I’m not sure when exactly this began, but it’s pretty clear that the Vancouver Canucks are the most hated team in the NHL. We got more evidence of this when the recently retired Mark Recchi decided to offer this up:

(In) 22 years they are the most arrogant team I played against and the most hated team I’ve ever played against. I couldn’t believe their antics, their falling and diving. It was very frustrating, but at the same time as the series wore on we knew we were getting to them and we knew our physical play and our skating, I think it caught them off guard a little bit.

Mark Recchi is open to his opinion of course, and he certainly isn’t alone in his hatred for the Vancouver Canucks. But what I don’t understand is how the entire hockey world seems to be in agreement that the Canucks are a bunch of jerks while the Bruins get off Scott free.

Recchi cites the diving the Canucks were doing, which I believe is grossly exaggerated. What never seems to get brought up is the amount of cheap antics the Bruins employ. We’re all familiar with Brad Marchand’s punching bag job on Daniel Sedin in game 6 last year, but apparently that’s honourable. The latest example of a cheap shot by the Bruins came from Milan Lucic:

Amazingly, this didn’t receive any kind of a suspension. It’s a clear cheap shot on a defenseless player that resulted in an injury. Wait, isn’t that how they described Aaron Rome’s hit on Nathan Horton?

Has anyone in the NHL noticed that Nathan Horton is back playing hockey this season and hasn’t missed a single game? That’s interesting because his concussion was described as being ‘severe‘ last June. It’s also interesting because Horton himself admitted that he was symptom free on June 20, only 14 days after the Rome hit. Sounds like the Bruins may have embellished the injury to Horton in an effort to get Aaron Rome suspended (on a related note, read this article from March 23rd titled “Mark Recchi Says Canadiens Embellished Max Pacioretty’s Concussion in Effort to get Zdeno Chara Suspended).

Oh hey, Zdeno Chara was in the news recently. Here is his hit on Max Pacioretty last season in case you forgot about it.

If you noticed that Nathan Horton is back playing, you probably also noticed that Mason Raymond still isn’t. Raymond is still recovering from a fractured vertebrae. I think the entire hockey world has forgotten that Johnny Boychuk was the guy that delivered the crushing blow on a late hit.

But above every cheap hit by the Bruins that has resulted in a lot of injuries with few consequences, it’s the chirping they do that makes it worse. Mark Recchi has his Stanley Cup ring, but refused to take the high road this week. He also said that Max Pacioretty was embellishing an injury while he was out with a fractured vertebrae and a concussion. Milan Lucic was pretty unapologetic after giving Ryan Miller a concussion, and he basically called the Sabres a bunch of wimps in the process. And what about Nathan Horton? He voiced his displeasure about Aaron Rome sending him a text message, rather than phoning him, after his hit last June. You know how Johnny Boychuk apologized to Mason Raymond? Through text message!

I get that the Canucks are not the most liked team in the NHL, and that’s fine, but sooner or later logic has to prevail here. I don’t like the cheap shots the Bruins deliver, and I don’t like that they’ve gone unpunished. But enough with the whining that goes along with it!

Cody Hodgson has decided to switch numbers. He’ll be moving away from his familiar number 39 in favour of the number 9 jersey, and I’m all for it! The number 39 has not been kind to Cody Hodgson. In fact, it hasn’t been kind to anyone in Canuck history.

The last guy to wear the number 39 on a regular basis was Dan Cloutier. Cloutier was plagued with injuries while with the Canucks and of course let in this goal during the 2002 playoffs:

Other players that wore the number 39 with the Canucks include Brad Moran, Chris O’Sullivan and Erico Ciccone. Moran and O’Sullivan were AHL call-ups. Ciccone was acquired from the Carolina Hurricanes, played 13 games wearing the number 39 and was traded away.

Maybe he’ll have the same luck as Pavel Bure did, switching away from the number 96 in 1997. Bure wore the number 10 during his first four seasons in the NHL. Before the 1995-96 season he decided to switch to the number 96 and suffered two straight injury riddled seasons. He switched back to the number 10 in 1997-98 and scored 51 goals.

