Author Archives: Tyler Asaoka

Vancouver Giants Vs Prince George Cougars Postgame Analysis – February 24th

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The Vancouver Giants lost a close game to the Prince George Cougars on Friday night. The Giants lost 5-4 in Overtime after blowing the lead, then coming back to tie the game.

The Giants opened the scoring almost 7 minutes into the 1st period with a powerplay goal from Skylar Bruce. Langley native, Dylan Anderson, got the secondary assist on this goal. The Cougars would tie the game 7 minutes later with a goal from Chase Wheatcroft. His 35th of the season came on the powerplay as well. Delta native, Ethan Samson of the Cougars got the secondary assist on this goal. 

The game was tied heading into the 2nd period, but the Giants would built a 3-1 lead quickly after a goal from Ty Thope 51 seconds into the period and then a goal from Jaden Lipinski 35 seconds later. Langley native, Dylan Anderson, got another secondary assist on Thope’s goal. Richmond native, Tyler Thope (not the same person as Ty Thope) got the secondary assist on Lipinski’s goal.

Unfortunately, the fun would be cut short, as the Cougars would fire back with 3 quick goals to have their first lead of the game. The Cougars scored their 3-goals in almost 3 minutes. Vancouver native, Arjun Bawa registered an assist on the first goal the Cougars scored out of the 3. 

The Giants would comeback to tie the game in the 3rd period thanks to a goal from Skylar Bruce 4 minutes into the 3rd period. That would be all the goals to occur in the final period, meaning overtime was necessary for this 4-4 game.

Ultimately, the Cougars would come out on top with an overtime winner from Chase Wheatcroft again, his 2nd of the night and his 36th of the season. Delta native, Ethan Samson of the Cougars got the secondary assist on this goal once again. 

It was a hard-fought back and fourth battle between these two teams, which led to an entertaining battle at the Langley Events Centre. The Giants will play again tomorrow for a back-to-back contest. They will face the Everett Silvertips at the Langley Events Centre once again. Tomorrow’s game will be the last of a 5-game homestand at the Langley Events Centre.

Vancouver Canucks Vs Boston Bruins Postgame Analysis – February 26th

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The Vancouver Canucks and their 3-game point streak came to end tonight, as the top team in the NHL Boston Bruins handed them a 3-1 defeat.

The game already looked tough on paper, as the Bruins sit at the top of the league with an insane record of 44-8-5. With how the Canucks’ season has gone this season, I’m sure no one expected the Canucks to hand the Bruins their 9th regulation loss or even 6th overtime/shootout loss.

The Bruins were up 2-0 after the 1st period, as Hampus Lindholm and Brad Marchand registered goals. The 2nd period had no goals from either team. 

The 3rd period is where things started to get more interesting, as the Canucks made it a 1-goal game thanks to a goal from Birthday Boy, Brock Boeser. He scored 7 minutes into the 3rd period, but as expected, the Canucks couldn’t capitalize on the opportunity when they pulled the goalie.

This is where the biggest highlight of the night occurred. Boston Bruins goaltender, Linus Ullmark scored the empty net goal… you did not read that wrong. Take a look at the clip below:

An absolute lazer from the Bruins netminder landed perfectly in the net, which would not only give the Bruins their 45th win of the season, but would also be the first NHL goalie goal since Pekka Rinne of the Nashville Predators scored back in 2020. Ullmark is also the first goaltender to score a goalie goal in the history of the Boston Bruins; talk about impressive!

Canucks’ goaltender, Arturs Silovs, was in net tonight and faced 34 shots, saving 32 of them. 

The Canucks will not hit the road for one game, as they have a date with the Dallas Stars on Monday at 5:30 pm (PST). After that game concludes, the Canucks will be a 6-game homestand, starting with a matchup against the Minnesota Wild on Thursday, March 2nd.

Toronto Raptors Vs Detroit Pistons Pregame Analysis – February 25th

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The Toronto Raptors are back in action today versus the Detroit Pistons. The Raptors are on a 3-game winning streak and will look to extend their win streak tonight at the Little Caesars Arena.

Their opponent tonight, Detroit Pistons, are currently last in the Eastern Conference and 3rd last in the entire NBA with a record of 15-45. Tonight’s Eastern Conference battle should be an easier win in comparison to the Raptors’ previous opponents. 

