The Vancouver Canucks were eliminated by the Calgary Flames last year and it was a bitter defeat as the Canucks were given a great opportunity to advance to the second round for the first time since 2011.
The Canucks fortunately opened the year in Calgary as they weren't going to have to wait long to revenge the first round series loss.
Opening night is a day every hockey fan looks forward to. Today, marked the first year I am not in any type of school so I didn't have many people to talk about the game like I have in the past. Instead, I am going to try to do a blog post after every game and talk about my thoughts on here.
When I woke up this morning it was pouring rain. I was going to go get my blood work done that was required of me but I decided to wait for a better day. Today was a good sports day, not only was it the opening of the NHL regular season, it was also the NL Wildcard game between the Cubs and the Pirates. Flipping back and forth between the Canadians-Maple Leafs game was a good formula as I was interested in both.
As for the actual game, I was really looking forward to see how the young guys would play. Out of the three players (Hutton, McCann and Virtanen) two were dressed and currently one recorded and a point which was Hutton and McCann still might be credited with an assist.
Signs might lead to the fact that these rookies made the team as this might be a trend in the NHL where teams need youthful speed to be successful in this new era of the NHL.
It is hard to put any weight on how important this win is. First of all, it is just one game of 82. It is hard to win a home opener with all the festivities going on. Canucks got production from almost everyone and it was great to see Ryan Miller off to a good start as he looks like he is back to 100% following his knee injury last spring. He made a few key saves early in the first where if Calgary could have gotten a lead, it might have been a different story.
Unlike most Canucks fans, I am not worried about the fact that Frank Corrado was claimed off waivers by the Toronto Maple Leafs. The defense looked good tonight and as long as they stay healthy, they should be just fine. Hec, if Corrado was that good he would have made the team.
On another note, all of a sudden the Canucks seem to have a future. They have a healthy number of prospects in AHL Utica and furthermore, it will be very intriguing to see who gets called up first from Utica as there is a handful of possibilities.
The bottom line, there is a lot of if's on this team. If our players play well, if our veterans still produce and if we can stay healthy etc etc, this might be a really good team. However for now, it is a wait and see as the Canucks are in a tough division.
No comments:
Post a Comment