It was a real solid effort from the Canucks last night. I was proud to watch the team play with some poise for a change. Here's my laundry list from the game:
- Luongo - enough said. He's back in form and was amazing last night.
- Daniel, Kesler and Burrows are looking mighty dangerous and were by far the best line last night. Nice to see Daniel bump the scoring slump, even if it was a Tom Gilbert own goal.
- Mike Weaver had a really strong game doing all the little things well. He's a great depth defensemen for us and I admire how tough he plays for his size.
- Matt Pettinger's goal was awesome. He's making a good impact for the short time he's been here. Great wheels, offensive upside and finishes his checks.
- The Ryan Shannon/Taylor Pyatt rush was a great goal as well. Nice to see a speedier version of the Canucks with some of these young guys in there. Pyatt's back in the groove and hopefully continues his goal scoring streak tonight against Minnesota
- My favourite part of the night: Trevor Linden's short handed goal. The old man still has a scoring touch. We were in danger of letting the oil back into it but that marker sealed their fate as well as their playoff hopes. Vigneault better play Linden more down the stretch as this is his time of year. I've been pretty upset over Linden's playing time over the course of the season. No wonder he has a little bit of rust he only plays 4-5 minutes a game or sits in the press box while Brad Isbisiter takes his spot. Linden has far more to contribute to the team as a leader, penalty killer and shootout participant. Hmmm... how many times have we gone to a shootout this year? Don't forget what he can bring in the playoffs as well. He has 124 Playoff games and 99 Playoff points. Don't forget he was our leading scorer in the post season last year as well. Don't forget "the speech" as well:
Trevor Linden, who brings experience and wisdom to the Canuck dressing room, was responsible for a pre-game speech that sparked Vancouver and is thought to have led to the explosive first period that was witnessed on Saturday afternoon. Linden reportedly closed the locker room doors before the game, locking himself inside only with his teammates, and spoke to his team. The details of the speech have not, and will, not be shared publicly however the affect it had on every Canuck was, and is, evident.
"One of the reasons Trevor was back this year was his leadership qualities that he brings. He's the type of player that doesn't need a letter on his sweater to lead; he does it by example and sometimes, when he feels the need, he can do it vocally," said Coach Alain Vigneault who was not surprised by Linden's initiative on Saturday.
"We knew we were going to get a good quality person to help out our players, especially our young players as a great example, and he's been that throughout the year whether he has played or not and that's what we knew what we were going to get and obviously he's been giving us that since day one."
Now with that said. Vigneaut play him more we need him.
