Report: Dan Hamhuis Out For "Months"; Huge Loss For Canucks

Although nothing has been made official by the team yet, rumour has it Dam Hamhuis will be out for a significant amount of time. The word 'months' has been thrown out there by more than one source, and by the looks of the play he was injured on, and Hamhuis' reaction and inability to put any pressure on his one leg whatsoever, I think it's fair to speculate that he won't be back anytime soon. Also, the team has called up Frankie Corrado from the farm club in Utica. There has been some mixed reports though, as evidenced by the two links below.

http://blogs.vancouversun.com/2014/11/21/canucks-recall-frank-corrado-to-blue-line-as-dan-hamhuis-goes-down/#__federated=1

http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog/Carol-Schram/Vancouver-Canucks-Hamhuis-Injury-Significant-Open-Practice-Prospects/194/64209

Now, let me clarify that I don't typically use HockeyBuzz as a source as I think their site and sources are generally terrible (Eklund is one of the biggest jokes in hockey media), but I do know Dhiren personally, and I don't think he's the type to throw out nonsense reporting.

So what does this mean to the Canucks?

It's a HUGE blow. Hamhuis is as steady as any dman in the NHL. Sure, he's not flashy, he doesn't rack up many points (just 6 assists all season), and he's -5 on the year, but he racks up big minutes and is the most defensively responsibly defenseman that Vancouver has.

The Canucks lack depth at the position and although Corrado is a promising, young, solid defenseman, he won't be able to fill Hamhuis' role. In fact, and the problem is, Vancouver doesn't have anyone who can.

Alex Edler has been great this year, as has Chris Tanev, and their roles won't change except that they will probably be relied upon to take on more minutes. Kevin Bieksa has been a disaster all season long and his inability to tie up opposing forwards in front of the net and his questionable decision making has been exploited almost nightly. His ice time will likely increase and more Bieksa equals more goals against.

The pairing of Luca Sbisa and Yannick Weber have been poor all season as well. Although they both bring some offensive upside to the lineup, their defensive play as a pair has been average at best, and mostly well below average. Ryan Stanton hasn't gotten his game together after missing much of the season with injury, and has looked lost on many occasions throughout the year.

As a fan, this injury scares the heck out of me. If Hamhuis is in fact out for a couple months, I worry that Vancouver's overall defensive game will struggle more than it already has, and unless Ryan Miller returns to his early season form, I think that means they start losing more and more games.

GM Jim Benning must be feeling the pressure to add a top 4 Dman to the lineup if Hmahuis ends up missing significant time, but those kind of players don't grow on trees, and not many teams have the depth to be able to deal a good defenseman this early in the season. If he can find a suitable player whose team is willing to unload, what will the price be? Many teams are dealing with key injuries to defensemen and I'm sure the reason there hasn't been many deals to replace these players is because opposing GMs aren't willing to let them go, at least not for a severe overpayment.

In the meantime, Frankie Corrado will get his chance to prove he's an NHL caliber defenseman and the rest of the backend will have to step up in Hamhuis' absence. Willie Desjardins has gotten the most out of this team thus far, and this will be a big test for him and his team to see if they can overcome a major injury and continue to overachieve.

I for one am not too confident, but let's hope that I'm wrong.

Follow me on twitter at @CanuckCityBlog

Miller Shines, Canucks Beat Sharks 3-2

There seems to be a familiar trend developing for the Canucks; starting the game poorly then coming back to win the game.

It's not how coach Willie Desjardins would ideally want it to be, especially in the first three minutes, but the end result was positive and that's why this Canucks squad seems to be different than the teams of the past few years.

Vancouver was lucky to be tied after the first period, a period that was easily their worst of the season. Ryan Miller was calm, cool and collected and kept his boys in it long enough for Radim Vrbata to score his 6th goal (first in 5 games) with only 8 seconds remaining to knot it up. 

The Canucks came out for the second looking sluggish, and Logan Couture scored a beauty through-the-legs tip-in on the power play to once again give San Jose the lead. Two minutes later though, Alex Edler scored his own power play marker with an absolute bomb from the point to tie the game at two. And before the end of the frame, who else but Nick Bonino scored a beauty - his third goal in two games and seventh of the season - to give the Canucks a 3-2 lead.

