The Fan In Van Podcast & Blog - Matt Lee

I want to say first and foremost, it’s a rumour. But I like rumours, just so I can play armchair GM for a while and start thinking of where so and so would go on the Canuck line-up. That being said, here’s a juicy one for you hockey gossip lovers:

XM In The Slot: Bill Clement said there’s been some discussions going between NJ and VAN… They were speculating about Gionta, a D-man then got nutty and said something about Elias for Naslund.

First off - I don’t think Elias is going anywhere unless he wants to leave NJ under Sutter (which I don’t believe) because he has a no-trade clause and when interviewed about Gomez last night he specifically mentioned that for some people it’s about money but for him is wasn’t - it was about the team and winning and he turned down higher offers.

I do like the sound of Brian Gionta. For those who are unaware, here are some quick facts about Brian Gionta:

• 28 year old American from New York
• 1998 - 3rd round, 82nd overall
• Career high season in 2006: 48 goals, 41 assists
• Very poor follow-up season in 2007: 25 goals, 20 assists
• Currently makes $4M a year through until 2010, at which point he will be a UFA
• A tiny 5′7″ and 175 pounds

The fact he once scored 48 goals in 2006 seems to spell the end of the Canucks’ offensive woes immediately, but the fact he had a 44-point drop off frightens me worse than the D on my Communications midterm. That, and his size reminds me starkly of a Ryan Shannon with more skill. Another small kid would only add to the Canucks’ problems of being a weak team up front.

I guess what it comes down to for me is if the asking price is low for Gionta. I’d say that right now Gionta’s stock is plummeting with every bad game he has. Currently, he’s only got 3 goals and 5 points in 10 games thus far and it doesn’t scream fantastic.

It looks like New Jersey is in desperate need of a defenceman; losing Rafalski and replacing him with Karel Rachunek has hurt Martin Brodeur’s performance thus far this year and thus has hurt the Devils, who sit in the NHL cellar with Atlanta. Yes, Atlanta. They’re that bad.

If New Jersey would go for something around Alex Edler/Luc Bourdon and a pick, I’d be running away with this deal. At the rate the Devils are playing at they’ll need to make a shakeup or two… interestingly enough, so do the Vancouver Canucks.

Alright, so some thoughts and reflections on last night’s tilt featuring the Vancouver Canucks and Detroit Red Wings:

• Pretty obvious one here: The Canucks looked two times better than they did against the Wings a week ago. More shots, more pressure and a little more tenacity. The Red Wings didn’t get this one easily.
• That being said, the score still says Wings 3, Canucks 2. And at the end of the day, the Canucks didn’t come up with a good enough effort to steal the game. It may be a case of puck luck but the Canucks desperately need to get out of the hole they’ve dug thus far.
• I liked the effort from the bulk of the Canuck forwards: Ryan Kesler continues to impress me with his two-way play and energy, Pyatt is showing some flair and Naslund’s fire is burning a little more with desire to score.
• Again, that being said, WHERE ARE THE SEDIN TWINS? Namely, where is Henrik? One point in his last five games is not the reason he’s getting premium minutes. The Sedins have got to be the 85+ point players we saw run circles around the defence in the early going this year.
• Staying with the Sedins, it seems like when Naslund and Morrison are producing (6 points in five games combined) the Sedins are not (4 points in 5) and vice versa. Is this team ever going to get a balanced attack from two separate lines?

• The Canuck defense are playing like they’re skating in quicksand. The best Canuck blueliner has been Lukas Krajicek (1 goal, 5 PTS) and Mattias Ohlund has also played well, showing that no-quit attitude we’ve seen throughout his career. And, while I can excuse Sami Salo (return from injury) and Alex Edler’s (new guy) poor play last night, I can’t excuse Willie Mitchell and Kevin Bieksa’s play.
• Mitchell and Bieksa were downright horrible. Bieksa did another one of his brutal pinches which cost the Canucks a 2-on-1, a play which Willie Mitchell used to thrive in and ultimately bombed at, letting Tomas Holmstrom and Pavel Datsyuk make him look completely foolish.
• The goal after that, Bieksa allowed Mikael Samuelsson to dig the puck through his unsuspecting legs and put a quick one past Luongo. Either bad luck or an act of foolishness.

Plain and simple, the Canuck defense has to (and will) get better in the coming games. They’ve got an (almost) gimmie against Nashville on Thursday before a pretty hefty test in the Avalanche on Saturday.