Indeed...

Hey folks, been a touch busy with things over at Nucks Misconduct, but I hope to seriously have a podcast soon. In the meantime, just wanted to share this with you...

GAME DAY: Canucks @ Sharks

Game 81 sees the Canucks return to the (looks at his notes) the um, HP Pavillion, affectionately known as The Shark Tank. Meh. From this day forward, we shall call it The Laptop. Anyways, the Canucks playoff position is set, division title clinched and just awaiting an opponent.

So how do they get motivated for this game? Well, there's the opportunity to keep San Jose from clinching top spot in the West, but you know the Sharks will be just as motivated for that reason. There's the chance to tie the team record for most wins in a season, but they had that opportunity against the Avalanche the other night and it didn't quite go to their liking. So I guess the real motivation should be an opportunity for a Sharks team that struggles with self-doubt heading into the playoffs to get a real solid fear put into them. Slap them around at home and let them know that should they be able to overcome the mental block of the 1st round, and more of the same could be waiting for them.

Can the Canucks actually do this? Certainly. They managed to defeat the Sharks at home once this season, and while the Sharks truly are a different beast in the friendly confines of the um, Laptop, they're not an invincible juggernaut. The Canucks will certainly need better team defence, and some of the line changes tonight might be able to help that. Nolan Baumgartner will likely draw into Andrew Alberts' spot and Ryan Johnson has been replaced by Matt Pettinger, who was called up from the Moose after Johnson suffered another fracture blocking shots.

Here's the situation for the Canucks: Lingering doubts about this teams' ability to win in the playoffs, centered around the goaltender. A defence core so beaten and battered it looks more like the starting lineup of the Moose. The bottom 6 still struggling with consistency. Can this team silence the critics? Despite overcoming huge odds, Vancouver's numbers rank them with the elite this season, yet many are loathe to do so because of past performance. Forget the sheer hypocrisy of this, they are right in a way. The regular season proves nothing but home ice in the playoffs.

So despite clearing the 100 point mark and winning their division handily, the Canucks are once again being written off, some even going so far as to say their potential first round match against the Kings should be nothing for LA to fear. No respect. Good. I say let them walk into it cocky. Let them underestimate us. Up until a bad game the other night at the Staples Center the Canucks had handled the Kings easily. Going to predict a cruise to victory on one game? Go for it.

The Canucks may be struggling, as they have all season with injuries. But they are determined, none more so that Henrik and Daniel Sedin. They've had incredible seasons, especially Henrik, who is poised to become the first Canucks player to win the NHL scoring title and possible the Hart trophy as well. There are a number of players who have had career worst years in a season that's turning out to be one of Vancouver's best. They want to prove the critics wrong, and no one more than Roberto Luongo.

The criticism that he couldn't win the big game was vanquished when he backstopped Canada to gold in front of the hometown fans, but when you look at criticisms of the team lately, it's as though it never happened. Is he playing his best hockey right now? No. Is he getting more rest heading into the playoffs than in previous years? Yes. And that could end up being one of the reasons the Canucks are actually a team to fear. So like I said, take the Canucks for granted. You'll be sorry you did.

Awkwaaaaaaard....

Dear Jarome;

I know it's been a while since we talked. I knew this day was coming, and I suppose I probably should have addressed this earlier, but with being away from home and everything, well... you know.

First, I just wanted to say thank you for all that you did while you were here. You were everything that we expected of you. And in the big moment, when we needed you the most, there you were. Clutch. I know it's been a tough year for you. On top one moment, in the throes of despair the next.

And yet as happy as we all were that we could count on you to help lead the nation to glory, things are back to where they were before. And it's not that we don't like you. You have a lot of the qualities we would love on this team. It's the others. As long as you're with them, well... you're one of them. And that's why we have to say goodbye.

So tonight, you will likely hear some applause, as we thank you for what you did. And when the puck drops, you will hear the vulgarities once again. There's a certain comfort in that familiarity. We still hate you. It's as passionate as ever. But we grew to respect you a little more.

Game Day: Canucks @ Predators

The Road Trip From Hell (tm) continues as the Canucks try and rebound from an effort Friday in Chicago that was disappointing no matter how you look at it. Not much time to sit and dwell though, as a team that always plays the Canucks tough will be looking to try and shore up their playoff aspirations with a victory this afternoon.

