Month: December 2022

Calgary Wranglers Preview One game with the Reign

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The Calgary Wranglers are sticking around California for one more game on Saturday evening. They will come off a back-to-back as they just finished their series against the Bakersfield Condors on Friday night. They had quite a week against Bakersfield winning 9-2 on Wednesday night and again on Friday in a narrower 2-1 win. They will keep things going into Saturday to play a new opponent for one night. 

Continue reading “Calgary Wranglers Preview One game with the Reign”

Betway Bets of the Day Vancouver Canucks look to end 2022 in style against the Calgary Flames

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Welcome back to Betway Bets of the Day brought to you by NHL betting odds site Betway!

A Mark Scheitele hat trick helped propel the Jets to a decisive 4-2 win over the Canucks and snapped Vancouver’s three game win streak.

The Canucks will look to improve their impressive 10-2 record against pacific division opponents as they face the Calgary Flames. Here are three bets I like for tonight’s game.

Player Prop 

Tyler Toffoli to register over 2.5 shots at -138. My $10 bet would return $17.27. 

The former Canuck Toffoli always bring his A game against Vancouver. Toffoli has tallied 16 shots in his last 5 games which is an average of 3.2 per game, I like his over tonight.

Special Teams 

Vancouver to score a power play goal at +110. My $10 bet would return $21.

The 2011 Canucks had what many fans consider the best power play in franchise history, but the current Canucks are actually scoring at a higher rate with the extra man. Anytime they’re at plus money, I am taking them to score one.

Anytime Goalscorer 

Andrei Kuzmenko to score a goal at +240. My $5 bet would return $17.

Kuzmenko was the difference maker the last time these two teams played scoring a slick goal in a shootout win for the Canucks. Kuzemko has started to heat up scoring six points in his last four games. I like him to score a goal tonight.

Quick note: this bet is only for half a unit.

Last Game Bets

Mark Scheifele to register over 2.5 shots at -125. My $10 bet would return $18.00 – HIT

Bo Horvat to score a goal at +135. My $10 bet would return $23.50.- MISSED

Winnipeg to score a power play goal at -138. My $10 bet would return $17.27. – HIT

Two for three again. We stakes $30 and returned $35.27. We are up $28.47 on the year.

Team Canada Preview A lot on the line vs Sweden

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After rolling over both Germany and Austria, Team Canada will now face their toughest task of the 2023 World Juniors as they go up against Team Sweden in their final round-robin game.

This tournament has been wild so far and there is still a lot to play for on the final day of the round-robin. For example, there is still a chance that Canada and the USA will have to play each other in the quarterfinals.

If Canada beats Sweden in regulation time and Czechia beats Germany in any fashion, Canada will be locked in as the number two seed in Group A. On the other side, if the USA loses to Finland, then they’ll come third. That would set up a Canada vs USA matchup tomorrow.

The best-case scenario today for Canada would be a win over Sweden combined with a Czechia regulation loss. That would lead to Canada jumping up to the top spot in their group and would mean a much easier quarterfinal matchup.

There’s a lot up in the air on the final day of the round-robin. Continue reading “Team Canada Preview A lot on the line vs Sweden”

What is your wildest hockey prediction for 2023

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It’s time to ring in the New Year, and that always makes for a perfect prediction window. Roundtable members: Offer your wildest hockey prediction for the calendar year 2023. The spicier the take, the better.

MATT LARKIN: Here goes nothin’: Patrick Kane wins the Stanley Cup. With the situation getting uglier by the day in Chicago, I predict he waives his no-movement clause. Because he has that veto power, he’ll have an influence on his destination, which means he’ll go to a real contender. Given his pedigree as one of the greatest clutch players in NHL history, I believe he’ll put his new team over the top, whether it’s the New York Rangers, Boston Bruins, Edmonton Oilers, Dallas Stars, Toronto Maple Leafs – you get the idea. Kane will be the missing piece and will end up earning his fourth Cup ring in spring 2023.

NICK ALBERGA: Patrice Bergeron retires following the 2022-23 campaign. For some reason, this season for Boston has had that ‘Last Dance’ feel from the onset. It’s probably the conspiracy theorist in me, but every time I hear a Bruins player talk about Bergeron, it’s like they know this is it – hence the ridiculous start. And let’s be honest, the 37-year-old has nothing else to prove. He’s done it all. On top of that, he just strikes me as a guy who has no problem calling it quits when he clearly still has plenty left in the tank. For me, the B’s feel like a team of destiny. At the very least, I hope there’s a camera crew following their every move. 

STEVEN ELLIS: This… is finally the year the Toronto Maple Leafs break the playoff curse. I’m not sure I would have said that before the year based on their goaltending. But the fact Matt Murray and Ilya Samsonov are both capable of winning games – and they finally have some defensive depth – is a huge thing. I think they could still use someone capable of putting some pucks in the net in the bottom six, but I do think this is finally the year that Toronto has learned from its past failures and can make some noise. After the first round, though? I’m not convinced yet. 

