New CBA in hand, January began with a renewed purpose to sit for hours in front of the television. As far as first months of the season typically go for the Canucks, Schneider's Luongo's team was not half bad. With a 48-game season, much had been said about the Canucks not being able to afford their usual sluggish start.
After an unclimactic and severely embarassing home opener, it seemed like that's the direction Vancouver was headed. A final January record of 3-2-2 isn't going to do much to change the team's reputation, but signs of life abound for the reigning Presidents' Trophy winners, nonetheless.
The Canucks' first month was highlighted by 5-0 and 3-0 wins against the Ducks (returning the favour for their home opener) and Avalanche, respectively. With a different goalie in net for each win, Schneider and Luongo's matching shutouts reflected the month's central storyline in Vancouver. Whose team is this?
For the first time since the tandem was established, the pressure is squarely on Schneider to perform and it's Luongo who's playing with nothing to lose. With the exception of Schneider's shutout against Anaheim, it shows.
As pervasive as the crease drama continues to be, however, goaltending wasn't the only emerging storyline in Vancouver to start the year. It's been nine months since the Canucks' first-round exit, but playoff Edler is still here. And judging by Jason Garrison's play, he's contagious. Meanwhile, Mason Raymond actually looks like he could score 25 goals in this league again. And finally, Zack Kassian. (No explanation necessary.)
As a 3-2-2 record suggests, you take the good with the bad. Luckily, if there's one place Edler can play defence, it's in BTD's Top 5 Plays of the Month. January edition. Enjoy!
A little over a month ago, someone on the Canucks.com forums came to me with a suggestion for my next Top 5 video countdown. So because I should never take for granted that there are interested people out there actually reading this blog...
When Garrison first expressed interest in signing with Vancouver, quick YouTube searches city-wide determined that, simply put, the guy's got a shot. In fact, 13 of his 16 goals last season (or 81%) were scored à la Sami Salo (making the loss of said player to free agency a much easier pill to swallow). Without that particular asset, you can guarantee Gillis would not have made him the highest-paid defenceman on the team.
But as exciting as a howitzer from the point can be, no one seems to be paying any credence to his ability to jump into the rush, which is why I purposefully omitted any cut-and-dry slapshots from these five goals. This set of highlights showcases an underrated and doubtlessly valuable ability of Garrison's that should be fun to watch once his groin and the lockout have both resolved themselves.
Number five and four are both milestone goals and uncanny carbon copies of each other, while the last three coincidentally feature some sort of Canucks-related cameo appearance (no surprise, given that the Panthers and Canucks have a seemingly exclusive trading partnership with each other). In number three, Garrison takes a page out of the Sedins' book, deflecting a pseudo-slap pass into the slot while on a power play.¹ Number two sees him on a two-on-one with David Booth, while his buzzer-beating OT winner against Tampa Bay begins with a defensive play from former Canuck Mike Weaver.
A lot has been said about Brian Campbell playing a significant role in Garrison's breakout year. But whether he's pinching in or hanging back at the blueline, you can bet he'll have just as much space to work with on shifts with, oh let's say...the Sedins? That said, it'll be exciting to see what he'll be capable of as a Canuck.
-HC
¹ Though the goal was announced in the play-by-play as a record-breaker for powerplay goals by a Florida defenceman, if you pay close attention, the penalty had ended by just a second. Rather than 10 powerplay goals, Garrison was left with 9 on the season, tying him with former Panthers Jay Bouwmeester (2008-09) and Gord Murphy (1993-94).
*See the online discussion regarding this article on the Canucks.com forums here.
Outside of Vancouver – with the exception of the most observant NHL followers – the Canucks' group of defencemen may be among the league's most underrated. For virtually as long as the team has been in existence, the Canucks have lacked a bonafide Norris Trophy candidate and this past year's edition was no exception. But what the Canucks' blueline may lack in a world class player à la Shea Weber or Zdeno Chara, they make up for in, arguably, unparalleled depth. This was reflected in the Norris's most recent voting results, as the Canucks were one of only two teams to have three defencemen receive a vote for the award – Dan Hamhuis, Alex Edler and Kevin Bieksa. (The other team was the New York Rangers with Dan Girardi, Michael Del Zotto and Ryan McDonaugh.)
