Saturday, April 03, 2004
CANUCKS 5, OILERS 2
Ladies and gentlemen, the Vancouver Canucks are the 2003-2004 NHL Northwest Division champions. They needed a win to clinch the title, and that's exactly what they got. No tying or losing and waiting to see how Colorado did against Nashville tomorrow, just taking care of business. The Canucks have their fourth division title in franchise history. They have ended the nine-year Colorado Avalanche reign on the Northwest Division, and not a moment too soon.
Offseason veteran pickup Mike Keane opened the scoring 11:32 into the first period, putting a rebound past Ty Conklin. The lead only lasted for 3:39 when Brad Isbister tied the game on a screened shot to tie the game. Though not as quick as with the San Jose game, the Canucks got the lead right back in the first period, on a video review-assisted goal with 2:12 to go in the period.
The second period saw the Canucks add to the lead. Keane tallied his second goal of the game on an outnumbered rush with Trevor Linden. The probable back-breaker of the game came with 32 seconds left in the period, when Brendan Morrison put the puck past Conklin after Petr Nedved gave the puck away in his own zone.
The Oilers snapped the Canucks' string of 17 straight penalty kills in the third period after Igor Ulanov scored (assisted by Adam Oates, who announced his retirement after the game). At 12:55 of the period, Martin Rucinsky got called for a cross check as well as using an illegal stick, giving Edmonton a power play, and possibly a chance to narrow the deficit to one goal. This went out the window for good when Raffi Torres plastered Mike Keane into the boards. Result: Torres five-minute boarding penalty and a game misconduct. The Canucks had a power play for the rest of the way, and Mattias Ohlund made good, scoring with 2:16 left in the game, and netting $278 CDN (the Canucks hadn't netted a power play goal in a while) and a pair of Game 1 playoff tickets for a fan from Delta. The crowd rose to their feet for the final minute of the game and gave the team a standing ovation as the final horn sounded, and the division was clinched.
It was Jersey Off Our Backs Night in Vancouver (can you say "better than any promotion the Mariners have ever done?"), and after the game, Todd Bertuzzi gave the jersey off his back, to a huge ovation, and Markus Naslund addressed the crowd; the gist of what he said is in the announcers section after this.
Now, the thoughts from Jeff Patterson, John Shorthouse, and Tom Larscheid. A point comes in the conversation where Larscheid commends Shorthouse for waiting to see how the Canucks came out when they were able to get the first practice time they'd had in a while after the loss at Chicago on the 19th of March. With the practice, they were able to sit back and assess what kind of team they were without Todd Bertuzzi, and what kind of team they were with the additions of Martin Rucinsky, Geoff Sanderson, and Marc Bergevin.
Jeff: People don't want to leave the building, I bet
John: It's packed. The fans are seeing the Jersey Off Our Backs celebration. The Canucks had a good determined effort tonight, and didn't let it slip away
Jeff: It was amazing how they turned it around. The days of practice were exactly what they needed -- they ran the table
Tom: John was right when he suggested he'd hold judgment until they had time to practice, and he was right. Six straight wins, a division championship, and they're roaring into playoffs. The fans have to feel good about their chances
Tom: Bertuzzi is coming out. He's getting a standing ovation...
Jeff: I thought he might be in the building, and it turns out he was. Bertuzzi was emotional. The fans still like him; he was voted by the fans as the most exciting player in the team year-end awards. What was great about this game was how they got it done, and who got it done: Naslund, Morrison, and Cooke were great, Mike Keane, Trevor Linden, and Brad May were great and produced
John: The veterans will be so key. Morrison has always been a secondary leader, but he's blossomed as a leader here lately
Tom: Morrison is highly skilled, he's been delivering the assists lately, and he had been backseated with the dominating personalities of Bertuzzi and Naslund on the top line. Now he's taking more of a role now without Bertuzzi
--
John: the three stars. 1 Keane (2 goals, took Torres hit late), 2 Ohlund (tower of strength through season and streak), 3 Oates (inexplicably, had a nice give-and-go though)
Tom: Markus still has his sweater on. Henrik Sedin is giving his sweater away now...
Jeff: a week ago, it was "where's the captain"? He has three goals in the final four games and he finishes with 35 goals
John: he's holding the microphone. Markus will speak
Markus Naslund: it's been a rollercoaster, but we finally won the division, and we're proud of that. We're thankful and grateful for all the support you've given us. On behalf of the rest of the players, I thank you. The next time we see you, you'll all be wearing white
Jeff: the Predators are in, the Oilers are not
John: the playoffs will be fun. There were lots of worried fans a couple weeks ago, but now the Canucks are hitting the playoffs up and running. The Canucks are carrying their longest win streak carried into the playoffs
Canuck goals: Mike Keane twice (8), Markus Naslund (35), Brendan Morrison (22), Mattias Ohlund (14)
The Canucks take the third seed in the Western Conference, and still may have not won the right to not face Dallas in the first round. Here's your West playoff matchups...
1 Detroit v 8 Nashville
2 San Jose v 7 Saint Louis
3 Vancouver v 6 (higher seed between Calgary and Dallas)
4 Colorado v 5 (lower seed between Calgary and Dallas)
Chicago at Dallas, Calgary at Anaheim tomorrow. Dallas leads Calgary by a point.