I have a real love-hate relationship with these afternoon games. Part of me likes that it's still light out at the end of the game. Another part of me also remembers a certain afternoon game that was a disaster for Roberto Luongo and his groin. Luongo will be looking to get his game back in gear, one week to the day of his gold medal victory in Vancouver.

The good news for Vancouver is that the best defenseman for Team Canada, Nashville's Shea Weber is out of the lineup with a wrist injury. That's a big loss for the Preds, especially with their already weak penalty killing. That could be just the thing the Canucks need to get their recently struggling power play back in gear.

One of the things that really stood out from Friday was just how badly we miss Willie Mitchell and Kevin Bieksa. I don't want to knock Andrew Alberts until he's had a few games to adjust to the system, but overall it's amazing we've done as well as we have with this half-AHL defense. Getting Bieksa back soon will be good, but it's Mitchell and his shutdown ability that the Canucks will need heading into the post season.

The Canucks will likely be facing Pekka Rinne today, who has won his last two starts. The Canucks will want to key on 3 players today if they want to have success. Martin Erat has played well against the Canucks this year with 3 goals and an assist, Jason Arnott is always tough to play against, and Steve Sullivan has 10 points in his last 10 against Vancouver and 30 points lifetime.

The Canucks will need the Sedins to show some signs that they can regain the dominance they showed earlier this season. While it's great that Alexandre Burrows, Ryan Kesler, Pavol Demitra and Kyle Wellwood are playing well right now, this team needs production from it's superstars. That and a better job of defensive responsibility should lead to success in Nashville at the *checks the name* Firestone Center.

Blood On The Ice
A couple suspensions this week as Montreal's Maxime Lapierre got 4 games for dirty shove from behind on Scott Nicol of the Sharks, and Minnesota's Derek Boogaard got a paltry 2 game slap on the wrist for a brutal knee on knee hit against Ryan Jones of the Oilers. The Boogaard suspension is the same punishment given to Alexander Ovechkin for a similar hit. No word yet on whether Boogaard will use this as a bargaining chip when his current contract expires...

Big win for the Maple Leafs last night against a flu-ridden Ottawa team. You have to love that they needed a shootout to dispatch a team that had a regular parade to the dressing room of players going to vomit.

New York Rangers fans are having a 'Fire Glen Sather' rally today. The amazing thing is that they waited this long to do it...

Sidney Crosby has seemingly pulled a page out of Alex Ovechkin's book and turned down a request from David Letterman to appear on his show to do the top 10 list. One more PR embarrassment for Gary Bettman. Speaking of Bettman, the NHL is suing former Coyotes owner Jerry Moyes. The interesting part of this lawsuit? He is trying to recoup moneys owed to Wayne Gretzky. Didn't they make it so he didn't get paid in the first place due to their bungling of the whole situation?

Hodgson to the Leafs for Kaberle?

The internetz are all a twitter (and there too) with a rumor that has the Canucks sending prized prospect Cody Hodgson to the Leafs for D Tomas Kaberle. The main source of this is Ken Campbell of The Hockey News in his article speculating the Leafs could pull this off.

I have to say I got a good chuckle at the mere thought of this, as the chances of the Canucks and Leafs coming together on a trade are about as good a bet as getting a genuine, heart-felt apology from Rick Reilly. But just for fun, let's say I was the GM of the Canucks, and Brian Burke calls to discuss this possibility; here's what it might look like...

GM: Hello... oh, it's you. Mhm. Yeah, unusually warm. Good, good. That's funny, it sounded like you said you'd give us Kaberle for Hodgson. Ah. Ok, thought I was going to have to look for some Q-tips. And what else? No Brian, I mean what else are you going to give... Hello? Hello???

Anyways, if we were to entertain such nonsense, the package I would want to see would look like this:

To Toronto: Cody Hodgson
To Vancouver: Tomas Kaberle; a written admission of guilt proclaiming every instance of tampering he and his staff was involved in with the Canucks; the removal of the Silver Dollar buried somewhere in the ice at Canada Hockey Place; David Backes to be replaced on the US Olympic Team with either Keith Tkachuk, Doug Weight, Mike Modano or Bill Guerin; and when all those are completed, they may have Kyle Wellwood and Steve Bernier.

