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The Flames were game for about 10 minutes last night, and after that the Canucks simply imposed their will on the Flames, and never let the foot off the gas. How amazing was it to see them using the defence and their mobility to completely neutralize the Calgary forecheck that gave the Canucks fits back in April? The Canucks dominated every aspect of play last night, and if not for Kaari Ramo, that game might have been 7 or 8 to 1.
Sure, it's a small sample size and no one's trying to say that this is the way it's gonna be every night (and if they are they need to give their heads a shake), but after what we saw from this squad the last time a game counted for something, this sure felt good, and was a beautiful introduction to the new guys in the lineup. Ben Hutton looked calm and composed, especially on the set up for the opening goal by Jannik Hansen, reading the Flames making a change and spotting Hansen busting open in the neutral zone. And how about that shot by Beaker?
Another great aspect to the game was the play of the Sedins with Brandon Sutter. Henrik and Daniel each scored, and Sutter looked like he'd been in that slot for years. Once again, perhaps too early to tell, but against a hard-checking team like the Flames, this was a heck of a performance from the top line. And while they didn't score, the 2nd line of Bo Horvat, Radim Vrbata and Sven Baertschi gave the Flames fits, producing a ton of shots and controlling the play. Ryan Miller was strong, showing no lingering effects of his knee injury as he strives to have a bounce-back year. This could all go sideways on Saturday in the return match against the Flames at Rogers Arena, but if this is the kind of team that the Canucks are icing this season, maybe, just maybe rumours of their demise have been exaggerated. I'm not quite ready to get excited, but that was a far more entertaining performance than the great majority of games we saw from the Canucks last season.
FRESH HOT LINKS!
- One of the most anticipated things about the start of the season was the return of The Provies, and Botch didn't disappoint last night, dropping some great nuggets about the Corrado situation (though in the pregame show on TSN 1040, Dave Tomlinson mentioned that Corrado had slipped to 10th on the depth chart, but this is still a valid criticism), and that there was more to Eddie Lack's departure and the outcry back here over the deal he signed there was a bit silly once we learned that his agent was asking for far more from the Canucks, but I will let you read for yourself...
- Also returning is VanCity Buzz's Canucks Six Pack, with a nice breakdown of some of the best moments from last night
- Botch also is bang on here that with no time frame for Jacob Markstrom to return, the Canucks have to get Richard Bachman in to some games during his absence
- Thomas Drance over at Sportsnet has his 5 takeaways from the game last night, and 1 point for the use of the word 'ingratiate', Mr Drance...
- The Pass It To Bulis guys eventually Watched This Game...
- Great piece from the Calgary Sun talking to Alex Burrows and how scary his injury during the playoffs really was
- And the Morning Skate includes some admissions from the Flames that they were embarrassed on the ice last night
AROUND THE LEAGUE
- Well, it took exactly one game to remind everyone a) that the LA Kings are hot, dirty, burning trash and b) that Milan Lucic is a perfect fit for this collection of scumbags
- The Toronto Maple Leafs did us all a solid by showing exactly how the new Coach's Challenge rule is supposed to work in their game last night against the Montreal Canadiens...
- The Chicago Blackhawks raised their Stanley Cup Banner last night, but not all of their fans are happy
- The hype goes into warp speed tonight...
KICKASS METAL TUNE OF THE DAY
Straight outta Seattle, this new one from Black Breath is turning a lot of heads in the metal world right now. Doomy and groovy at the same time, Southern Lord Records has another gem on their hands with this one. Check out the title track to 'Slaves Beyond Death'
