How hot are the Vancouver Canucks right now? How about even hotter than Alexander Ovechkin's stick?. The Nucks, who a mere month ago were outside the playoff race looking in after losing a club record 9 straight games at home, have now reeled off a club record 11 straight home wins after shutting out the St. Louis Blues 3-0 at GM Place last night.

The Canucks started the game out flat, only mustering 4 shots in the first period. However, goalie Roberto Luongo kept his club in the game, stopping everything the Blues threw at him, and allowed his teammates to finally find their game. It was Bobby Lu's first shutout since returning from injury, and the donut was an "in your face" statement squarely targeted at the Vancouver media, from whom Luongo had faced recent criticism for, in their opinion, giving up at least one soft goal a game. Coach Alain Vigneault joked with the media after the game, suggesting that they should get first star honors for pissing Luongo off.

An extra motivated Luongo is a scary prospect for other teams in the Western Conference. This guy is already one of the fiercest competitors in the sport without pouring more gasoline on the fire. And his fellow Canuck teammates look just as motivated as he does. Guys like Kesler and Burrows have been playing well above their pay grade for several weeks now, and the supposed stars like the Sedins, Sundin, and Demitra are all starting to shift into high gear.

Forget Detroit or San Jose, If I were an NHL coach in the Western Conference right now, I would be plenty worried about the prospect of meeting this team in the playoffs. The Canucks are really firing on all cylinders and look ready to make a deep playoff run. If Luongo gets hot at the right time it is hard to imagine anyone stopping the Canucks this post-season. Maybe Francesco Aqualini should open up his wallet and pay the Vancouver media to make more disparaging remarks about his number one goaltender. Okay, maybe not. The other teams in the west need to have some chance, don't they?

 

written by admin \\ tags: Roberto Luongo, Vancouver Canucks

Well, Mats Sundin's first two games with the Vancouver Canucks were two of the most forgettable games of his career. Media and fans alike had been grousing about how terrible Sundin looked in those first two games. The scrutiny wasn't really fair to Sundin, who can't really faulted for being rusty after a 7 month layoff. Well, he silenced his critics tonight when he ripped a one-timer into a gaping net to score his first goal as a Vancouver Canuck. The fans at GM Place erupted when the puck went in, and they gave Sundin a roaring standing ovation. Canucks fans no doubt hope this will give Sundin confidence going forward and pucks will be going in off his stick on a regular basis from here on out, but they will likely be disappointed if that is their expectation. Sundin is still getting in shape, and finding his timing, and it will likely be another 5 games or so before he really starts to hit his stride. Once he does though, other Western Conference teams can really start to worry. The big Swede still has a lot of game left in him, and once Vancouver gets Luongo back they will be poised for a huge charge in the second half of the season.

See the video of Mats Sundin's first goal as a Canuck here:

 

written by admin \\ tags: Mats Sundin, Vancouver Canucks