1. Ryan Miller slides.
Remember that great start Ryan Miller got off to?
Yeah, neither do we.
The Canucks threw caution into the wind, played their 35-year-old goalie in back-to-backs and 14 of the first 15 games. He actually was leading the league in games played. Both the Canucks and Miller paid for it.
During the first nine games of November, Miller was 3-5-1 with a .900 save percentage, spiralling down the NHL’s goalie rankings.
Did the Canucks learn some lessons here?
Here’s our guess: No.
2. The resurgence of Daniel Sedin.
It’s not so much that Daniel is maintaining a spot among the NHL’s top-10 point producers.
It’s how he’s been doing it.
Holy Christmas, Daniel is scoring again. I don’t think anyone saw this, at least not with the frequency.
You can credit his new Bauer stick with the increased flex, if you want. But really this has all been driven by quantity.
Daniel is averaging more than four shots a game — something he hasn’t done his entire career.
3. The Sedins light up Chicago.
It was a blast from the past, and boy was it fun.
The Sedins combined for nine points. Just the two of them. Nine points and 10 shot attempts.
Sure, it wasn’t a playoff game. But if there is still an inkling of rivalry between these two old playoff foes, and there is, it was a lot of fun for the city of Vancouver to see the Sedins go off against Patrick Kane and company.
4. Ryan Miller vs. Ray Ferraro.
On a long, seven-game Eastern road trip, it became pretty clear Miller doesn’t like Ray Ferraro, a local and one of the country’s best broadcasters.
Ferraro was one of those who pointed out that Miller wears extra large goalie pants, which happen to be on a 168-pound body.
Miller said all the attention he is getting for his goalie equipment traces back to Ferraro, going so far as to suggest Ferraro is part of a TSN plan to drum up controversy because they lost NHL TV rights.
5. Miller becomes poster goalie for equipment debate.
Changes are coming to goalie equipment and Miller is a big reason why.
OK, maybe not him personally, but the concept that Miller wears the same pants as goalies who are much larger, like Carey Price, is one of the things that is driving change.
The league will be looking to streamline goalie jerseys and pants, as it turns out every goalie in the league wears extra-large pants regardless of size.
Just about every story on this topic includes Miller, mostly because he makes great visuals — because the difference between him in his equipment and in street clothes is so stark.
6. Hunter Shinkaruk gets everyone’s attention.
Takes a lot for a minor leaguer to make this top-10 list, but Shinkaruk’s start to his season has been remarkable.
He got a little taste of the NHL, too, getting rewarded for his goal-scoring accomplishments with a game in Montreal against the Canadiens.
Nervous early, Shinkaruk calmed down to have a pretty nice debut. If he continues to score at anywhere near the clip he’s been scoring at, it raises one of the biggest questions of the season.
How long can the Canucks keep one of their best goal-scorers in the AHL?
7. Luca Sbisa gets great PR by not playing.
Obviously awful last year on a pairing with Kevin Bieksa, Luca Sbisa was not exactly a fan favourite in his debut season with the Canucks.
But an ankle injury knocked him out of action for the first two-and-a-half weeks of November.
Vancouver missed him.
Wait, what?
The Canucks played soft, porous defence without Sbisa, and the penalty-killing unit imploded.
All of a sudden, fans started experiencing something they never thought they’d feel.
They like Sbisa — and wanted him back in the lineup.
8. The Road Trip from Hell.
Four of 14 points is all the Canucks could pull out of a seven-game road trip against some of the NHL’s least talented teams.
The trip started with back-to-back losses to the Buffalo Sabres and the New Jersey Devils. The Canucks went on to lose to Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and Winnipeg.
They blew third-period leads like most of us blow through espresso shots. Even when they did things right, they couldn’t catch a break.
They won once, in Columbus, and that may have been the worst game they played on the trip.
9. Jannik Hansen excels on the top line.
Not many saw this coming, but the 29-year-old Dane has looked a little like Alex Burrows this past month.
Can it last?
Why not? The Sedins need a winger with speed, and want to play with someone who can work the corners and retrieve pucks.
Hansen is the team’s fastest player and its best forechecker, and as such he’s been a great fit.
Not only did he put up four points in one game, he also scored on a breakaway.
Go figure.
10. The Pacific Division is the worst division in the NHL.
The L.A. Kings have been in first place for most of the month, but would be miles (or seven points) back in any of the other three divisions.
People have assumed the Anaheim Ducks will be in the playoffs, but they’ve looked anything but a good team.
The Calgary Flames are imploding and the Edmonton Oilers had any chance of going on a run wiped out with the Connor McDavid injury.
What does all this mean?
The Canucks can continue to be an average NHL team and can still continue to be in the playoff race.
Consider the Canucks went through a 10-game stretch where they earned six of 20 points — and when it was over, they were in second place.
jbotchford@theprovince.com
twitter.com/botchford