This might all be superstitious nonsense, but I’m thinking Hodgson doesn’t think so. Ever since ridding himself of the number 19 he wore in junior (a number that is retired by the Canucks), he has had a long list of injury troubles and has failed to impress significantly in the NHL.

With the injury to Ryan Kesler, Hodgson looks assured to get a lot of time on the Canucks second line and time on the power play. Thank goodness the curse of the number 39 isn’t there to hold him back anymore.

The Canucks announced on Tuesday that Ryan Kesler underwent hip surgery and will be out 10-12 weeks, meaning that he’ll likely start the season in November. It’s interesting that they waited until August to do the surgery. Perhaps they were waiting to see if his hip would get better without surgery (as they claim) or perhaps there’s something sneakier going on. Is it possible that the Canucks purposely chose to have Ryan Kesler have surgery late in the summer, meaning that he would miss a month of the regular season while he recovers, thus saving precious cap space? Perhaps I’m reading too much into this, but it’s certainly plausible. Having Sami Salo injured for more than half a season last year was of great reward to the Canucks, because they were able to save on the cap while still getting Salo back for the playoffs.

If Ryan Kesler misses one month or more of the regular season, the Canucks could save about $1 million off of their cap. But who would fill-in for Kesler during his absence?

Enter Cody Hodgson. The prized prospect of the Canucks organization will be hard pressed to make this team. He’s a natural centre and Henrik Sedin, Ryan Kesler and Manny Malhotra aren’t going anywhere. Max Lapierre is also a lock to be the fourth line centre. So where does that leave Hodgson? Sure, he could try to make the team as a winger, playing on one of the top three lines, but even that would be tough. With Daniel Sedin, Alex Burrows, Mikael Samuelsson, Jannik Hansen, Marco Sturm and Chris Higgins, the Canucks have all the wingers they need for their top 3 lines. And that list doesn’t include Mason Raymond, who will likely return sometime in December.

Whether or not Hodgson is ready to play on the Canucks second line is up for debate, but he might not be as far away as some think. There’s a perception that Hodgson has been a major disappointment, and that simply isn’t true. What has been disappointing is his luck with injuries. If you look at Hodgson’s stats, it reads of a remarkable junior career and one year of pro hockey. His numbers were not draw dropping in the AHL last season (30 points in 52 games), but he was leading the Moose in scoring until he suffered a broken orbital bone. He had just 2 points in 8 regular season games with the Canucks and only 1 point in 12 playoff games, but that can hardly be seen as a disappointment. With rare exception, Hodgson had no skilled players to play with, and received very little playing time on the fourth line. Clearly, his role was to play it safe and be responsible defensively (which he accomplished).

So an injury to Ryan Kesler offers the perfect chance for Cody Hodgson to get a chance to play significant and meaningful minutes with the Canucks. Barring another long term injury to Henrik Sedin or Ryan Kesler, Cody Hodgson likely won’t get another chance like this. So whether it was by design or not, Cody Hodgson: your time is NOW. This will be your best chance to become a full-time NHL player.

The NHL ruled on the Aaron Rome hit today, giving him a four game suspension. It’s the longest suspension in NHL Stanley Cup Final history and one of the longest in NHL playoff history. I was extremely surprised with the decision, because it lacks precedent. In my mind, it warranted a two game suspension.

In case you haven’t seen the hit, or need a reminder:

My take on the hit is that it was an interference penalty. The hit was late, and it did some damage. But it wasn’t TERRIBLY late. It was late. I have heard in some places that it was two seconds late, which is totally ridiculous. The time that Nathan Horton gives up the puck to the time Aaron Rome hits him, is about one second. Which means that it’s less than a second late.

It’s also not a blind side head shot. It’s straight on, pretty much as straight on as you can get. A reminder to everyone who often forget this, but head shots that aren’t from the blind side are legal in the NHL, as long as it is with your shoulder.

If the NHL wants to rule like this, I’m ok with it, so long as they were consistent from the start of the season. To me, there’s a huge lack of consistency.

