Vancouver Canucks - 2011-2012 Presidents Trophy Winners

The Vancouver Canucks are back to back Presidents Trophy Winners of the NHL.  They finished the season out of all 30 teams with the highest point total with 111 points.  They reached the 50+ win plateau once again and will have home ice advantage for the entire duration for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.  The Canucks open round 1 against the goal stingy Los Angeles Kings.  They are backed by their Vezina Trophy Candidate Jonathan Quick in between the pipes.  The Canucks defeated the Kings back during the 2010 playoffs in 6 games.  This year is a huge one for Vancouver. They have all the experience needed to get back to the finals where they might be able to capture that elusive Stanley Cup.

State of the Canucks - Post Trade Deadline

The Canucks made some major deadline deals this year.  They have acquired Sammy Pahlsson from the Columbus Blue Jackets for a couple of draft picks and they also sent Cody Hodgson and Alex Sulzer to Buffalo in exchange for Zack Kassian and Marc-Andre Gragnani.  No one expected the Cody Hodgson trade to ever occur.  He was well liked by the fans, but was questionable with the Canucks coaching staff.  In Kassian, they get a guy who is prospected to turn into a Milan Lucic-type player.  He brings a physical edge and willingness to fight to the lineup.  He also has a great set of hands.  Marc-Andre Gragnani brings stability to the third defensive pairing and another puck mover to the Canucks 2nd powerplay unit.  Sammy Pahlsson is a checking line center that won a Stanley Cup with the Anaheim Ducks in 2007.  He brings veteran leadership and penalty killing to the Canucks lineup.  This was a decent trade deadline.  I was surprised by the moves, but I am still very happy with them.  Hopefully these will be the final missing pieces to winning that elusive Stanley Cup.

State of the Canucks - Trade Deadline Approaching

With the trade deadline looming in the NHL, almost every team is trying to make their team better for the future.  The Canucks have been on a roll for the past month and are 8-0-2 in their last 10 games.  Several of these games have been one goal decisions.

Canucks at the Deadline:  I believe the Canucks should be somewhat active at the deadline.  I would like to see them target a top 4 defensemen who can stay back, clear the crease, and penalty kill.  I would also like to see the Canucks target a bottom 6 3rd/4th line gritty forward who can hit and score a timely goal or two.  This team is only 1 or 2 pieces away from making a serious push to another Stanley Cup Final.  The Canucks have plenty of trade bait with guys like Mason Raymond and Keith Ballard who I deem to be expendable.  They also have some draft picks and prospects who they could use to make a big splash.

Also add me on Twitter to join in on the conversation on what you think the Canucks should acquire at the trade deadline.  My username is @CanucksFin56

Canucks Get Timely Goaltending In January

Canucks have been poorly outshot in the month of January, but have been able to get a winning record thanks to good goaltending. They also did not outscore their opponents by a large margin.

Sure, the Canucks out-scored their opponents 12-7, but were outshot 158-118. Roberto Luongo threw up a .959 in January with the score tied and Cory Schneider a .947. It's incredible how good (and lucky) the team's goaltending has been.

Mother Canucker Introduction

Welcome to the Mother Canucker blog.  This blog will be centered on my favorite NHL team the Vancouver Canucks.  I am a huge hockey fan and have been watching for most of my life.  This blog will be innovative in that it will be set up for the fans enjoyment.  This author will provide game by game posts about the Canucks and will invite the fans to play the role of “General Manager of the Canucks.”  The fans can interact and post anything that they want about the Canucks including players that they should bring in to the organization, possible trade ideas for team needs, and prospects they should look at for the future.  The Mother Canucker blog will be different than other blogs because the fans get to have the most power.  This blog is not only centered for the traditional hockey fan, but also for the casual fan.  Fans are invited to share any ideas they possibly have to make the greatest organization in hockey even better.  Any good humor is always welcome to any blog posts.  This author is amused by comedic posts, but would also like to keep things simple and to stay on the main topic of the Canucks.