A look at the 2011-12 season of Vancouver’s favourite Swedish hipster defenseman.

Who’s this guy?

Alexander Edler
Position: D
Shoots: Left
Height: 6-4
Weight: 215 lbs.
Born: April 21, 1986 in Ostersund, Sweden

Drafted by the Vancouver Canucks in the 3st round (91st overall) of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft.

What’d he do?

Edler mostly lined up on the 2nd defensive pairing for the Canucks this year, behind Kevin Bieksa and Dan Hamhuis. His most common playing partner was Sami Salo, but he played with just about every other rearguard at one point or another, including an extended stint with Bieksa at the end of the season. Alex usually played on the top PowerPlay unit, displaying a proclivity for working the puck around with the Sedins.

So was he any good?

Edler had easily his best season as a professional, setting career highs in goals (11), assists (38) and points (49). He finished 7th overall in scoring for defensemen, and made his first trip to the All-Star Game along the way. He was voted by the fans as the Canucks’ best defenseman and is the team’s biggest fashion icon.

Despite a sparkling regular season, Edler did not have a good playoffs. He wasn’t alone in this department, but he was the player who fell the furthest from his regular season high. Whether he was injured or just in a complete mental fog, it came at the worst time. This season aside, Edler has traditionally been one of the Canucks’ most reliable playoff performers.

While it’s debatable whether or not Edler is indeed the best defenseman in blue and green (I give the nod to Dan Hamhuis), his importance to the team is unquestionable, and he’s easily the best PP quarterback on the blueline.

What’d we like?

THIS:

Everything about this. Not only was it a magnificent rush, it was some of the worst defensive coverage I’ve seen at the NHL level, leading to one of my favourite stills of the season. Derek Dorsett to everyone: “WTF?!?!”

But he wasn’t perfect either right?

While Alex Edler had a terrific year statistically, the faults that have followed him throughout his young career came out to play on occasion. You could argue that he is still not consistently as physical as he should be, given his Morgan Freeman-given gifts. And while he’s always been praised for his calmness with the puck, it’s only an asset if he follows it up with a smart play. One bad giveaway and suddenly calmness becomes carelessness. We saw this from Edler time and again in the playoffs, as he just couldn’t seem to process the play when he had the puck, and he became a turnover machine, without the delicious pastries.

So what now?

We’ve all been waiting for Edler to “put it all together”, and this year he more or less did that. I’ve never seen the “perennial Norris candidate” potential within Edler that many fans claim to, but that’s not a knock on him. There’s nothing wrong with being a 50-point, top 10 offensive defenseman who can play in most situations. Despite my criticism above, I do think Edler’s decision making took a big leap forward this season, so hopefully that continues.

Edler is signed until the end of next season at a cap hit of $3.25M. Another top 10 offensive season and he will easily command north of $5M. Mike Gillis, Edler and his agent can begin negotiating a new contract after July 1 this summer, and I can’t think of any reason why Gillis will not attempt to lock him up to a big extension sometime next season.

*Originally posted on Nucks Misconduct

The Captain

It’s been over two weeks since our team was eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Understandably, we all needed a bit of time to step back and process what just happened. Most Presidents’ Trophy-winning teams don’t lose to the 8th seed in 5 games in the first round. How did we get here? We start searching for answers with our player-by-player autopsies, starting with our fearless (except when he’s on a plane) leader and Captain, Henrik Sedin.

Who’s this guy?

Henrik Sedin
Position: C
Shoots: Left
Height: 6-2
Weight: 188 lbs.
Born: September 26, 1980 in Ornskoldsvik, Sweden

Drafted by the Vancouver Canucks in the 1st round (3rd overall) of the 1999 NHL Entry Draft.

What’d he do?

Hank again anchored the team’s #1 line for all 82 games in 2011-12. Under Alain Vigneault, Henrik along with brother Daniel and (most of the time) Alex Burrows were fed a balanced diet full of prime offensive zone starts. Hank also anchored the #1 PowerPlay unit, usually camping out on the half-wall and making all sorts of dazzling saucer passes through impossible seams.

So was he any good?