Offensively, this was further exemplified by the Canucks' fifth place ranking in defensive goal-scoring (see table to the right). Among the top five teams, Vancouver and Los Angeles were the only ones to statistically do so "by committee". Alex Edler led the Canucks' defencemen with 11 goals, accounting for just over a quarter of the Vancouver blueliners' total output. Comparatively speaking, the other three teams topped the league by virtue of one standout player. At 19 goals a piece, Shea Weber and Erik Karlsson scored nearly half of their teams' defensive goals, while Niklas Kronwall's breakout 15-goal campaign accounted for more than a third of Detroit's total.
Statistically, that may all change for Vancouver if newly-signed Jason Garrison (who himself accounted for 53% of the Panthers' goals by a defenceman – the highest proportion in the league) can match his 16-goal output from last season. And while Edler's play in the post-season left many wondering how he ever got voted best defenceman by Canucks fans, the reality is, when he's at his best, the big Swede could be just a few years out of a Norris nomination. All things considered, however, Vancouver remains a balanced force on the blueline with no individual head-and-shoulders above the rest. Garrison and Edler will share their equal portion of the load with Bieksa and Hamhuis, not to mention the ever-enigmatic Keith Ballard and the ever-improving Chris Tanev representing the blueline's potentially high-reward wild cards.
No one's saying that a player like Weber wouldn't put Vancouver over the top, cause that could very well be the case. But Canucks fans would be wise to appreciate the group of guys we do have, 'cause collectively, they're among the league's very best. So in salute of Vancouver's standout rearguards, here are the Top Five¹ of the group's 40 total goals from last season:
-HC
¹ Technically 4 of the Canucks defencemen's 40 goals, as Edler's shootout goal does not count towards official statistics. Bonus fact: Edler had four shootout goals to lead all league defencemen.
*See the online discussion regarding this article on the Canucks.com forums here.
UPDATE: Rather than watch all the plays individually via the links below, I've uploaded a YouTube video with all five plays in one here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYiZbDSeml4
To supplement and, I suppose, support my previous article, I took the unnecessary invaluable liberty of sifting through all 67 of Henrik Sedin's assists from the 2011-12 season. The result? Five of the best assists you have (or haven't) seen all year. Ready? Ok.
Number Five Nov. 16, 2011; vs. Chicago – 2-on-1 to Hansen
Standard issue 2-on-1 saucer pass. Sadly, this went on to become another blowout loss in Chicago (the undisputed worst kind of blowout loss).
Number Four Oct. 25, 2011; vs. Edmonton – Backhand drop to Burrows
If not for the slow motion replay, you really have to be paying attention on this one. Henrik's pass is that quick in relation to the flow of play. After Salo's shot rebounds to Henrik, for whatever reason, Khabibulin assumes Henrik's not gonna drop a no-look pass to Burrows at the last second. The goal brought the Canucks within one in the third period, but they ended up losing this one too.
Number Three Nov. 6, 2011; vs. Chicago – Cross-ice to Daniel
A powerplay goal from the first half of the season (as if such a goal existed in the second half). Again, Henrik ends up with the puck off a rebound and Crawford plays the shot. Silly goalie, Trix are for kids. Henrik throws it the width of the ice with Crawford swimming. 6-2 win for Vancouver.
Number Two Dec. 1, 2011; vs. Nashville – Half spin-o-rama to Burrows
Off – what else – the cycle, Henrik skates out from behind the net to challenge Preds D Jack Hillen. Who? Exactly. Burrows redirects it past Rinne. 6-5 shootout loss.
Number One April 4, 2012; vs. Anaheim – wtf...to Burrows
Inside-out-How's-she-doin-behind-the-back-spin-o-rama-goodness. Mind you, the whole thing is moot if not for Burrows' equally impressive shot, but this is just silliness from Henrik. An uncontested number one, in my opinion.
Here's to five even better feeds from Hank in 2012-13...
-HC
*See the discussion regarding this post on the Canucks.com forum here.
