Bleacher Report - Articles by Vincent Kuo

Why Isn't Ilya Kovalchuk Sporting the "C" for the Atlanta Thrashers?

Vincent Kuo — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 11:50:11 -0500

Why can't Ilya Kovalchuk be captain of the Atlanta Thrashers?

I mean, he was the first overall pick in 2001.

And besides, he won the Rocket Richard trophy with Iginla and Nash.

He's going to win another Rocket Richard trophy this year.

Why don't the Thrashers make Kovi captain already?

I think not making Kovalchuk captain is a slap in the face. Doesn't he have good leadership skills?

And this is coming from a Canucks fan.

Vancouver Canucks Midseason Report

Vincent Kuo — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 11:55:57 -0500

I would like to say that the Canucks are doing great this year.

The Canucks again like last year didn't start well in the beginning of the season.

But, this season just as about the Canucks are going to be one of the worst teams in the league, showing that last year was no fluke.

When Bieksa, Morrison, Ohlund and Salo were out earlier in the season, the Canucks won't make the playoffs this year right?

Wrong! We called up Edler, Brown, Weaver, Jaffary and Raymond. They have proved that they can make noise in the NHL.

And another thing, Kesler is having a breakout year. He is third in goals for the Canucks. Naslund is back to his old self again. He is playing like he was when he won the Lester Pearson award.

The not so suprising part is that The Sedins and Pyatt are doing the same thing they did last year. I can't believe why no one paid attention to the Sedins to vote them in the All-Star Game.

And last but not least, Roberto Luongo, he's still doing what he does best and shows us why he should win the Vezina and Hart trophy. He had a rough start but he's coming back strong. He's tied for second in SO and fourth in wins. The pressure on Luongo off a little because our scoring have gone up from last year. I'm also proud that Louie has three consecutive shutout games. That's amazing. That's how you make a name for yourself.

Also, Sanford has shown that he's a good backup. When we got Sanford, I knew it would work out because he played good in St.Louis at the beginning. The negative part on this team is that Nonis signed Isbister and Miller who's been pretty useless. Ritchie will have a greaet game once in a while.

Anyways, this is how I rate the Canucks as of right now:

Offense: A-. They have improved in scoring from last year and they have young guns on the team.

Defense: B+. They still allow lots of shots from time to time and sometimes they allow 2 goal games sometimes.

Goaltending: A-. Luongo had a rough beginning, but he has made up for it by his awesome playing. Also, Sanford is a good and underrated backup in the league.

Now, the question that Zander asked me, should Nonis bring in additional fire power fire-power before the trade deadline? I say leave the rosters the way they are right now. I wouldn't make a trade at the deadline unless important players get injured. If you trade a pick for a player and the Canucks end up not winning the cup, then we gave up a draft pick so I wouldn't make a move.

So this is my opinion and feel free to comment. Thanks.

Canucks on Track to Repeat

Vincent Kuo — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 11:58:58 -0500

The Canucks will win the division again.

Look what happened to them last year—they sucked in the beginning, but turned things around at the end of the season.

The same thing is happening this season. They played poorly early on, but they can come back and win the division.

I'm saying this because we got Roberto Luongo. He's an ironman. Luongo shows again that he's one of the best goaltenders in the league, if not the best. He will once again be one of the cornerstones to lead the Canucks to the playoffs.

Also, the Sedins are consistent and dangerous, and Taylor Pyatt is showing last year was no fluke.

There are some differences from last year though.

1. Naslund is back. After struggling last year, he's back to his old self of a couple of years ago.

2. Kesler is having a break out year. He was in the top five on the Canucks in goals in the beginning of the season.

3. Everyone thought (myself included) that Bieksa was injured, we were screwed. But no, we have some good young potential players in Jaffary, Weaver, Raymond, Edler, and Brown.

This is just my opinion. If you would like to comment, feel free to do so. Thanks.

Vincent Kuo