[GDT] Vancouver Canucks vs NY Rags | Rogers Arena | Nov 19 7PM PST (10PM EST) | Watching the Game LIVE - So We Will Win Game

[Rocket-68]

A Random Hockey Story 

Spoiler

Four Pretty Good Hockey Stories

Author: Hal Gill (former NHLer)

 

My job was to smack the side of the TV.

And then, like magic, Ray Bourque and the Boston Bruins would appear.

Man, he was so good. I could have watched him all night. But I was just a young kid, and I had to go to sleep. My parents would only let me watch the first two periods.

Before they would send me to bed, though, they’d have me stand beside the TV and smack the hell out of it. I was the youngest kid in my family, so it was my job to hit the TV when the image got fuzzy. In the ’80s, you didn’t call your cable company when something went wrong. You just gave the TV a beating and somehow the picture would eventually come back. So I’d stand there next to the old Zenith/Magnavox in our living room in Bolton, Massachusetts, watching the Bruins and smacking the set. That’s where my love for hockey began.

Now, 30 years later, I do color commentary for the Nashville Predators radio broadcasts. I don’t know if there’s anybody out there who has to smack their radio so they can hear me better, but I can sympathize if there is.

It’s the moments that happened between then and now that I want to tell you about, though. And since I’m going to do my best to not bore you. I’m just going to give you four of my favorite memories — just some stories and impressions I picked up during my 17-year NHL career.

We’ve got Joe Thornton eating doughnuts. We’ve got the ’09 Penguins locker room. We’ve even got P.K. Subban’s first goal.

These are my unfiltered (and slightly-edited) Pretty Good Hockey Stories.

 

Ray Bourque Can Sing

We have to start in Boston. When I was drafted, in 1993, I didn’t even know the draft was happening. I was at home, just helping my mom around the house. The phone rang, and I had to run across the room to yank it off the wall.

“Hi, Hal. This is Joe Lyons from Bruins. We’ve uh … we’ve just taken you in the eighth round of the draft.”

I honestly had no idea what was going on. I’d only just graduated from high school. I think I asked my mom to come over and talk to him. Nowadays, with all the fuss around the NHL draft, it’s kind of hard to explain, but back then, I was just completely caught off guard. Like, O.K., I guess I’m going to be in the NHL now?

Yeah … no.

I ending up having to play for four years at Providence College before I finally got my chance with the Bruins.

 

Man, my rookie camp in ’97 was tough. I was 6′ 7″, and every single guy trying to make a name for himself wanted to get a piece of me. I felt like I was getting into a scrap every day. I met my mother for dinner one night during camp, and she saw the black eye and the bloody knuckles. It was a … new experience for both of us. She knew I was going for it, and she was right out there with me.

Camps have changed a lot, but even back then we had the VO2 max test. Which — for those fortunate enough to not know — is an exercise that basically tests how fit you are by pushing you to your limit.

It sucks. In Boston, we did our test on a stationary bike. And, O.K., I have to tell a quick story about the bike. In 2000, when Mike Keenan was our coach, we did all our testing in camp. I rode for about 13 minutes and I think I scored around 50 on the bike, which was below average. Right after I finished, this lanky, blonde-haired kid came in. It was a 21-year-old Joe Thornton. He sat on the bike … with a doughnut in his mouth … kind of smirking at me while he ate it. And he took his time eating that thing, too. Then he rode for about eight minutes and scored a 65. Which was really, really good.

And now that doughnut-eating kid is on his way to the Hall of Fame.

But my best memory of Bruins camps? Definitely when I finally made the team. Because after I was told I was going to be a Bruin — for real — and we were all getting ready for the team picture, Ray Bourque came up to me while I was looking in the mirror. He had a big smile on his face, and he was singing, “Loooooks like you made iiiiiit! Loooooks like you made iiiiiit!” to the tune of that Barry Manilow classic.

So, yeah, Ray Bourque sang to me.

 

 

Thank You, Sid, May I Have Another?

The first thing that struck me about Sidney Crosby was his size.

He was … small. I wanted to dominate and overpower him. When we matched up, I wanted him to feel every ounce of my strength. I was still with the Bruins in 2005 when I played him for the first time. He was tearing up the league and I thought, All right, kid, you haven’t played me yet.

First shift, I get him in the corner and I lean on him, and he doesn’t move. It’s like I’m pushing against a brick wall. And then he slips right off me, and he’s gone. I tried it again and again and again. Then sometime in the second period I realized: I’m doing exactly what he wants. He wants me to lean on him, so he can slip off me. He wants me to try to bully him, because he can’t be bullied. He’s too strong.

