Game #38 preview: Flames @ Canucks
Patrick Johnston
April 06 2013 02:12PM
Ten games to go. Amazing how quickly a short season can be - and how much better the twists and turns can be when it is such a season.
Tonight, the Abbotsford Heat Calgary Flames roll in to town.
To re-cap, the Flames no longer have Jarome Iginla. They no long have Jay Bouwmeester. They do still have Miika Kiprusoff, but they don't have Blake Comeau.
Yes, this is a team that is done. Which, of course, means that they will be a threat.
Or will they? More on that, after the jump.
Trade Deadline 2013: Five Top-Six Forwards for the Canucks to Target
Patrick Johnston
April 01 2013 01:20PM
Martin Gelinas was a free pickup for Pat Quinn. Mike Gillis probably won't find a similar gem, but one can dream.
Getting a forward. That's all anyone in Vancouver has talked about in the last month. Get another forward.
Sometimes the mob gets overly agitated for no good reason. In this case, however, they are dead on. The Canucks need a forward, preferably a centre. With Ryan Kesler likely never to be quite the same - how could he be, having undergone two serious surgeries on joints in the last two years - and David Booth apparently done for the season, the Canucks' forward lines are out of whack.
After the jump, let's have a look at five names out there that might be useful pickups for the Canucks.
Trade Deadline 2013: Five Defensemen for the Canucks to Target
Patrick Johnston
April 01 2013 10:36AM
Eric Weinrich's legacy as a feckless trade deadline acquisition lives on!
Another day, another entry in our series of deadline previews.
We've already taken a thorough inventory of the team's needs, cap-space and trade chips, looked closely at Mike Gillis' history at the trade deadline, the Hodgson-for-Kassian move, and talked (strombabbled) endlessly about whether or not Roberto Luongo might be moved ahead of the deadline.
A year ago, Drance established the Weinrich-to-Brown meter as a super-scientific assessment tool for defensive trade deadline targets. Let's bring it back.
Click past the jump for an assesment of five defencemen who might be on the Canucks' radar.
Afternoon Headshots: March 28th
Patrick Johnston
March 28 2013 06:41PM
Nice screen cap, Jason Rickey
And around and around and around we go...it's an afternoon headshots session. Come in from the sunshine and get yourself set for the big Avs vs Canucks showdown...
Today at CA, we've got a game preview, Drance looking back at the Hodgson/Kassian trade, what might be his last Strombabble (small tear) and Angus on the re-signing dilemmas that are Higgins and Lapierre,
Game #34 preview: Avalanche @ Canucks
Patrick Johnston
March 28 2013 01:43PM
Can a tough week for the Avs get any tougher? Possibly...
Those poor, poor Avs. The team can't score and gets mediocre goaltending. How bad are the inheritors of the Sakic/Forsberg/Hejduk legacy? Worst in the west (yes worse than Calgary), that's how bad.
This means they're ripe to knock off the Canucks, right? Maybe. The Canucks have 'won' 5 straight but the real deal is that the Avs have lost 10 of their last 13. Colorado is performing just as their numbers suggest they should- they just aren't that good.
But no one thought the Blue Jackets would put up much of a fight, either. In that case, they didn't but still came away with a point. What will Colorado manage? No one is expecting much from them, so it should be an easy call, right? But like any preview we do at CA, focusing in on the numbers will give a strong sense of just how the tale will go tonight.
Jump on in for a preview with numbers and such.
