power play | Rob The Hockey Guy

What’s wrong with this team?

March 10, 2013 Rob 0 Comments Special Feature

The Canucks are officially at the halfway mark of this lockout shortened season and something is clearly wrong with this team. This doesn’t resemble the team that won two straight President’s Trophies. Something is missing from the 2010-11 team that showed so much moxie, so much swagger, and more importantly, so much talent until it [...]

The Canucks Aren’t Good Enough 5-on-5

November 18, 2011 Rob 0 Comments Special Feature

Something that hasn’t received enough attention until only recently is how poor the Canucks have been at 5-on-5 play. Sure their power play is fantastic at a league best 26.7% and their penalty killing is respectable, ranking 12th in the league at 84.4%. But it is their play at even strength that is concerning. Currently [...]

THIS Is What We Live For: Stanley Cup Final Game 7

June 15, 2011 Rob 0 Comments Game Preview, Playoffs

I’m not one to use Canucks marketing campaign slogans on a regular basis (I’ve never said that ‘we are all Canucks’), but never has ‘this is what we live for’ been more true. Game 7, Stanley Cup Final, at home. This IS what we live for. It’s what the players live for, it’s what the fans live for. Quite simply stated, it’s the biggest game in Canucks history. It’s bigger than 1994. There will probably never be a bigger game for this franchise. This is their time. They will become legends if they win, or be labeled as chokers should they come up short.

How Can the Canucks Solve Tim Thomas?

June 9, 2011 Rob 2 Comments Game Preview

We’re now through four games of the Stanley Cup final and the Vancouver Canucks have scored precisely five goals on Bruins netminder Tim Thomas. Of those five goals, only four of them were meaningful (the late goal in game 3 was scored in garbage time). Everyone is blaming Luongo right now (and there is validity to that blame), but they are not going to win this series unless they can score more goals. So this begs the question: how do the Canucks solve Tim Thomas?

The Top Three Stories that Nobody is Talking About Heading into Game 4, Bruins vs Canucks

June 7, 2011 Rob 0 Comments Game Preview, Uncategorized

With all the hoopla surrounding the Aaron Rome hit (and the subsequent suspension) on Nathan Horton, a few stories have been overshadowed. Everyone has had a chance to hash it out by now, so it’s time to move on to the big stories heading into game 4.

Canucks-Bruins Stanley Cup Final Series Preview

May 28, 2011 Rob 2 Comments Game Preview, Playoffs

With a 1-0 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday night, the Canucks found out their opponent for the Stanley Cup Final. That opponent, of course, are the big bad Boston Bruins. While the Lightning probably have more star power, I think this matchup will provide a little more sizzle given that the Bruins are an original 6 franchise.

What went wrong in game 3

May 21, 2011 Rob 0 Comments Game Recap, Playoffs

You’ll notice that the title of this blog entry does not end with a question mark. That’s because I know what went wrong in game 3 for the Canucks. Here’s what it was:

Canucks make adjustments in advance of game 3

May 3, 2011 Rob 1 Comment Game Preview

Head coach Alain Vigneault tipped his hand on a few key adjustments at practice designed to improve the Canucks chances for a victory in game 3. Scoring two goals in 8 periods of hockey will do lend itself to that.

Canucks sit back and wait for Blackhawks, Ducks, Predators… Who do you want?

April 4, 2011 Rob 0 Comments Playoffs, Special Feature

As you’ve no doubt heard by now, the Vancouver Canucks have locked up the President’s Trophy as the NHL’s top team in the regular season. We know this because they absolutely took the night off in their first meaningless game against the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday night! But I digress. They’re the top dogs, which means we know that they will play whichever team ends up in 8th place in the conference. In case you haven’t seen the NHL standings in a while, here they are:

What does Keith Ballard need to do?

December 8, 2010 Rob 0 Comments Special Feature

The more and more I watch Canucks games this year, the more I find myself thinking “what does Keith Ballard got to do to get some playing time?” The guy blocks shots, hits (hip checks!) and fights. He does this while having a great upside given what he has accomplished in the league and the fact that he’s relatively young. Still, Alain Vigneault treats him like a Manitoba Moose call-up by giving him minimal ice time and even sitting him as a healthy scratch on multiple occasions. I don’t get it, and I haven’t gotten it all year long. Take last Sunday’s game versus St Louis for example. He received just over 13 minutes of ice time (fewest among Canuck d-men), was a +2 and was a goal short of the Gordie Howe hat trick. AV, give this man some ice time!