Canucks Central

[Kodii]

The Canucks just clinched the Northwest Division Title!

We will most likely be facing Columbus with home ice advantage in the first round.

[Kodii]

Canucks win Northwest Division title and earn home-ice advantage in first round of playoffs

By Brad Ziemer, Vancouver Sun April 11, 2009 2:42 PM

DENVER -- Chumps in January. Northwest Division champs in April.

A roller-coaster season for the Canucks ended on a big-time high today as Vancouver beat the Colorado Avalanche 1-0 in overtime to claim the Northwest crown.

Daniel Sedin scored the winner at 40 seconds of overtime on a weak backhand shot.

Goalie Roberto Luongo earned his second straight shutout and ninth of the season.

Vancouver ends the regular season with a record of 45-27-10 and 100 points.

That gives the Canucks their second Northwest Division title in three years and caps a remarkable turnaround in their season.

After a dreadful January that saw the Canucks fall as far as 14 points behind Calgary, the Canucks have gone 23-7-2 since Feb. 1 to reel in the Flames.

The Canucks now must wait to see who their first-round playoff opponent will be. Vancouver will meet the No. 6 seed in the first round and that could be any one of three teams.

If the Columbus Blue Jackets defeat the Minnesota Wild tonight, then the Canucks will meet Columbus.

If Columbus loses and the Anaheim Ducks beat the Phoenix Coyotes tonight, the Canucks would then play the Ducks in Round 1.

If Columbus and Anaheim were both to lose tonight, then the St. Louis Blues could claim the No. 6 seed with a win Sunday against Colorado.

The Canucks got the start they wanted as they dominated the early minutes of the game. The shots were 15-1 in favour of Vancouver at the nine-minute mark of the first. But the Canucks could not beat Colorado goalie Peter Budaj, who faced a total of 19 Vancouver shots in the first.

The Avs managed just eight on Luongo, who made his best save late in the first on a Brian Willsie shot from the slot area.

No one could score in the second period, either, but the Avs had the better of the play

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© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

Source: The Vancouver Sun -- http://www.vancouversun.com/Sports/Canuc...+first+round+playoffs/1488467/story.html

[Yume-sama]

But the Canucks have only the Flames ineptitude to thank.

[mr.x]

The dilemma mr.x is currently facing regarding to his support for the Canucks:

[Yume-sama]

Originally Posted by mr.x

The dilemma mr.x is currently facing regarding to his support for the Canucks:

I don't understand

You can't swim?

[mr.x]

^ not sure if i wanna jump back into the action, but only to be let down...again.

[Vancity]

c'mon now! a fan isn't someone who simply supports their team when they're doing well and jumps off the ship when the team ain't doing so well. got to be realistic here. teams will fail and disappoint, but when they succeed and excel, as a fan, you can't but be glad and happy that things are going so well. let's cheer the 'nucks on. hey, nobody in the beginning of this year (let alone the start of the NHL season) thought that it was possible that we'd be in the playoffs to begin with, let alone win the Northwest division. props to AV, the team, and MG's subtle maneuvering. I think the Canucks will do well (regardless of the opponent), and move onto the second round. I say, whoever the team they're playing against - dispatched in 6 games.

[Vancity]

Originally Posted by Yume-sama

But the Canucks have only the Flames ineptitude to thank.

Yep. Can't imagine what's going through their minds. Not a good time to be second guessing the team at this point. In a way, I'm glad that we didn't trade for Oli Jokinen at the deadline, 'cause we have a pretty darn good team with the current group of players on the team.

Here's hoping to a long, long playoff run (that ends with a CUP being brought to VANCOUVER!)

[Vancity]

Originally Posted by Kodii

Source: The Vancouver Sun -- http://www.vancouversun.com/Sports/Canuc...+first+round+playoffs/1488467/story.html

I think we'll be facing the Jackets. I can't see them letting down, and wanting to face Detroit or San Jose in the first round. I think they'll take their chances with Vancouver, than those top two powerhouses.

[mr.x]

Originally Posted by Vancity

c'mon now! a fan isn't someone who simply supports their team when they're doing well and jumps off the ship when the team ain't doing so well. got to be realistic here. teams will fail and disappoint, but when they succeed and excel, as a fan, you can't but be glad and happy that things are going so well. let's cheer the 'nucks on. hey, nobody in the beginning of this year (let alone the start of the NHL season) thought that it was possible that we'd be in the playoffs to begin with, let alone win the Northwest division. props to AV, the team, and MG's subtle maneuvering. I think the Canucks will do well (regardless of the opponent), and move onto the second round. I say, whoever the team they're playing against - dispatched in 6 games.

lol, well actually my interest in hockey began to decline during the lockout....and considering that i haven't paid attention to the world of hockey for years, a lot of names in the team seem foreign to me.

[CoryHolmes]

Originally Posted by mr.x

a lot of names in the team seem foreign to me.

... uh, possibly because they are foreign?

Seriously, the Canucks are the only professional team in any professional sport I follow, and that's only because of being a dyed-in-the-wool BC boy. Other than that, I'd rather play the sports than watch the sports.

[GeeCee]

Everybody get on!! This means you, Mr. x.

[Kodii]

Oddly enough, my greatest interest in hockey occurred at the start of this school year, when I had the time and ability to follow the Canucks at UBC much more religiously than I had been able to at home.

[mr.x]

Originally Posted by CoryHolmes

... uh, possibly because they are foreign?