What’s interesting is how things feelings have changed with these types of hits in a very short period of time. Remember this hit by Scott Stevens on Paul Kariya in the 2003 Stanley Cup final?

That hit was every bit as late as the Aaron Rome hit, and was much more vicious. It was also on a star player with a history of concussions. At that time there was no discussion that the hit was somehow illegal (which seems mind boggling now). My how times have changed…

Great news from the Canucks today, as it was revealed that Manny Malhotra has been medically cleared to play hockey again. Media outlets aren’t saying when he’s going to play, but I will. He will play in game 1. I base this on the fact that Cody Hodgson is getting very few minutes on the 4th line right now, and the fact that Malhotra has been skating for weeks. He should be in decent game shape. So if he’s medically able to play (which he is), he’ll play.

Kudos to Jason Botchford on getting this story right from day 1. A lot of the local media were taking the Canucks at face value, even though it was clear that Malhotra was in the middle of a comeback. I’m glad to say that Canuckz.com was on board with Botchford the whole way.

But enough of that. Against all odds, Manny Malhotra is back. What a story.

This is huge news for the Canucks. Malhtora will help with faceoffs of course, but his biggest value is on the penalty kill. He will play with a full visor and will likely start on the fourth line, given the strong play of Maxim Lapierre on the third line. But if Lapierre and the third line falter, Malhotra might find his way back in between Torres and Hansen. In any case, this news means that Canucks are now a four line team again, which is great news because so are the Bruins.

What an inspiration this will be to the Canucks, and what an ovation he’ll receive from the fans at Rogers Arena in the Stanley Cup final.

It was a slow day in Canuckland today given that the team has been given their second day off without practicing and the fact that they won’t play game 1 of the conference finals until Sunday. That was, until Jason Botchford of the Province dropped this in the Twitter world:

I choose to read lots into news malhotra is skating #callitacomeback

This is unexpected and encouraging news. Manny Malhotra’s career was thought to be in jeopardy after he suffered a serious eye injury on March 16. Malhotra was skating with a full cage, by himself. The Canucks aren’t saying that he’s on the comeback trail, but it doesn’t make sense for him to be practicing unless that was a possibility.

Malhotra’s eye first appeared better in some celebration videos inside the Canucks dressing room (notice he’s not wearing sunglasses):

Who knows if and when he could possibly return, but if he could it would do wonders for the team. Malhotra helps in a lot of areas, and would give them another centre they so desperately need right now. It would turn the Canucks from a three line team into a four line team. Currently they are a team that plays only three lines primarily when the score is close in the third period. If he could return to his previous form, he could be matched up against other teams’ top lines, freeing Ryan Kesler to play in more of an offensive role.

Unless you missed game 3 of the Blackhawks-Canucks series and are living under a rock, you already know that this Raffi Torres hit on Brent Seabrook has been a hot topic in the last 24 hours:

There are a lot of people that think it should be a suspension and a lot of people that think it shouldn’t. The problem is that people don’t really know why they feel what they feel. A lot of people that feel it that shouldn’t be a suspension argue that Brent Seabrook “has to know that someone is coming”. The problem with that argument is it has nothing to do with the rules. And that’s the problem. Nobody knows what the rules are, because the rules aren’t clear.

I thought I knew the rules, and then this hit got a four game suspension:

I thought the rule (rule 48 to be exact) was that you couldn’t hit someone in the head when you’re coming from the blind side. The Torres hit against Jordan Eberle that earned him a four game suspension was not from the blind side. People didn’t like the hit, but I have yet to hear what exactly Torres did to Eberle that was against the rules.

As confusing as the Eberle suspension was for me, the non-suspension for the Seabrook hit has me even more confused. I felt like Torres’ hit on Eberle was well within the rules. Was it a head shot? Sure. But it wasn’t from the blind side. I thought the hit on Seabrook should have earned at least a one game suspension. The Seabrook hit was also a head shot, but this time it was undoubtedly from the blind side. Yet, there isn’t a suspension. The reason? Well, here’s what Colin Campbell had to say:

When Rule 48 [Illegal Check to the Head] was unanimously adopted by the general managers in March 2010, there was no intention to make this type of shoulder hit to the head illegal… In fact, at that time, we distributed a video to all players and teams that showed a similar hit on a defenseman by an attacking forward coming from the opposite direction behind the net and stated that this is a ‘legal play.’

