The Next Great American Born, Canadian Hockey Player: Rich Ballezzi (NHL 11)

[Eaglesrownage]

Almost Only Counts in Horseshoes and Hand Grenades (Not Hockey)


Roberto Loungo after Game 6 loss to Pittsburgh

(Vancouver, B.C.) -- In 2010 a rookie sensation swept the NHL and the city of Vancouver. Rich Ballezzi, a 20 year old American forward out of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania led his Western Canadian team, the Vancouver Canucks all the way to the Stanley Cup Final. However, Sidney Crosby and the Penguins put an end to the Canucks' magical season.

The season was indeed magical, the Canucks finished with the league's best record, along with their Western Conference Championship. The majority of the reason for the Canucks' success was indeed thanks to their rookie forward, Rich Ballezzi. Ballezzi finished third in the Art Ross race with 45G, 52A, and 97P; despite finishing behind Steven Stamkos and Sidney Crosby in points, Ballezzi still managed to win both the Calder and Hart Memorial Trophy as the league's Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player, respectively.

2010 brought success to the Vancouver Canucks, and in the off season GM Mike Gillis made an acquisition that could put the Canucks over the top in 2011. The Canucks made the free agent "splash" of the off season by signing veteran centre Joe Thornton to lead a team that came so close to winning it all last season. In 2011, the Vancouver Canucks will look to take that extra step and win their franchise's first Stanley Cup.

[sensfan1996]

Re: The Next Great American Born, Canadian Hockey Player: Rich Ballezzi (NHL 11)

I will be following, BTW i have a Vancouver Dynasty Just above yours lol.

[Eaglesrownage]

Re: The Next Great American Born, Canadian Hockey Player: Rich Ballezzi (NHL 11)

THX i'll check it out... my updates are going to start from game 6 of the 2nd season.

[Eaglesrownage]

Re: The Next Great American Born, Canadian Hockey Player: Rich Ballezzi (NHL 11)

Vancouver Canucks Depth Chart - 2011
	STARTER	2ND	3RD	4TH
LW	R. Ballezzi	M. Raymond	A. Burrows	M. Malholtra
C	J. Thornton	H. Sedin	R. Kesler	K. Wellwood
RW	D. Sedin	M. Samuelsson	J. Hansen	C. Hodgson
D #1	K. Bieksa	C. Ehrhoff	K. Ballard
D #2	D. Hamhuis	A. Edler	A. Rome
G	R. Luongo	C. Schneider

[Eaglesrownage]

Re: The Next Great American Born, Canadian Hockey Player: Rich Ballezzi (NHL 11)

[Eaglesrownage]

Re: The Next Great American Born, Canadian Hockey Player: Rich Ballezzi (NHL 11)

Game #1 - Chicago @ Vancouver

Oct 4, 2011	1	2	3	F
CHI (0-1-0)	0	1	1	2
VAN (1-0-0)	2	0	1	3

Game #2 - Columbus @ Vancouver

Oct 6, 2011	1	2	3	SO	F
CLB (2-0-0)	1	0	1	1	3
VAN (1-0-1)	1	1	0	0	2

Game #3 - Vancouver @ Minnesota

Oct 8, 2011	1	2	3	F
VAN (2-0-1)	0	1	1	2
MIN (2-1-0)	0	0	1	1

Game #4 - Los Angeles @ Vancouver

Oct 10, 2011	1	2	3	F
LAK (3-1-0)	1	3	0	4
VAN (2-1-1)	0	0	1	1

Game #5 - St. Louis @ Vancouver

Oct 12, 2011	1	2	3	OT	F
STL (5-1-0)	0	0	0	1	1
VAN (2-1-2)	0	0	0	0	0

[Eaglesrownage]

Re: The Next Great American Born, Canadian Hockey Player: Rich Ballezzi (NHL 11)

Ok guys the real updates will start now with Game #6 I just played those five games before hand.

