Ian Esplen: Canucks Show Up for 20 and steal a point in Cowtown Canucks Show Up for 20 and steal a point in Cowtown

Last night, was a classic example as to why Vancouver should just stick to playing hockey and not bully their opponents. For the first 40 minutes, the Canucks tried to play the bully role, while Calgary played hockey. The Canucks truculence was led by Andrew Alberts, who did his best Ben Eager impersonation and likely cost Vancouver the game. Once the Canucks decided to play their system, they roared back and stole a point.

Wow! you thought that was intententional It was intentional as Tonguays hit on Rome. Neither one had intent.. You are showing your Calgary red today Ian.

The game had almost no violence .Only the Duco fight which was a one punch enjoyable fight.

The Game started out fairly uneventful, with the first sign of a spark coming from Mike Duco and Lance Bouma. The two AHL middle-weights engaged in a spirited scrap that saw both players toss some bombs.



Out of all those bombs thrown only one landed .Winner Duco. Although I think the number on the back of his sweater took quite a beating. I think we watched different games.

Alberts a goon

I'd recommend watching replays of the Alberts hits again. Recognizing that he isn't the kind of skater who turns on a dime, it looked more like he was simply in the process of finishing his checks on guys that were either off balance or already falling. To suggest he was running around like Ben Eager is off base.

It's now common in the NHL for the guy giving out what looks to be a questionable hit to get jumped immediately afterwards. He probably had no idea it was Backlund or what his intentions were when he came at him. Given that, his response wasn't 'bush league'.

Last night, was a classic example as to why Vancouver should just stick to playing hockey and not bully their opponents. For the first 40 minutes, the Canucks tried to play the bully role, while Calgary played hockey. The Canucks truculence was led by Andrew Alberts, who did his best Ben Eager impersonation and likely cost Vancouver the game. Once the Canucks decided to play their system, they roared back and stole a point.

Wow! you thought that was intententional It was intentional as Tonguays hit on Rome. Neither one had intent.. You are showing your Calgary red today Ian.

The game had almost no violence .Only the Duco fight which was a one punch enjoyable fight.
- VANTEL

The hits themselves I was ok with. The running around and forcing them was what I had an issue with. Both time Alberts was out of position

In light of the Chicago situation whats people's thoughts on a Schneider and Ballard for Crawford and Keith trade? I would only consider this contigent on division realignment which at this point is dead in the water.

The hits themselves I was ok with. The running around and forcing them was what I had an issue with. Both time Alberts was out of position
- IanEsplen

That is why is number 7 or 8 .He makes mistakes .I don't think he was running around trying to injure. If he didn't try to hit /check he would not have a job.There are not too many spots available for 6 '4 Dmen that are slow and very little hockey skill.

Did anyone else notice the linesman telling the two players to speed it up as the Duco fight got started?

I'm starting to think these pre-staged, off the faceoff fights should also result in at least an additional two minute delay of game penalty, if not a 10 minute misconduct for each of the participants. It would speed things up and further eliminate the role of the goon enforcer who can't play.

I'd recommend watching replays of the Alberts hits again. Recognizing that he isn't the kind of skater who turns on a dime, it looked more like he was simply in the process of finishing his checks on guys that were either off balance or already falling. To suggest he was running around like Ben Eager is off base.

It's now common in the NHL for the guy giving out what looks to be a questionable hit to get jumped immediately afterwards. He probably had no idea it was Backlund or what his intentions were when he came at him. Given that, his response wasn't 'bush league'.
- YeOldTimer

This 100 % what happened

In light of the Chicago situation whats people's thoughts on a Luongo and Ballard for Crawford and Keith trade? I would only consider this contigent on division realignment which at this point is dead in the water.
- claygolf83

I would never do Schneider to Chi .They would own the cup for years.

Did anyone else notice the linesman telling the two players to speed it up as the Duco fight got started?

I'm starting to think these pre-staged, off the faceoff fights should also result in at least an additional two minute delay of game penalty, if not a 10 minute misconduct for each of the participants. It would speed things up and further eliminate the role of the goon enforcer who can't play.
- YeOldTimer

Although I did enjoy the fight ,yes

- VANTEL

1 problem=salary cap for Chicago

1 problem=salary cap for Chicago
- claygolf83

Luongo Keith salary and term the same . Ballard is 1.8 mil more than Crawford.They have 16 mil in cap space. Where is the problem?

1 problem=salary cap for Chicago
- claygolf83

Don't they have a fair bit of cap space? And Lu only being 5.3 cap hit would probably make it possible. I could be wrong.

