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Vancouver Canucks Fall Again; Olympic Retrospective |
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Wednesday January 29: Chicago Blackhawks 5 Vancouver Canucks 2
The Vancouver Canucks played their last home game before the Olympic break on Wednesday night, dropping a 5-2 decision to the Chicago Blackhawks.
Before the game, there was a ceremony to honour the seven Canucks and 10 'Hawks who are heading to Sochi. The team also commemorated Canada's double gold-medal wins on the men's and women's sides from the Vancouver Games by raising a new red-and-white banner to the rafters.
B.C. boy Scott Niedermayer even showed up with fellow gold medallist Tessa Bonhomme for the ceremonial puck drop—and he's not one to make many appearances around these parts.
It was a moving ceremony. The team followed up with a series of videoclips throughout the night, asking members of the team and staff to recall what they were doing when the "golden goal" was scored. It was a fun trip down memory lane, reliving a very special time in our city's history.
I was hoping all those good vibes would help fire up the boys when the game finally got started. When Ryan Kesler won the opening draw and went straight to the net with Chris Higgins, giving Vancouver a 1-0 lead just 16 seconds into the game, it looked like this was, indeed, the case.
The Canucks also seemed to be hitting more than we'd seen in awhile, yet by the midpoint of the period, the shots were 13-3 for Chicago. It was only a matter of time before the tide turned Chicago's way. The 'Hawks scored their four second-period goals on five shots over a span of less than eight minutes, bringing back other memories from 2010—of painful blowout losses.
When I left the rink last night, I felt grateful for the upcoming break; wishing that it started tomorrow and we didn't have to sit through another five scary road games before this team gets its chance to regroup. What a contrast from the last Olympics!
In 2010, I'd just started covering games for STATS from the Rogers Arena press box. My first game was a 7-3 win over Columbus on January 5, where Alex Burrows scored a hat trick and Henrik Sedin had the winning goal. Two nights later, Burrows recorded his second hat trick in a row as Vancouver shut out Phoenix 4-0.
Remember that? The 2010 Olympics feel like they happened yesterday, but the days when the Canucks could score at will seem like happened a lifetime ago. In my first six games in the press box, the Canucks scored 23 goals. I missed the 6-2 win over Pittsburgh and the 5-1 win over Chicago that month, so the team's total was 34 goals over eight home games. This year, they've scored 21 over the same eight-game stretch.
I still think Burrows will rediscover his scoring touch once he gets that horrible plastic jaw protector off his helmet, but last night's nostalgic vibe sure made me miss the old days, when the Sedins would take over the offensive zone. When the power play was a lethal weapon. When our best players were truly our best players.
I thought the best Canucks last night were Yannick Weber and Zack Kassian. Weber's tiny, but he can move the puck in the offensive zone on the power play—a skill that seems to be eluding all of Vancouver's other defensemen. Weber led Vancouver with nine shot attempts on Thursday, but six were blocked by Chicago.
Despite Weber's strong play, Frank Corrado has been recalled from Utica on Friday, so we'll have to wait to see how the defense is deployed on the road trip now that Chris Tanev is sidelined with a broken thumb.
Kassian had another solid game, and is slowly evolving into the player we hope he'll be. If only he had a little support!
Those 2010 memories become even more painful when we see what the Chicago Blackhawks have become. They were a very young group four years ago, so Toews, Kane, Keith and the rest are just beginning to enter their career primes—with two Stanley Cups already in the trophy case. Chicago GM Stan Bowman faced a lot of very tough decisions due to salary-cap constraints after the 'Hawks 2010 win. Power-play quarterback Brian Campbell was traded; rover and agitator Dustin Byfuglien was moved; Cup-winning goalie Antti Niemi left with no compensation after a steep arbitration award. And yet, the 'Hawks brought in a bunch of free agents and developed players in their minor-league system. Now, they're deeper than ever.
Chicago's player personnel success over the last four years is even more staggering when compared to Vancouver's. The great draft picks accumulated during their lean years are only part of the story. The Blackhawks are an enviably well-run organization.
Thursday night's loss certainly isn't the worst that the Canucks have suffered against Chicago over the last few years, but I can't stop thinking about this big-picture contrast. That hurts even more.
In 2010, I was agonizing about missing out on Canucks hockey during the Olympics. This year, I can hardly wait.
Nine more days till we get a break.....
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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