[Eaglesrownage]

Re: The Next Great American Born, Canadian Hockey Player: Rich Ballezzi (NHL 11)

Canucks Come From Behind to Open a Back to Back With Calgary


Ballezzi's GTG off of a beautiful pass from D. Sedin

(Vancouver, B.C.) -- Geographical distance accompanied by heated playoff history between both the Vancouver Canucks and the Calgary Flames have made for an intense rivalry. The NHL must have had this in mind when they scheduled these two teams for an early season back to back.

The Canucks have been division champs in the Northwest Division for the past three seasons and continued their dominance against, their divisional foes, the Calgary Flames on Friday night. However, even though things appeared to be going according to plan with an early Daniel Sedin goal, the Flames countered with two unanswered goals and took a 2-1 lead into the third period.

The Canucks certainly were not going to "phone in" the third period, especially in front of the home crowd. It only took the Canucks under five minutes to strike with a goal from the Hart Trophy winner, Rich Ballezzi. Ballezzi's goal shifted the games momentum, and if last season told us anything when Ballezzi is hot, he's on fire. With less than four minutes remaining in regulation Ballezzi wristed the GWG past Mikka Kiprusoff. The Canucks later tacked on an empty netter to win the game 4-2.

The Canucks got back on the winning track as they improved their record to 3-1-2 after suffering two straight losses to the LA Kings and St. Louis Blues, respectively. The Canucks will look to continue their success Saturday night on the back end of this two game swing with the Calgary Flames.

Calgary vs Vancouver
Oct 14, 2011 1 2 3 F CGY (2-4-0) 1 1 0 2 VAN (3-1-2) 1 0 3 4 Three Stars Rich Ballezzi, LW 2G, 2A, 4P Daniel Sedin, RW 2G, 1A, 3P Joe Thornton, C 0G, 2A, 2P	Team Stats Comparison CGY VAN Shots on Goal 26 14 Hits 10 3 Faceoffs Won-Lost 10/25 15/25 Penalty Minutes 0:00 0:00 Power Plays Converted 0 0 Power Play Opportunities 0 0 Time on Attack 6:34 5:47
Scoring Summary FIRST PERIOD VAN D. Sedin (R. Ballezzi, C. Ehrhoff) - 4:54 CGY N. Hagman (I. White) - 10:22 SECOND PERIOD CGY A. Pardy (A. Tanguay, B. McGrattan) - 10:01 THIRD PERIOD VAN R. Ballezzi (D. Sedin, C. Ehrhoff) - 4:30 VAN R. Ballezzi (A. Edler, J. Thornton) - 16:11 VAN D. Sedin (J. Thornton, R. Ballezzi) - 19:54 (EN)

[Eaglesrownage]

Re: The Next Great American Born, Canadian Hockey Player: Rich Ballezzi (NHL 11)

Daniel Sedin Resurrects the Canucks


Joe Thornton Wins the Game in the Shootout's Fifth Round

(Vancouver, B.C.) -- It appeared as though a controversial goal was going to decide this game. The Calgray Flames scored the game's first goal late in the third period. However, the goal was initially waived off due to a "kick-in" by Jarome Iginla. So, the decision was to be made by the "war room" in Toronto to potentially decide the game. The goal did indeed look to like it was kicked in by Iginla, but stunningly the goal was ruled a "good goal."

So, the Canucks looked to be dead in the water with under a minute left when they pulled Roberto Luongo in favor of the extra attacker. Then something happened that one can't say too often, "It Worked!" With six seconds remaining in regulation the attacking Canucks surrounded a loose puck in the crease of Mikka Kiprusoff. Then, Daniel Sedin managed to get a stick on the puck and tap in the GTG.

The game was forced into OT, but it remained scoreless through the extra session with little chances from both teams. The game went into a shootout and was knotted at 1-1 when Joe Thornton had the game on his stick. Thornton beat Kiprusoff with a wrist shot to win the game 2-1 for the Canucks and secure a much needed two points from a game which looked to produce zero.

Daniel Sedin was asked after the game about his goal and he said, "It was a team effort to try and knock in the loose puck it just happened to be my stick that forced it in." Sedin's selflessness really shows what kind of team this is where one player is no greater than the next. The Canucks need to keep this attitude if they want to continue their success in the always competitive Western Conference.

