including payoffs (1,489 mins of ES TOI). His role/opportunity varied from top 6 to 4th line. In that time he managed 17 goals & 22 assists @ ES. Meh. Yeah, that kinda sucks.

Over that same period, Ryan Kesler has played 107 games (1,550 mins of ES TOI) centering a top 6 line. He has 17 goals & 23 assists @ ES over that span.

Just some numbers for y'all to think about...

I think everyone here agrees that Raymond sucks, right? He was a fanbase whipping boy for the past few years for his lack of production/consistency...

Well, since the beginning of the 2011/12 season, Mason Raymond has played in 114 games including payoffs (1,489 mins of ES TOI). His role/opportunity varied from top 6 to 4th line. In that time he managed 17 goals & 22 assists @ ES. Meh. Yeah, that kinda sucks.

Over that same period, Ryan Kesler has played 107 games (1,550 mins of ES TOI) centering a top 6 line. He has 17 goals & 23 assists @ ES over that span.

Just some numbers for y'all to think about...
- DrChristianTroy

The numbers I am most concerned about are the stats after tomorrows game.

So far (excluding EDM) I have not seen Keslord, only Kesless.

It's nice to see that Torts has given Garrison the green light to shoot more. I never understood why AV refused to use Garrison in this capacity give his past success. I think he'll easily score 10 - 15 goals this season.

I think everyone here agrees that Raymond sucks, right? He was a fanbase whipping boy for the past few years for his lack of production/consistency...

Well, since the beginning of the 2011/12 season, Mason Raymond has played in 114 games including payoffs (1,489 mins of ES TOI). His role/opportunity varied from top 6 to 4th line. In that time he managed 17 goals & 22 assists @ ES. Meh. Yeah, that kinda sucks.

Over that same period, Ryan Kesler has played 107 games (1,550 mins of ES TOI) centering a top 6 line. He has 17 goals and 23 assists @ ES over that span.

Just some numbers for y'all to think about...
- DrChristianTroy

Good stat and definitely an eye-opening one. One thing to consider is that since that time frame that you've listed, Kesler's shooting percentage has been at 9.3%, compared to his career rate of 11.9%, and it's still at about 11.5% even excluding his career season. The law of averages suggests that he probably had some bad luck and deserved a few more goals.

Other thoughts:

- Unlike a lot of offensive players around the league, Kesler's offensive zone starts have been at less than 50%, hovering around the 47-48% range the past 2 regular seasons.

- During his last (kinda) full season in 11/12(77 games) his 5on5 on-ice shooting percentage(the team's sh% with him on the ice) was a very low 7.65%, his career averages during his other full seasons have usually been at around 8.5%.


Just things to consider, but clearly as you've pointed out he needs to be much more productive at even strength. Heck, David Booth has looked like a better offensive payer than Kesler so far.

It's nice to see that Torts has given Garrison the green light to shoot more. I never understood why AV refused to use Garrison in this capacity give his past success. I think he'll easily score 10 - 15 goals this season.
- DarthKane

Maybe he will play his way onto Team Canada with his scorching offense.

Meh, he's a skilled offensive player(still trying to transfer his AHL game and confidence to the NHL) and he's playing with Sestito for a few minutes per night. You'd have to be a pretty damn good player to stand out in that situation, but I can't blame Torts either with others playing well.
- Nucker101

What I'm saying is that Tortarella seems to be open to giving ice to the players he feels are playing well, ie Santorelli. The few shifts that Dalpe is getting he must not be doing what the coach is asking, or at least not well enough to stand out as deserving of extra ice. I don't think he would have to score a goal to stand out, just make good plays, be high energy and aggressive on the puck. Just my opinion, I haven't taken the time to actually watch his play on the ice.

It's nice to see that Torts has given Garrison the green light to shoot more. I never understood why AV refused to use Garrison in this capacity give his past success. I think he'll easily score 10 - 15 goals this season.
- DarthKane

Totally agree. A lot of people say that AV never used Garrison on the PP, but he actually had him on the 2nd unit last year, but the issue was that AV usually kept his first unit on for about 90 seconds of most PP's, and the second unit lacked the skill and time to work with to actually set up in the offensive zone so Garrison was a non-factor on the PP.

Maybe he will play his way onto Team Canada with his scorching offense.
- immature_male

Im hoping the same for Phaneuf and Raymond.....

What I'm saying is that Tortarella seems to be open to giving ice to the players he feels are playing well, ie Santorelli. The few shifts that Dalpe is getting he must not be doing what the coach is asking, or at least not well enough to stand out as deserving of extra ice. I don't think he would have to score a goal to stand out, just make good plays, be high energy and aggressive on the puck. Just my opinion, I haven't taken the time to actually watch his play on the ice.
- 1970vintage

Fair enough, I agree with that. It's probably just not his game though, he's not a soft guy but I don't think he's someone who will throw a big hit every game or ever be a very good checking/two-way forward. I tried to justify the reasoning behind the trade since most of us were scratching our heads and assumed that maybe Dalpe was going to be given a top 9 role while Kassian and Schroeder were out, but right now he looks like he'll be one of the guys who might be sitting in the press box when Burrows/Schroeder/Kassian are back.