Cam Charron's Hockey Stats

Last time these teams met, I think it was the worst hockey game I ever watched. Tuesday’s game was at least a bit more entertaining.

The problem with tracking the Canucks down the stretch is that they’re not very good, but the good news is that after the trade deadline, they may get a little better, or at least a little more interesting. I’m typing these words after the Canucks acquired Vitali Kravtsov from the New York Rangers on Saturday afternoon, and while a player like Kravtsov won’t solve any of the problems with the Canucks, he has the potential to be something a little more interesting, like Podkolzin or Kuzmenko are.

Even though the one Granlund in the game played for Nashville, I can’t shake the fact that the Canucks are very much in another “Sea of Granlunds” phase. About half the players on this roster are mediocre in some way, and many are probably playing for their last NHL team. That’s a true problem with the Canucks when players like Phil Di Giuseppe or Sheldon Dries look like real offensive contributors: these are players that didn’t stick anywhere in the NHL at any of their other previous NHL stops. The Canucks moving those players out and making space for players like Kravtsov may make the team a little more watchable as we approach March. The league for some reason schedules almost no rest after the trade deadline, which makes the grind all that more obvious.

Also interesting: multiple goals scored with the net empty doesn’t happen often. This was just the fourth time a team sent the game to overtime this season after scoring multiple goals with the net empty. In two of the other three occasions, the team making the miracle comeback lost the game in extra time. It’s always fun when something stupid happens in sports that doesn’t happen often.