It was all Miller from that point on as he made save after save to salvage the win. It wasn't without a scare though, as Joe Thornton beat Miller a millisecond after the final horn blew, needing an official review to finally be determined too late and ensuring the Canucks the win. Miller ended with 34 saves en route to his league-leading 10th win, to go along with only one loss.

Vancouver hasn't fared well in the state of California the past couple years, so to get a win in San Jose was big. The Canucks travel to L.A to face the Kings on Saturday before ending their trip Sunday versus Ryan Kesler and the Ducks. Expect back-up Eddie Lack to get one of those games.

Check out the full highlights and stats of the game here.

* Alex Burrows returned to the lineup after serving his three game suspension. He finished with an assist and reclaimed his spot on the second line. Bo Horvat was originally expected to sit out, but Zack Kassian's knee was bothering him after taking a questionable hit/knee Tuesday in Colorado so he ended up sitting out after taking the warmups. 

* Horvat played solidly again in a 4th line role. He played 7:18 of ice-time and had one remarkable shift where he back-checked hard, laid a hit on the Sharks forward, stole the puck from him and then made a sweet saucer pass to a teammate who exited the zone. It was a sign of what the 19 year kid brings as his defensive game and physical strength is well beyond his years. He may never score 30 goals, but he will definitely prevent a bunch of them.

* The Canucks now have the second most points in the whole league! That's right, the Canucks are the second best team in hockey right now behind only the Anaheim Ducks, their opponent Sunday night. Check the full NHL standings here.

* Nick Bonino is tied for 6th in the NHL in goals with seven. He has 12 points in all. Ryan Kesler, whom Bonino was traded for, has 3 goals and 6 assists for 9 points. No one is missing Kesler right now, except for maybe some lonely girls at The Roxy. 

Follow me on twitter @CanuckCityBlog

Despite Poor Start, Canucks Redeem Themselves in Colorado; Win 5-2

You wouldn't have been able to predict it by the way the first period went, but the Canucks may have played their best hockey of the season in the second half of the game in Denver Tuesday night en route to a 5-2 win over the Avalanche. It was only 11 days ago that the Avs thumped Vancouver 7-3 in the very same rink, and it looked to be much of the same early on this time around.

John Mitchell scored only 1:15 into the game on Colorado's first shot of the contest, and the Canucks found themselves down 2-0 after one period. Vancouver started to take it to the Avalanche about half way through the second period and were finally rewarded after Henrik Sedin banged home a rebound with only 4 seconds remaining in the frame. The late goal obviously gave the Canucks some hope and some energy heading into the third as they poured it on from the opening draw of the final period.

Derek Dorsett tipped home his 2nd goal of the season to tie the game 2-2 just over two minutes in before Nick Bonino scored two beauties (5th and 6th of the season - Kesler has 3 by the way) in a five minute span to give the Canucks the lead and some insurance. Shawn Matthias scored his first of the year on a sharp wrister four minutes later to seal the win for Vancouver.

It was a nice way to start the 4 game road trip in which the Canucks will visit California to play the Sharks, Kings and Ducks starting Thursday in San Jose. The visit to the Sunshine State hasn't been a welcome one for Vancouver in the past few years, so hopefully they can build some momentum of the big win in Colorado.

Tuesday night's win was also the highly anticipated debut for 2013 1st round pick Bo Horvat (acquired for Corey Schneider). Horvat saw limited minutes in a 4th line role, but played well and looked comfortable, confident and poised in what was obviously a nerve-racking experience. He finished +1 with a shot in 8:52 of ice time and was also 6 for 9 in the faceoff circle, an area the Canucks have struggled at all year.

Ryan Miller was solid in net despite letting in the opening shot, as he earned his league-leading 9th win. He's also in the midst of a personal five game win streak. Miller made 20 saves.

Kevin Bieksa returned to the lineup sans visor which was a big question heading into the game since he left last game after a puck hit him in the eye. Tom Sestito is out indefinitely with a lower body injury.

Alex Burrows will have completed his suspension on Thursday and will undoubtedly return to the lineup which begs the question, who do you take out? Each line played well tonight and there wasn't one player who stood out as struggling. Stay tuned.

Watch game highlights and check full game stats here.