The Fan In Van Podcast & Blog - Matt Lee

Huh.

This move does puzzle me a little bit; Ryan Shannon has had two goals in three games and that’s leading the team. The two goals are powerplay markers and nonetheless he has been a fixture on the first unit with the Sedin twins. In addition, “Shanny” has shown offensive prowess, combining both speed and skill and nonetheless being a force on the offense.

One statistic does stand out in my mind, however. Shannon is minus 7. That’s the worst in the NHL, only followed by Markus Naslund and Kevin Bieksa, who are minus 6. Shannon has not shown much for defensive ability, which is what Coach V has been issuing since he took the reins in 2006.

Shannon was sent down this afternoon, perhaps because of this. But at the same time, Shannon has shown remarkable abilities to play offense and the question now becomes if Shannon is not on this team, who will score the bulk of the goals? This question now starts to sound very familiar…

The Vancouver Canucks continued to disappoint their fans on home ice on Wednesday evening as they were thoroughly embarrassed by a faster, puck-carrying Philadelphia Flyers squad that outhustled the Canucks in all aspects of the game. Daniel Briere, the Flyers’ 10-million-dollar man, had a goal and two assists while two-way forward Mike Richards seemed very one-way, potting two goals and two helpers. The best goaltender in the world, Roberto Luongo (Although the way Martin Biron played you could argue he looked very sharp), was chased from the net after one period after allowing four markers in only thirteen shots.

So a lot of people are up in arms — some aren’t too happy. And why shouldn’t they be? Embarrassed at home for two games in a row isn’t exactly something to joke about. Yet, despite these two losses, there are still some positive things to take away from the 8-2 thrashing. For one, the Vancouver Canucks continued to look sharp with the man advantage, scoring two more powerplay goals after getting four in Calgary the previous contest. Two, it seems to be more and more apparent that newcomer Ryan Shannon is firmly planting himself as a fixture on the aforementioned powerplay with his ability to find open space at the right time.

Am I concerned? A little, but this is just the third game of the season — everyone has their fair share of blowouts over the course of the season, and the Canucks just had one. Will it be the last we see? Probably not. Ask me in January if I still feel the Canucks are in trouble.

Jesse Boulerice will have the book thrown at him, no question. There’s no doubt in my mind. His lethal crosscheck on Ryan Kesler in the third period of last night’s game was not only premeditated, it was violent. This is a guy who has been suspended in the OHL for a baseball-like swing which knocked out a player senseless.

This guy clearly deserves a lengthy suspension, and here’s why:

• Plain and simple, the crosscheck was pure ugly. The stick was up high, it broke over Kesler’s face. That alone speaks enough volume to warrant a suspension.
• Kesler and Boulerice were going at it in the same shift. Check the highlights and you’ll see Kesler try to line up Boulerice for a big hit before the crosscheck and vice versa. There was clearly an attempt to injure.
• The crosscheck came in the last half of the third period in a game which the Flyers had wrapped up in a nice little package.
• This crosscheck came off the heels of the Steve Downie incident; you’d think Flyers players would have learned from that hit, but Boulerice comes and feels like giving the big hit to Kesler is okay. If anything, Boulerice should be given more than the 20 games that Downie got.

But here’s the situation; Ryan Kesler and the rest of the Canucks should be thanking their lucky stars that Ryan Kesler saw Jesse Boulerice at the last second before the hit was made. The stick was coming up to Kesler’s face and he managed to turn at the very last second and get it in the jaw. But let’s think hypothetically for a second; let’s say that Kesler didn’t see the hit coming, and that Kesler received the full blow to the front of his face. If that composite stick comes up to Kesler’s face, hits him in the nose or teeth, Kesler is getting a broken nose and losing a handful of teeth while also prone to a concussion. It could’ve been a hell of a lot worse.