The Vancouver Canucks for the 1st time this season resembled what they looked like in the playoffs.  A team that communicated, played dirty for goals and never gave up.  Not once during this game did the Canucks fall behind.  Yes the Capitals tied up the game a few times, 3 to be exact but the Canucks always found a way to pull ahead.  Three Canucks scored twice.  Fan favourite LaPierre opened the scroing only to have Ovechkin tie it up.  Higgins and Elder followed up to end the 1st 3-1.  The 2nd period ended in a 4-4 tie with Edler scoring his 2nd of the game.  But the real talk comes in the 3rd.  Lou made the best glove safe I have seen all year.  Henrik Sedin, Higgins and LaPierre scored in the 3rd to make the final 7-4 Vancouver.  Ovechkin scored twice.  But it was a game all about the Canucks.  13 of the Canucks were credited with points (there are only 20 dressed a game) and coach Alain Vigneault got his 350th win as a head coach.  Chris Higgins leads the Canucks scoring with 5 goals this season.  GO CANUCKS!  The Canucks now head out on a 6 game road trip, stretching out over 2 weeks.

Toronto won again.  Beating the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3.  It was a back and forth game.  Toronto scored 1st and it was back and forth the entire game til the final 4-3.  Phil Kessel scored the game winner for Toronto.  The goal was Kessel's 10th of the season putting this All Star Team last pick in the NHL scoring lead.  That makes it 8 wins for Toronto.  To see Kessel picked last check out "If you Need a Visual" it was pretty awesome!  Who's laughinig now?  Go Toronto!

The Boston Bruins are struggling out of the starting gate this year?  They lost to the Montreal Canadiens tonight 4-2.  Montreal had a 3 goal lead, then Boston scored once in the 2nd period and again with 55 seconds left in the 3rd.  It was not Stanley Cup winning goalie Tim Thomas in net instead Boston's back up Tuukka Rask was between the pipes.  Rask was pulled after Boston's 2nd goal and Montreal's Plekanec scored on the empty net.  Final 4-2 Montreal.  That makes Boston's wins 3 and loses 7.

Still blaming Lou?  Any Canucks fan or critic was silenced wednesday night when the Canucks were shut out by the St. Louis Blues.  Cory Schneider was in net and Alexander Sulzer got to play his 1st game of the season as a Canuck.

It wasn't like the Canucks didn't have chances.  Combined the team took 32 shots on net.  A few rang off the posts and Brian Elliott, St. Louis's goalie, made a couple great saves.  The game wasn't very pretty to watch but the Canucks and Canuck fans learned a few lessons.  1) Can't always blame Lou because it is easy and 2) The team as needs to find their groove and start scoring some dirty dirty goals.  Go Canucks!  

Sometimes in Hockey nutty nutty things can happen?!  I mean when you put a chunk of solid black plastic on the ice, and add men with sticks, you can see where I am going with this, The puck ends up in wacky places!  Take for instance the game between the Philadelphia Flyers and the Winnipeg Jets thursday night.  The puck ended up in the back of the net 17 times?  NUTTY!  This was history in the making folks.  It was the highest scoring game since the NHL lock out in 2005.  The funny thing is that only 3 of the 17 goals were scored on power plays, most were scored on even strength.  Philly opened the scoring then Winnipeg went on to make it 5-1.  Then Philly, Winnipeg 6-2.  Then Philly notched 5 making it 7-6.  Winnipeg potted 2 now 8-7.  Then Philly for an 8-8 tie, then with 1:06 left in the 3rd period in true Team Captain's form, Andrew Ladd of the Winnipeg Jets scored the game winner for a 9-8 victory!  This game is going to be talked about for while.  How fun would it be to be able to say you stood up to cheer 8 or 9 times in ONE game for you team.  Go Winnipeg!  You can check out all 17 goals in "If you need a Visual."