So the next shift I get out there, and I think, O.K., I’m going to force him to his backhand every time. That’s what I would do to guys I couldn’t handle, because everyone is weaker on their back hand; it makes it harder for them to pass. But Sid would fire pinpoint backhand passes 30 or 40 feet across the ice. It was like he was playing a different sport.

How?! This guy is only 19. I don’t get it.

Then I became teammates with him in 2007, and it all made sense. I saw his work ethic, his leadership and his passion for the game — nobody loves hockey more than Sid. And I saw his skill up close. His vision, his speed and — yeah, he’s got thighs like tree trunks — I saw why I couldn’t move him on the ice.

 

When we lost the 2008 Cup Finals to the Red Wings in six games, it was tough, and I think that was a turning point for the franchise. There was this NHL ad that ran on TV in the offseason that year, with a picture of our bench right after the Cup loss, and Sid steps out of it and says, “I never want to be in this photograph again.”

That sort of summed up the mood for the entire following season. I saw this … change in all of our young guys. Sid, Geno (Evgeni Malkin), Flower (Mark-Andre Fleury), they all came to camp with an extra gear. That was the best feeling — knowing everyone in the room believed in the cause. That’s not going to happen again; we won’t let it.

Soon enough I realized that you can believe all you want, but s*** still happens. We struggled in the early part of that season. Call it a hangover (I don’t believe in that) or whatever you want, but it took us a while to get going in the 2008–09 season. And for me, personally, it was hard. I was a healthy scratch for 10 or so games. My contract was up at the end of the year, too. I sort of thought that might be it for me. Who was going to sign an aging, big-bodied defenseman who’d been sitting in the press box?

I went to Ray Shero, our GM at the time, nearly every day asking for a trade. It was a miserable time in my life. But I should have known how fast things can change.

In February, our coach was relieved of his duties and Dan Bylsma came in. I remember hearing the news and then — just a few hours after taking over — Bylsma called a team meeting.

Right after the meeting, Dan pulled me aside, “Hal, are you ready to play?”

I said, “Of course.”

“Good,” he said.

That was it. We found our game right away. And that belief that was always there felt more and more important every week as we got closer to the Finals again. When we did get there, it was just different than the year before. There was this level of focus and determination that came from the pressure of being back. You see, pressure isn’t always bad, or good. It just is. And if you have guys who can handle it — who can manipulate it — then it’s powerful.

Sid and Geno used it to be forces, and we leaned on them. They were on a different planet every game. But even though we had great players like them, it takes a team … it takes a city. The fans in Pittsburgh were great. And who does everyone remember from Game 7? Max Talbot, of course. Depth was crucial, and we had it, and Coach Bylsma did a great job using it.

I watched Sid lift the Cup. Then, a few minutes later, I was skating around with it over my head.

And when I handed it off, I thought about a million things — but I remember realizing how unique everyone’s story was. Sid and I couldn’t have been more different, but like the whole team, we came together to deliver something great to the city of Pittsburgh.

I’ll be forever thankful to the people in that dressing room.

 

 

Big Market Syndrome

There’s been a lot made recently of the way “big-market media” handles its players. I’ve played in Boston, Toronto, Pittsburgh, Montreal, Nashville and Philadelphia — I know what it means to play in a big market.

When I was with the Leafs for the 2006–07 season, we had a pretty good team. We missed the playoffs by one point. Our second-leading scorer on defense was Bryan McCabe. He was a great player and a really important part of our dressing room. But the media gave him a hard time. Every night, it seemed, they would pick on him. And Bryan didn’t get too phased by it, but I was hearing this stuff and seeing it on TV and thinking, Bryan? Bryan McCabe?

Bryan just came to work every day and did his job and was one of the best teammates I’ve ever had. But to the media, he wasn’t that, and they couldn’t appreciate what he meant to our room. It was … mind boggling.

And look, I understand — I work in media now. I’ve seen the other side. There’s nothing inherently wrong with criticism, but sometimes the media does so much more harm than good and for no reason. I use that McCabe story as an example because it made no sense to me back then — and it still doesn’t.

So when guys like Jordan Eberle and Taylor Hall come out and talk about the impact of negative media attention, I think it’s worth listening.

It’s not just the media, either, in these markets.

 

During my second year in Montreal, back in the 2010–11 season, Carey Price had just burst onto the scene. He was only 23 years old during that preseason. He spent the whole summer and camp working harder than anyone on the team to get in shape and improve his game. We had an exhibition game in September, our first one of the year, against the Bruins.

