'Nucks IceMan

Written by: Larry “The Nucks IceMan” Johnson

OK so I was wrong about Cody Hodgson, he played better than what I had seen in Manitoba. Good on him. He finished with about the expected ice time of 10 minutes, had two shots, and surprisingly three hits. The hits I didn’t see coming.

I didn’t see him labouring in his skating nor did he appear too slow for the NHL pace of game. For the most part during his shifts the puck was in the opposition end, which is a positive result for the fourth line. That means they were pressuring the Stars and creating some scoring chances.

Hodgson did have a scoring opportunity in close on the Dallas goalie but just couldn’t get the puck up and over Stars Kari Lehtonen. On the second line power play Hodgson didn’t seem out of place, read the plays and positioned him-self accordingly. Even in only ten minutes of play, I can see that he is a better play-maker than any of the other centres the Canucks have used on the fourth line.  

Cody seemed to be able to handle the physical part of the game and didn’t put himself into positions where he was going to be physically annihilated by the Stars checkers. The only area that Hodgson didn’t perform well in was in the face-off circle where he won only one of eight draws. All in all, not a bad start for his first NHL game.

Speaking of the Stars physicality, it was just as I suspected, as they outhit the Canucks 48 -18. That is pretty lopsided and should be a concern for Canucks management.

That’s because in the playoffs, the constant pounding will not only zap your energy but usually leads to injuries. Even bodies as finely tuned as these professional athletes are, will wear down. I mean the body can only take so much.

Dan Hamhuis looked like a piñata at times as he was being bounced all over the ice in the Canucks zone. With Alex Edler, Andrew Alberts and Aaron Rome all out, the only physical D-man the Canucks had was Kevin Bieksa. Get this, Stars Brendan Morrow had eight hits, which was more than the first three forward lines combined (7)!

Can you image a series against Dallas? There wouldn’t be anyone left to play the next one. I guess that’s why they call it a “war of attrition”.

The Canucks are still missing a physical player like Stars Steve Ott, who had five hits that were mostly directed at Ryan Kesler. It has become obvious that the opposition realizes the importance of Kesler at home and on the road, and are punishing him at every opportunity. Well, besides the Sedins, but that’s been going on for years anyway.

As for Stars Adam Burish trying to soften up Kesler with the roughing tactics –  that backfired also. As soon as Dallas started to take liberties with Kesler the Canucks made them pay by scoring on the power play.  

But back to this need for a physical winger. Raffi Torres was brought in to provide some of the grit that was missing from the third line. At times you have to call in the search dogs to find him on the ice. Just what exactly is happening with him?

It seems players like Jannik Hansen (106 Hits) can perform game in and game out, and deliver the goods, so why can’t Torres (80 Hits)? There seems to be a real lack of consistency in Torres’ game. Maybe that’s why he has been with three different teams in the last two seasons.

To be effective in the playoffs Torres is going to have to bring his “A” game or he will suffer the same fate as he did in Buffalo, watching the playoffs from the press box.

Cory Schneider seems to have the Stars number, having never lost to them, so you would think that the Canucks would start him for the final series game against Dallas on February 19. Schneider is sure in a groove right now and with that win is now 9-2-2. He looks so cool and confident in the net, maximizing the effort that he does expend. Hail to Cory!

Here’s a little something for you to ponder, what if the Canucks meet Dallas in the playoffs? Nah, they wouldn’t sit Roberto Luongo out.

Everybody has been throwing out the accolades to Kevin Bieksa and justly so for his performance this season. But I haven’t heard Bieksa himself or anyone in the media say, “maybe it has something to do with his partner, Dan Hamhuis!”

Hamhuis has quietly gone about his business helping Bieksa become a better D-man. You hardly notice Hamhuis on the ice because he’s not that flashy or physical, but he sure is a very fine D-man. He doesn’t make too many mistakes on the ice, is positionally sound, and his first pass out of the zone is crisp, quick and on the tape.

 In +/- Hamhuis is a plus 17, second for D-men behind Bieksa’s plus 21 and has one less point than Bieksa’s 17. Yes, I would say that Dan Hamhuis has had a lot to do with the resurgence of Kevin Bieksa.

To catch all the news, updates and new articles as they occur, along with the Canucks farm team, the Manitoba Moose, you can follow me @twitter.com/nucksiceman.com  (I love this tweeting because it’s like small 140 character type articles).

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