The Edmonton Oilers have been one of the worst teams in the league for a few years now.  This is why they get such great draft picks every year like Hall, Eberle, and Nugent-Hopkins.  The team loses yes but when they win, sometimes you can't help but cheer because it is teenagers running the game.  The Oliers played the Washington Capitals last night in Edmonton and snapped a 7 game winning streak for the Capitals.  The Capitals scored 1st then what happened?  The same thing happened that has been happening all season the Oilers "kids line" started showing up.  Hall and Eberle were credited with assists and Eberle, Nugent-Hopkins and another familiar line regular Potter were credited with the assists.  And that's it Edmonton.  This kid line is so fun to watch.  Washington was the last team in the NHL to lose a game. They were 7-0-0 coming into Friday nights game, which was the best start in franchise history. Leave it to the young edmonton squad beat the mighty Capitals.

There is one more thing I would like to point out.  Critics are giving Vancouver a hard time saying the Canucks are suffering from a Stanley Cup run hangover.  While critics can also talk about the Stanley Cup champs the Boston Bruins.  They lost to the Montreal Canadiens last night making it their 6th loss of the season.  With 3 wins under their belt they have 6 points.  Canucks 9 points.

First period no scoring.  Second period 3 goals in 5 minutes for Edmonton, saw Luo head to the bench and Schneider take over.  Even though Vancouver lost 3-2 it was still a great game to watch.  

New Canuck David Booth played his 1st game.  Who was he skating with?  Kesler and Higgins.  This line which was lovingly called the "American Express" line played a pretty good game.  Work out the kinks, get to know each other a little better and Vancouver's 2nd line the American Express line could be a huge goal collector.  Why American Express?  Higgins is from Smithtown NY, Kesler is from Livonia MI, and Booth?  Detorit MI.  To make it even a smaller hockey world Kesler and Booth grew up playing together and Higgins and Booth played together with Florida til Higgins was traded to Vancouver at trade deadline last year.

Hodgson and Burrows scored for the Canucks.  They made a really really strong run to tie it up in the 3rd but fell a short.  Schneider was pulled with a minute and a half left and the Canucks for the most part kept the puck in the Edmonton zone.  Schneider made an amazing save in the 3rd.  Check it out in "If you need a Visual".  That is what great goal tending is about.  Tonight against St. Louis will be interesting.  Luongo or Schneider?  American Express or change up the lines?  Go Canucks!

Edmonton's "Kids" line was lighting up the ice and score board once again tuesday night.  Eberle and Hall got 2 of the 3 goals and they plus Nugent-Hopkins all got assists against the Canucks.  

The Columbus Blue Jackets won their 1st game of the season against the Detroit Red Wings tuesday night.  You might be wondering why this is so exciting?  Well it is Columbus's 1st win all season.  After losing 8 straight to start the season this is very big news.  Columbus opened up the scoring and shortly after Detroit tied it up.  Then Columbus added another goal a period to make the final 4-1.

Los Angeles Kings goalie Jonathan Quick still has his shut out streak continuing but the Kings lost last night to the New Jersey Devils 3-0.  The Kings played their back up Jonathan Bernier.  Oddly Bernier like Luo let in 3 goals in 6 miuntes in the 2nd period.  New Jersey must have had a dynamic forward line and great defence pairing because all 3 goals happened with the exact same 5 players on the ice!  

Want to see something fancy?  It happens in hockey once and a while and everyone in the building and on TV gets excited.  Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks wowed the crowd last night with the old "spin-o-rama"  Check it out in "If you need a Visual"

14 games were played Saturday night in the NHL.  It can get a bit tricky trying to keep up with all of them.  Four shut outs, one shoot out, and two over time can really keep you on your toes.

The Canucks made it a two game winning streak.  They played the Minnesota Wild for the 1st time this season.  Vancouver favourite Cory Schneider was in net.  The game was back and forth with the Wild scoring, then Canucks, then Wild, and Canuck Jannik Hansen scored early in the 3rd period to make it a 2-2 tie.  The game went into over time and Lucky #6 Sami Salo scored the OT goal with 21 seconds left.  It was a game of records for Salo.  1st it was his 700th career game, 2nd Salo is now tied with former Canuck Mattias Ohlund for OT goals by a defenceman.  Salo has this sniper like shot.  You get him 20-30 feet in front of the opposing goalie, have a forward pass him the puck, that goalie has no chance.  Watch this OT winner in "If you need a visual".  Keep your eye peeled for the water bottle popping off the net.  That tell tale sign the puck went in at a flying speed.