The Raptors last faced the Pistons almost 2 weeks ago with the Raptors coming out on top in a close 119-118 game. Fred VanVleet led the way with 35 points, 8 assists, and 3 rebounds that game. All-Star Pascal Siakam also was a force that game with 28 points, 6 assists, and 4 rebounds. 

Coincidently, the Pistons are on a 3-game losing streak, while the Raptors are on a 3-game winning streak. After tonight’s game, it’s possible the Raptors will be on a 4-game winning streak, while the Pistons will be on a 4-game losing streak. It’s also a funny coincidence how both the Raptors and the Pistons both started their respective winning and losing streaks in their last meeting together on February 12th. 

A win tonight would move the Raptors further up the standings, which is necessary for the team as they have made it clear that they intend to make the postseason this year and are on the right path with the way they’ve been playing the last few games.

The Raptors starting lineup will the same as their last game against the Pelicans, with Barnes, Trent Jr., Anunoby, Siakam, and Poeltl. 

The game will be at a different time than usual today, with the game starting at 9 am (PST). It will be an early morning showdown for us who live in Vancouver. The last time these two teams met, it was a close game, so here’s to hoping for another entertaining contest today.

Vancouver Canucks Vs Boston Bruins Pregame Analysis – February 25th

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The Vancouver Canucks are back in action tonight against the top team in the league, Boston Bruins. A rivalry that started back in the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals will be an entertaining contest.

The Canucks are currently on a 3-game point streak, having won 2 of their last 3 games, with the one game they lost being an overtime loss against the Nashville Predators. 

The Canucks completed a miraculous comeback in their last game against the St Louis Blues on Thursday night after being down 2-0 for most of the game. The Canucks would score halfway through the 3rd period to make the game 2-1 and then eventually tie the game with 30 seconds left to go in the game. The Canucks would then win the game 3-2 with a goal from Elias Pettersson.

There will also be a special event happening at Rogers Arena tonight, and that special event is Star Wars Night. The Canucks have encouraged fans to come dressed in their best Star Wars outfit today. There is a prize for the best-dressed fan tonight, as the best-dressed fan will win a free Black Skate jersey, the same jersey the Canucks will be wearing for tonight’s game.

Tonight’s game though will likely be the end of the Canucks’ 3-game point streak. They face the top NHL team, the Boston Bruins, who have an insane record of 44-8-5. The Bruins are on a 5-game win streak and have dominated almost every team in the league this season. The Bruins have the potential to tie the NHL record for most wins of 62 wins or break the record with 63 wins. They need to win 19 of their next 25 games to break the record, and with the pace that the Bruins are on, they could realistically break the record.

The last time the Canucks faced the Bruins this season was on November 13th, 2022 in a 5-2 losing effort at TD Garden.

The game tonight will be on at 4 pm (PST) instead of the usual 7 pm (PST), so make sure to remember that you so don’t end up missing the game.

Accessing Aatu Räty’s First Game with the Canucks

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The Vancouver Canucks let their top prospect, Aatu Räty, play in his first game for the Canucks in last night’s comeback overtime win against the St Louis Blues.

The Canucks were down 2-0 at the start of the 3rd period, but stormed back to tie the game with 29 seconds left to go. The Canucks would eventually win the game in overtime, completing the comeback in the process. The goal was Pettersson’s 28th goal of the season and his 75th point of the year. He’s crushing his career high of 68 points in 80 games; he currently has 75 points in 56 games.

But let’s talk about Aatu Räty. He played his first game for the Canucks last night and was scoreless in terms of points. The Canucks acquired the rookie forward in a big trade with the New York Islanders almost a month ago. The trade sent Räty, Anthony Beauvillier, and a 2023 protected 1st-round pick from the Islanders to the Canucks in exchange for former Canucks’ captain Bo Horvat.

Räty played 7 minutes and 37 seconds in last night’s game and only had 1 hit registered on the stat sheet. Should Canucks fans be worried about the production? Absolutely not. The Canucks played Räty on the 4th line and only gave him less than 8-minutes of playing time in the entire game. It’s difficult to do anything while only playing for around 2-3 minutes per period.

In comparison, his linemates in yesterday’s game were Sheldon Dries and Vasily Podkolzin. Dries played 9 minutes and 54 seconds, while Podkolzin played 10 minutes and 40 seconds. So Räty played less than them, but both Dries and Podkolzin had some power-play time, while Räty had none.

The Canucks haven’t confirmed yet if Räty will play again tomorrow against the top NHL team Boston Bruins. 