MIKE MCKENNA: My prediction is that not one NHL head coach gets fired before the end of the 2022-23 NHL regular season. I mean, who’s actually in trouble? Bruce Boudreau? Vancouver is playing decent enough hockey and the team will clearly be selling at the trade deadline. So I think Bruce makes it to the end. I don’t think Vancouver’s ownership wants to be paying three head coaches (Travis Green is still collecting a check), much less make a hurried decision mid-season. How about Dallas Eakins? Anaheim is terrible. But why would they fire Eakins mid-season? There’s really no need considering the team is in the Connor Bedard sweepstakes and Eakin’s contract is expiring. Brad Larsen in Columbus? D.J. Smith in Ottawa? Both teams have been ravaged by injury and expectations weren’t high to begin with. Basically I don’t see any tire fires around the league right now. Obviously that can change. But I don’t think the real coaching fireworks happen until the offseason when Barry Trotz tosses his hat back in the ring.

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Mitch Marners record-breaking Toronto Maple Leafs points streak in numbers

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2022 is coming to a close and one of the most memorable moments throughout the past calendar year was Mitch Marner’s franchise-record setting points streak for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Marner’s streak officially came to an end at 23 games, coinciding with the team narrowly missing out on setting a team record for consecutive games with a point at 16.

Marner’s run, which dates back to an October 27th overtime loss to the San Jose Sharks, is something that may not be witnessed again for many years. The previous record of 18, had lasted decades without being broken. Initially set by Darryl Sittler during the 1977-78 campaign, it was matched by Ed Olczyk 13 seasons later. The record remained at 18 for a further 32 years, meaning it had stood for 45 until Marner officially reached 19 on December 3rd.

With such a historic record now officially in the books, placing Marner’s name among the all-time great Leafs players, let’s take a look at some of the numbers that make up the impressive feat.

23. Obviously, the first number is the number of games that Marner managed to register at least one point in. Five more than the previous record, it’s an impressive feat and one that should remind everyone just how special and important he truly is to the team.

47. From the date of his first point to the date of his last, it took Marner 47 days to set his record-breaking streak. More than a month-and-a-half’s worth of hockey was played during his run and fans were able to enjoy a momentous occasion as the previous record of 18 was matched and then surpassed by five more games, making it one that is likely to survive for at least a few more decades. Assuming Marner doesn’t start up another streak of his own in that time.

32. During Marner’s superb 23-game run, he amassed a stellar 32 points. Spread across a full 82-game season, that would’ve had Marner playing at a 111-point pace. To highlight how impressive that truly is, Marner currently has 41 points in 36 games, which has him playing at a 93-point pace. To elevate his scoring to be nearly 20 points above his overall pace truly is special.

11. Making up those 32 points were 11 goals and 21 assists, with the Ontario native maintaining his usual elite playmaking while also chipping in with a decent amount of goals along the way. Removing those 23 games, Marner has scored just twice more outside of his spectacular run, a run which saw him register 63 shots, converting on 17.5% of them. With such a strong run, it has elevated Marner’s current season shooting percentage to 14.4%, which is the second-highest of his career to date.

Eight of Marner’s goals came at even strength, while two of them were game-winners. He averaged just shy of 21 minutes per night during this run and it’s clear that giving stars more time on the ice will certainly produce better results.

9. While recording a point in 23 consecutive games is truly the focus of attention this run was given, Marner actually had nine multi-point games during that run. What is interesting, also, is that Marner began his run with a goal and an assist against the San Jose Sharks, and recorded his final points with a two-goal effort against the Anaheim Ducks. His streak began in California and his final points were also recorded in California.

2022 was a memorable year for the Toronto Maple Leafs, and Marner’s run was certainly a highlight that will be remembered for many years to come. Hopefully there will be more moments awaiting the team in 2023.

CanucksArmy top 5 of 2022 Rutherfords early interview, Canucks players reaction to the Hamonic trade, and more

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This year at CanucksArmy, we thought it’d be fun to take a look back and dive into the data of what our most-read stories of the year were.

Tomorrow, on New Year’s Eve, we’ll list the top 25 of the year, but today, we thought we’d tease it with a bit of a more detailed look at the top five stories of the last calendar year.

So without further ado, here are the top five articles of the year here at CanucksArmy!

5. “Canucks President Jim Rutherford on trade plans, shaking things up, and Elias Pettersson’s struggles” by Lachlan Irvine on January 2nd, 2022

What a difference (almost) a year makes.

Shortly after being hired, Canucks president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford did an interview on Sportsnet 650 in which he spoke about his management style and how the Canucks planned to approach the remainder of last season and beyond.

In the interview, Rutherford spoke about the shortlist of candidates he had to fill the Canucks’ then-vacant general manager positon.

Among other things, Rutherford talked about the then-struggling Elias Pettersson, and was confident that the young Swedish forward would turn things around eventually.

