Ducks Gameday—Bertuzzi: more notorious than productive
Anaheim Ducks (11-9-4, t-3rd in west) at Vancouver Canucks (12-9-2, t-3rd in west)
I am sick as a dog today, so I'll try to keep this short and sweet. Tonight will be Todd Bertuzzi's first game against Vancouver since he was traded away for Luongo, plus it will be Anaheim's first game against the Canucks since eliminating them in five games last spring. Of course there's plenty of reaction from the Vancouver side of things: Canucks and Beyond, Canucks Hockey Blog, the Yankee Canuck, Orland Kurtenblog, and Waiting for Stanley all have some pregame that's much less congested.
While I understand why Todd Bertuzzi gets the spotlight today, it should be noted that Duck fans are still waiting to get some acceptable production out of the $4 M monster; despite playing the easiest 5-on-5 minutes on the Ducks, Bertuzzi has the team's worst 5-on-5 goals-against rate. Here's a comparison to the guy with the toughest 5-on-5 minutes in the league (source: Behind the Net, min. games = 5, min. TOI = 5).
Todd Bertuzzi, 10 games playedWe'll see how well Bertuzzi is able to pull a season together, but at this point, he's got a lot of improving to do. Carlyle has sheltered his minutes as best as he can, now Bert has got to find a way to start outscoring some of the worst opposition in the league.
EVEN STRENGTH:
Strength of Opposition: -0.18 (589 / 628)
Strength of Teammates: -0.31 (565 / 628)
Plus per hour: +2.44, Minus per hour: -3.05, Diff per hour: -0.61
Sammy Pahlsson, 19 games played
EVEN STRENGTH:
Strength of Opposition: +0.33 (1 / 628)
Strength of Teammates: -0.23 (510 / 628)
Plus per hour: +1.69, Minus per hour: -1.44, Diff per hour: +0.24
See also: my poem about Bertuzzi's concussion and my Bertuzzi-inspired comic book series.
Prediction: Lost a little bit in this preview is the fact that Roberto Luongo has only managed to beat J.S. Giguere once in eight tries last year, and that victory took two overtime periods to achieve. He's still the only goaltender to beat Giguere in a playoff OT game, but other than that has had a real difficult time being the better goaltender when going head-to-head. Giguere keeps the Luongdomination going tonight: Ducks 4, Canucks 2. Goals by Kunitz, Sutherby, Pahlsson, and Schneider; Bertuzzi finishes a -2.
Go Ducks.
25 comments:
Haha! Love that image there, Sleek...ya wiseass. I think tonight is the only night that Bert won't float around the ice like a useless tit.
its my burfday today...i dont want to be drunk and pissed off...i want to be drunk and happy...mother f' ers
we just need to be physical as we have been with them in the past...and we should triumph...
corey run luongo!!! peace
Happy birthday, spade! I will cram some liquor down my cough-tightened throat tonight in your honor.
thanx...turning 21....ive turned 21the last 8 years!!!
hey and i want u drinking real liquor like a shot of jack no Nyquil
after reading your stats..makes that 2nd line sound even shittier...the checking line needs to make a contribution tonite i think for us to win...or a defensmen...maybe another huskins shake n bake....
hey and i want u drinking real liquor like a shot of jack no Nyquil
Don't worry. I hardly ever take medicine that doesn't come in a liquor bottle.
And yeah, the 2nd line has been shitty, but I could stand for it to be break-even, so long as Sammy's shining in the shutdown role. To be outscored in easy minutes, though--that sucks. Basically it throws Sammy's efforts out the window.
well ill be optomistic and say the 2nd line did score the go ahead goal...so maybe ...and thats a big maybe..its the start of somthing good
rumor: mowers was waived...he can go do nothing now for another team or portland...uh hoorah I guess
rumor: mowers was waived...
Well, I'd almost call that a tragedy -- it would have been nice to see what Mowers could do in a logigal fourth-line role.
But still, if I had to make a choice between Mowers gone and Mowers on the 2nd line / 2nd PP unit, he'd be gone in a flash.
It would have been funny if Burke could have somehow gotten more for Mowers than Bryzgalov, though. Then I'd know the trade world was ass-backwards!
forgot to talk about "ghost faced Hilla"...he kind of killed the nickname with the shiny gold new mask he got...I guess it wasnt bryz that blew at the shootout(as evidence by his dominance last friday...the critera...is u have ot be the back up goaltender on the ducks to blow goats on the shootout
I don't know if Bryz really did suck at shootouts--he didn't win any with the Ducks, but it was basically the same rule--if he allowed even one goal, it was a guaranteed loss.
I know this year he lost a shootout 1-0, and I think last year maybe a couple as well. Very few times would I point to Breezy as the problem in his shootouts; mostly it's been a shooter problem.