Calgary vs Vancouver
Oct 15, 2010 1 2 3 SO F CGY (2-4-1) 0 0 1 0 1 VAN (4-1-2) 0 0 1 1 2 Three Stars Daniel Sedin, RW (VAN) 1 Goal, 0 Assists, 1 Point Rich Ballezzi, LW (VAN) 0 Goals, 1 Assist, 1 Point Roberto Luongo, G (VAN) 17 Shots, 16 Saves, 1 Goal Allowed	Team Stats Comparison CGY VAN Shots on Goal 17 14 Hits 16 12 Faceoffs Won-Lost 14/24 10/24 Penalty Minutes 0:00 2:00 Power Plays Converted 0 0 Power Play Opportunities 1 0 Time on Attack 9:24 4:41
Scoring Summary THIRD PERIOD CGY J. Iginla (R. Bourque) - 13:54 VAN D. Sedin (R. Ballezzi, A. Edler) - 19:54

[Dynasty]

Re: The Next Great American Born, Canadian Hockey Player: Rich Ballezzi (NHL 11)

Good stuff so far, nice job last season

[hoxltc]

Re: The Next Great American Born, Canadian Hockey Player: Rich Ballezzi (NHL 11)

I'm following this...great stuff. Looking forward to see how this turns out.

[Eaglesrownage]

Re: The Next Great American Born, Canadian Hockey Player: Rich Ballezzi (NHL 11)

"Wild-Won" in Vancouver


Dan Hamhuis Scores Off of Faceoff

(Vancouver, B.C.) -- Earlier this season a late third period goal lifted the Vancouver Canucks over the Minnesota Wild in dramatic game winning fashion. A little over a week later the Wild returned the favor.

The game looked to have promise for the Canucks early as they struck first. Dan Hamhuis caught Josh Harding off guard as he scored the game's first goal off the face-off. One would expect a team to be lifted by an unorthodox goal such as the one Hamhuis scored. However, after that first period goal the Canucks had no fire. The Wild tied the game up minutes later, but like the Canucks they could not generate any offensive production thereafter. The game stayed at 1-1 and went into overtime.

In overtime the Canucks found themselves down a man after a tripping penalty. Unfortunately, that was all the Wild needed. Marek Zidlicky on the powerplay scored the game winning goal for the Wild as they beat the Vancouver Canucks 2-1.

The Canucks next match-up will bring them east to take on the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Blue Jackets topped Vancouver in a shootout earlier this year, so the Canucks will be looking to even the score. The Canucks whom have had a home heavy schedule thus far will need to be able to adjust their game in order to have success on the road.

Minnesota vs Vancouver
Oct 16, 2011 1 2 3 OT F MIN (5-2-0) 1 0 0 1 2 VAN (4-1-3) 1 0 0 0 1 Three Stars J. Harding, G (MIN) 19 Shots, 18 Saves, 1 Goal Allowed D. Hamhuis, C (VAN) 1 Goal, 0 Assists, 1 Point M. Zidlicky, D (MIN) 1 Goal, 0 Assists, 1 Point	Team Stats Comparison MIN VAN Shots on Goal 14 19 Hits 12 3 Faceoffs Won-Lost 10/25 15/25 Penalty Minutes 2:00 2:00 Power Plays Converted 1 0 Power Play Opportunities 1 1 Time on Attack 3:24 6:17
Scoring Summary FIRST PERIOD VAN D. Hamhuis (Unassisted) - 8:23 MIN E. Nystrom (K. Brodziak, N. Schultz) - 13:42 OVERTIME MIN M. Zidlicky (D. Ryder) - 0:33 (PP)
Vancouver - Skaters SKATERS TOI G A +/- SOG PIM R. Ballezzi (LW) 43:41 0 0 -1 3 0:00

[Eaglesrownage]

Re: The Next Great American Born, Canadian Hockey Player: Rich Ballezzi (NHL 11)

Good stuff so far, nice job last season

Thanks, I really wish I would have one the cup though it sucks... I feel like my Flyers lol

I'm following this...great stuff. Looking forward to see how this turns out.

Thanks, a lot hopefully it turns out a little better than last year