Hank’s production dropped 13 points from 2010-11, and a startling 31 points from 2009-10. Still, he finished 7th in the NHL in scoring with 81 points, 67 of them helpers (1st in the NHL, again). He was also named the Canucks’ Most Valuable Player for the season.

Despite the drop in point totals, Henrik remains an elite point producer and the most consistent contributor on the Canucks. His saucer pass is second to none in this league, and few players can run a PowerPlay as efficiently or artfully. Henrik and Daniel had their first prolonged scoring slump in about a thousand years this season, but overall it was still a productive campaign for the captain.

What’d we like?

There’s a lot to like (and love) about Henrik’s game; he’s one of the league’s elite players. Like he did in 2009 when Daniel was out with an injury, Hank again proved that he can reinvent his game without his brother, and make whoever he plays with better. Down the stretch without Daniel, whether it was Max Lapierre or Mason Raymond or Alex Burrows, whoever played with Henrik put up points. Upon Daniel’s return in the playoffs, they were dynamite together again, and helped resurrect the team’s PowerPlay, albeit too late.

By far, the most under appreciated aspect of Hank’s game is his toughness. Star players take a lot of abuse, none more than the Sedins, who love to play their cycle game. 2011-12 marked Henrik’s 7th straight season where he played all 82 games. That just boggles the mind. Hank even played through a suspected bone bruise in his ankle in February to keep the streak alive.

Then there was the massive hit that Dustin Brown laid on Hank in Game 3 of the playoffs. It looked like Henrik would be out of the game and possibly the rest of the series, but he was only winded, and hardly missed a beat. The resiliency that Henrik showed in the playoffs this year was impressive, especially since he’s been unfairly marked in the media as a guy who isn’t tough enough and doesn’t show up in the big moments. As fans, we know now that nothing is further from the truth.

But he wasn’t perfect either right?

No, not exactly, though he was as “perfect” a forward as the Canucks had. The Canucks’ PowerPlay fell off a cliff in the second half of the season, and Henrik carries a lot of the blame for that. Daniel Sedin admitted that they became too predictable, too easy to defend. Part of Henrik’s decline in production this season probably came from the fact that every team now has a set of instructional videos on how to check him effectively, titled “The 2011 Stanley Cup Finals”.

The other knock on Hank this year is a familiar one: that he just doesn’t shoot enough. He went over 20 games without a goal down the stretch, and went nearly four months between goals at Rogers Arena. We saw the immediate change in the playoffs when Daniel returned, as the PowerPlay was clicking again and Henrik potted 2 goals. Next season, Henrik is going to need to avoid the trap he fell into this year when he became too reliant on Daniel and thus, too predictable.

So what now?

Status quo. Henrik will be the Canucks’ #1 center next year and for the foreseeable future. He’ll turn 32 just before training camp, so he should have a few seasons left of elite-level point production. The great thing about Hank is he is always improving his game, and seems to come to camp every year a more complete player. After his slump and decrease in production this season, I have no doubt he’s going to make every effort to ensure the same thing doesn’t happen in 2012-13.

Despite my minor qualms above, I have nothing but respect for Henrik Sedin. He’s one of the most consistent, classy, and humble guys around, and the Canucks organization is lucky to have him. There are only a handful of players in the league who are better.

* Originally posted at Nucks Misconduct

Luongo’s ready.

It’s March, the final full month of the regular season. To help get ready for the stretch drive, I’ve created a desktop background with the team’s schedule for the month. I know there are other sites that do this, but I don’t like a lot of clutter on my desktop, and typically find most wallpapers way too busy. I’ve created this to suit my taste, so it may not be for everyone, but I thought I’d share it anyway. You can see a sample of it above. To download the full image at 1920×1080 resolution, click here. If you like it but need it resized to fit your screen, email me and I’ll try to accomodate you.

Cody Hodgson celebrates his game winning goal from Saturday. (Darryl Dyck - AP)

48 games in to the Vancouver Canucks 2011-12 season, it’s becoming quite clear that the organization has a very special young player on its roster in Cody Hodgson. CoHo has fought an uphill (or should that be upstream?) battle over the past couple of seasons, dealing with both serious injuries and negative coverage in the Vancouver press. Finally healthy and being put in situations to succeed, Cody is making the most of it.

