Nashville Predators or Prey?

Howdy Y'all.

In the spirit of playing the Nashville Predators, I've taken up a southern accent. Just joking. In all honesty though, don't y'all think that was a doozy of a game? I sure do! And by doozy, I mean awesome game for us Vancouverites. So, I was listening to the Team 1040 on my long commute back to Maple Ridge (sadly, I call this place home) and in the first three minutes, Daniel Sedin scored his third goal of the season. Right away I knew this was going to be a favourable game for us.

First period: After Sedin's wrist shot, Matt Halischuk came right back with a goal for the Preds. But just a couple minutes later, Henrik Sedin brought the Canucks back in the lead with power play goal assisted by his brother Daniel. Another Canuck got his first tonight, and not just his first of the season. Dale Weise, whom we picked up this year from the New York Rangers, scored his first ever NHL goal. Congrats Weise, you are my Canuck of the day! The period ended with Canucks on top with 4-1.

Second period: 7 penalties, and a whole lot of back and forth play. There was no goals for either team, but definitely an exciting period.

Third period: Shea Weber had penalties for boarding and unsportsmanlike conduct, trapping him in the box for 4 minutes. And then my [personal] favourite moment of the game came from the Greek God himself, Ryan Kesler. Yes, he scored his first goal of the 2011/2012 season, and no ladies, he was not naked when he did it. If only...At any rate, his goal made me cheer loudly and even update my Facebook status. I'm sure many, many people did.

And so, on a cold October night in Vancouver, the Canucks beat the Nashville Predators 5-1. Luongo had a good night (26 saves!) so it's safe to say his new helmet is our lucky charm. Saturday October 22, we face the Minnesota Wild at 1 pm. Looks like I'll be recording this one, thanks work.

Until then, y'all have a good night!

Much love,

Cryssy Canuck

Boo to Luo?

Well, there isn't much positive to come out of Tuesday's game. The Canucks hosted the New York Rangers October 18 at Rogers Arena and were shutout for the second time in the past three games. Who's to blame?

Before the game, a beautiful tribute to former Canuck Rick Rypien was shown. He had committed suicide in August 2011. If you haven't seen the tribute video, check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfR4EIhkHsQ&feature=youtube_gdata_player

The game commenced afterwards, with a scoreless first and second period. Then came the dreaded third period where not one, but 4 goals flew past Roberto Luongo, giving Ranger's goalie, Henrik Lundqvist a shutout. The shutout posed many questions about the Canucks, specifically Luongo. Fans even boo'd him on home ice, which I completely disagree with. These 'fans' are the kind who diss Luongo when he's having a rough patch, claiming we shouldn't have signed him for 12 years, and as soon as he's on a hot streak they love him again. It's ridiculous. The man did not play well on Tuesday, big deal! It was one game (at the beginning of the season, might I add) and this seems to be typical of the Canucks. We are late bloomers. So fans, please remind yourself if you ARE a fan, act like one. Boo's are for ghosts, corny but true. The New York Rangers scored 4 goals (Rupp, McDonagh, Boyle, and Gaborik) and the Canucks 0, to bring our season to 2-3-1.

We host the Nashville Predators tonight at 7 pm, which I will actually get to rush home to watch! Check back for your recap..and all of you Luo haters, until you bring the Canucks to the Stanley Cup finals stop the booing.

Much love,
Cryssy Canuck

A hat trick loss for Edmonton.

Okay, so it occured to me that A) I have no life when I'm in school and neglect everything, including this blog and B) I have a bad memory and forgot about my blog..oops! Nevertheless, here I am 5 days late with the recap of our Vancouver Canucks vs. the Edmonton Oilers. Spoiler alert: we won!!! Sorry, it's been long enough I'm sure everyone knows the score.

Here's a quick breakdown:
First period: Sammy Salo scores for the Canucks with his first goal of the season! Beauty slapshot. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored 2 goals ending the third at 2-1 in favour of the Oilers.

Second period: Henrik Sedin scores his second goal of the season, but Mr. Nugent-Hopkins comes right back with a hat trick! Congrats for that. Weise and Peckman had a bit of a scuffle on the ice, so both had a 5 minute penalty for fighting. To add to the excitement, Alex Burrows scored to tie the game at 3-3 going into the third period. Way to be Burrows!