Seriously, the Canucks are the only professional team in any professional sport I follow, and that's only because of being a dyed-in-the-wool BC boy. Other than that, I'd rather play the sports than watch the sports.

lol, not 'foreign' as in non-Canadian but non-Canuck. My interest in hockey started and peaked during high school; I "grew up" with Morrison, Ohlund, Nazzy, Bert, Jovo, and I miss making Cloutier jokes! The whole West Coast Express! It just ain't the same. And me and my friends way back then even made one of the most popular Canucks fan sites out there!

With all that said, I absolutely love Luongo!

[Kodii]

Columbus lost their final game.

Anaheim is currently tied against Phoenix. If Anaheim wins, we'll be facing them. If they gain a single point or lose, then we could potentially face St. Louis in the first round.

[Hong Kongese]

Whatever team we'll meet in the first round, it wouldn't be an easy series.

[Kodii]

Anaheim lost too. Now its up to St. Louis. If they win, we play them. If they lose we play Columbus.

[ckkelley]

I doesn't matter. We (they) have to beat everyone!

[Kodii]

Exactly what a friend of mine said. Who cares who we're facing? We're gonna win the Stanley Cup

BTW, it's St. Louis.

Canucks to battle the Blues as first-round playoff opponent

By Brad Ziemer, Vancouver Sun April 12, 2009 6:29 PM

DENVER — It’s the Blues, not the Blue Jackets.

More than 24 hours after clinching the Northwest Division title, the Vancouver Canucks finally learned who their first-round playoff opponent will be late Sunday afternoon.

The St. Louis Blues are, along with the Canucks, one of the hottest teams in the NHL. They beat the Colorado Avalanche 1-0 here Sunday to jump past Columbus and into sixth spot in the Western Conference.

The Canucks and Blues begin their best-of-seven series Wednesday night at General Motors Place and it figures to be an interesting one.

The teams split their four meetings this season. The Canucks won by scores of 6-4 on Feb. 10 in St. Louis and 3-0 at home on March 19. The Blues won 6-4 in Vancouver on Jan. 9 and 4-2 at home on March 26. The Blues outshot the Canucks 126-96 in those four games, but were outscored 15-14.

The Canucks have compiled a record of 23-7-2 since Feb. 1, while the Blues have gone 20-7-6.

Canuck coach Alain Vigneault has tremendous respect for the job Blues’ coach Andy Murray has done with his team this season.

“In my mind, that is probably the best coaching job of the year with all the injuries that they have had,” Vigneault said of the Blues. “To stay in the hunt and at the end when they needed a huge push to get that push and the improvement of their young players, it’s just a phenomenal season for them.”

The Canucks clinched the Northwest Division title Saturday afternoon with a 1-0 overtime win over Colorado as goalie Roberto Luongo recorded his second straight shutout.

Henrik Sedin got the winner 40 seconds into overtime when his attempted pass hit the skate of Colorado defenceman Scott Hannan and bounced past Avs’ goalie Peter Budaj. Vancouver had actually clinched the title simply by getting the game into overtime.

The Canucks are a confident bunch and feel like they are poised to make a run in the post-season.

“Going into the playoffs, there’s a couple of things you need to have,” Vigneault said. “Health is one and we’re healthy. Goaltending is another one and we’re getting great goaltending and our team is playing well. When you’ve got those elements you can feel really confident about your game and I think we do right now.”

The Canucks finished the season with two straight 1-0 wins, so they obviously feel like they have their offensive game in order.

But Henrik Sedin said it’s important that the Canucks not fall completely into a defensive shell.

“You don’t have to sacrifice your offensive game to play good defensively and maybe we’ve done that a little bit,” he said. “But it was nice to see Louie get the shutouts. We played better defensively. It’s something to build on, but maybe we can go from there and create a little more offensively, too.”

The Canucks were understandably proud of their division win, their second Northwest title in the last three years. Back in late January, they were 14 points back of the Calgary Flames and their season seemed to be spiralling out of control.

“If you look back at where we were in January, we battled hard to come back to where we are today and it’s nice to get rewarded for our efforts,” Luongo said.

The Canucks started the season with the simple goal of making the playoffs. When they clinched a spot, they set their sights on the division title. Now that has been accomplished, the Canucks have the same goal as the other 16 teams who begin the second season later this week. They want to make a run at the Stanley Cup.

“Getting into the playoffs is a lot more challenging than people think,” Vigneault said. “There’s lot of good teams that don’t get in for different reasons. . .we found a way to claw ourselves back and we’re in pretty good form right now. It’s a great opportunity, so you might as well jump on the opportunity when it’s there.”

Centre Mats Sundin thinks having home-ice advantage in the first round will help.

“I think home ice is important,” Sundin said. “I have played in many playoffs and if you start on the road right from the first round, it’s pretty tough.”

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© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

Source: The Vancouver Sun -- http://www.vancouversun.com/Sports/Canuc...ound+playoff+opponent/1490157/story.html

[Vancity]

St. Louis will not be an easy team to beat. I thought we were going to face Columbus - but they're coming into the postseason floundering, and St. Louis is doing pretty well. This is going to be a tough series (having experience should give us an advantage, though) - probably will go to 6 or 7 games. I can't see a sweep, and I certainly can't see St. Louis rolling over in 5 games. It's going to be a dogfight come Wednesday. If we can win the first two games, that'll put some pressure on the Blues to win at home, and if we can steal one on their home ice, boy, that'd be HUUUGE!

anyways. GO CANUCKS GOOO! Can't wait until game day (Wed). Hope all of you guys will be watchin' the game. I know my girlfriend and I will