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Clamoring for a Cup Red-hot run has Canucks primed for deep playoff runPosted: Saturday December 07, 2002 9:05 PM
A playmaking center from British Columbia, a Swedish sniper, a burly defenseman from Ontario, a butterfly goalie from Quebec, Marc Crawford behind the bench and a Stanley Cup in the trophy case. We must be talking about the 1996 Colorado Avalanche, right? Actually, the 2002-03 Vancouver Canucks fit the criteria, too. Except for that last minor detail, of course. The '95 Quebec Nordiques were knocked out in the first round of the playoffs, then came back to win the '96 Stanley Cup after finishing second in the Western Conference. The 2002 Canucks got bounced by the eventual champion Red Wings in the opening round and the '03 Canucks currently sit second in the West. So can we expect Stanley Park to be the destination of a June parade for the Cup of the same name? Easy there, the Canucks have a ways to go. Wins in 11 of 12 games have fans in Vancouver raising their expectations, but the team is tempering the enthusiasm of those who are looking ahead to April, May and June. "I'm not interested in 10-game streaks," general manager Brian Burke said. "As grateful as we are for that, come April or May, once we are in the playoffs, they aren't going to mention any streaks. We are building this team for playoff success. We haven't had it yet, but we expect to get there." Don't be fooled by their December modesty -- anything less than a spot in the Western Conference finals would be considered a disappointment for this talented bunch. Especially with a bench boss who has hoisted the Cup. Crawford had the best seat in the rink for the Avs' Stanley Cup run their first year in Denver. But he says his current team still has a long ways to go to match the 63-31-10 record Colorado put up in the regular season and playoffs. "That team was a superstar-driven team that had good character people with it," Crawford said. "Ours is more of a team that is developing. And we are continuing to develop, so hopefully one day we'll be able to do some of the things that they were able to accomplish. But we're still in the developmental phase." One of the chief reasons behind the Canucks' sudden development into a contender has been the play of goaltender Dan Cloutier. Cloutier has emerged as one of the top netminders to come out of the goaltending-deep 1994 NHL Entry Draft. Selected 26th overall by the New York Rangers, Cloutier has been more successful than fellow first-rounders Jamie Storr (seventh overall, Los Angeles), Eric Fichaud (16th overall, Toronto) and Evgeni Ryabchikov (21st overall, Boston). Selected after Cloutier were Jose Theodore (44th overall, Montreal), Marty Turco (124th overall, Dallas), Johan Hedberg (218th overall, Philadelphia), Evegni Nabokov (219th overall, San Jose), Tomas Vokoun (226th overall, Montreal) and John Grahame (229th overall, Boston). The Canucks rolled the dice on Cloutier in 2001, acquiring a goaltender whose career record was 22-56-10. Since coming to Vancouver, he is 50-34-13. He has a 15-6-3 record, with a 2.27 goals-against average and a .915 save percentage this season. An 11-1 November was highlighted by helping the team to a franchise-best 10-game win streak and the NHL Player of the Month award. "When a team scores as many goals as we do, it reflects on how well the team has played in front of me," the modest Cloutier said. "They are scoring pretty well right now. It's like we were playing last year in the second half of the season, too. We were getting support from all the other lines. ... Whenever you score four or five goals a game in this league, you usually are going to get a win." Crawford realizes the Canucks' offense has been clicking, but says his netminder has been very impressive. "He's showing a lot of maturity as a goaltender," Crawford said. "He understands what he has to do to be pretty effective right now. And it's showing in his play lately." Burke admits goaltending is the toughest position to judge when a player is on a bad team. But he figured if Cloutier got into a situation where he faced fewer scoring chances and had a burly defense to keep the slot clean and limit second chances, the young goalie could excel. And that's exactly what he has done behind the biggest defense in the league, averaging a monstrous 6-foot-3 and 220 pounds. Cloutier is the latest in a long line of goalies from Quebec. Born in Mont-Laurier, Quebec, but raised in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Cloutier has raised his profile among young Quebecois contemporaries Theodore, Jean-Sebastien Giguere, Jocelyn Thiabult and Marc Denis. Like most butterfly goalies of French-Canadian descent, Cloutier grew up idolizing Patrick Roy. "I would love to have