Luongo Keith salary and term the same . Ballard is 1.8 mil more than Crawford.They have 16 mil in cap space. Where is the problem?
- VANTEL

They don't want Luongo's cap hit for eternity just like the other 28 teams in the league

They don't want Luongo's cap hit for eternity just like the other 28 teams in the league
- claygolf83

They don't want Keiths cap hit for eternity either. They are almost identical contracts. They do need a goalie and they say Keith has fallen off the elite list.

They don't want Luongo's cap hit for eternity just like the other 28 teams in the league
- claygolf83

In order for us to get rid of Luongo, we'd have to take someone's horrible contract back, like Kovy/DiPietro etc.

They don't want Keiths cap hit for eternity either. They are almost identical contracts. They do need a goalie and they say Keith has fallen off the elite list.
- VANTEL

I for one would take him on my team any day of the week

In order for us to get rid of Luongo, we'd have to take someone's horrible contract back, like Kovy/DiPietro etc.
- DariusKnight

He will be a lot easier to move after he wins the cup this year.


Chi want to move Keith also don't forget. He is getting raked over the coals in Chi.He has an albatross of a contract too.

I for one would take him on my team any day of the week
- claygolf83

Go read the Chicago threads they want him gone

Totally disagree with your thought's on the game Ian, as mentioned...a bit of your Calgary homerism came out in this one.

The Canucks, in my opinion, badly outplayed the Flames for 90% of the second period and all of the third period. Canucks talent level was very apparent when our boys were throwing it around like the Globetrotters a few times. Shots were 25-11 in the 2nd, 3rd and OT. Zero shots for Calgary in OT.

As for Alberts, give your head a shake. He's a depth defenseman trying to finish a check and the guy falls right in front of him, unfortunate the player fell but he has no time to react to that. When an opposing player grabs you from behind you defend yourself, he doesn't have time to check the number to make sure it's ok to do so. Alberts is no fighter, as you can see when he fought Jackman. But he showed up, the guy wants ice time and thats how he's gonna earn it.

In light of the Chicago situation whats people's thoughts on a Luongo and Ballard for Crawford and Keith trade? I would only consider this contigent on division realignment which at this point is dead in the water.
- claygolf83

That would be wonderful for us, but there's not a chance in hell they could sell that to fans in Chicago. It would end up costing Bowman his job. No matter how bad they are at the moment, Keith is their number one defenceman and even though Crawford is struggling he's still young.

In that market (and perhaps rightly so) Luongo is thought of as little more than a punchline to most jokes about the Canucks. And while Ballard might actually be a nice fit for them, he's still going to be seen as a $4MM regular healthy scratch for a disrespected rival team.

There's also Luongo's NTC to think about. I don't get the feeling that he's ready to pull the chute and go to a different market that has even less chance of winning a championship than Vancouver. That's why all this talk of moving him to Tampa Bay or Florida is premature. If he has a disastrous playoffs and is getting roasted in this market then he may need to move on before next season. But that's the only way I see him leaving unfortunately.

Go read the Chicago threads they want him gone
- VANTEL

And to think, in the past 3 seasons, the guy has probably played near 300 games including playoffs.
The past few seasons have most likely been hard on a couple of guys on their team. West Finals, SCF's and another 7 games in the Quarter last season, must add up. That's not even considering how many games he played at over 25 mins.

Next season, possibly after another longer summer than what's been the norm, will get him back to the Elite level.

Players like Keith you don't sell low.

I didnt watch the game but listened to it. In the first intermission, Shorty and Thomilson said it was Bieksa on the first goal. They said he was weak and made a half hearted attempt to take the man. They also said later that the Alberts boarding was like oldtimer says...the player was going down on the hit. It was unintensional.

Totally disagree with your thought's on the game Ian, as mentioned...a bit of your Calgary homerism came out in this one.

The Canucks, in my opinion, badly outplayed the Flames for 90% of the second period and all of the third period. Canucks talent level was very apparent when our boys were throwing it around like the Globetrotters a few times. Shots were 25-11 in the 2nd, 3rd and OT. Zero shots for Calgary in OT.

As for Alberts, give your head a shake. He's a depth defenseman trying to finish a check and the guy falls right in front of him, unfortunate the player fell but he has no time to react to that. When an opposing player grabs you from behind you defend yourself, he doesn't have time to check the number to make sure it's ok to do so. Alberts is no fighter, as you can see when he fought Jackman. But he showed up, the guy wants ice time and thats how he's gonna earn it.
- LeftCoaster