CANUCKS ARMY GDT# 70 – CANUCKS VS. STARS
By Always90four
7 years agoThe second season begins for the Canucks as they start tryouts for next season while still playing an official game tonight against the Dallas Stars. Both teams are neck and neck awful so we could be in for a stinker or maybe we’ll randomly get the game of the year, who knows? Vancouver is slowly getting healthy again and it could result in two points if they play their cards right. It’s the rubber match between the Canucks and Stars.
Game # 70, let’s do this!
LINE COMBOS
The kids are playing but that doesn’t mean a whole lot. Pretty exciting if, say, Jordan Subban or Jake Virtanen was called up and they just said “GO FOR IT KIDS” but in reality, Willie Desjardins may just not double shift the Sedins in the third period.
I really hope Richard Bachman starts tonight because HE’S a kid, right? He’s younger than Ryan Miller. Jacob Markstrom is skating but the knee and just not getting enough ice time will keep him out for a bit still.
Ryan Miller probably starts.
Vancouver Canucks lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
| LW | C | RW |
|---|---|---|
 Daniel Sedin |  Henrik Sedin |  Markus Granlund |
 Sven Baertschi |  Bo Horvat |  Reid Boucher |
 Joe Labate |  Brandon Sutter |  Drew Shore |
 Joseph Cramarossa |  Michael Chaput |  Jayson Megna |
| Defensive Pairings | |
|---|---|
 Alexander Edler |  Troy Stecher |
 Luca Sbisa |  Nikita Tryamkin |
 Ben Hutton |  Alex Biega |
If you look at this lineup, you have to be surprised that they’re this bad. Think about it, the Sedins are top line players with Markus Granlund and they’re AHEAD of the Stars by one point! We’re all worried in Vancouver but Dallas has to be freaking out with a team that can’t win with what they currently have. Those, my friends, are real problems.
Antti Niemi should start but the nets in Dallas aren’t locked up so it could be anyone’s game.
Dallas Stars lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
| LW | C | RW |
|---|---|---|
 Jamie Benn |  Jason Spezza |  Tyler Seguin |
 Remi Elie |  Cody Eakin |  Ales Hemsky |
 Devin Shore |  Radek Faksa |  Patrick Sharp |
 Curtis McKenzie |  Adam Cracknell |  Brett Ritchie |
| Defensive Pairings | |
|---|---|
 Esa Lindell |  John Klingberg |
 Dan Hamhuis |  Stephen Johns |
 Patrik Nemeth |  Jamie Oleksiak |
GAME NOTES, STATS, AND OTHER INTERESTING INFO
- Of the 8 players that have played the last 10 games for the Canucks, four of them have goals, two of them have zero total points (Jayson Megna, Luca Sbisa), and the guys that have multiple goals are Bo Horvat and Reid Boucher. Markus Granlund and Sven Baertschi are the only other players to have more than one goal in that span for the team. Not acceptable at all.
- Markus Granlund has been a pleasant surprise this season. 31 points and 19 goals, probably going to get his 20th tonight; things have gone well for Granlund. Many wanted Hunter Shinkaruk to succeed and oh, the hate when he was traded. Granlund is a full-time Canuck and I’ve said it before but where is this team without him? First pick territory?
- The Canucks aren’t exactly shooting for success. Let’s leave the pun aside for a second. In the last 20 games, the Canucks have hit the 30+ shot mark only six times. They’ve given up 30+ shots in 14 of those 20 games, 40+ in five of those games. They are kind of predictable because they all shoot from the left side so teams have to prepare for that.
- Remember the power play? I’m asking the Canucks too if they’re reading. In that same 20 game span, the team has a George Costanza-esque rating of 12.2%. Basically, it’s highly underachieving.
- We’re almost at the end of the season and it’s plain and simple: the Canucks don’t score very many goals. In fact, in the first period, they have the least amount of goals in the league. Don’t bother rushing home with a pizza to save time and catch puck drop, prepare that big dinner you’ve been planning all week; the Canucks won’t be scoring until the second period anyway.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
It’s over folks.
MY TAKE
Canucks win this. They just need to know they have the ability to get 67 points by season’s end. I just typed that, things are bad.
WHERE DID IT ALL GO WRONG?
- Lots of Megna
- More Megna
- Not enough Loui
- The 11 forward game
- Mumps
- Too much Miller
- Virtanen’s missing stuff, but I’m not convinced that should be a reason.
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