The IceMan's Awards at the Canucks' 30-Game Mark

Written by: Larry "The Nucks IceMan" Johnson

There’s a line in John Lennon’s song “Nobody Told Me” that goes like this—“strange days indeed—most peculiar mama.” That pretty well sums up the Vancouver Canucks season to date.

They came out of training camp and on into the preseason with a ton of optimism. Certain players like Mason Raymond, Steve Bernier, and Kyle Wellwood would elevate their game to add another offensive line and the much needed secondary scoring.

The Twins with Alex Burrows would continue as the top line along with their dependable scoring and point’s production.

The addition of some players like Mikael Samuelsson, Chrisitian Ehrhoff, and Mathieu Schneider were to help with the various areas of their expertise and talent.

What no one foresaw was the number of injuries that the Nucks would run into and the impact that it would have on the lines and subsequently the team.

As reported back in training camp, the depth that seemed to be there would now be brought to the surface, with most having to play a role that they themselves might not have contemplated.

This is good the mantra goes, as with this adversity, when overcome, builds team unity and confidence in one another

There have been some players that have stepped forward to take this time to really shine.

Henrik Sedin had to play without his twin brother Daniel, for 18 games and with that, demonstrated that he was just not a setup man but could supply the scoring that would be missed from Daniel.

Henrik currently leads the team in that department (fifth in the NHL), with 14 goals and 22 assists in only 30 games and is on pace to have a record breaking year for himself.

To Henrik goes my choice for the team MVP at the 30 game mark.

The defense got an unexpected gift from one Christian Ehrhoff, who has turned out to be their power play quarterback that the team had been searching for. His skating ability, puck movement, defensive play and scoring, has supplied the Canucks with a defenseman they were badly in need of.

He leads the team in plus/minus with a plus 16 (second among NHL defensemen), leads all defensemen in goals with seven (tied for second among NHL defensemen), three power play goals (tied for third—NHL), fifth in blocked shots, and the list goes on.

Ehrhoff is my runaway choice for the team Top Defenseman at the 30 game mark.

A player that caught my eye in preseason and was one of my “three best surprises” is Tanner Glass. This guy has brought some much needed grit to the team no matter which line he has played on. A surprisingly tough customer, I didn’t think he could do as well as he has shown in the fist-a-cuffs.

Never noted for scoring, even in the college (Dartmouth) and AHL ranks, he has utilized his ice time to the max, with four goals to date, which is three more than he has ever recorded in the NHL. A truly welcomed addition.

To Glass goes the team Un-Sung Player nomination.

Although Ryan Kessler’s scoring has screeched to a halt as of late, he still is a force in other areas. He is second in team scoring, fourth in blocked shots, first in takeaways and is usually up against the opposition’s top line as the shutdown guy.

Ten games ago, Kes would have gotten my nomination for the NHL Frank Selke Award but he’s going to have to be more consistent, having now gone 15 games with only one goal, that scored last night against Nashville.

The final player that gets a mention is Mason Raymond. He too is going through a slowdown, in this never ending cycle that players go through with their scoring. To date he is sixth in team scoring, is tied with Mikael Samuelsson with five power play goals as co-leaders, and tied for third in goals scored.

Raymond has shown the will to go to the dirty areas to make the plays, finishes his checks when they present and to him goes the team “Break-Out Player” at the 30 game mark.

I was going to give an honourable mention to a player that I have whipped like a rented mule, and that’s Alex Edler. Unfortunately after the game Saturday against Carolina with his giveaways and poor defensive coverage, I’m going to wait until some consistency appears in his play.

At the 20 game mark he was leading the team in plus/minus with a minus eight and has reduced that to a minus three, but his plus/minus ranks him at 195 out of 258 in the NHL

He now leads all Nucks defensemen with 19 points (tied for eighth in the NHL) and only several games ago finally broke the goose egg with a goal, followed up by another. Edler is only behind Willie Mitchell for blocked shots but still is having trouble in the giveaways (tied for third with 18).

If he can reduce that number by half, Edler may start to display the promise that management envisioned.

Alex is one of the reasons that the team defense has been able to supply that much needed scoring from the back end and also for the recent team’s success, prior to the  the back to back road loses.

In closing, the Canucks are not much further ahead now, then they were at the 20 game mark. They have yet to gain a foothold within the Western Conference’s top eight (currently sit at 10th).

Without a huge improvement in their road record (6W-10L, ranked 25th in the NHL), they risk missing the playoffs twice in the last three seasons.

I’ll break down the upcoming road trips, which will be the key to their whole season, in the next few articles.

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