Canuck fans shouldn’t stress or give up on Räty so early. He’s only 20 years old and has only played 13 games in the NHL so far. It’s way too early to give up on the highly-touted prospect after 13 games. As long as the Canucks develop him properly and don’t give up on him so early, he can be a legitimate top 6 forward for the Canucks for years to come.

Patience is a virtue, and while Canucks fans have waited long enough for a contending team, let’s hope we only need to wait a couple more years for this team to be a legitimate contender for the playoffs.

Toronto Raptors Vs New Orleans Pelicans Postgame Analysis – February 24th

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The Toronto Raptors have won their third straight game to extend their winning streak to 3 games. The Raptors defeated the New Orleans Pelicans in a final score of 115-110.

The Raptors were in control for most of the game, having outscored the Pelicans for most of the game. It was only in the 4th quarter that the Pelicans scored more points than the Raptors, but it still wasn’t enough to defeat the Raptors, as the Raptors had already built a solid lead from the first 3 quarters.

This was the Raptors’ first game in over a week since the team had been off for the NBA All-Star weekend that occurred last week. The Raptors had an All-Star this year in Pascal Siakam. In tonight’s game, Siakam led the way scoring 26 points, 5 assists, and 4 rebounds. He played 38 minutes in tonight’s game.

The Raptors’ win tonight helped move them further up the standings in the Eastern Conference. Their win last night helped them solidify their spot in 9th, which is good enough to make the postseason. They have a breathable gap between the 10th-place Washington Wizards and the 11th-place Chicago Bulls, who are in the hunt to take the Raptors’ spot away.

On the other side of the court, the Pelicans suffered their 2nd straight loss. Pelicans’ Small Forward, Brandon Ingram, led the way for the Pelicans scoring an impressive 36 points, 3 assists, and 7 rebounds while playing 36 minutes. The loss tonight for the Pelicans wasn’t too detrimental to their postseason hopes. They are still in 8th place and hold a decent gap between the teams below them.

The Raptors will look to extend their 3-game win streak in their next game on the road against the Detroit Pistons tomorrow in an afternoon showdown at 9 am (PST). This will be the start of their 2-game road trip, as they will play the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday before returning back home to play the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday.

Toronto Raptors Vs New Orleans Pelicans Pregame Analysis – February 23rd

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The Toronto Raptors are finally back on the court after being off for more than a week. Tonight, they will face off against the New Orleans Pelicans. 

This will be the first Raptors game since the All-Star break. The last game the Raptors played was on Tuesday, February 14th (Valentine’s Day) against the Orlando Magic. The Raptors won that game 123-113.

The Raptors All-Star representative this year was Pascal Siakam. He was on the winning team (Team Giannis) of the All-Star game and played 15 minutes, scoring 12 points in the process. The Raptors are hoping for him to continue right where he left off in the All-Star game, and bring another victory to the team.

The Raptors currently hold a record of 28-31, which is good enough to keep them in a playoff play-in round. The Raptors have made it clear that they fully intend to make the post-season, so a victory tonight is vital to keep building a gap with the teams below them that are also fighting for the final play-in spot.

The Pelicans are currently in the same boat with a 30-29 record. They currently hold the 8th spot in the Western Conference, but a win tonight would move them up to 7th place, the top spot for a play-in position.

The Raptors are currently on a 2-game win streak and will look to extend their win streak to 3 games with a victory tonight. On the other hand, the Pelicans lost their last game to the Los Angeles Lakers in a 120-102 loss. So while the Raptors are looking to extend their 2-game win streak, they’re also looking to send the Pelicans out of the Scotiabank Arena with a 2-game losing streak.

The game will be on at 4:30 pm (PST), so set your alarms so you don’t miss this evenly-matched battle with lots on the line.

Vancouver Canucks Vs St Louis Blues Pregame Analysis – February 23rd

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The Vancouver Canucks are back in action tonight against the St Louis Blues. Tonight’s game will be the team’s second and final game of their 2-game road trip. They lost their last game against the Nashville Predators on Tuesday in a 5-4 shootout loss. 

Despite the Canucks forcing overtime (and then eventually a shootout) in the last 16 seconds of the game, they still walked out of Bridgestone Arena with 1 point. Prior to the tying goal, the Predators were up 4-2 until Canucks’ forward, Conor Garland, scored his 12th of the season with a minute left to go in the 3rd period. The Canucks would then pull their goalie to tie the game with a big goal from Canucks forward Andrei Kuzmenko, who scored his 26th of the season.

