The Fifth Liners

The Vancouver Canucks season is finally underway and John Tortorella's first home game at the Rogers Arena couldnt have gone any better as the Canucks brushed aside the Edmonton Oilers 6-2 with the Sedin Brothers proving the standout! After being torn apart by San Jose on friday night, this win sees their season getting back on the right tracks. But many Canucks fans must have thought they were in for another frustrating night when Jeff Petry gave the Oilers the lead after less than two minutes played! But there was to be a silver lining for the Canucks soon after as Brad Richardson seized on a breakaway chance to bury a shot underneath Oilers keeper Devan Dubnyk and then with only 90 seconds left in the first, Dan Hamhuis buried a spectular slap shot from distance before Jannik Hansen scored to push the Canucks into a 3-1 lead! The second period saw Vancouver truly take control as Daniel Sedin scored on a powerplay off an assist from his brother Henrik after only 7 minutes be...

IThe New York Islanders won an entertaining 4-3 clash against the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center last night which was only decided by a narrow shootout. New Devils recruit Damien Brunner (sorry Mike) gave New Jersey the lead with three minutes gone in the period but 1st star of the game Michael Grabner quickly levelled when he seized on a breakaway to score low underneath Martin Brodeur. Into the second period it was another new Devil who gave the home side the lead when Michael Ryder scored a wrap around to flag up his first NJ goal- but again the lead was soon pegged back when Grabner bagged his second after 13 minutes. The Islanders edged in front after only a minute of the third period when Frans Nielsen scored, but this time it was New Jersey who levelled the scores when Damien Brunner scored his second with only three minutes of the third left to bring the scores to 3-3! The shootout went six rounds without any scores, but finally Matt Moulson used some clever t...

The Vancouver Canucks once again fell victim to the San Jose Sharks as the lost 4-1 at the newly named SAP Center in John Tortorella's first game in charge. After being elimated here last season the playoffs- defeat here is officially making the California team the Canucks bogey side! Jason Garrison gave the Canucks the lead on a powerplay mid way through the first and for once it seemed that things might go Vancouver's way in this arena. But any hopes of victory were dashed when Brent Burns levelled the scores 5 minutes into the second period before Justin Braun edged them in front with only minutes left in the period. Late in the third period the Sharks took control when Patrick Marleau scored off an assist from 1st star Logan Couture and Tommy Wingels made sure of the result with 5 minutes left to play. In net Roberto Luongo had a busier night with 35 saves compared to Sharks goalie Anitti Niemi with 22, but the defence and offense were sorely lacking both department...

One thing I noticed while watching the sell-out Rangers @ Coyotes game is the number of very young kids at the game. This is awesome, especially for the Coyotes who've not had the greatest attendance statistics in recent years. It got me wondering if the kids would remember the game, and if Vrbata's hatrick would be their first memory. That then begged the question what's my earliest memory of hockey? And that took me on a little trip down memory lane. I'm a Whitley Bay lad, if that place sounds familiar, it's where Red Wings coach Mike Babcock was player/coach in the late 80s. Babcock had a successful time stint at Hillheads, scoring 45 goals and 127 assists in 49 games.  The oldest game I remember going to was 10 years after Babcock had joined the team, by which time he was at the Spokane Chiefs but the Warriors were still doing pretty well. The rink, built in 1955 was a shed. In the 96/97 season, it was not a cool place to be. But it had character. No...

While the Phoenix Coyotes ' troubles off the ice seem to be resolved for now, any uncertainty about the team's future was definitely not reflected on the ice. The Coyotes really brought the game to the Rangers last night, ruining Alain Vigneault's debut. Kyle Chipchura netted first for Phoenix only a few minutes into the game after an error by Henrik Lundqvist allowed Rob Klinkhammer to set up Chipchura for the opener. The Jobing.com arena gave the Phoenix keeper a standing ovation after Mike Smith made a sprawling double save to keep the Coyotes in the lead.  The Rangers upped their game but the first period finished with the Coyotes leading 1-0. The second period brought more goals, Marc Staal cancelled out the Coyotes' lead during a Rangers powerplay. The game didn't stay tied for long though, Radim Vrbata was alert to a rebounding puck to fire past Lundqvist just before the halfway point of the game. The second period finished without inc...

Patrick Roy's enjoyed the perfect start as head coach of the Colorado Avalanche last night as they routed the Anaheim Ducks 6-1 at the Pepsi Centre! Given a rapturous standing ovation before the game start, Roy repaid his fans faith with a stunning performance. But there was another debut that also caught the headlines as number one overall draft pick Nathan Mackinnon chipped in with two assists to help his team to a big win. Ryan O’Reilly got the party started in the first period when he seized on a defensive mistake to make the score one to nothing. The second period however was when the Avs really caught their stride as Stevie Downie and John Mitchell pushed their advantage to 3-0 mid way through the period. But with 17 minutes gone, Mackinnon was finally given his chance to shine as his pass set up Jamie McGinn for the teams fourth! The pair then combined again early in the second to incredibly push Colorado 5-0 ahead before Matt Duchene capped off an impressive ...

After his trip to hospital to dissolve a blood clot, Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Tomas Vokoun will be out three to six months while he recovers. The announcement was made today. Rookie Jeff Zatkoff will serve as Marc-Andre Fleury's backup. We both wish Vokoun a speedy recovery and hope to see him back soon.