Third period: Sammy Salo, you're the man! The only man, in fact, with a goal in the third! Great job Canucks, what a nice win to end off our road trip.

And so, Canucks hosted the New York Rangers on Tuesday night..read about that recap in my belated blog!

Much love,
Cryssy Canuck

Lost in Red Wings - Canucks vs. Detroit

Losing streaks can be broken, right? I know the Canucks are now 1-2-1, but aren't we accustomed to their so called "late bloomer" start of the season? I'm going to let this loss slide and hang my head high; we'll turn this ship around! Especially since Kesler and Raymond will soon play again (I hope!) which will greatly benefit the team. Anyways, the match against the Red Wings was probably one of the best the Canucks have played in the season. It was an exciting game to watch, (though I only could watch highlights, the joys of working nights) but we lost 2-0, giving Detroit's goalie, Jimmy Howard, his sixth career shutup. Bravo Howard! Bobby Luo kept the bench warm while Cory Schneider played in net stopping 25 shots. There was heaps of penalties. Even some punches thrown! Yup, two fights for the night. Lappy (Lapierre) instigated one, but I say good on ya! A little fisty cups here and there never hurt anyone. The Red Wings two goals were scored by Justin Abdelkader and Valterri Filppula in the second period. The Canucks had a couple good chances, but were unable to get a puck past Howard the Great. Detroit must have been a massive party with both the Red Wings and the Tigers (MLB) pulling off wins, so congrats to them. I'm such a good sport, eh?

Our boys will be on the road again in Edmonton to face the Oilers Saturday October 15. Let's put the oil back in the ground where they belong and give our beautiful city of Vancouver a reason to cheer!

Until Saturday..
Much love,
Cryssy Canuck

Kesler the Greek God.

At first glance, I see a storm in the air, a chiseled body made of porcelain stone, luscious brown locks atop an angelic face. Eyes; staring straight into my soul. He resembles a Greek God. He is Ryan Kesler.

If you haven't seen this [magnificent] photo, you clearly have been living in a cave.

I've always liked Kesler, although his looks didn't catch my eye before. He was the cute Vancouver Canuck who knew how to play a great game of hockey. After seeing this photo, I've had a complete change of heart. Sexy is the biggest understatement of the century!

He posed for The ESPN Magazine's Body Issue this year, and I think it's safe to say women everywhere have posted this photo on their fridge, on their desk at work, and probably on the nightstand beside their bed.

So, today I send out my Canuck love to Ryan Kesler. Your godlike body has made me smile over and over and over and over..well, you get the point.

Canucks vs. Flyers - October 12

It occured to me that I have neglected to write a blog post about last nights game. Maybe because we lost 5-4 to Philadelphia, or the fact that I was trapped at school until 10 pm..no excuse though! If you missed last nights game (like me), here is a quick recap of our boys road game in Philly...

1st period: Bobby Luo started in net for us letting in two goals, the first was a wrist shot by Claude Giroux from Chris Pronger, and the second was a slap shot in by the reverse (Pronger from Giroux). Michael Samuelsson scored his first goal with an assist from Henrik Sedin, but Philly came back with a wrist shot off the stick of James van Riemsdyk from Giroux ending the first with a 3-1 lead for the Flyers.

2nd period: Vanouver managed to gain two goals! First, Henrik Sedin from Alex Burrows, and the other Chris 'Higgy' Higgins again from Burrows. Philly fought back with a snap shot off the stick of new comer Jakub Voracek from Couturier. The period ended at 4-3 in favour of the Flyers.

3rd period: Daniel Sedin shot in a wicked snap shot (assisted by Edler) within the first 4 minutes of the third period, evening the score at 4-4 for both teams. Shortly after, Andrej Meszaros scored which inevitably was the game winning goal for the Philadelphia Flyers. New comer goalie, Ilya Bryzgalov, deserved first star with an amazing 36 saves compared to Luongo's 22.

The Canucks are 1-1-1 at the start of their season, hopefully they prevail in tonights game against the Detroit Red Wings at 5 pm (changed from 4:30 pm).

I will be reporting from work thanks to Team 1040 and their live radio coverage!

Much love,
Cryssy Canuck

Canucks vs. Blue Jackets

Happy Thanksgiving fellow Canuck fans! Hope you've all had a yummy gobble gobble, and loads of pumpkin pie. I know I have.

