3 Games in 4 nights = No Playtime 4 Canucks

… and beyond is a 4 game week long West-East Canada Roadtrip!  Its clutch time for the Canucks! The standings are super tight and we need the wins!

Watch tonight for Alex Burrows to be on the top line with the Sedins vs the Coyotes.  Hopefully that will spark them into some offense.  Did the twins even play against the Blues the other night?  Really though, if the trade off is a pointless night from the twins and a lot of secondary scoring that equals a win, we’ll take the win in a heartbeat!  Keep the other team’s shutdown line busy out there and good things will happen for the team. Don`t worry twins, the points will come.

Though we like the move, generally speaking AV’s constant line juggling is getting annoying.  But in this case its actually needed. We predict a 4-3 Canucks victory in OT.  The Coyotes are coming off an impressive 1-0 win over the Red Hot Dallas Stars.  We doubt that they’ve got that type of game 2 nights in a row. Ilya Bryzgalov can’t stop ‘em all. We’d like to see Roberto Luongo have a stellar game at the other end.  Its been awhile and we need the reassurance all is well in net!

And lastly, Mats Sundin.  What can we say about a 3 point effort vs. the Blackhawks and a followup 2 goal game!  He’s come into form and hopefully that continues and the opposition keeps getting confused about what really is the top line on the Canucks.  Now off to watch, drink and be merry!

PS: did you know the Canucks have a prospect page that they update… we didn`t either!

PPS: on a completely different note… the EPL flexes its muscle and gets this top-notch soccer site to rid itself of its logos.  all in the name of dollars and non-$en$e! and again its the fans that suffer!  BOO!

CBJ vs. Sens Recrap

We sat down and watched the Ottawa Senators vs. the Columbus Blue Jackets last night.  OK, don’t ask us why.  We just did ok?

What a snoozer of a match!  Auld got the start for the Sens and was ok.  He didn’t play bad which we think is a good thing if you are a Sens Fan.  Auld needs to be the number One Goalie in Ottawa for his confidence’s sake but he also can’t play every night.  He’s never been the best goalie endurance wise so giving him 60-70% of the starts is the perfect way to go.  Lets hope Hartsburg keeps him fresh.  At the other end, Steve Mason made some key saves late but was otherwise untested in this 1-0 shutout.  His surprising 7th of the season.  Whether it was Ottawa’s sputtering offence or the Hitchock inspired defensive plan that made this game so boring is up for debate.  It took the Sens half the first period to muster a shot on net and the most exciting thing to happen was Chris Neil got sent off with a game match penalty for being the 3rd man in during a silly scrum.  The following PP resulted in what was the only goal of the night. Onwards to 2nite’s games that feature the Pens vs. Leafs and Minny vs. Nucks! We predict 4-3 Pens and 5-3 Minny. AV’s last game as coach? We’ll keep hoping!

We’re in the Business of Winning

Life is SOOOOo busy right now. BUT KNOT too busy to share a few links and what is on our sportin’ mind today!

• THis article from the Toronto Star about hockey fights was a good read.
• AV should now be done with the Canucks after last nights poor 14 shot performance. Now is the time to make the coaching change with 8 days off for the team.  Its now or never.
• Get your TFC jersey or whatever signed tomorrow in Toronto by Dwayne De Rosario!
• SHouLD have StarTED HEMsky yesterday in my hockey Pool!  whoops!  there goes this week and tons of crucial stats!
• Congrats to Claude Lemieux for making it back to the NHL! At 43 and with so much time away from the game too boot! we smell a tv movie in the making! WTG CLAUDE!
• Jays already giving up on the 09 season?  sign up/in and have UR say!

We’re Still Missing a Few Pieces to the Puzzle

despite a maLFunctioning caPS key, a few things are on our miNDs today:

1. the world baseball classic lineups are “provisionally” announced.  compare canada to the states.  lets hope for home field advantage!
2. Maple Leafs winger, Jason Blake had a 5 point night over the weekend.  in the post game interviews he remarks about his struggles last year with finding the net and dealing with cancer.  yet at the time, Blake did not use his disease as an excuse.  most often going out of his way to say that he was feeling good.  now all of the sudden, he admits things weren’t so good last year?   seriously, if Blake needed time to rest last year he should have taken it.  to come out now and say what we all were thinking about his time as a Leaf in the 2007/08 campaign is just a slap in the face to all the fans and to the team who stuck by him.  we guess when you are in the heat of the season, as a player you must think that you’ll turn the corner the next game or the next game or the next game.  if Blake realized even halfway thru last season that he just wasn’t anywhere near 100%, why not sit out a bit?  no one would have thought any less of him at the time.  now that he’s come out and admitted the disease drained him last season only puts salt in the wound of last year’s disappointments for the team.  is Blake stubborn, dumb or selfish?  now matter how you say it, he mailed it in last season and we’d be pissed if we bled blue and white.
3. finally, the once Mighty Vancouver Canucks are in dire straits.  they just ended a homestand with a lousy one point out of a possible ten.  they could not even muster a win against the Blue Jackets on Sunday night.  they have lost sight of the division lead, they are on the verge of not making the playoffs and if the ship doesn’t right itself soon, could be in the west basement.  we know the players are there.  now its all on the coaches.  AV was never a great coach.  never a great one for changing his game plan.  he preaches defense first,  not the offensive style that the team hoped for at the season’s beginning. now they are in the worst losing skid of the season, they face the NHL’s number one team tonight and then have a massive all star break.  whether or not they win tonight,  the time to make a mid-season coaching change is now or it will be too late.  we like Pat Quinn to return.  his offensive approach to the game and past/current relationships with the city, team and some of its players make him number one with a bullet on our lists.  we are most likely not the first to peg him to return to the helm of the Canucks and at this current pace, we won’t be the last.