Unless you suddenly decided to go walkabout this weekend, you’ve probably heard that Hodgson scored 2 goals — including the game winner — in Saturday’s matinee against the San Jose Sharks. In a big game against a big Western Conference rival, Hodgson brought it. There was a bit of a lucky bounce on his game winner, but I tend to think that if you put yourself in the right position, luck will follow, and that’s exactly what Hodgson has been doing all season.

This wasn’t the first time Hodgson has shown up to play for a big Saturday afternoon game against a bitter rival. Not even the first time this month. There was a game back on January 7 — you may remember it — against the Boston Bruins, a game which also ended 4-3 and also saw Hodgson score the game winning goal, a rocket off the wing and over the shoulder of Tim Thomas.

(I’ll use any excuse to post this goal, my favourite of the season so far given the circumstance.)

It’s an encouraging trend for the Canucks that in three of the marquee match-ups so far this season — Detroit on Dec 21, Boston on Jan 7, and San Jose Jan 21 — Hodgson has been a star. There is much of this season’s storyline still left to be written, but his blast past Jimmy Howard in the Detroit game could be pinpointed as the moment Cody Hodgson “arrived” in Vancouver. It was a beautiful goal, a goal that no one on the Canucks’ 3rd line last year could have scored. Hodgson has almost single-handedly added a new dimension to the Canucks attack, not only with his consistent offense, but with the effect his presence has on the other forward lines and his ability to anchor the 2nd PowerPlay unit.

That last point is an important one. Hodgson (and Dan Hamhuis deserves a lot of credit for this as well) has legitimized Vancouver’s 2nd PowerPlay unit. For the past couple weeks, it has even been more effective than the top unit. At no point last year was this even fathomable. I don’t think this can be understated; a big reason the Canucks lost in the Stanley Cup Finals last year was because their PP was silenced. Kesler had no hip, Ehrhoff and Edler could barely shoot, and the Sedins had Chara and Seidenberg on their backs. With a reliable 2nd unit, things could have been a lot different.

It’s not just the PowerPlay, though. The acquisition of David Booth coupled with Hodgson’s emergence means the Canucks can essentially roll three lines that can score, and leave the tough defensive zone minutes to a 4th line featuring stalwarts like Max Lapierre and Manny Malhotra. We all know that the Sedins get the plum offensive zone shifts, and that’s not going to change. Looking at shift charts, it appears AV is more often than not matching up Kesler’s line with the opponent’s top line 5-on-5. The fourth line of Malhotra – Lapierre – Weise almost always start their shifts in the defensive zone. This should free up Raymond – Hodgson – Hansen to play softer minutes in the offensive zone, and in the three games that they’ve been together since Booth’s return from injury, the trio has indeed started more shifts in the offensive end.* The Canucks reaped the benefits of this on Saturday, as all four lines were rolling 5-on-5, and Hodgson’s line contributed two huge goals.

Almost every team that has won the Cup in the past several seasons has had a legitimate offensive threat stashed away somewhere in their bottom six. The Hawks had a ridiculous 3rd line featuring Andrew Ladd, Kris Versteeg and Dustin Byfuglien. The Bruins last season had Rich Peverley and Chris Kelly. These depth players are so important, as they usually avoid the tough match-ups and can catch the opposition off guard. In many ways they’re like the boxer’s left hook; almost impossible to prepare for and still capable of delivering that knockout blow. Cody Hodgson gives the Canucks that tertiary attack that they just did not have last year. Clearly, he’s become a player that can help this team win now, as well as in the future.

* All zone start data from timeonice.com

[This is an excerpt from my "Morning Buzz" column over on Nucks Misconduct.]

Let’s face it, booze and hockey have a long and storied history together. Whether you’ve just won the ultimate prize, or you’re lacing them up to go for a midnight skate with your buddies, a game of puck is often followed by a pint or eight. This took a bit of detective work (also known as “frantic Googling”), but it was worth it.

I’m a regular listener of the Marek vs. Wyshynski podcast, and yesterday Jeff Marek told the story of a goalie who played in an NHL All-Star Game while still completely wasted from the night before. It became pretty obvious to everyone involved, and the coach decided to leave him in and watch him get lit up. You can listen to the clip here, it starts around 5:28. Marek wouldn’t give away any details, not even the year that it happened. But at the very end of the podcast, Greg Wyshynski let slip that someone on Twitter may have guessed who the goalie was. Take a look.

