CrashingTheGoalie

by Ron Spence

This October’s Canucks are the best in the franchise’s history – in my opinion.
Not that I would want them facing Vancouver’s 1994 playoff squad next week.
The old axiom is that you build your team from the goalie and up through the middle.
And, if Kyle Wellwood plays as well as many of us think [...]

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by Ron Spence
Their second night in Manitoba, ‘nucks prospects are checking out apartments or settling into their hotel rooms.

They can stew on their situation, or remember that they were two games away from hoisting the Calder Cup – and having their name on a Championship banner.

And, if The Patriot-News can have flashy headlines, so can [...]

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by Ron Spence
NHL goaltenders may travel a direct – or circuitous route – to the Big Tent.
Cory Schneider’s journey is tending towards the latter.
He has played in 76 AHL games – during the regular season – and 28 during the playoffs. He has only played in 8 NHL games and is 23-years-old.
CORY SCHNEIDER – AHL [...]

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by Bill Heintz
I have not wanted to say much during the pre-season because, well, it’s the pre-season. I’ve seen too many of them to get excited about performances by rooks who shine against the AHL competition only to flounder once the regular season begins. No need to name names. You know who they are.
And there’s [...]

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by Ron Spence
I thought he’d be a cross between Nick Lidstrom and Ulfie Samuelsson – in a ‘nucks’ uniform.
He was the Swedish Rookie of the Year – in 1998-99 – and played with an edge.

“Another mean defensive-minded defenseman,” wrote Hockey’s Future, “but more in the Darius Kasparitis mold than Bonni’s up-front toughness. David has slightly [...]

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by Ron Spence
I have always been a Wayne Gretzky – but never an Oilers – fan.
I thought that he was the best ambassador and player that the NHL – and the game of hockey – ever had.
But, he wasn’t much of a coach.
Of the 327 gentleman who coached one or more NHL games, the Great [...]

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by Ron Spence

1. Who – of the 2009-10 NHL coaches – has the lowest winning percentage for the regular season?

2. Which current and former coaches have the highest winning percentage (Excluding Cap Raeder who coached one NHL game in 2003, when the Sharks won.) during the regular season?

3. Who are the two current NHL coaches tied [...]

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by Ron Spence

So, who’s this kid – this Mario Bliznak?
I’d seen his name on the yearly prospects lists – since 2005 – but didn’t know anything about him
Bliznak wasn’t sent down to Manitoba last week – with the first batch of demotees – and coach V was giving him lots of ice time.
So, he figures [...]

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by Ron Spence
You remember Matt McCue.
He’s the Duck who demolished both Alexandre Bolduc and Nathan McIver in that September 17, 2009 pre-season game in Anaheim.
McCue, 21, had 15 goals, 63 points and 625 penalty minutes in five-plus seasons in the Western Hockey League.
Now, he’s joining the Moose and will be a teammate of both Bolduc [...]

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“Brad May spent this past summer wondering if he’d ever get a 1,002nd chance,” wrote Bruce MacLeod of the Macomb Daily.
“The veteran of 1,001 regular-season NHL games was without a team, without a training camp, without a contract through July, August and most of September. On Wednesday, however, May was skating at Joe Louis Arena [...]

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