Canucks Corner

Stephanie Smith, OP Sports Editor

The Vancouver Canucks just cannot catch a
break. On Saturday Nov. 11 they faced off
against the Calgary Flames. After the first
period they were leading by a score of 2-0.
Shortly thereafter, that lead dwindled down to
2-1, then evaporated into a 2-2 tie, and then
last but not least turned around into a 3-2
loss. A common occurrence if you have been
watching the Canucks as of late.

They were up to their old tricks again on
Tuesday Nov. 14 losing 3-2 to the Detroit Red
Wings. The game was back and forth. Detroit
scored first, and then Vancouver, Detroit, and
then Vancouver, and then Detroit for the win.

But why? Why can’t the Canucks pull it
together? On the goalie front, many people
have been ready to tear Luongo a new one.
They have stated that they thought he was
supposed to be an amazing goaltender; a
superstar backstop with the power to finally
shatter the idea that Vancouver is the city
wherein goalies go to die. But looking at his
stats he still only has a goals against average
of 2.48 and a save percentage of .905%.
That’s good enough for 11th in the league. So
Luongo isn’t really the problem Yes, he could
be better, but in the long run he’s not doing
badly enough that the blame can be placed
squarely on his shoulders.

What about scoring? Well, the Canucks
can get some pucks in the net. At the current
moment, young Taylor Pyatt is leading the

team in goals, with 8. After that it’s Markus
Naslund with 7, Daniel Sedin with 6, and
Sami Salo with 4. Not a lot of goals. Looking
deeper, one will see that the Canucks only
score an average of 2.26 goals per game.
That’s 29th overall in the NHL. They only
average more goals per game than the
Columbus Blue Jackets who are sitting at
2nd:

So, lay off Luongo and maybe start in on
the forwards. A goalie can’t stop everything.
He may let in one or two goals per game.
They trick is to score more goals then the
other team. By not scoring, you can’t expect
to win.

I was talking about this with some people
last week, and I think it fits well here. If the
Canucks were losing because. they were play-
ing only half-heartedly I would be able to live
with that, because at least the potential to do
well is there. It is much more frustrating now
watching them play, because they are playing
with all that they have, and still losing. Even
goaltender Roberto Luongo is aware of this.
After the game on the 11th against Calgary hi
said this of the Canucks performance and of
Kristian Huselius’ game winning goal, “T
thought we played really well, unfortunately
that last shot was a perfect shot under the
bar, so it was a tough break considering we
played well.” Sorry Luongo, just not well
enough.

 

    
 

Douglas College Athletics

This past weekend the Douglas College
Royals Cross Country team headed to
Spokane Falls, WA to compete in the
NWAACC Cross Country Championships.
Despite the poor weather conditions and a
slow course, the Royals ran very well in the
season finale race.

In the men’s 8km race, which included 66
athletes from twelve institutions, Royals’
Karry Kazuta finished 20th overall with a
time of 27:44.59. Other top finishes for
Douglas were Tomasso Bianchini who
crossed the line 45th overall with a time of

opsports@gmail.com

Season Runs Out

30:03:33 and Jerin Mece who was timed at
31:10:41 for 54th place.

In the women’s 5 km race, Royals’ top
finisher was Alicia Williams, who had a
strong race and finished 27th with a time of
20:50:32. In 39th place was sister, Natasha
Williams who crossed the line at 21:43:93
ahead of thirty other athletes who competed
from 13 colleges.

Now that the cross country season as
come to an end, the athletes will begin prepa-
ration their upcoming track season.