Toronto is on a streak of some kind.  The team lights up the ice every night they play.  They beat the Montreal Canadiens saturday 5-4 in OT.  Former Canadien MIkhali Grabovski scored the OT goal for Toronto.  Phil Kessel on the other hand notched his 8th goal of the season.  Keep in mind that is in just 7 games.  Toronto!  Something must be in the water?  Go Team.

The Kids?  These guys are a blast to watch.  Yes you can tell they are young players but the speed they have.  They catch up to anybody on the ice.  How many times Saturday did I hear the commentators say "New York Ranger on a break away, own his own, with a chance."  Only to hear 1 second later "Edmonton's Eberle, Hall or Nugent-Hopkins had caught up?"  It was nuts.  The kids line did get credited with the opening goal, Hopkins scoring with Hall and Eberle collecting assists.  Then Potter scored the 2nd goal, with Hopkins and Eberle collecting those assists.  Making the Final Score 2-0.

Side Note: Canucks made a trade Saturday.  Mikael Samuelsson and Marco Strum are going to be enjoying the sunny Florida weather.  Canuck fans can look forward to seeing David Booth and Steve Reinprecht wear the favourite blue, green and white uniforms.  Stay tuned to see lines changes for the Canucks.  It is going to get interesting.

Besides all the Luo talk, I would like to point out that the Sedins weren't scoring and a few other Canucks needed to find their groove as well.  Thursday night at Rogers Arena silenced a crowd of critics!  Luo made 25 saves, Daniel and Henrik both pocketed a goal and an assist.  New Canuck Dale Weise is taking his 1st puck home after he notched his 1st career goal.  Chris Higgins is looking good in front of the coaches tallying his 3rd goal of the season and yes ladies, in his 2nd game back Kesler found the back of the net!  5-1 Canucks.  It was a great game to watch.

You knew Nashville was going to come out guns blazing.  I mean after all the Canucks booted them out of their Stanley Cup run in round 2, game 6 last year.  We play them 3 more times this year.  Enjoy.

"It's Miller Time" as Buffalo fans can be heard saying.  Ryan Miller shut out the Florida Panthers thursday night.  It was his 1st shut out of the season and expect more.  Miller was Team USA 2010 Olympic goalie and we all know how amazing Miller played during that tournament.  He walked away with the MVP award.  Miller made 22 saves against Florida.  Keep your eye on Buffalo, they are 3rd in the east with 10 points in 6 games.

Vancouver may have lost to an incredible Lundqvist last tuesday night but Calgary kept every New York Ranger on their skates thursday night.  An exciting 1st period.  New York scored early in the 1st, only to see Iginla tie the game less then a minute later.  New York then took a 2-1 lead and yes again 2 mintues later Calgary's Giordani tied it up.

No scoring in the 2nd or 3rd periods ment this game was going into OT.  With less then 2 seconds left in OT New York's McDonagh slipped one in past Karlsson making the final 3-2 Rangers.  The Rangers have 6 points and Calgary has 5.

It is a Saturday in hockey season.  Canucks play the Minnesota Wild today at 1:00pm.  Or check out any of the other 14 games happening in the NHL today starting at 1:00pm.  The only 2 teams not playing today are the Anaheim Ducks and the Philadelphia Flyers.  X

Alright Canuck Fans.  It may have been a 4-0 shut out last night but it was still an entertaining game.  The Canucks took 40 shots on net and Lundqvist stopped every single one.  Luongo had 19 shots against him, 10 in the 3rd period and 4 snuck by.  

A game like this is fun to watch but can hard to watch too.  The Canucks tried on 8 power plays through out the game to score.  They just couldn't get one past Lundqvist.  Luongo had a rather slow night but was peppered with 10 shots in the 3rd and something fell apart.  Personally my favourite part of the game was when the Canucks got 3 power plays in a row.  The passing and puck handling between the Canucks when they are up a man is so fun to watch.  The talent and skill these players have is unreal.