Fair? No. We'll keep Wellwood.

The Finns rolled to an easy victory over Belarus today, 5-1. They outshot the Belarus team 45-12, who didn't take my advice on dumping the puck in from the bench area on Kiprusoff.

Daniel and Henrik Sedin make their debut at this years Olympics this afternoon as the Swedes take on Christian Ehrhoff and the Germans. The Sedins will man the top line with one time NHL'er and CDC fan-boy hearthrob Matias Weinhandl. Weinhandl played on a line with Hank & Dank in the Swedish Elite League before they came to the NHL, so the chemistry will be there. You just know that the 'net will explode if Weinhandl is even remotely better with the twins than say, Trent Klatt. The potential for 'ZOMG Sing Weinhandel now!!!1!!! Giiiss you stupid moran!!!' posts on Canucks.com is so high I fear for the safety of the 'net.

Jaromir Jagr, with his mullet back and in full effect will take to the ice at 9 tonight leading the Czechs in a bloody battle against the Slovaks. Haha, just kidding. It will be more likely to feature dives, cheapshots and a sissy slapfight or two. Or maybe not. Then again, the sissy slapfights will probably come against the Russians, now that I think about it.

The Canadian Women are up 5-0 over Sweden after 1 period, which means we can look forward to more calls to abolish Women's hockey from the games as well as posts from homegrown commentators chastising them for being un-Canadian. News flash: Until the IIHF changes the goals for differential as a tie breaker, no team in the right mind would hold back. It's hockey. They're in it to win, and these other countries will only get better by playing the best. The game takes time to grow, remember we used to beat the Russians, Swedes and Finns like this years ago. Stop being so bloody impatient.

Really hoping I can get the podcasts up and running soon, been a long and trying few months to be sure. Thanks to everyone who took the time to read my post yesterday, was one of the best traffic days I've had for this blog. I appreciate it.

The Golden Pole

For many of us the Winter Olympics don't really start until the Mens Hockey Tournament gets underway, and it's a special moment for me as the Canadians take on Norway in the opener. For the last 3 years my wife and I have been the caretakers of the Sons of Norway lodge in Victoria. Hanging over the bar is a little momento to symbolize the true meaning of the Olympic spirit and THE special bond between the two countries that was forged at the 2006 games in Turin.

It was 4 years ago Sunday that Canadians Sara Renner and Beckie Scott were competing in the Women's Team Sprint in Cross-Country Skiing. Renner suffered what could have been a disastrous mishap: a broken pole during the race. The coach of Norway's squad, Bjørnar Håkensmoen saw this and without thinking gave his team's spare pole to Renner. Renner and Scott went on to finish in 2nd for the Silver medal, the Norwegians finished in 4th.

Much was reported about Project Maple Syrup, which saw 7200 tins of the sticky sweet Canadian treat shipped to Norway to say thanks to Håkensmoen. But Keith Wells, who was at the time a sports reporter for CHEK TV in Victoria decided to also show the country's appreciation for the selfless act. HE presenting the lodge with a special "Golden Pole". It hangs proudly in the lodge over top of the bar (known affectionately as 'Valhalla', one of the two destinations of those slain in battle according to Norse legend) and is one of the best memories associated with the Olympics for members of the lodge. Wells has moved on from the station but the pole will always be there to celebrate the connection for the members, many of whom were born in Norway.

A little sappy sentiment? Perhaps. But a nice reminder of the real message of the games: sportsmanship and the human spirit always overcomes adversity and recognizes no borders. I will be cheering loudly for Canada today, but through my association with the Sons of Norway, I will also be rooting for them to keep it close. Well, somewhat.

Hockey Day In Canada

It's been a little while since I have posted here, as I get used to my new home over at http://www.nucksmisconduct.com . Today is a day where as Canadians we celebrate the game that draws us together as a nation. Our passion for hockey is something akin to football in the UK. It's a game that can bring a nation to a screeching halt as we have seen in 1972 and over and over through Canada Cups, World Junior Championships and of course, the Stanley Cup.

