After a bit of hype when he was signed this July, that his right-handed slapshot might be what cures the ills of Vancouver's powerplay, he fell off the radar rapidly after training camp. None of my buddies, who were curious about him and pumped me for information in September, even bothers to bring him up when they try to figure out how to fix the Canucks.
There was this quote from John Tortorella in the Vancouver Province:
“I like our back end, as far as the defencemen we have,” said Canucks head coach John Tortorella. “There wasn’t a spot, Alberts is sitting out. It’s tough but you have to make decisions. We used him at forward when we had injuries. I just don’t think he earned a spot and that’s why he’s not with us right now. I hope it works out for him.”The real conversation out here is the lack of offence, how they're losing all the one-goal games. The Sedin brothers have gone cold, they try too hard to break out of their slump, and make puzzling decisions. David Booth hasn't responded to his AHL conditioning assignment stint (I think they recalled him too quickly, he should have stayed the full two weeks). They're trying to push Zack Kassian on the first line with the Sedins, but he's clearly not ready, and already there are rumblings from the fans (note to self: give Michael McCarron, Jakob de la Rose and Connor Crisp all the time they need to develop, don't start calling for them to be brought up 'as an experiment.') They're reminding each other that the return of Dale Weise won't solve anything.
Another quote that may feel eerily familiar to Canadiens fans, from Roberto Luongo, about being run over during the game against the Stars:
“[Erik] Cole was trying to make a play and I’m not sure that was his intention but it was the second or third time in the game. It’s what we want to do to the other goalie — create havoc, get pucks there and a guy bangs it in.”
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