The night started with a lovely tribute to former Canuck Rick Rypien.  Rypien's family was in attendance and the video was beautiful.  Celebrating a life that was lost way to soon.  37 RYP you will forever be in our hearts.  Check out the Beautiful Canuck Tribute to Ryp in "If you need a visual."  The Canucks for Kids Fund with support from the NHLPA Goals and Dreams Fund made a $50,00 donation to BC Children's Hospital for research and a website about mental health awareness, in honor of Rypien. 

On to a crazy night in the NHL did anyone see the #14 Jamie Benn of the Dallas Stars goal?  Is it possible for a player to get credited for 2 assists on his own goal?  This is the goal it would happen on.  Benn from Victoria, British Columbia beat 5 Columbus Blue Jackets to score a goal and grab his 5th point of the season.  Watch the amazing goal in "If you need a Visual?"

Winnipeg Jets Win!  The Jets take home their 1st Victory of the season against the extremely talented Pittsburgh Penguins.  The Jets Kyle Wellwood and Tanner Glass, both former Canucks scored the 2 goals to win.  The Penguins did get a goal in the 2nd but it was not enough for a win.  Go Jets!  I would love to see this win streak continue.

The Vancouver Canucks beat the Edmonton Oilers last night night in a game that will forever go down in the history books.  The final score 4-3.  Sami Salo opened the scoring and got the game winning goal.  Vancouver's 1st liners Henrik Sedin and Alex Burrows got goals 2 and 3.  The Canucks are still trying to find their legs this season but are doing better.  

The history making event in this game is Ryan Nugent-Hopkins the 18 year old 1st round overall 1st draft pick scored his first career hat trick.  Nugent-Hopkins was the only Oiler to get a goal last night!  The really fun part of watching this game unfold is that Nugent-Hopkins was skating in a line with Taylor Hall (19 years old) and Jordan Eberle (21 years old).  You could call this line "the kids line" and they were on fire last night.  Hall and Eberle were both credited with a few assists.  I guess getting the 1st round draft picks for a few years pays off!  Nugent-Hopkins broke Wayne Gretzky's record!  This is a big deal folks.  Nugent-Hopkins got his 1st NHL hat trick in 3 NHL games.  Gretzky didn't get his 1st hat trick til February 1980, 5 months into the season.

Winnipeg Jets fans don't fret.  The Jets are finding their groove.  They are playing strong and are going to win soon.  They played the former Jets the Pheonix Coyotes last night.  The final 4-1.  Andrew Ladd scoring the lone goal for the Jets.  But a fact about the Jets?  This has happened before.  The Jets actually hold the record for the longest losing streak.  In 1980-81 it was the Jets second year in the NHL and they lost 30 games straight.  They ended the season with a 9-57-14 record.  I don't see that happening again.  GO JETS!

Last night's Canuck game against the Detroit Red Wings was not a particularly fun game to watch if you are a Canuck fan.  Cory Schneider was in net, which may surprise some hockey fans.  With 37 shots against him during the game, 2 snuck past Schneider, both in the 2nd period.  The Canucks did come close to tying the game.  Cody Hodgson got a goal in the last second of the 2nd period but officials didn't count the goal after video review.  Alex Burrows came close in the 3rd, hitting the cross bar off the Detroit net.  That cling sound when the puck hit the cross bar made every Canuck fan cringe.  

Vancouver fans don't get discouraged.  This is hockey.  Canucks seem to do this during October every season.  Last year they had a poor start and went on their 17 game points streak December/January.  Then lead nearly the rest of the season in points to win the President's Trophy for #1 in the league.  Watch the Canucks play the Edmonton Oilers Saturday night.  Last game of a 4 game road trip.  The Canucks have 6 games remaining after Edmonton this month, 5 of which are at home.  With the fans in their corner anything can happen.  Go Canucks!

Miikka Kiprusoff made hockey history last night with his team's win in Montreal against the Canadiens.  Kiprusoff can proudly say he has the most wins as a goalie in Calgary Flames history.  If we talk numbers it was Kipper's 263rd win in 483rd games as a Flame.  Interesting Fun Fact: Kipper set this record and beat former Calgary goalie Mike Vernon.  Funny enough Kipper accomplished this in 43 fewer games then Vernon.  Go Calgary!