I haven't taken a close look at Hiller's mask yet, but on TV it looked pretty good.
Hiller's Mask:
http://ducks.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=344383
Pretty good mask, I guess. I'm always the worst person to ask on this stuff, though.
If anyone's interested, btw, I have agreed to a gentleman's drinking game with Zanstorm of WFS. Whichever team you are rooting for, take a shot (or some equivalent) every time your team gets scored on. Knowing these two teams, it's probably a safe game to play.
Slate, since it's your birthday, drink for every line change, too :)
Geez, Earl, how long have you been sick? Startin' to worry me.
Picked it up this weekend. Based on the amount of turkey I've been eating, I suspect it's a tolerable case of avian flu.
Not too bad, though.
Oh, okay. I was thinking you had that cold way back when you left town.
Nice prediction earl.
Bertuzzi 0 G, 0 A, 0 SOG, -2+/-
What bothers me is that Bertuzzi (1G, 4A) has almost as many points as Cheechoo (3G, 4A) in half as many games.
what can be said about last nite...? um that was a wicked cross check by pronger on kesler after the goal...only thing I got to get excited about...lucky house and the lakers were on...I didnt have to continue to watch that garbage...o another positive besides the pronger cross check of doom...we looked like last years ducks in the first period...hoorah for fuckin moral victories!!!
thank u ducks for ruining my burfday...I do now have a hangover....uggggggg
to add:
i was too drunk to tell where we down on the 5 on 3 the whole nite? the refs had a hard on for calling minors on us
whats your take on all that shit
Sorry your birthday game went so sour, Spade. That's why I try to have my birthdays in the summer, when teams can't hurt me.
i was too drunk to tell where we down on the 5 on 3 the whole nite? the refs had a hard on for calling minors on us. whats your take on all that shit
Yeah, that was pretty b.s., given the scoreboard. I don't think either 5-on-3 was deserved, but of course I'm biased.
Once it happened, though, I pretty much gave up (sounds like I even gave up before you did). I've got other television to watch that's easier on the ol' blood pressure.
Well, it sucked, but let the Canucks have their day in the sun. At least it's only regular season, right? (I think I say that about every day now).
Chris Pronger was, is, and always will be a dirty piece of shit. One of these games, somebody's going to give that gap-toothed goon what he deserves, and players all over the NHL will be quietly applauding. BTW, the Ducks could have and should have had a penalty on every single shift. Looking forward to Dec. 12.
Chris Pronger was, is, and always will be a dirty piece of shit. One of these games, somebody's going to give that gap-toothed goon what he deserves, and players all over the NHL will be quietly applauding.
I understand your bitterness here--I used to hate the guy before he was winning games for us, too. Still, point a finger at Chris and point a finger at most defensemen in the league; he still hasn't broken anybody's leg bone this season.
BTW, the Ducks could have and should have had a penalty on every single shift.
Very very homerish thing to say, but behind your hyperbole I don't really know what this means. By your eyes, then, how many penalties should Vancouver be getting per game (or per shift, if that's the metric-du-jour)?
Gotta love the Canuck fans--can't even win a blowout game without bitching to Ducks fans about something.
Yeah Earl, nice weak white uniforms too. Sheesh.
Na, I think our fans hate you guys because of the playoffs and because of Pronger. That's a tough combination to ignore. I can forgive the playoffs (even if game five went our way, it wasn't looking good) but hating Pronger is a birthright for many fans. Odd to think he surpassed Bertuzzi in that regard, but maybe I'm wrong.
That's a good poll actually...who do you hate more: Pronger, Bertuzzi or...hmm...Avery?
Yeah Earl, nice weak white uniforms too. Sheesh.
Confused because we forgot to include what city we were from? :)
That's a good poll actually...who do you hate more: Pronger, Bertuzzi or...hmm...Avery?
You could probably remove Avery and throw Brad May in; then you wouldn't have to leave the lockerroom.
Of course, the results would vary city to city. Pronger wins in Ottawa, Detroit, San Jose, and Edmonton. Bertuzzi takes Colorado and probably a lot of the east. May is probably the most hated in Minnesota for suckerpunching Kim Johnsson round one last year.
In L.A., they'd probably vote for Dan Cloutier.
"I think tonight is the only night that Bert won't float around the ice like a useless tit."
Ooops, sorry. I was wrong!
I didn't want to include May just to make it less of a pile on to Anaheim. But May can belong in there. I'm sure there's a post worthy of the worst person per team...and you'd be hard pressed to find someone more hated then Cooke on Vancouver (though Kesler is starting to make a name for himself).
And yes please put the name of the city on the jerseys please...it's confusing enough to not call you guys "mighty" anymore!
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