| CAWKS |
CANUCKS | ||||
 |
AT |
 |
|||
| Time | Wed. 7:00 PM PST |
TV | CBC |
| Season Series | 2-1-1 Canucks |
Last Meeting |
4-3 Canucks (Feb.04/2011) |
| The Enemy | Second City Hockey | Scoring Leaders |
D. Sedin: 41-63-104 Toews: 32-44-76 |
| Hawks |
Category | Canucks |
| 44-29-9 | Season Record | 54-19-9 |
| 8th |
Conference Position | 1st |
| Lost 1 |
Streak | Won 2 |
| 20-12-9 |
< Road Record / Home Record > |
27-9-5 |
| 5-4-1 |
Last 10 | 7-3-0 |
| +33 |
Goals For / Against +/- | +77 |
| 3.07 (4) |
Goals Per Game | 3.15 (1) |
| 2.68 (12) |
Goals Against Per Game | 2.20 (1) |
| 1.15 (7) |
5 On 5 GF/GA | 1.32 (2) |
| 23.1 (4) |
Power Play % |
24.3 (1) |
| 79.2 (25) |
Penalty Kill % |
85.6 (3) |
| 32.2 (5) |
Shots Per Game | 32.0 (6) |
| 28.7 (7) |
Shots Against Per Game | 30.1 (12) |
| 68.1 (19) |
Winning % When Scoring First | 83.7 (1) |
| 70.3 (24) |
Winning % When Leading After 1 | 91.4 (2) |
| 33.3 (8) |
Winning % When Trailing After 1 | 23.5 (18) |
| 82.5 (24) |
Winning % When Leading After 2 | 92.7 (6) |
| 1824 (15) |
Hits | 1791 (20) |
| 1144 (17) |
Blocked Shots |
1071 (25) |
| 50.8 (12) |
Faceoffs % | 54.9 (1) |
| 9.0 (3) |
PIM's Per Game Average |
11.5 (13) |
| NHL.com |
OK, so when doing up a game preview of this series I am reverting to regular season statistics. No, I don't put too much emphasis on them because I do believe that they don't mean so much once the playoffs begin. Sure, the regular season record got us home ice advantage throughout a possible playoff run, but anything can happen in the playoffs. A power play can go cold. A team can lose it's mind on the PK. Pick your stat. Anything can happen. A goalie can become "unconscious" and dominate the mind of scorers, etc etc. After game 1 I will post stats relevant to what is happening in the 2011 playoffs.
In the meantime, the Canucks really have to win this series. They need to establish dominance right away at home, where the Hawks have beat them in 5 of the last 6 playoff games. It is time to shed themselves of the Hawk demon. Chicago is not a shitty team. Not even if they squeaked into the playoffs. They aren't as deep as we are in any form BUT anything can happen in the playoffs. This is a time when heroes are born. May they come from our side and never theirs. Chicago will pummel the Sedin line at all costs. It is up to the Canucks' team to provide secondary and tertiary scoring and beyond. Samuelsson, struggling with a hip-flexor injury, knows it.
Personally, I find it a tad concerning that Alain Vigneault is still tinkering with the roster on the bottom 2 lines. Is it the end of the world? No. But let's hope for quick chemistry. I like the idea of a Hansen-Hodgson-Raymond line if that's what AV goes with. Speed kills!
I'm not going to say anymore about game 1 except to tell you that you really need to check out Yankee Canuck's series preview post if you haven't already. Know your enemy!
I have been waiting for this moment since May 11, 2010: The night Chicago eliminated us from the playoffs in game 6. There was a long summer and a long and eventful regular season standing in the way. The wait is over. Kick some Hawk ass.
FORWARD LINES
CANUCKS
Daniel Sedin-Henrik Sedin-Alex Burrows
Chris Higgins-Ryan Kesler-Mikael Samuelsson
Mason Raymond-Cody Hodgson-Jannik Hansen
Tanner Glass-Maxim Lapierre-Victor Oreskovich
BLACKHAWKS
Patrick Sharp-Jonathan Toews-Mary Hossa
Ben Smith-Michael Frolik-Patrick Knobgobbler
Bryan Bickell-Jake Dowell-Fernando Pissant
Viktor Stalberg-Balls-Tomas Kopecky
STARTING GOALTENDERS
WHO IS HOT / COLD
CANUCKS
HOT
-Daniel Sedin: 4 assists in his last 2 games
-Ryan Kesler: 4 goals in his last 2
COLD
-Chris Higgins: 1 assist in his last 6
-Maxim Lapierre: 1 goal in his last 25. OK, these new acquisitions need to get it going
-Sami Salo: 1 assist in his last 13 games
-Jeff Tambellini: 0 points in his last 25. Go away.
BLACKHAWKS
HOT
-Marian Hossa: 2 goals and 2 assists in his last 3 games.
-Patrick Kane: 1 goal and 3 assists in his last 4. Kill him now.
-Duncan Keith: 1 goal and 2 assists in his last 3
-Brent Seabrook: 2 goals and 3 assists in his last 4. Uh-oh.
-Patrick Sharp: 3 assists in his last 3.
COLD
-Bryan Bickell: 1 goal in his last 14 games
-Jake Dowell: 1 assist in his last 15
-Tomas Kopecky: 1 goal in his last 9.
-Viktor Stalberg: 1 assist in his last 8. M'eh. Watch out for this guy,
-Johnathan Toews: 1 goal in his last 7. It's just a matter of time.
INJURIES
CANUCKS
-F Manny Malhotra: eye, out for playoffs
-F Raffi Torres: out games 1 and 2, suspension
-D Andrew Alberts: broken wrist, day-to-day
BLACKHAWKS
-D Jordan Hendry: left knee surgery
-F David Bolland: concussion (Practiced Tuesday, still feeling effects=not good news for ChiTown)
-F Troy Brouwer: right shoulder (probable for game 1)
VIDEO
Pretty much how the rivalry started Part 1:
Part 2:
The Last Meeting:
The Last Playoff Meeting:
We Care A Lot
HEADS UP! I changed my mind (because I can): The Score Predicting Competition starts all over again in these playoffs. Good luck and CONGRATS TO SEMI_COLON for winning the regular season contest. You may now brag about how good you are because you deserve it!
If you are unfamiliar with the rules of the game:
-If you guess the correct score of the game you get 1 point.
-You get 2 points if you guess the correct score and winning team.
-You get 3 points if you guess the correct score, winning team and game winning goal scorer.
-You can still get a single point if you guess the wrong score, winning team but correct game-winning goal-scorer.
-You will not get a point if you only guess the correct winning team.
-Deadline for your prediction is prior to puck drop.