Stanley Cup playoff action starts Wednesday, or at least that's when Hockey Night in Canada starts playoff telecasts, and I think it's a good bet there's a connection there.
By the way, I haven't celebrated one of my teams winning its division since October 2001. It's a good feeling. It's good to have it again.
Offseason veteran pickup Mike Keane opened the scoring 11:32 into the first period, putting a rebound past Ty Conklin. The lead only lasted for 3:39 when Brad Isbister tied the game on a screened shot to tie the game. Though not as quick as with the San Jose game, the Canucks got the lead right back in the first period, on a video review-assisted goal with 2:12 to go in the period.
The second period saw the Canucks add to the lead. Keane tallied his second goal of the game on an outnumbered rush with Trevor Linden. The probable back-breaker of the game came with 32 seconds left in the period, when Brendan Morrison put the puck past Conklin after Petr Nedved gave the puck away in his own zone.
The Oilers snapped the Canucks' string of 17 straight penalty kills in the third period after Igor Ulanov scored (assisted by Adam Oates, who announced his retirement after the game). At 12:55 of the period, Martin Rucinsky got called for a cross check as well as using an illegal stick, giving Edmonton a power play, and possibly a chance to narrow the deficit to one goal. This went out the window for good when Raffi Torres plastered Mike Keane into the boards. Result: Torres five-minute boarding penalty and a game misconduct. The Canucks had a power play for the rest of the way, and Mattias Ohlund made good, scoring with 2:16 left in the game, and netting $278 CDN (the Canucks hadn't netted a power play goal in a while) and a pair of Game 1 playoff tickets for a fan from Delta. The crowd rose to their feet for the final minute of the game and gave the team a standing ovation as the final horn sounded, and the division was clinched.
It was Jersey Off Our Backs Night in Vancouver (can you say "better than any promotion the Mariners have ever done?"), and after the game, Todd Bertuzzi gave the jersey off his back, to a huge ovation, and Markus Naslund addressed the crowd; the gist of what he said is in the announcers section after this.
Now, the thoughts from Jeff Patterson, John Shorthouse, and Tom Larscheid. A point comes in the conversation where Larscheid commends Shorthouse for waiting to see how the Canucks came out when they were able to get the first practice time they'd had in a while after the loss at Chicago on the 19th of March. With the practice, they were able to sit back and assess what kind of team they were without Todd Bertuzzi, and what kind of team they were with the additions of Martin Rucinsky, Geoff Sanderson, and Marc Bergevin.
Jeff: People don't want to leave the building, I bet
John: It's packed. The fans are seeing the Jersey Off Our Backs celebration. The Canucks had a good determined effort tonight, and didn't let it slip away
Jeff: It was amazing how they turned it around. The days of practice were exactly what they needed -- they ran the table
Tom: John was right when he suggested he'd hold judgment until they had time to practice, and he was right. Six straight wins, a division championship, and they're roaring into playoffs. The fans have to feel good about their chances
Tom: Bertuzzi is coming out. He's getting a standing ovation...
Jeff: I thought he might be in the building, and it turns out he was. Bertuzzi was emotional. The fans still like him; he was voted by the fans as the most exciting player in the team year-end awards. What was great about this game was how they got it done, and who got it done: Naslund, Morrison, and Cooke were great, Mike Keane, Trevor Linden, and Brad May were great and produced
John: The veterans will be so key. Morrison has always been a secondary leader, but he's blossomed as a leader here lately
Tom: Morrison is highly skilled, he's been delivering the assists lately, and he had been backseated with the dominating personalities of Bertuzzi and Naslund on the top line. Now he's taking more of a role now without Bertuzzi
--
John: the three stars. 1 Keane (2 goals, took Torres hit late), 2 Ohlund (tower of strength through season and streak), 3 Oates (inexplicably, had a nice give-and-go though)
Tom: Markus still has his sweater on. Henrik Sedin is giving his sweater away now...
Jeff: a week ago, it was "where's the captain"? He has three goals in the final four games and he finishes with 35 goals
John: he's holding the microphone. Markus will speak
Markus Naslund: it's been a rollercoaster, but we finally won the division, and we're proud of that. We're thankful and grateful for all the support you've given us. On behalf of the rest of the players, I thank you. The next time we see you, you'll all be wearing white
Jeff: the Predators are in, the Oilers are not
John: the playoffs will be fun. There were lots of worried fans a couple weeks ago, but now the Canucks are hitting the playoffs up and running. The Canucks are carrying their longest win streak carried into the playoffs
Canuck goals: Mike Keane twice (8), Markus Naslund (35), Brendan Morrison (22), Mattias Ohlund (14)
The Canucks take the third seed in the Western Conference, and still may have not won the right to not face Dallas in the first round. Here's your West playoff matchups...
1 Detroit v 8 Nashville
2 San Jose v 7 Saint Louis
3 Vancouver v 6 (higher seed between Calgary and Dallas)
4 Colorado v 5 (lower seed between Calgary and Dallas)
Chicago at Dallas, Calgary at Anaheim tomorrow. Dallas leads Calgary by a point.
Stanley Cup playoff action starts Wednesday, or at least that's when Hockey Night in Canada starts playoff telecasts, and I think it's a good bet there's a connection there.
By the way, I haven't celebrated one of my teams winning its division since October 2001. It's a good feeling. It's good to have it again.
/ Click for main page
