Canucks – Holidays in Review

The past two weeks have been very productive for the Canucks. The team had an extremely tough challenge heading into the Christmas break playing against two of the leagues better teams, the Hawks and the Jets. The Canucks had come out of their slump the
Sunday before against the Railer Express, and were looking to build on that success going into their game against the Hawks.

The game against the Hawks was interesting. The Hawks jumped out to a 2-0 lead but the Nuckers evened things up in the second on goals by Reinheimer (3rd) and Meixner, his first as a nucker. Must of been an elephant off the back of Meixner as he was
snake bitten for a while looking for that first goal. This game was back and forth, the Hawks went up 3-2 and then the turning point of the game happened. The Canucks dumped the puck deep into Hawks territory with less than 10 seconds in the second
period. The Hawks caught the Nucks sleeping and fired a long pass and turned it into a 3 on 2 and scored with 1 second to go. What a back breaker! The Canucks would never recover and lose a tough game 5-2.

On Sunday the Nuckers were looking to go into the break on a positive note against the Jets. With the Jets and Knights clipping at the heels of the Nuckers in the standings, this game was crucial for both clubs. Now it has been documented that the
Canucks have not won a game when the opponent scores first and are winless when trailing after two periods. So it must of been demoralizing for the group, when Stonewall not only scored first goal but held a 4-2 lead after two periods of play. Coach
Mooney was none too pleased and used his voice to let the team know that it wasn’t Christmas quite yet. The Nuckers responded coming out of the gates in the third with guns a’blazin. Austin Hill made it a one goal game with his 8th of the season. Jeremy
Idzikowski tied the game up with 12 minutes to play and with 19 seconds remaining, Mitchell Lockhart tipped home a Lynam point shot that gave the Canucks the comeback 5-4 victory! Whatta way to head into the break! The Nuckers put up 23 shots in the
third period alone. General Manager and Vice President of Hockey Operations Gavin Mclachlan was pleased with the team’s effort in the third. “Not only did we need this win, but it was the way in which we won the game that was crucial. That will really
help the confidence level of our team, and now we need to build on that!”

The Canucks took 12 days off before reconvening January 2nd for practice. The were ready to take on the Twisters after 12 days of Christmas Cheer. Sometimes the mental break over the holidays is what the players need. A time to reflect and re energize
for the playoff run. The Nuckers looked well rested after coming out of the gates with a solid performance. Again the team did not score first but it did not phase the Nuckers as they quickly answered. The line of Stire, Lockhart and Meixner were on fire
combining for 3 goals. The Nucks moved the puck around well all night and controlled the play for most of the evening outshooting the Twisters 43-25. Tyler Wiess was solid making some crucial saves down the stretch and the Canucks celebrated a 4-3
victory at the end of the night. It was a solid team win and now the team is back on the winning track. The Nucks have now won 2 straight and 3 of their last 4. This weekend will be a huge test for the club. It is showcase weekend at the Iceplex and the
Nucks play the Knights and the Vics. Both teams are hovered around the Nucks in the Standings and these two games could be an indicator of where the Nucks will end up in the standings.