Canucks Honour Bourdon, Open Season with Win

On a night when fallen teammate Luc Bourdon was honoured, it was only fitting that his best friend on the team, Alex Burrows, led the Canucks to a blowout 6-0 victory over the Calgary Flames.

In an emotional pre-game ceremony, Bourdon’s life was celebrated by the team, fans, and his family.  That emotion seemed to carry over into the Canucks’ game, as they were the faster and more aggressive team the entire game.

The early stages of the game were fairly even. Vancouver got into a bit of penalty trouble midway through the first period, giving the Flames a lengthy 5-on-3. However, Calgary could not capitalize.  New captain Roberto Luongo showed some of his leadership by example by almost single-handedly keeping the score at 0-0 while the Canucks killed off their penalties.

Nearing the end of the first period, Daniel Sedin picked up his own rebound behind the Calgary net and fed a pass to brother Henrik to open the scoring; the Canucks would not look back the rest of the night. 

The momentum from the late first period goal carried through into the second period, when newcomer Steve Bernier got his first goal as a Canuck, followed by Burrows’ first goal of the night off a bad rebound from Miikka Kiprusoff on a Ryan Kesler shot.  Taking a 3-0 lead into the third period, Vancouver did not let up, and poured on three more goals from Burrows, Mattias Ohlund, and Rick Rypien. 

Of note throughout this game was the physical play.  There were many scrums and the play was increasingly chippy as the game went on and got more and more out of hand, setting up what should be a very entertaining and physical rematch when these teams get right back at it Saturday night in Calgary.

The Canucks, who have had somewhat of a soft identity over the past couple years were the aggressor all night, as demonstrated by the final hit tally; 18-12 in Vancouver's favour.  Also evident was the speed of Vancouver’s forwards, who were skating around the Calgary defense all night.  Luongo earned his 39th career shutout in the win.

Although it’s only game one, fans have to be encouraged by the Canucks continuing the strong showing they had in the preseason.  Also, on a team that is supposed to struggle to score goals, putting up six on opening night will—if nothing else—get the confidence in the room up.

It will be seen throughout the season if that confidence and goal scoring holds up, but on a team with so many questions heading into the season it can only help to get off on the right foot.