Michael_Stuart

"Covering Bolts Hockey "

Canada • 1 Years Old • Male

Canucks vs. Caps Game Notes + "Best" Rant

Going to try a different style for my game night blog tonight. Without further ado, here are my game notes from tonight's 7-4 victory against the Washington Capitals.

- The Canucks 4th line is the best 4th line we've seen in Vancouver since Alain Vigneault took over from Crow. Not only is it tough, physical and strong, but this line has the ability to hurt you on the score sheet. Lapierre's two goals tonight were great to see. The second one was especially impressive. Neither Volpatti nor Weise look out of place with both playing good solid minutes for the team. Anyone else think Weise has a lot of potential here?

- Chris Higgins was once again a work horse for the Canucks and he was rewarded with two goals. I love the emotion and enthusiasm he brings when he scores a goal. There is something to be said for a guy who gets that excited. With 5 goals on the season already, Higgins has been a key component of the Canucks offense.

- Great to see someone on the blue-line not named Sami Salo score for the Canucks. Alex Edler unleashed his shot and got it on net….for once. This is what the Canucks need from him.

- Kesler had two assists on the night and Booth picked up his first point as a Canuck. Give that line some time and I do believe that they can be the best second line in hockey. They should be able to feed off each other really well. Personally, I really like Cody Hodgson on the wing there. He brings a different dynamic than Chris Higgins does. It seemed to benefit all parties involved tonight.

- Roberto Luongo still needs to be better. Sure, he got the win tonight, but it wasn’t pretty for him. The guys on the Team 1040 were talking about how he needs to stop one of the four goals he let in. They are right on the mark there. You can’t make excuses for letting in 4 goals on a consistent basis. Roberto knows he has to be better. I expect his play to pick up soon.

All in all, this was probably the most entertaining game of the season for the Canucks. It was exciting to see the building pumped up all night. There seems to be a certain atmosphere when guys like Ovechkin, Stamkos and Crosby come into Rogers Arena. I love it.


_____________________________________________________________________


On a more serious note, I just got my “The Best of Everything in Hockey” issue of THN and I opened up to the first page and it already irked me.

The first “best” that THN decided to do was the “Best All-Around Player”. Was it really a shock to me that it was Crosby? Absolutely not. Crosby is probably the most well rounded player in the game and he certainly deserves the recognition. My issue came about as I continued reading down the page.

THN starts talking about why other players don’t compare to Crosby. Here is their bit on the Sedin twins.

“The Sedin twins? Well, if you put the two together you get just one superstar.”

On what planet is that even remotely true? Daniel is a superstar and Henrik is a superstar. 1 superstar +1 superstar = 2 superstars doesn’t it? Two Art Ross trophies, a Hart and a Ted Linsday between the two guys. Yeah, sounds like one superstar to me……

I get that Crosby is the best all-around player in the game, but don’t tell me that each Sedin isn’t a superstar in his own right. That’s just positively ridiculous and offensive.

Thanks for reading!

Follow me on Twitter: @michaelstuart93