The Canucks laid an egg on Saturday night at Rogers Arena in their 5-1 loss to the Boston Bruins. They lost a great majority of puck battles and failed more often than not in finding effective zone entries.
“Some guys were just not engaged and we don’t have the team to have three or four or five passengers, we just don’t have it,” Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet said after practice on Sunday. “Edmonton, they could have four or five guys sleeping, they’ve got guys that can win the game for them. We are a team that needs everyone to play.”
Vancouver will definitely need everyone when they host the NHL’s leading scorer Nathan MacKinnon and the Colorado Avalanche on Monday night.
Meeeeeanwhile …
1) With the loss, the Canucks slipped to two games below .500 on home ice and into a tie for the 2nd wild card spot in the Western Conference with the Flames. Vancouver has two games in hand on Calgary.
The reaction to Saturday’s loss was a bit much. Tocchet got grilled as if the team was on a seven game losing streak and fans on-line started to question the head coach’s tenure.
It probably didn’t help that the defeat came at the hands of Vancouver’s most notorious eastern nemesis, the Boston Bruins. History lesson not required.
One game earlier, the Canucks were the complete package in a 4-0 victory over the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers on Thursday night.
Ebbs and flows folks, never too high, never too low. Were on game 30. Thatcher Demko and J.T. Miller are still re-acclimating and three, four, or five players are sick with a bug.
2) I had a little chat with Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper after his team’s 5-1 victory over the Seattle Kraken on Saturday night. (Much different than the goofy one we had after the morning skate, found at the bottom of this page).
I brought up his club’s inner confidence. So often when you watch the Lightning on TV or in person, there’s usually a sense that they will prevail, keeping in mind that this roster is obviously not the entire one that won two consecutive Stanley Cups in 2020 and 2021.
There are enough individuals remaining to carry on the identity, confidence and mindset that those teams utilized.
Coop’ simply pointed to the two Cups as the reason for the collective confidence, downplaying his role as head coach, although let’s face it, his approach, his communication skills, and he and his staff’s tactics have gone a long way in garnering success. It’s why he’s in his 12th season in Tampa, presently the longest tenured coach in the NHL.
(We also joke about his goaltender having saved his arse over the years and I suggest the coach deserves a statue outside the rink)
3) This is comical. And a little sad. It takes five (1) diving penalties before a player actually gets fined for embellishing infractions. Josh Norris of the Ottawa Senators has reached that plateau.
Here’s the video from December 5th. I’m not gonna look for them because I don’t feel like getting sick watching them, but I wonder what the first four dives looked like.
https://www.nhl.com/video/norris-fined-for-embellishment-6365951205112
This cost him $2,000. The next one will cost him $3K, then $4K, then $5K, and then after that, his coach also starts to get fined.
4) In my humble opinion, the Kraken have the best home-team-goal music (“goal song”) in the NHL, Nirvana’s “Lithium”, and they’ve incorporated more of that band’s music into their pregame presentation at Climate Pledge Arena. It’s impressive, or as I tweeted Saturday night upon observation from the press box:
“The Seattle Kraken game presentation is approaching Vegas standards with the multi-media elements. Excellent. No drum corps or cheerleaders, but it’s tight and it rocks.”
By the way, here’s the Kraken version of “Lithium”.
https://youtu.be/6M5nat8OoPk?si=9DfajI7j-_iIMfae
5) Quinn Hughes is the Canucks MVP at this point in the season, with honourable mention to goalie Kevin Lankinen and forward Kiefer Sherwood.
While the netminder was snagged off the free agent market in September, Sherwood was signed on the first day of the summer free agency period, July 1st. Management obviously had strong feelings and knew something the local “experts” didn’t. Sherwood has been a catalyst and a pleasant surprise in all elements of his game.
His head coach loves him, because “Tock” played a tough game, an understatement, and Sherwood works his ass off consistently. Despite his aggressiveness, he’s only picked up 12 minutes in penalties while scoring at a half-a-point-a-game rate. He’s on pace for career highs in goals and points.
Conor Garland would earn some consideration as well.
6) Canucks Trivia Time: What is the Vancouver record for consecutive shut-outs? The same Canucks goalie has reached this total twice. (Answer below number-9)
7) Been out on or around the local waters lately? For all of us caught up in the hustle and bustle of city life, here’s a little reminder of just how beautiful things are just around the corner.
Howe Sound
8) Curious about J.T.’s numbers since coming back? He’s almost up to speed. In his return against the Panthers, he played 14:17 and had two assists.
Saturday night he managed to finish plus-one, picking up an assist on Max Sasson’s first NHL goal and the only one the club scored. Miller played 19:10 and picked up a minor penalty.
He’s yet to record a shot-on-goal since returning.
9) If you’re ever on youtube, pop over to the ‘Simmerpuck’ channel and click to subscribe. Free and painless of course. Lots of fun/cool/informative interviews on there with more to come.
You can also follow yours truly on twitter/X @simmerpuck. Cheers, and thank you.
Enjoy the Hockey Action!!
Trivia Answer: The answer is three. Shocker; it was Roberto Luongo who twice pulled off three consecutive shut-out victories. It happened in consecutive seasons, 2007-’08 and 2008-’09. All of them in the month of November, and all six of the wins came on home ice.
Recent Canucks:
— Simmer’s Sunday 9; Home Woes, The Trade, Rumours
— Here’s the fun and games for five minutes with Bolts head coach Jon Cooper …
