The Canucks opened their season paying tribute to the 1970 Canucks and naming Henrik Sedin as their new captain. The night was going according to plan until a late penalty allowed the Kings to tie it up and eventually win in a shootout. On Monday, the game felt very similar with the Canucks holding onto a slim 1-0 lead. The Panthers would tie it up late in the 2nd, but Daniel Sedin scored his second goal late in the third to help Vancouver salvage their opening homestand of the year.
- The biggest story out of the weekend was the exceptionally good play by Roberto Luongo. Luongo looked sharp in his limited pre-season action and that continued into the regular season. Rollie Malanson appears to have Luongo back on track.
- The offense produced only 3 goals and it looks like going out on the road will do the team some good. They were being a little to fancy in front of the home crowd. Let's see a little more shooting and a little less passing.
- The new and improved 4th line didn't last long as Alex Bolduc went down with a suspected ankle sprain. Tambellini took his place on Monday and well, he looked out of place at centre. Rick Rypien is ready to get back into the lineup and will likely slot in at centre, but he's not a long term option there.
- The new defense looked pretty good, especially against the Panthers. The physical play was outstanding. Teams aren't going to like coming into Vancouver if the Canucks are going to throw their weight around like that.
- Manny Malhotra has been as advertised. Great in the faceoff circle and on the PK. Hopefully he can also help the 3rd line generate some offense.
- Keith Ballard looked way better than he did in the pre-season.
- Did AV swap Torres and Hansen based on who the opposition was or did he not like what he saw against the Kings?
- Many questioned the wisdom of having a 2nd power play unit which does not have a centre... unfortunately we did not get to see if AV changed things up because the Canucks somehow managed not to draw a penalty against Florida. How does that happen?
Vancouver's off on a short two game trip to California where they'll take on the Ducks Wednesday and the Kings on Friday.