So if you tuned in at all for the lovely thanksgiving game 2, you would have witnessed a Canuck win as Cory Schneider made 23/25 saves! Way to go Cory, you were star number 1 in my books tonight.

The first period kicked off with a couple penalties, and the first goal for Columbus from Cam Atkinson. Our boys came right back with a beauty off the stick of Chris Higgins (gettin' Higgy with it) which ended the period tied at 1-1.

The second period was packed with penalties, everything from hooking to goalie interference. Then, Blue Jackets Vinny Prospal shot in a nice wrap-around on Schneider, ending the period 2-1 in favour of Columbus. Canucks had to pull up their socks for the third...

And so they did! Third period commenced, and none other than Cody Hodgson sniped in a beautiful goal unassisted, making the game a 2-2 tie. Shortly after, Daniel Sedin made a quick pass to Alex Burrows, who scored goal number 3 for the Canucks, which in turn was the game winning goal. The third period ended, with our boys in white coming out on top with a score of 3-2 over the Columbus Blue Jackets. Maybe it was the luck of the golden turkey, or Mr. Schneider was really on his game tonight, but the Canucks pulled off a great Thanksgiving win. I can't help but reflect on everything I'm thankful for today. Family, friends, food..and hockey. Thank you, Canucks!

Our boys take on the Philadelphia Flyers this Wednesday October 12 at 4:30 pm. Keep it locked here for your game recap!

Much love,
Cryssy Canuck

Season Opener - Game 1: Vancouver Canucks vs. Pittsburgh Penguins

The game started at 7 pm, the same time I was off work..so I rushed home to find a 2-0 lead for the Penguins. James Neal scored in the first 5 minutes, and our old Canuck Matt Cooke came right back with another for Pittsburgh. I was lucky enough to catch the Canucks first goal by Maxim Lapierre (I did the Lappy dance) to make the score 2-1 at the end of the 1st period.

2nd period: I felt more excitement in this period, maybe because I was able to watch from beginning to end. Matt Cooke sniped in a short-handed goal, and I silently cheered because I miss him as one of our own. Then came a couple of penalties, and finally a beauty goal by Keith Ballard! I actually jumped out of bed at this point. Anyone else? The period ended with a score of 3-2 for the Penguins.

3rd period: Daniel Sedin scores! He shot the puck into the short side of the net; hockey at it's finest, just dodging a Pittsburgh defenseman. The period ended with a tie of 3-3...sending us to 5 minutes of OT. Daniel had the best chance for a Canuck win, but the puck went wide of the net. This game was going into shootouts. Personally, not a fan of the shootouts.

Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin shot both pucks past Roberto Luongo (25 saves) to win the shootouts. Both Mikael Samuelsson and Alex Burrows missed for the Canucks. Marc-Andre Fleury had a great game with 33 saves for the night.

For the Canucks, this is only game 1. It would have been nice to win, especially since Penguins forward Sidney Crosby was not on the ice, I thought they would have had a better chance. Regardless, I'm happy hockey is back!

Canucks play the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thanksgiving Monday, October 10. I'd like my turkey dinner with a side of winning please?

Tomorrow I'm off to Rogers Arena to watch the Open Practice; fingers crossed for a meet and greet with Burrows!

Much love,
Cryssy Canuck

Hi friends!

It's been a lifelong dream of mine (not really) to start up a Canucks blog. Since the season has begun, and after our epic run in the Stanley Cup Finals, I've decided it's finally the right time to start.

Here's my story in short:
I'm going to school for my Bachelor of Arts degree in...Journalism! Yay. Exciting, I know. And then bam! It hit me. Sports journalism would be pretty, pretty good to get into. Hence my blunt obsession with the Canucks. Vancouver is my place of birth, my hometown, my roaming grounds. It wasn't until a couple years back that I started paying attention to our hockey boys. I'm not a band wagoner, I've always enjoyed a good hockey game (typical Canadian..). Lately, it's been more of a passion. Since I'm getting old and apparently need to figure out my life, I've been following the Vancouver Canucks more intently, and I would love to be a sports journalist for the team some day. Dream big, right?

Anyways, the purpose of my blog is to inform the avid fans of my beloved Canucks of all the information I can. I'll be posting game results, player injury updates, and any other juicy sports gossip I can find!

Feel free to follow!

Much love,
Cryssy Canuck