Here’s the problem with that explanation: it’s not an explanation! Saying that they distributed a DVD is a cop out by the NHL. How many players saw this DVD? How many media members saw it? Maybe the NHL should explain the rules to everyone BEFORE, not AFTER something like this happens. Lots of people defended the hit before the NHL made its decision, but nobody cited this ‘safe zone’ behind the net where blind side head shots are allowed.

So apparently there’s some kind of mystery spot behind the net in which blind side head shots are allowed. I think that’s the only place. Maybe there are more amendments in other DVDs. Perhaps we’ll hear about that down the line. As a fan of the NHL, I find it extremely frustrating that the league can’t find a way to explain the rules. I still don’t know what is and what is not allowed.

In any case, I agree with Ben Kuzma from the Province. Raffi Torres is in the heads of the Blackhawks. You can bet that all six of the Hawks defencemen will have their head on a swivel the next time they see #13 hop over the boards.

I’ve got to admit that when I heard the news this morning that Manny Malhotra would be lost for the regular season and playoffs due to his eye injury, I began a mini-panic. Weird that a season ending injury to a 30-35 point scorer could cause such angst, but anybody that has followed this team closely knows why.

Malhotra brought a lot of intangibles to this Canucks team, the type of intangibles that help a team win a Stanley Cup. Aside from his mild offensive output, he was one of their top penalty killers, one of the best in the league at faceoffs, and brought leadership to the dressing room. Now Canucks fans have to hope that he will be able to regain his vision for the sake of his life, nevermind his career.

What Next?

With Malhotra officially done for the season, what next? There’s now an opening in the middle on the third line and it appears Maxim Lapierre will get the first crack at it. Lapierre is a natural centre, but might not be the answer. Other options would be to play the more talented Chris Higgins or Mason Raymond in the middle, although their experience at centre is limited.

Alex Bolduc has been called up from Manitoba, so perhaps he gets another chance on the 4th line but it’s another centreman from the Moose that has me intrigued. What about Cody Hodgson? I have been fairly critical of the Canucks forcing Hodgson into a 4th line role earlier this season, but this could be the perfect opportunity. Hodgson is a two-way centre with lots of offensive upside. He’s not exactly putting up eye popping numbers with Manitoba this year (27 points in 45 games), but they are respectable.

In my mind, Hodgson has the most potential to adequately replace Malhotra, albeit in different way. The Canucks should give Hodgson another chance and see what he can do. It’s by no means a slam dunk, and the more realistic option will probably be to hope that Maxim Lapierre can prove he belongs on the 3rd line.

Can it be done?

Can the Canucks win without Manny Malhotra? Of course they can, but it won’t be easy. With that said, there are a few examples of teams losing key members for long periods of time in the playoffs and still going on to win the Stanley Cup:

• The Chicago Blackhawks lost one of their top 5 defensemen, Kim Johnsson, for the entire playoffs last year but still went on to win the Stanley Cup.
• In 2006, Erik Cole had 30 goals in 60 games while playing on the Carolina Hurricanes’ top line. He suffered a serious injury at the hands of Brooks Orpik which kept him out for all but the final two playoff games. Despite this, the Hurricanes still managed to win the Stanley Cup.
• Perhaps the best example of a team winning despite an injury,  was in 2001 when Peter Forsberg missed the conference finals and Stanley Cup finals, yet the Colorado Avalanche still managed to win it all.

So what’s the moral of the story? If you’re a good enough team, you can overcome an injury to a player like Manny Malhotra. The Canucks will need someone to step up in the 3rd line centre position, combined with excellence in other areas. Of course, on top of that they’ll need to get the bounces and try to limit further injuries, but that’s what makes the Stanley Cup the hardest trophy in all of professional sports to win.