his style," Cloutier said. "I think he's a great goalie and I'm not quite as good as he is technically. Obviously, growing up I tried to be like him. I've just always liked the way he competed. He's just a winner, and those guys are hard to find." Growing up in the Soo, Cloutier's bantam goaltending teammate was Turco. How's that for a duo? Few would've thought a year ago that these former bantam teammates would be challenging each other for Vezina Trophy consideration. Peter Skudra serves as his backup now, not that Skuuds has seen the ice too often. Cloutier has played 1,398 minutes already, compared with just 178 for Skudra. The Canucks have just seven more back-to-backs left this season, making it likely that Cloutier could play 70 games, health pending. "It's hard to say because he's never really had to handle it before," Canucks associate coach Mike Johnston told The Vancouver Province. "I'm not sure if he can, but Marc Crawford -- having handled Patrick Roy the years that he did -- is well versed in how to handle a goaltender in these type of situations." Cloutier played in 62 games last season, despite missing five weeks with an ankle injury. He claims the heavy workload is a positive thing which helps him get in a groove. "The more you play, the more experience you get and the better you get," Cloutier said. "I think I'm better when I play a lot and am in there every night. Especially with the way the schedule is this year, we always seem to be playing every second night, so you always feel fresh." Keep playing him and keep winning. Sounds like a recipe for a Stanley Cup run. Sort of like a certain someone's idol with a saintly nickname. Rock the voteThe usual suspects are stuffing the ballot box for the 2003 NHL All-Star Game. Last year, fans in San Jose voted Vincent Damphousse to start ahead of Joe Sakic, Steve Yzerman, Mario Lemieux and Eric Lindros. Also, Teemu Selanne was elected as a starter for the World team ahead of Jaromir Jagr, Pavel Bure and Peter Bondra. And in Denver, Roy and Rob Blake were voted as North American starters, while Sakic and Adam Foote also finished in the top six. This year, the crowds at the always soldout Pepsi Center have Sakic and Roy leading at center and goalie, and Peter Forsberg, Rob Blake and Foote are all in the top four, too. And fans at the Shark Tank are at it again. Selanne leads Western Conference wingers with 43,555 votes, and Patrick Marleau and Damphousse are fifth and sixth among Western centers. San Jose goaltender Nabokov is third, trailing only Roy and Curtis Joseph. True North proud and freeHalifax and Sydney, Nova Scotia, will host the 2003 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship from Dec. 26, 2002 to Jan. 5, 2003. But a couple of announcements this week should get Canadian fans excited for some future international tournaments, too. Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver are the finalists to host the Canadian portion of the 2004 World Cup of Hockey tournament in September 2004. Toronto is considered a lock, but consideration will be given to using both Ottawa and Vancouver rather than just picking one of the other. The final of the World Cup is scheduled to be played Sept. 14, 2004, one day before the collective bargaining agreement expires. Five Canadian cities placed their bids to host the 2007 World Championship, which amazingly enough haven't been held in Canada since becoming a stand-alone event in 1930. Calgary, Edmonton, Halifax, Saskatoon and Winnipeg each sent in a "letter of intent to bid" on Wednesday. All five cities will offer an operations plan by Jan. 10, 2003, and they will each make a presentation to the IIHF Championship Committee at an undetermined date in January. Rumor millThe Ottawa Sun reports that the Sens and Isles have been talking a lot lately, possibly about a deal involving Radek Bonk heading to Long Island for Dave Scatchard and Brad Isbister. Apparently Ottawa would like to get rid of Magnus Arvedson, too, but Isles GM Mike Milbury doesn't want a player who is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. ... The Islanders might opt to let Chris Osgood walk as a restricted free agent next summer. Though he is hoping to ink a long-term deal to stay on the Island, the combination of Osgood's early-season struggles and Rick DiPietro's development in the minors (14-game unbeaten streak) could force Milbury's hand. ... Predators head coach Barry Trotz remains on thin ice, despite a recent vote of confidence from owner Craig Leipold. Nashville isn't going to make the playoffs, despite its guarantee to season-ticket holders. Worth notingRecently dismissed Flames head coach Greg Gilbert had the second-worst winning percentage of the nine men who helmed the team since moving to Calgary in 1980. Brian Sutter had a .439 winning percentage (87-117-37-5), and Gilbert's .442 winning percentage (42-56-17-6) is just slightly better. ... Kevin Dupont of The Boston Globe points out that the Penguins' power play is converting at a rate comparable to those of some of the legendary offensive teams of the 1970s. In 1977-78, the Montreal Canadiens scored on 31.9 percent of their power plays during the regular season en route to the Cup. And the New York Islanders, two years away from winning the first of their four consecutive Cups, connected on 31.3 percent of their man-advantage situations. ... Alexandre Daigle's comeback attempt may be coming apart at the seams. Daigle was a healthy scratch Tuesday for the first time this season and has lost his spot in the lineup to rookie Michal Sivek. ... According to The Hockey News, 32 percent (209 of 653) of NHL players are wearing visors, an increase of 14 percent from last season. ... After rolling up a hideous minus-13 in his first nine games, Thrashers left wing Ilya Kovalchuk is even in the past 15 games. ... Both overtime game-winning penalty shots have come against the Rangers. Philadelphia's Michal Handzus beat Dan Blackburn on Thursday, and Nashville's David Legwand beat Kirk McLean on Dec. 23, 2000, also when Mike Richter was out with an injury. ... After going 1-27-5-1 when trailing after two periods last year, the Lightning are 3-5-3-1 this season and have rallied 12 times to earn points. ... Flames interim head coach Al MacNeil faced off with one of his former players on Thursday -- Wild head coach Jacques Lemaire played on MacNeil's 1969-70 Montreal Canadiens team. Maybe the Flames should consider MacNeil for permanent duty, since he is 2-1-1 in fill-in duty over the past two years, with wins over the Red Wings and Avalanche. ... Forbes magazine reports that Toronto had the largest operating profit, making $24.2 million on revenue of $112 million, while Washington had the biggest operating loss, $25.4 million on revenue of $61 million. ... Blackhawks defenseman Boris Mironov is losing $18,333 for each day he misses during his suspension, based on his $3.3 million salary. ... Flames right wing Jarome Iginla has just three games with multiple points this season after getting a remarkable 31 last season. ... With a 7-6 overtime win on Friday, the Capitals are 8-0-1 at home against the Thrashers. ... Though it's an unofficial statistic not kept by the league, Stars right wing Bill Guerin had his streak of 121 straight games with at least one shot snapped against the Canadiens on Wednesday. Boston's Ray Bourque holds the longest streak, getting a shot on goal in 360 consecutive games from 1990-95. ... The Canadiens will honor Bob Gainey on Thursday at the Bell Center, but his No. 23 won't be retired. ... Blackhawks goalie Jocelyn Thibault and right wing Steve Sullivan teamed up to buy a suite at the United Center to donate to youth groups for the remainder of the season. ... The Canucks spent Friday at the B.C. Children's Hospital, unveiling a renovation to the playroom that was made possible by a $250,000 grant from their Canucks For Kids Fund. ... Hockey fans in the Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex can skate with their heroes on Sunday, as the Stars host the 10th Annual Baylor Health Care System Skate With the Stars at the American Airlines Center. Shameless plugSince storming onto the scene in 1989, Upper Deck has made quite a splash in the collectibles market. Seven hockey brands have already been released this season (Victory, MVP, Top Shelf, Vintage, Series 1, Foundations and Piece of History), but the two upcoming hockey releases are among the most exciting products in their lineup. The premium SPx series comes out on Dec. 11, with 20 parallel and insert subsets, not to mention an impressive array of memorabilia cards. At $6.99 per five-card pack, it's not cheap, but SPx has come to be recognized as the top product in the marketplace. This will be the first set to feature autographed jersey rookie cards, which will be inserted one per box. Then on Dec. 19, Upper Deck will release its long-awaited Classic Portraits series. With Bobby Orr on the box and wrappers, Classic Portraits will have a 100-card base series and 13 insert sets, offering cards of both current and past players. Rookie cards will be inserted two per box and the set will feature the first Upper Deck rookie of Jason Spezza. But the highlight of the set is the mini busts, which will come one per box. Fifteen different players will be featured, including Orr, Gordie Howe, Roy, Jagr and Joseph. This also will be a premium quality product, as its $4.99 pack price suggests. Jon A. Dolezar covers the NHL for CNNSI.com. Got a comment, question or scoop for Jon? Click here. |
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