Poor Mike Vernon, indeed. Now, what year would this have been? Vernon played in the ASG in 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, and 1993, and would have been representing the Campbell Conference. Looking at past ASG results, the Wales Conference won handily in 1990 and 1993, with scores of 12-7 and 16-6 respectively. Vernon wasn’t a starter in 1993, but he was in 1990, and the head coach for the Campbell Conference that year was Terry Crisp of the Calgary Flames. So if I was a betting man, my money would be on Mike Vernon being totally shitfaced at the 1990 NHL All-Star Game. But that’s just an educated guess.

I’ve been penning the daily “Morning Buzz” column over on Nucks Misconduct for a little over a week now, and it’s been a blast. As a result, posting here hasn’t been as frequent, but I hope to remedy that. I’m currently debating whether “simulblogging” the post here as well as NM is a good idea.

Check out the first eight Morning Buzz posts on my NM user page. Here’s some of the Photoshop nonsense concocted so far:

"You see it's this mat, with different CONCLUSIONS written on it, that you can JUMP to!"

Schneider-Man, Schneider-Man, does whatever a Schneider-Man does...

Thanks for reading. There’s much more to come!

My first post at Nucks Misconduct, eloquently titled “Time to nut up or shut up”, is now up. Give it a read, along with the rest of the day’s content. All good stuff.

I’m excited to announce that soon I will be contributing some writing to the fantastic Canucks blog Nucks Misconduct, part of the SB Nation blog network. I’m grateful for the chance to abuse reach a wider audience, at least until they realize the gravity of their mistake. I feel like the fan who snuck onto the ice at a Montreal Canadiens practice and got a few shots in before being aggressively escorted off.

Now, anyone have any ideas of what I should write about? I had a post called “The Canucks success this season rests on the shoulders of Aaron Volpatti”, but I guess that theory is dead in the water, so I’m stumped.

Cory Schneider, Travis Lulay and the Sedins have been terrorizing the city of Vancouver with their ginger powers.

Hide your kids. Hide your wives.

A Red Alert has been declared in the city of Vancouver after Travis Lulay’s MVP performance in the Grey Cup yesterday. The carrot-topped quarterback also won the CFL’s Most Outstanding Player award last week, for his part in turning the BC Lions season around after an 0-5 start.

But this is only the latest in a string of impressive athletic accomplishments from some of Vancouver’s most fair-skinned athletes.

How bad is it? Henrik and Daniel Sedin of the Vancouver Canucks have won back-to-back NHL scoring titles. Henrik also won the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league’s most valuable player in his year, and Daniel was awarded the Ted Lindsay Trophy the next. They have proven to be two of the NHL’s most dynamic players year in and year out, all while sporting matching red chin-strap beards.

And it gets worse for the Canucks. Cory Schneider — often referred to as the “third Sedin” for their shared sensitivity to prolonged sunlight — has been one of the league’s hottest goalies as of late. He has posted four straight victories, allowing only 3 goals in that span and posting back-to-back shutouts. Roberto Luongo’s starting job is in jeopardy for the first time in his career because of the outstanding play of Schneider.

It’s no surprise that these athletes are thriving in Vancouver, which sports one of the world’s most ginger-friendly climates. The weather has been particularly wet and awful the past couple weeks, which could help explain the success these athletes have experienced in that time.

There’s no end in sight to this epidemic, and officials warn it could get even worse in the short-term, as Cory Schneider is scheduled to make his 6th straight start tomorrow night against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

In the meantime, officials recommend the public remain indoors as much as possible, and apply liberal amounts of sunscreen if they do need to go out.

(Photograph by: Mark Blinch, REUTERS)

Arland Bruce said it best — about 63 times, it seemed like — in his post-game interview: “We did it.”

Travis Lulay wins MVP, much like David Freese in the World Series, who I compared him to yesterday.

Read the full recap from The Province, and enjoy having a championship team! It’s not a Stanley Cup, but it’s better than a kick in the balls (which is sort of like what June felt like, ten times over).

EDIT: Bruce Arthur’s recap in The National Post is also terrific.