The Vancouver Canucks played tonight’s game in Nashville without Alex Edler, Dan Hamhuis, Keith Ballard, Andrew Alberts and, as we found out this morning, Kevin Bieksa. That’s 5 of their top 7 defencemen out of the lineup. To make matters worse, minor leaguer Lee Sweatt broke his foot in practice. Even the Manitoba Moose have injury troubles on the blueline, with Nolan Baumgartner suffering an injury last week. He might have been one of the recent call-ups.

So panic in the city right? No. Wait, what?

This is an issue that in years past would have just crippled the Canucks and caused panic in the streets. But this year is different. Sure, there’s concern, but the club is showing incredible defensive depth at the moment. The latest call-up, Evan Oberg, played two NHL games last season. Not a lot of teams can go to number 12 on the depth chart and have a player with any NHL experience. The Canucks will try to get by with the likes of Christian Ehrhoff, Sami Salo (*cringe*) and Aaron Rome getting huge minutes. The most impressive youngster, Chris Tanev, will see his minutes climb also.

Of course, you can only get by with injuries like these for so long, and the Canucks are fortunate to have a healthy cushion on first place in the Western Conference at the moment.

But it wasn’t always this way on the west coast. Can you believe the Canucks used to go into seasons with 7 defencemen, rather than 8? Can you believe that they were counting on the health of Sami Salo at one point in time? Remember when Rory Fitzpatrick was an everyday player? Lets take a trip down memory lane…

2005-06

Top 6 defencemen to start the season: Mattias Ohlund, Ed Jovanovski, Sami Salo, Bryan Allen, Nolan Baumgartner, Steve McCarthy

Key injuries: Ed Jovanovski injured his groin December 28, came back too early, and re-injured it January 24. He remained out until April 8. Sami Salo suffered a season ending injury during the Olympics in February. Mattias Ohlund also got injured during the Olympics but only missed four games.

Result: Dave Nonis panicked and acquired Keith Carney, Sean Brown and Eric Weinrich at the trade deadline. They were all terrible, and the Canucks continued to slide down the stretch, missing the playoffs.

2007-08

Top 6 defensemen to start season: Willie Mitchell, Mattias Ohlund, Sami Salo, Kevin Bieksa, Lukas Krajicek, Aaron Miller

Key injuries: Mattias Ohlund was lost for the season on March 12. Sami Salo missed the first 10 games of the regular season, played 4 games and then missed most of November. A bizarre skate cut kept Kevin Bieksa out of action for 4 months. Lukas Krajicek had a season ending shoulder injury he suffered on January 23. Aaron Miller missed most of February, March and April.

Result: Not surprisingly the Canucks struggled with a depleted blueline and had to call-up the likes of Zach Fitzgerald and Nathan McIver. They missed the playoffs and the Aquilinis were not pleased. Dave Nonis was fired, Trevor Linden retired and Markus Naslund left to play in New York.

My eyebrow was raised a little bit with the news this morning that Sergei Shirokov has been re-called by the Vancouver Canucks. Remember him? Shirokov had some good seasons in Russia since being drafted by the Canucks in the sixth round back in 2006. He made the move to North America last year, dazzled everyone in preseason and earned a spot on opening night.

Fans expected something resembling Pavel Bure but what they got more resembled the second coming of Fedor Fedorov (minus the attitude). Shirokov played only six games last year and was given only a quick look this year in preseason, dressing only twice.

Fast forward to the regular season, Shirokov has been a consistent point producer and now leads the Moose in scoring. While Cody Hodgson was getting all the press early on, Shirokov has quietly been producing at the same level.

What’s puzzling is not that Shirokov would get a call-up given the way he’s playing, it’s puzzling that he gets called up after Alex Bolduc (a fourth liner) got injured. Shirokov would seemingly need to be on a scoring line to be productive. Does that mean the Canucks will boast a fourth line including Tambellini and Jannik Hansen? If so, that’s a lot of skill for a fourth line, perhaps taking a page out of the Detroit Red Wings template.

Personally, I would have expected another recall for Mario Bliznak, who looked good in spurts earlier this year and who also plays centre. In any case, look for Shirokov to have a lot of jump (at least in the short term) in order to try and prove himself.