Today hockey writers and fans all over Canada will flood the net with tales of their hockey lives; the time they scored the big goal, or maybe playing with someone who went on to fame & fortune. My story is a little different, yet it helped build my love for the game that is stronger than it would be if my circumstances were different.

I was born in Saskatoon, and I have flickers of memories of going with my parents to see the Saskatoon Blades play. They tell me I was obsessed with hockey at an early age, but the clearest memory of those days was the summer of 1972. Canada was at war with the Big Red Machine, and those grainy pictures of the men with the red maple leafs on their shirts mesmerized me. Just like fans of baseball can memorize a play by play call of a certain home run, or football fans the call of a touchdown, the words of Foster Hewitt are seemingly encoded in our DNA. "Henderson has scored for Canada!!!" A nation rose to it's feet and in a most un-Canadian manner, roared as we showed the world it was OUR game.

The following spring we moved to Kamloops, BC, and through Hockey Night In Canada I became a Canucks fan. One of my biggest thrills was getting a Canucks jersey Christmas morning, the blue and green jersey with the 'stick in rink' logo, along with matching socks. It's still the best present I ever got. Here's where most would tell you how it changed their season, right? Not me. I suffered from severe asthma as a child, and my parents felt it was better to keep me from playing than getting sick and suffering the disappointment. It was a decision that at the time, crushed me. I didn't understand it, and resented them for a long time because of it.

Instead of killing my passion for the game however, it merely poured gasoline on that fire. Many was the night I would fall asleep to Jim Robson telling me about Stan Smyl and Tony Tanti with my AM radio beside my ear, waking up the next morning and telling my dad I needed a new 9 volt battery. He always got me a new one, too. I remember one of the biggest thrills was when legendary New York Islanders tough guy Bob Nystrom came to visit my best friend's dad. They had played junior together on the Kamloops Rockets, and the neighborhood kids were crazed with the thought of meeting a real life NHL player. We were there, playing street hockey in the middle of a typical summer evening in Kamloops when his shiny yellow Corvette came down the street. We flocked to him, and he was gracious, signing our sticks, that trademark smile never leaving his face. I would meet him again a couple years later when my friend and his dad took me to a game against the Canucks. The Islanders were putting together the pieces of that dynasty back then. They manhandled the Canucks that night, but to this day I may not have hear a noise as loud as when Vancouver scored. The Coliseum exploded, the noise of 18,000 people shaking me to the core. I was torn between my allegiance to the Canucks and those Islanders, something that came to a head in 1982 as Roger Nielson and his white towel lead a rag-tag crew into battle against the squad from Long Island.

I suppose you could say that was a win-win situation, but while I was happy for the Islanders, as a Canucks fan, it still hurt. My teenage years came, and as the Oilers rose to power, my interest in the game began to wane. Perhaps it was the one-sidedness of it all, or just the natural progression from child to teen, but I lost touch with hockey. Music took hold of my life, and the seeds that led to my tv show on Cable 10 in Kamloops were planted.

My rediscovery of the game was funny when I look back on it. I had stopped at 7-11 to get a slurpee, and the clerk gave me a pack of hockey cards. It was a promotion they had at the time, and though I am sure the Pro-Set cards had no real magic, my love for the game was rekindled. Right around this time, Pavel Bure was signed by the Canucks, and suddenly Vancouver had a reason to be excited. He was an incredible player to watch, and the Stanley Cup run in 94 is something that all Canucks fans hold near and dear to their hearts. The Rangers may have skated away with the trophy, but few have ever played a more courageous game than Trevor Linden in Game 7. Forever a hero in my eyes.

I'm much older now, and though the pangs of regret of never pulling on a team sweater still exist, my hockey memories are as good as anyone's. Playing on the frozen Thompson River in Kamloops with friends, and endless nights of street hockey under the light by our house. Being a visiting team stickboy for the Kamloops Junior Oilers the season they won their first WHL title, watching that first NHL game, my first playoff game and then the best part, the look on my son's face as he opened the package containing the tickets to his first NHL game. These are the memories I wouldn't trade for anything. Well, maybe one thing... but I have a feeling that will come soon enough, as the Canucks continue their quest.