Smart move by the Canucks today, bundling an early practice in Vancouver with their flight to Nashville. That allowed the team a full day off on Sunday that was probably much-needed for rest and recovery.
I'm hoping the illness that has been rolling through the dressing room over the past week is just a garden-variety flu and not the "M" word. Whatever it is, I suspect the players who have been sitting out have only been the ones hardest-hit and that health issues are part of what has sapped the Canucks' intensity over the last couple of games.
Radim Vrbata, Chris Higgins and Ryan Miller all missed games last week. Eddie Lack was apparently sick as well. Bo Horvat's the latest absentee, at practice today, but Willie's calling it a "maintenance day."
Maintenance day for Horvat...Desjardins says he will make the trip and expects him to be available for Nashville #Canucks #TSN1040
— Jon Abbott (@HockeyAbbs) January 12, 2015Other quotes coming out of practice today seem to indicate that the team is well-aware of the issues that we're seeing from the outside.
Desjardins on scoring drop-off: "I'm confident. Penalties make a difference and we have to be harder and draw more penalties." #Canucks
— Ben Kuzma (@benkuzma) January 12, 2015Even with their latest lull, the Canucks still rank 13th in league scoring overall, averaging 2.78 goals per game. That's a solid improvement from last year, when they finished the season in 28th place at 2.33 goals per game.
Thanks to Leftcoaster for bringing up this link earlier today, reminding us that offense is down league-wide and the NHL may not produce a single 100-point player this season.
"Adjust your expectations for the NHL's top players accordingly," says author Adam Gretz. "Ninety points is a superstar. Sixty points is a good first-line player."
Maybe our Sedins aren't doing so badly after all? Daniel has 36 points through 40 games and Henrik has 35, so both are tracking to hit above the 70 point mark. Pretty respectable, these days.
Because they carry such an important part of Vancouver's offensive load, they'll always be lightning-rods for attention and dissection. Zogg wants to know what kind of impression they're leaving on the HockeyBuzz group as a whole, so let's go to the polls:
I've left some room for nuance. Hopefully that way, the results will give us a little more insight than a simple "good vs. bad" outcome.
Now, the bad news. If we're looking for a place to start scoring again, Nashville is about the worst possible place to start this road trip.
The Preds have climbed into a tie with Anaheim for first place overall in the NHL, with two games in hand, thanks to the three-game winning streak they're currently riding—a streak where they've given up a total of five goals. Pekka Rinne hasn't lost a game since December 13—and even then, he only gave up one goal. Nashville's looking very much like they're for real.
Games later this week against Philadelphia (with an injured Steve Mason) and Carolina should offer good opportunities to get those red lights blazing and get the power play fired back up.
Also looking good for the road trip—Dan Hamhuis. He took part in full practice today, including battle drills, though he was on a fourth pairing with Yannick Weber.
Hammer says he's not quite ready to play yet, but he is going on the road trip and hopes to see action soon:
#Canucks Dan Hamhuis: "This is one of those injuries that's not about battling through pain. It's gotta be right. Don't want to rush it."
— Cam Tucker (@CamTucker_Metro) January 12, 2015Since Willie's line-juggling hasn't paid any dividends offensively, it looks like we're back to our old tried-and-true combinations up front:
#Canucks line rushes: 22-33-17/20-13-14/ 27-15-9/51-7-36 23-8/18-3/26-5/2-6 pic.twitter.com/oLSmaklZvL
— Vancouver Canucks (@VanCanucks) January 12, 2015Hockey Books
I'll wrap up today with some thoughts on a couple of hockey books that I've recently read.
The Crazy Game by Clint Malarchuk is crazy, indeed. If you're interested in the story of a survivor who's working hard to win the battle over his mental illnesses, filled with plenty of action along the way, this is for you.
Malarchuk rolls through his life story in pretty typical hockey-book fashion for the first couple of hundred pages. including the 1989 incident where his throat is slashed by a skate blade during a game (not his only near-death experience, by the way). The last third of the book packs a wallop—when his issues really start to catch up to him, and when he starts taking real steps to address them.
His honesty in that final section is brave and pretty amazing. He even admits that revisiting his past to write the book took a toll on him.
Canuck content: he was the Calgary Flames goaltending consultant last season, so he had a front-row view of Torts' locker-room assault, which he briefly describes in hilarious fashion.
In the end, I found the book more compelling than this season's higher-profile survivor tale du jour, "Unbroken." The Crazy Game is harrowing in places, but well worth the read.
Mr. Hockey by Gordie Howe doesn't pack quite the same emotional punch, but it's the first-ever first-person bio of one of the most important players ever to lace up the skates.
Gordie's book is an authentic window into old-time hockey, and succeeds best when it offers Howe's first-person impressions of what things were really like back then—and how tough it was to make a buck in the pre-Players' Association era. Also, how tough it was on the ice—Howe's pretty unapologetic about his "Mr. Elbows" style of play.
Mr. Hockey is also very honest, but in a different way. I'm glad we got this first-person account from Howe before his recent health issues took hold. It's great to hear that his health is improving, thanks to stem cell treatment, after a series of strokes earlier this year.