Hockey Trade Rumors

Team C, made up of the Canuck’s young players and prospects, hoped to start the season off on the right foot by pinching a win from the Pengrowth Saddledome in the pre-season opener against the Flames.

Unfortunately, hopes were dashed late in the third, when the 1-1 game was decided by a pair of Flames power-play goals. Adam Cracknell netted the first with 3:33 to go with a boomer over second-starter Drew MacIntyre’s shoulder, and the nail in the coffin came courtesy of Daymond Langkow’s capitalization of Yannick Tremblay’s cough-up with only 38 seconds left.

The Flames finished 3-for-11 on the man-advantage.

The Canucks were outworked early on. Several hardnosed fore-checks and a few big hits, especially a head-reeler dished out by wunderkind Dion Phaneuf on Gordie Dwyer, set a green Canucks team on the backs of their blades.

By the midpoint of the period, however, the Canucks had settled down, regaining the momentum. They cycled and opened shooting lanes, and at the end of the period, they were only one shy of the Flames’ six shots.

The period ended nil-nil, but both teams had their share of scoring chances, the best coming off the tape of the Flames’ Adam Cracknell, who beat Flaherty only to be beaten by the post. It was the only hole that Flaherty gave up during his 30-minute tenure.

Forty-nine seconds into the second frame, Josh Green redirected Rory Fitzpatrick’s post-shot into the empty mesh, putting the Canucks on the scoreboard. The momentum swung again, though, at 11:12 of the period when Tony Amonte took advantage of a selfish penalty by Gordie Dwyer. For the remainder of the frame, the Flames owned the ice.

The knuckles came out at the midway point of the game — and stayed out. Numerous Canucks answered the bell, including Rick Rypien, Joe Rullier, Mike Brown, Nathan McIver, and Luc Bourdon. McIver deserves special mention for his domination of Derek Couture early in the third period, the most spirited fight of the night, which helped the Canucks to shift the momentum yet again.

The grit didn’t just manifest itself in tilts. When maintaining the momentum — and staying out of the penalty box — the Canucks dominated on both the fore- and back-checks. Brandon Reid led the way with a number of charges, which earned him a handful of scoring chances.

The Canucks’ first line was dangerous throughout the match. Matt Cooke, Tommi Santala, and Jesse Shultz cycled smoothly, generating several potent shots, but failing to finish.

If the Canucks want to give themselves a chance to tally a win on Thursday night in San Jose, they’ll have to bury their chances — and stay out of the sin bin