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% Canucks corner

Hottest Team in the League? Yup.

By Josh Martin, Sports Editor

he Vancouver Canucks are
| lighting up the lamp in the

Western Conference. Nothing
can faze this team. They have 13
wins in their last 16 games and 11
wins out of the 14 contests they had
in the month of December. It seems
like everything is just clicking for
the hottest team in the NHL right
now.

Ryan Kesler has been carrying
the team on a nightly basis of late,
even if he doesn’t dawn the “C” on
his jersey it feels like he’s the leader
of this team. He was on an eight
game point streak before the 4-1 win
against Dallas on New Year’s Eve,

scoring 14 points in that time frame.
Kesler’s faceoff percentage is among
the best in the league, at 58.4% he’s
the seventh best guy when it comes
down to the big draw. He’s the man.

The great thing about the
Canucks right now is that each line
is finding ways to score. You got
the Sedin line which is expected to
produce and does so on a regular
basis, Kesler’s line which is on fire
with the addition of Jeff Tambellini
(and will be even stronger when
Mason Raymond returns from his
injury) the Malhotra-Torres line,
and even the fourth line which is
chipping in here and there. It’s a full
cast show that comes out to perform
on a game-to-game basis.

And this Tambellini guy...who
is he? Where did he come from?
He’s absolutely ripping it up for the
Canucks after they decided to call
him up to fill in for an injury. And
he’s been filling in that’s for sure,
with nine goals and 15 points in 22
games. His shot on the right side, top
right corner is lethal and his speed
fits right in nicely with Kesler’s style
of play. The former first round, 27"
overall draft pick by the Los Angeles
Kings in the 2003 draft has possibly
been the best surprise to the Canucks
line-up this year. GM Mike Gillis
is looking like an evil genius for
nabbing the winger in the off season
last summer as a free agent.

Cory “Schneids” Schneider

 

 

has been solid between the pipes
with yet another win on New Year’s
Eve to increase his record to 6-0-2.
With his 923 SV% and 2.38 GAA
he’s boosting confidence into the
team as a solid back-up goaltender
while also providing some options
for Coach ‘V’ if he needs to lean

on Schneider to relieve Luongo’s
heavy workload. With all of the
hype which was speculated around
the Canucks at the beginning of the
season about being a top contender
for the Stanley Cup, it’s safe to say
that they have finally lived up to that
recognition. Now all they have to
do is go out and win the Cup...easier
said than done.

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