So when guys like Jordan Eberle and Taylor Hall come out and talk about the impact of negative media attention, I think it’s worth listening.

Carey had a rough night — it happens. Even he is human. But the Habs fans were all over him. They were booing, cheering for his mistakes, giving the backup goalie a round of applause — they were out for blood. It was our first exhibition game of the year. Nobody was more disappointed than Carey. But when the game ended, I was furious. Not at him … at our fans.

So I got in front of the cameras in the locker room and called out the fans. I told them they were ignorant for doing what they did. I told them they weren’t helping the team, and they had no business doing that. I really thought — after I said all that — that I would be a dead man walking in Montreal.

But you know what? The fans actually liked it.

And the media called me a good teammate for standing up for Carey.

I ended up having a great relationship with the media and fans in Montreal. Sometimes, each of them can send you mixed signals. But they care — and that’s the beauty of playing in a city like that.

 

 

 

P.K. and a New Generation of Hockey

I was so excited to play the Penguins in the 2010 playoffs. I was with Montreal, and I had won the Cup in Pittsburgh the year before. I had played with Sid the last couple of seasons, and I felt like I knew how to give him a hard time.

Then, before Game 1, our coach, Jacques Martin, put P.K. Subban in the lineup — our rookie defenseman who had only played four NHL games to that point.

So we’re a shift or two into the game. Things are going O.K., and I can see the line changes happening and realize P.K. is about to go on with Sid. He hops on, and the first thing I hear is P.K.

“Hey! Sid! I got you all night, baby! It’s you and me! All night! I’m going to be right there, man! Let’s go!”

He’s chirping at Sid all the way up and down the ice the entire shift.

And I was thinking, Kid, shut the f*** up! Don’t wake him up! Don’t try to get in his head — you can’t win, man.

Those first few minutes, there wasn’t a moment that went by without P.K. saying something to one of their guys — or him trying to antagonize their star players. About two minutes into the game, a Penguins player came up to me, like, “You’re going to get the kid killed if you don’t shut him up.”

But before I could saying anything to P.K., he scored. Just 4:30 into a best-of-seven against the Stanley Cup champs, he scored. It was his first NHL goal.

 

And then I sort of began to understand.

P.K. is going to be P.K. — no matter what.

I didn’t like the bow-and-arrow down-the-ice celebration. I didn’t like all the flash — I was a fossil and I guess I’ve come around a bit since then — but it didn’t matter what I liked. Or what I thought, really. P.K. Subban is an excellent hockey player, and he has brought so much to the game — we should be thankful. I think he learned some of the lessons — sometimes the hard way — that I tried to teach him, and I learned plenty of things from him, too.

Now I get to watch him every night in Nashville, and it’s awesome. The players here, they let him do his thing, and that’s when P.K. is at his best. Just let him be, and watch your team go up the standings.

It’s been really fun to watch this team grow. And to watch the game of hockey grow.

People always ask me: What’s the biggest difference between hockey now and 20-something years ago?

That’s a really hard question to answer. But, the one thing I really notice from up in the booth is the willingness to let guys make mistakes. Some of the moves I see defensemen make in their own end — Pat Burns would have benched me for 40 minutes if I did that. But now, guys are allowed to be creative and show some flair.

And, I mean, that’s why I used to smack the TV in the first place — so we wouldn’t miss a second of that skill and speed. These guys are the best in the world.

 

Source: https://www.theplayerstribune.com/articles/hal-gill-nhl-stories 

 

 

 

 

Overview

Our beloved Canucks finish a 6-game homestand on Tuesday against the Rangers. what a yo-yo this homestand has been with the Canucks going 2-3-0 over the last 5 games at home ... NOT GOOD ENOUGH SCREAMS CANUCKS NATION! 

 

JT got benched in the 3rd and that should light a fire under his ass for the Rangers game. As an arm-chair coach, I would have put JT back in the game late and said, "show me I made a mistake sitting you for most of this period." I would have hazarded a guess, JT would have pulled out a rabbit.

 

Quote of the day:

'I just went with the guys that I thought could get us back in the game.' Tocchet said. He went on to add, 'No', when asked if Miller was dealing with an injury.'

