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Are the Canucks back on track?

By Josh Martin, Sports Editor

his past Sunday the Vancouver
Canucks that we miss so
fondly from last season
showed up to play. The team that
we remembered from last year; the
team that dominated the league
and had opposing teams dreading
the upcoming games that they had
to compete against them; the team
that we’re used to... After a pathetic
display in a 5—1 loss against the
Minnesota Wild last Thursday
night and then another 3-2 loss the
following night to the St. Louis
Blues, the Canucks came out flying
and confident against the Chicago
Blackhawks in a 6-2 win on Sunday.
There were so many positives
and very few negatives in that game
that it’s almost safe to say that this
could be the turn around that the
Canucks so badly need. The key word
in that statement is almost... They’ ve
already had dominating performances
in previous games against Nashville,
Washington, and Calgary only to go
back to losing against teams like the

between the pipes despite his first
period slip-up on the Michael Frolik
shot which seemed to be harmless.
This is sure to be a confidence booster
for Luongo who has been under the
negative side of the microscope in
Vancouver to start off the season.

In 10 games so far this season
Luongo has a 54-1 record, a 3.06
Goals Against Average, and a .894
Save Percentage while back-up
goaltender Cory Schneider holds a
2-3-0 record in six games with a 2.51
GAA and a .917 SV%. Schneider
has clearly been the stronger of
the two so far this season but, after
Luongo’s efforts in Sundays match,
perhaps the tides will change. The
best possible situation would be for
both goaltenders to find that friendly-
rivalry sense of competition in
themselves and both post instrumental
numbers sometime soon... which I’m
sure will be easy enough to repeat
after both goalies had such strong
seasons last year.

And last but not least,
defensemen Dan Hamhuis has seemed
to fit right in with the power play unit

“On Sunday night David Booth finally scored his first goal in
a Canucks uniform which also happened to be his first of the
season, after going six games with only two assists since arriving
here in Vancouver.”

Edmonton Oilers, the Wild, and the
Blues. So... what gives?

On Sunday night David
Booth finally scored his first goal
in a Canucks uniform which also
happened to be his first of the season,
after going six games with only
two assists since arriving here in
Vancouver. It was a goal which was
so desperately needed for the second
line winger and now that it’s out of
the way hopefully he can relax and
more goals will come at ease.

The Canucks power play was
efficient to say the least, scoring
five goals on six-man advantages
throughout the night. Henrik, Daniel,
Booth, Dan Hamhuis, and Aaron
Rome all connected on the man-
advantage while Jannik Hansen tallied
an even strength goal. This juggernaut
power-play is now ranked second in
the league at 26.4% only to be behind
the Colorado Avalanche by 0.03%.

Roberto Luongo had a solid 38-
save-performance, making key saves

ever since Sami Salo went down with
an injury. He has six points in his last
five games which is impressive for an
offensive defensemen who regularly
rushes up the ice with the puck... but
Hamhuis is on the complete other
side of the spectrum. He is the most
defensive defensemen you ean find
in the game... and he’s putting up
those kinds of numbers? Now that’s
impressive.

The Vancouver Canucks have
a poor 7—7—1 record and 15 points
which is only good for tenth spot in
the Western Conference... but after
Sunday night’s 6-2 victory over the
Blackhawks the sun is finally starting
to shine through the clouds. The next
back-to-back games this week against
the LA Kings and the Anaheim Ducks
will really dictate where this team
is at. With all of the positives it’s
about time the Canucks turn this boat
around and head in the right direction.
Let’s hope for a couple of Ws.