Winnipeg, Winnipeg, Winnipeg.  How Canada only has eyes for Winnipeg right now.  I bet if you asked any Canadian hockey fan who they're secretly rooting for after their #1 team it would be the Winnipeg Jets.  Winnipeg is basking in the happiness having their beloved Jets returned to them after a 15 year team napping.  The Jets played the Chicago Blackhawks last night and had the Blackhawks playing catch up until late into the 2nd period when the hawks took the lead.  Kyle Wellwood (former Canuck) potted a 3rd goal for the Jets but Chicago ended up winning 4-3.  The Jets play again on Saturday against the Phoenix Coyotes.  Watch.  It would be fantastic if we could see the new Jets beat the team that originally stole them from Winnipeg. 

Hockey History:  The Original Winnipeg Jets moved franchises to Phoenix becoming the Coyotes in 1996.  Then in 2011 the Atlanta Thrashers franchise was moved to Winnipeg.  Forming the new wonderful talented Winnipeg Jets.  GO JETS!  X

Chris Higgins #20 of the Vancouver Canucks just might be this year's "Unsung Hero" and perhaps has found his groove in Vancouver. 
Higgins came to Vancouver at trade deadline last season and didn't play the first few weeks because of a hand injury. He has begun this season with two goals in three games, and  was a blessing in disguise last year during the Canucks Playoff Run, registering points through out the tournament.  Higgins is a smart player who reads plays well, and is getting the puck in the back of the net again.

If it makes Vancouver fans feels any better, the Boston Bruins are off to a slow start this year as well.  They were beat by the Carolina Hurricane last night 3-2.  Shockingly, Boston's big guns Lucic, Horton, and Bergeron haven't registered a single goal. It will be interesting to keep an eye on the current Stanley Cup Champs.  Perhaps their team and ours could have used a longer off season.

Crosby playing soon?  The anticipation in the league is mounting and people are talking.  Sid the Kid seems soon to be cleared to play. He is skating with his team and looking good.  Reports are that Crosby has been for cleared for contact at practices.  The black helmet Crosby wears during his practice time, while the rest of the Pittsburgh Penguins are in white helmets, is becoming the most talked about uniform in hockey.  It has been a warning for his teammates not to check him or contact Crosby in anyway, but apparently he is wearing a white helmet in practice now.  Penguins coach had Crosby running drills between former Canuck Matt Cooke and Pascal Dupuis.  Watch for Crosby to make a return and watch him light up the ice.  Crosby just has a nack for the game others can only dream of.  I am always on team "Sid the Kid."

Hello Viewers, hope you are enjoying the 2nd episode of Hockey Talk with Courtney.  The 3rd episode will be up shortly.  Keep checking back.

Hockey Talk with Courtney was interviewed by CJSF fm 90.1 radio.  Check it out today from 3:00-3:30.  Courtney and Lane talk about everything hockey and the show.  Plus our personal views on certain topics.

Watch the Canucks play the Philadelphia Flyers today at 4:30.  This is a great game to watch because Philly is a fantastic team.  They have picked up a few players this year and have a great great goalie Ilya Bryzgalov.  Canucks only play Philly once a year because Philly is in the Eastern Conference.  Watch.  

A player to keep your eye on this game is new #9 Cody Hodgson.  The Canucks 1st round draft pick a few years back, Cody has been going back and forth between the NHL team the Canucks and AHL farm team Manitoba Moose (now the Chicago Wolves) for a few years.  Personally I am hoping this year is the year Hodgson stays with the Canucks.  Hodgson has taken the 2nd line position of Ryan Kesler while Kesler is out with a hip injury.  Hodgson scored the 2nd goal for the Canucks in Columbus on Monday night, tying the game 2-2.  The young man never makes a mistake on the ice says his teammates.  Hodgson is one of the smartest young players in the league.  I am on Team Hodgson all the way.  

Head on down to Red Card Sports Bar on the corner of Smithe and Seymour this thursday October 13th to join Hockey Talk with Courtney's Women only Fantasy Hockey Draft.  Pick your players, have a Hockey Talk Martini and dine on Brick Oven Pizza.  See you there Hockey Fans!  X