 

Quick Hits on the Rangers

• The Rangers’ 11-4-1 record gives them the fifth-best points percentage in the league, and they have been excellent on the road this season; posting a 6-1-0 record away from Madison Square Garden.
• Their power play ranks 7th in the league while clicking at 25.6% on the year. Panarin leads the team with four power play goals while Chris Kreider has three and Alexis Lafrenière has a couple.
• After facing the league’s top penalty kill unit on Sunday, the Canucks will see the second-best shorthanded team on Tuesday as the Rangers sit at 88.2% on the penalty kill. Kreider leads with two shorthanded goals.
• Vincent Trocheck leads the Rangers with 291 faceoffs this season (18.2 per game). He has won 56.4% of his draws through 16 games played.
• The Rangers have outscored their opponents 31-10 through seven road games.
• Scoring first is important as the Rangers have a 10-0-0 record when they score the first goal of the game. They are 7-0-0 when leading after the first period and 10-0-0 when leading after the second.
• Tuesday’s game will be the second of a four-game road trip. The Rangers beat the Seattle Kraken 2-0 on Sunday and will travel to face the two Alberta teams after Tuesday night’s game.

Media LINEUPS EDITED IN BY P.O>
 

Spoiler

ByNHL.com

@NHLdotcom

12:28 PM

RANGERS (11-4-1) at CANUCKS (9-5-3)

10 p.m. ET; TVAS, SNP, MSG

Rangers projected lineup

Artemi Panarin -- Vincent Trocheck -- Alexis Lafreniere

Chris Kreider -- Mika Zibanejad -- Reilly Smith

Will Cuylle -- Jonny Brodzinski -- Kaapo Kakko

Adam Edstrom -- Sam Carrick -- Jimmy Vesey

K'Andre Miller -- Adam Fox

Ryan Lindgren -- Jacob Trouba

Zac Jones -- Braden Schneider

Igor Shesterkin

Jonathan Quick

Scratched: Chad Ruhwedel, Jake Leschyshyn

Injured: Filip Chytil (upper body)

Canucks projected lineup

Jake DeBrusk -- Elias Pettersson -- Kiefer Sherwood

Dakota Joshua -- Pius Suter -- Conor Garland

Danton Heinen -- Teddy Blueger -- Jonathan Lekkerimaki

Arshdeep Bains -- Aatu Raty -- Nils Hoglander

Quinn Hughes -- Filip Hronek

Carson Soucy -- Tyler Myers

Erik Brannstrom -- Noah Juulsen

Arturs Silovs

Kevin Lankinen

Scratched: J.T. Miller (personal leave)

Injured: Vincent Desharnais (undisclosed), Brock Boeser (upper body), Derek Forbort (lower body), Thatcher Demko (lower body)

 

Media

Get a ticket and mosey on down to Rogers Arena and cheer on our Boyz! Bring your Bull Horns, Vuvuzelas, Cow Bells ( @-dlc- will lend you hers, sadly) whatever you have, just get there. Can't make the trip, a close second would to support your local innkeeper and tip back a few beers.

 

TV: SN Pacific, TVAS, MSG

Radio: SportsNet 650

Streaming: Fuck Sportsnet+ lots on various Reddit threads, here are a few sites (results may vary)

https://reddit.nhlbite.com/live

https://nhlwebcast.com/

https://v2.sportsurge.to/nhlstreams

https://nhlstream.net/

 

Matchup Info

Spoiler

 

 

           

 

By the Numbers

Spoiler

Source: https://www.statmuse.com/nhl/team/vancouver-canucks-20/stats/2025 ... for a much better view and details

 

 

 

What the Bookies are Saying

Spoiler

Source: https://www.dimers.com/bet-hub/nhl/schedule/2024_47_van_nyr

 

 

Matchup Overview

• Teams: Rangers vs. Canucks
• Date: Tuesday, November 19, 2024
• Time: 10:00 PM ET
• Venue: Rogers Arena

Current Betting Odds

• Spread: Rangers favored at -1.5
• Total (Over/Under): 6
• Moneyline Odds: Rangers -112, Canucks -102

Dimers' Win Probabilities

• Rangers: 51%
• Canucks: 49%

Dimers.com's predictive model, renowned for its accuracy, assesses each team's chances by simulating the outcome of the game 10,000 times. This method provides a precise and unbiased view.

Our Prediction: Who Wins?

After extensive simulations, our model gives the Rangers a win probability of 51%, while the Canucks have a win probability of 49%. Discover the best spread, over/under, and moneyline odds for the game on this page.

Summary

According to our analysis, the Rangers are more likely to beat the Canucks in the NHL game at Rogers Arena on Tuesday. Discover the best spread, over/under and moneyline odds, picks and probabilities for the game on this page.

 

Da Roster

I am travelling to Vancouver tomorrow and most likely won't be able to post the lineups in time. Perhaps @-dlc- or @Chickenspear or @Lewlowned or ?? can post as close to the first page as possible when the lineups are known.