“I do think he’s taken strides in the right direction, compared to where he was the first 20 games or so,” Rutherford said. “He’s making some headway, albeit it’s not as quick as we all would like. But we know it’s there. He’s done it before. And he’s just gotta keep working at it.”

Pettersson did indeed keep working away at it, and the result is him now leading the Canucks in points.

When Rutherford speaks, people listen. That’s no different now than it was to begin 2022, and that’s why this article lands at our number five spot.

4. “Report: San Jose Sharks terminate Evander Kane’s contract after travelling to Vancouver while COVID-19 positive” by Zach Laing on January 8th, 2022

This was a truly bizarre story, as a report came from The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz that the San Jose Sharks were terminating Evander Kane’s contract after he travelled to his hometown of Vancouver while COVID-19 positive.

Kane was also suspended by the NHL for 21 games earlier that season after he produced a fake vaccination card in an attempt to skirt the league’s rules.

After the Sharks terminated his contract, the Edmonton Oilers swooped in to pick him up, and re-signed Kane this past offseason.

3. “The Arizona Coyotes are out of control and it’s time for the NHL to take action” by Noah Strang on May 22nd, 2022

The writers at CanucksArmy are all known for different things. Stephan is known for his lengthy think pieces, Faber for prospects, Lachlan for goalie stuff, Cody for Abbotsford tracking, Michael for telling us why the Canucks statistically won or lost games, and of course Wyatt for making me stay up too late editing The Stanchies.

But Noah has emerged as one of the writers more willing to give his take unapologetically and shoot from the hip. When he’s got something on his mind, he doesn’t hesitate to put pen to paper and tell it as he sees it. More than one of his editorials will be seen in tomorrow’s top 25, but this one about the Arizona Coyotes’ arena situation lands in our number three spot.

In the op-ed, Noah wrote:

“The NHL already plays a little brother role in the North American sports world, trailing the MLB, NFL, and NBA in every metric imaginable. Hockey is a great product but the fact remains that it doesn’t sell in every American market and trying to force it results in embarrassing situations like this one that only attack the legitimacy of the league.

“How could you argue that the NHL produces a product of the same quality as those other leagues when one of the franchises is playing on a college campus? The Coyotes’ situation has gone from bad to worse and it’s time that the NHL steps in and takes serious action before it turns catastrophic.”

There’s more in the full article of course, but you get the idea. Clearly, folks appreciated what Noah had to say, because this was one of our most widely shared articles and was one of the ones folks spent the most time reading on CanucksArmy this year.

2. “Tampa Bay Lightning announcer calls Canucks coach Bruce Boudreau a “moron” live on air” by David Quadrelli on March 14th, 2022

Hey, I know him!

Like many of you, I watched the Canucks take on the Tampa Bay Lightning on March 13th, 2022. I was in the press box for this game, a 2-1 loss for the Canucks on home ice, meaning I didn’t watch or listen to any broadcasts of it.

But when I got home that night, I saw a clip on Twitter of Tampa’s colour commentator Bobby Taylor making the rounds all over social media.

In the clip, Taylor reacts to Canucks head coach Bruce Boudreau asking for an explanation from the officials of why a high-sticking call that was assessed to Tampa defenceman Jan Rutta was reviewed and taken back. The announcer calls Boudreau a “moron”.

It was bizarre and unprofessional, and apparently, folks love that kind of thing, because this was our second-most viewed article of the year.

1. “Report: Multiple Canucks players say dressing room atmosphere “a breath of fresh air” without Hamonic” by Mike Gould on March 23, 2022

Speaking of bizarre — that’s the third time we’ve used that word to describe our top five stories — the reaction when Travis Hamonic was dealt from the Canucks to the Ottawa Senators was unlike anything we’d seen before.

We saw former players like Marc Methot talk about how he’s heard that Hamonic is a “different bird”.

We heard Frank Seravalli — whom this report came from — say that multiple players reached out to express what a “breath of fresh air” it was to get Hamonic out of the dressing room.

“Even just going back to the weekend,” Seravalli said in a radio hit shortly after the 2022 Trade Deadline. “It’s not a substantial change, but moving out Hamonic and bringing in Dermott, the cap change, the change in the room, like, you know, multiple players have reached out to say just what a breath of fresh air it was after getting rid of Travis Hamonic. This is the first, sort of, step forward for this new management regime, it wasn’t necessarily what everyone wanted it to be, in terms of significant movement, but it also means they weren’t going to back themselves into a corner and make any moves that they didn’t need to.”

Obviously there was a ton of unwanted drama surrounding Hamonic to begin the 2021-22 season, but it’s hard to remember a time when a player left a team and had reports like this come out about them almost immediately after.

It was basically unheard of, which is probably why it was the most-read article of the year here at CanucksArmy. 

Tomorrow, we’ll get into the top 25 (with much less background and detail about each story) as we close the book on the year 2022!