The Canuck Report After 20 Games

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So here we are at the twenty game mark and it’s time for some beefs, bouquets, surprises, and disappointments.

Let’s start out with the surprises .

Injuries and the amount of them after just 20 games into the season—must be some kind of a record.

No less than 10 players have been out of the lineup for extended periods of time. Through all this the Canucks have been able to post a 10-10 record, which is tied for seventh spot in the Western Conference.

Take a look around the league and tell me where say, the Flames would be without Jarome Iginla and Miikka Kiprusoff or the Penquins, without Sidney Crosby and Marc-Andre Fleury.  

Coach Vigneault has done a remarkable job in juggling the bodies he does have, getting the team to play that shut down style of hockey, which has allowed them to stay in the hunt with the rest of the pack.

Another surprise is the remarkable play of Andrew Raycroft. In filling in for Roberto Luongo, Raycroft has posted a four and two record, a GAA of 2.18 and a save percentage of .916.

Sure he has been pulled in a couple of games, but in all fairness to him, the team in front of him stunk up the joint.

Although not a surprise, because I had already made that suggestion before he actually played as a forward, I thought Kevin Bieksa played pretty decently up front. I still feel he would make a better forward and it would not be the first time that has happened, if you think back to Scott Walker.

Cory Schneider, what a pleasant surprise and did he ever play well against Dallas. If he gets the opportunity again and follows up with another one of those exclamation marks, maybe the Canucks will have a blue chip prospect after all.

Michael Grabner before he went down, looked like he had found his NHL scoring touch and was here to stay. Who knows what the lineup will look like when he returns, but if he can get back to his pre-injury play, someone's going to be on the outside looking in.

You hear that Mr. Wellwood.

Willie Mitchell with two goals topping Sami Salo and Alex Edler, both with ZERO goals!

Biggest surprise

The Canucks with all the injuries being able to play at a .500 level followed closely by Andrew Raycroft.

Disappointments

I’m not going to repeat what I wrote about in my last article “Vancouver Canucks: Two Pieces of the Puzzle,”but instead, comment on what I’m waiting to see, as in waiting to see what the team will look like with a healthy lineup.

You really can’t judge this team until that happens, and I’m sure at some point in the season that will materialize.

Henrik Sedin, without his twin brother Daniel, sure does look lost out there. He’s not the only one that misses Daniel, speak to Alex Burrows about that also, but this is about Henrik.

To his credit though, he still is churning out the point a game average and leads the Canucks in scoring.

That said, too many nights you barely notice him.

Biggest disappoint

No it’s not Alex Edler, but instead a player that I thought would remember the agitating style that got him to the NHL, Alex Burrows.

Rumours have it that he’s playing with an injury but because of the numbers, he’s toughing it out. If so, he gets a mulligan.

Beefs

With the team so badly beat up, I think I’ll pass on it this time.

Bouquets

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