The Canucks will start Arturs Silovs in net tonight after he had the night off against Nashville. He won his last game, which was his first NHL victory, in a 6-2 victory against the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday.

In other news, the Canucks’ starting lineup will have some changes. Luke Scheen is yet again a healthy scratch for trade-related reasons. For more exciting news, the Canucks will have their top prospect, Aatu Räty, play in his first game for the Canucks tonight. Räty played 13 games for the New York Islanders prior to him being traded to the Canucks for former captain Bo Horvat. Räty had 2 goals in the 13 games he played for the Islanders. He will play Center on the 4th line with Vasily Podkolzin and Sheldon Dries.

The game tonight will be on at 5 pm (PST). The Canucks’ next game will be at home against the top team in the NHL, Boston Bruins. That game will be on this coming Saturday and will start at 4 pm (PST) this time instead of the usual 7 pm (PST), so make sure to not get the time wrong when you watch that rivalry game.

Team Canada Wins Game 7 Against Team USA; Reverse Sweep Completed

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Team Canada’s Women’s Hockey Team completes a miraculous comeback against Team USA in the Rivalry Series. Team Canada won last night’s game in a dominating 5-0 victory to complete the reverse sweep on Team USA.

Team Canada was originally down in the best of 7 series, as Team USA won the first 3 games. Team USA only needed to win 1 more game to win the series, while Team Canada couldn’t afford to lose another game or else they would lose the series. With great luck and Team Canada never losing hope while down in the series helped drive them to a comeback for the ages.

Team Canada’s goaltender, Ann-Renée Desbiens, shut the door on Team USA with a 25-save shutout. 

Team Canada was up 1-0 after the 1st period after a big goal from Ella Shelton. Team Canada would top their strong 1st period with an even stronger 2nd period, as they would score 4 goals this period. They got 2 goals from Blayre Turnbull, as well as goals from Victoria Bach and Marie-Philip Poulin. Poulin’s goal was her 198th career goal for Team Canada, making her 2-goals away from scoring 200 goals for Team Canada, a milestone that has only been achieved by 3 other players in Team Canada Women’s history.

After Team Canada’s 3rd goal, Team USA made a goaltender change, swapping out Nicole Hensly for Maddie Rooney. However, the goaltender did help, and it showed immediately, as Rooney let in a goal 32 seconds after the swap. Rooney would later let in another goal almost 2 minutes later. 

The energy in the building was electric and was yet another classic battle between Team Canada and Team USA. Team Canada adds another victory over the Americans, but these two teams will face off again on April 10th in the preliminary rounds of the Women’s World Championship tournament. Make sure to circle that date in your calendars to witness another instant classic hockey game between two bitter rivals.

Team Canada Vs Team USA Women’s Hockey Game 7 Pregame Analysis – February 22nd

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Team Canada’s Women’s Hockey Team will face a winner take all Game 7 against their archrivals, Team USA. The game will be played tonight in Laval, Quebec at the Place Bell.

Team Canada was down in the series 3 games to none since they lost the first 3 games of the best of 7 series to the Americans. Team Canada is looking to complete the reverse sweep on Team USA, which would be another story to add to the historic battles between the Team Canada and Team USA rivalry.

Game 6 was played in front of a sold-out crowd at the ColisÊe VidÊotron in Trois-Rivieres, Quebec. The game resulted in a dominating 5-1 win for the Canadians. 

Team Canada’s face of the team, Marie-Philip Poulin, hit a historical milestone on Monday’s Game 6 victory. She recorded her 200th point, marking her name in the history books as only the 5th player in Team Canada Women’s Hockey to do so. She joins Hayley Wickenheiser, Jayna Hefford, Caroline Ouellette, and Danielle Goyette as the only other players to record 200 or more points in Team Canada’s Women’s history.

Poulin added another milestone to her already impressive resume of achievements and broken records. Incredibly, she can achieve another milestone in tonight’s game if the game plays out the way she wants. She currently has recorded 97 goals in her career for Team Canada, meaning a hat-trick tonight would have her hit the 100-goal mark in her career. What a moment that would be, especially in Game 7 against Team USA of all teams. She would join Wickenheiser, Hefford, and Goyette as the only others to do so.

This winner takes all game is a can’t-miss game. This will be the 174th meeting between the Canadians and the Americans. Record-rise, the Canadians have more wins over the Americans in their history, having an all-time record of 98-74-1 against them. 

The game will start at 4 pm (PST).