 

Da Zebras

 

Now for some fun stuff

Geoff Courtnall 2nd Goal - Game 6, 1994 Stanley Cup Final Rangers vs. Canucks

 

 

Greg Adams OVERTIME Goal - Game 1, 1994 Stanley Cup Final Rangers vs. Canucks

 

[Rocket-68]

$70 MILLION BABY! Do you Feel Lucky?

  

 

Rules: 

1) Must be posting in THIS thread to be considered for a share of the prize if the big one hits 7/7 ... nothing on the smaller prizes for absolutely clarity - thank you lawyer Ron for that one ....

2) I am the sole arbiter of who get what, as usual ... but am a generous sort.

3) ... confused about the prize split, see #2

4) There are no appeals to the BC Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court of Canada. My rulings are final, LOL.

5) I reserve the right to add someone to my ignore list for any damn reason at all before the end of the game. 

 

Should the big one hit, as in 7/7, then the Ignore List Members will receive:

 

Edited November 19, 2024 by Rocket-68

[-dlc-]

I will be there in spirit.

 

Thanks 68...you are truly a great human and I feel good karma coming your way.

 

Hope it's an excellent game for those in attendance...have fun, cheer loud. 

 

[Trebreh]

if we get rolled on again, I predict we will see a trade. 

[Canucks164cup]

This game will be a good test imo, Rangers are a good team, so lets see how Canucks respond after last game, hopefully some good fight in the boys.

 

Edited November 19, 2024 by Canucks164cup

[DeNiro]

4 minutes ago, Trebreh said:

if we get rolled on again, I predict we will see a trade. 

I bet we see a trade regardless, because you know history.

[BPA]

Just win!!!

[PeteyBoeser]

If we can’t beat Preds or isles we can’t beat the best team rangers 

[gwarrior]

Why do I have a bad feeling going into this one?

[Slegr]

Bounce back game! Canucks will come out strong, score first. Rags won’t know what hit them.

 

[Devron]

Ahh a fresh game. I like to put the garbage behind me. 
 

Let’s finish the home stand on a winning note! 
 

Miller beast mode. Let’s go! 

[Devron]

38 minutes ago, PeteyBoeser said:

If we can’t beat Preds or isles we can’t beat the best team rangers 

That’s not how it works. Edmonton just got shutout by Montreal

[helmetparade]

This will probably be the best game ever

[Rocket-68]

42 minutes ago, PeteyBoeser said:

If we can’t beat Preds or isles we can’t beat the best team rangers 

     

Edited November 19, 2024 by Rocket-68

[6of1_halfdozenofother]

23 minutes ago, Slegr said:

Rags won’t know what hit them.

 

We're going to wring them so hard that the leading "R" and the trailing "S" will fall off, leaving them with nothing but "ANGER".  

[GrammaInTheTub]

I’m excited to watch next game because I’m 100% confident it’s going to be better than last game.
 

I’m anticipating a strong response to this past home stand and what better team to show it against than NYR.
 

With “cyclone bomb” weather coming I’m just hoping the power stays on!

[RWMc1]

This is a tough one. I hope they dig deep and find a way to get that W.

 

Canucks win 4-3.

 

Go Canucks Go!!!!!

[Chickenspear]

58 minutes ago, PeteyBoeser said:

If we can’t beat Preds or isles we can’t beat the best team rangers 

[JeremyCuddles]

Maybe playing an actual good team will wake the team up. Cause playing the bad teams hasn't really. Even though we've won against some/most of them, it feels like the team hasn't been engaged all year. Rags are a good team. So lets meet their talent with our own.

[Silver Surfer]

1 hour ago, PeteyBoeser said:

If we can’t beat Preds or isles we can’t beat the best team rangers 

[HKSR]

I'll be in attendance so I'll have a quick chat with Petey and Miller to make sure they take over this game.  Oh and I'll give Elizabeth a hug for all of you guys that are crushing on her.  GCG!

[Jaimito]

Everyone needs to step up. 

 

Lose one win one while they try to find their game.  

 

Still within striking range for div lead. 

[Rekker]

1 hour ago, Devron said:

That’s not how it works. Edmonton just got shutout by Montreal

And  Bouchard a -3. Lol

[CanuckMan]

Well sometimes we play better against the better teams. We need to stay out of the penalty box for this one. Rangers powerplay will make us play. I think Miller will have a good game playing his former team.

[Canucks164cup]

1 hour ago, Silver Surfer said: