cANUCKS gAME 1 rEPORT

NOTE TO TEAM: do not spot the opposition a 3 goal head start and only show up for the final 20 mins. Flames 5, Canucks 3. Lets go with Sami Salo on the D with 4 shots and a even rating as the Vancouver player of the game.  He needs the honour before he gets injured next week. We are too ashamed of the first 40 to even want to talk about the rest of the team.  The Flames were skating circles around us for the first period.

2009/10 Predictions!

What else can be said? We pretty much like the chances of the Western Canadian teams of making the playoffs and the Eastern ones not. More on these picks and why in the weeks ahead. YAY! HOCKEY IS BACK!!!

Eastern Conference
1. Philadelphia*
2. Boston*
3. Washington*
4. Pittsburgh
5. Carolina
6. New Jersey
7. New York Rangers
8.  Buffalo
9. Tampa Bay
10. Ottawa
11. Montreal
12. Toronto
13. Atlanta
14. Florida
15. NY Islanders

Western Conference
1. Detroit*
2. Anaheim*
3. Calgary*
4. St. Louis
5. Chicago
6. Vancouver
7.  Minnesota
8.  Edmonton
9.  San Jose
10. Dallas
11. Columbus
12. Nashville
13. Colorado
14. Phoenix
15. Los Angeles

Worth a Gamble?

With all eyes fixed on a Phoenix courtroom today, we thought why not write about something completely unrelated. Sure we’d be overjoyed to see the Coyotes move to Hamilton or anywhere else in Canada. Its just that this saga won’t end today and we’re tired of it. Once the courts get involved, the wheels turn slowly… oh so slowly…and the draggin’ is getting to us. Today will be a big day in the history of the franchise no doubt but a final solution will be far from decided today.
So we thought we’d share a story about one of our pastimes. Something that we use as a diversion.Online poker.

We started playing a year or so ago.  Got the hang of the rules etc.  Then we put it aside for awhile.  But since we got the netbook with the internet stick, its back with a vengeance.  Its a great time killer at our job and when waiting for everyday stuff to happen.  The internet stick is great so far.  Sure Canada’s “most reliable network” has its flaws and it drops its connection every so often but its a lot better than what South Africa has.  We wonder how the news of the upcoming World Cup will be delivered if a pigeon (wtg Winston!) is faster than the country’s number internet service.  The beautiful game will sure become a lot slower!

But we digress, the internet stick has made online poker very portable and convenient for us and the interaction with other players, and the drama of Hold ‘Em keeps us lightly interested/amused. We are far from experts at it and you can play for free.  The challenge to win is there and when you do win, its great.  When you lose, there’s always another hand. Not a bad game if we do say so ourselves.  If we ever get stuck somewhere with nothing to do, at least there is always poker.

If we were in a certain Phoenix courtroom today, we’d be playing it for sure.

Imagine

We just bought a lotto tix for tonight with one purpose.  Win and we’re off to Phoenix to bid tomorrow!  Its an auction is it not?  Just imagine…

To think its come to this.  A team that had passionate fans in Winnipeg is now being sold to the best bidder in a courtroom in the desert.  There’s only 2 bidders.  Only 2 groups in all the world who want this team and one is the league. As a fan, we’d just like to be there and make a bid, have a say and speak on the behalf of all the passionate hockey fans in North America and say “shame” on you NHL for letting this happen!  Just imagine…

PS: we’ll miss you on the pitch Danny!

Coyote Ugly?

Just a few thoughts before the fate of the NHL’s Phoenix Coyotes gets decided next week:

• The NHL could have avoided all this legal mess in the first place if they had dealt with current owner Moyes’ issues from the start.  Therefore, all this drama, costs, comments, publicity… u name it, could have been avoided had they done what they should have done in the first place. It now appears like the league seriously dropped the puck on him and he HAD TO FILE FOR BANKRUPTCY.  Leaving an owner to hang like that and then dealing with everything that came to light can never be underdone and the league will need to address the fallout for years to come.
• By putting in an offer themselves, the NHL closes the door on the NHL in Hamilton at this time.  T’was a good idea from the start Mr. Blackberry and we applaud your efforts.  If we had your assests at our disposal, we’d have done the same.  Now at least the world knows what a mess the NHL really is and we thank you for bringing that to fruition.  Had u not placed a bid, none of this info would have come to light and we’d still be in the dark about how the NHL operates.  We feel like we’ve learnt a lot.  Don’t know if we really needed to know, but looking back it sure is nice to know.  These are infact the ppl who hold the fate of our most passionate sport in their hands.  Nothing against monkees but it sure looks like there is a crew of them at at the helm.  Moving fwd, the bottom line conduct of the Coyotes and the league in general will be more under the microscope thanks to you and your bid.
• This isn’t over.  Not by a longshot.  For starters, we forsee less than 1000 ppl at some Coyotes’ games this year.  Its gonna be ugly for hockey in the desert. How long will the rest of the league put up with that?  We also expect more drama from a slew of other financially struggling teams this season.  Could be a banner year for back room deals!  That is if monkees can operate in back rooms…

Canuckelled!

T’was a great ride while it lasted. Can’t believe it ended in such a manner. The Canucks just could not hold a lead.  Not Luongo’s fault on most of the 7 goals last night. The D lapses were too numerous to list here.  Where was the timeout AV?  We could vent more but we’ll drop it and let it be. We lived and died with every shift last night and its gonna take some time to heal.

We’ll be back to our regular blog frequency now that our team is out. Chicago played a great game and one their fans won’t soon forget.  We know we won’t.

DReaded ElimiNATION gaME! ACK!

Tonight’s the night for the Mighty Canucks.  Its win or go home.  Its been a rollercoaster of a ride during this series with the Blackhawks and part of us still can’t believe we are facing elimination.  Seems like we outplayed them most of the time but Chicago just seems to take full advantage of their chances.  We’ve lived and died with every play to this point and tonight will be no different.  No excuses moving fwd team!  Play a great road game and bring the series back home for a 7th game!

Next Rnd Stanley Cup Predictions!

So during the first round we picked 7 of 8 winners but not all in the right amount of games.
Here goes for the next round!

Eastern Conference:

Pittsburgh in 7 over the Capitols
Boston in 6 over the Hurricanes

Western Conference:

Detroit in 6 over the Ducks*
Vancouver in 6 over the Blackhawks

* this series could go either way.  but we’ll go with the depth of the Wings over the depth of the Ducks.

They Can Score From Anywhere on the Ice

Currently the top 5 NHL’ers in Shooting Percentage are:

1. Ryan Malone 21%
2. Loui Eriksson 20.7%
3. Kyle Wellwood 19.8%
4. Joe Thornton 18.5%
5. Andrew Brunette and Bryan Little tied at 18.3%

Out of these guys, only 2 of the 6 are averaging slightly more than a lousy 2 shots on goal a game.  Why on earth would you as a coach, not being asking these guys to shoot more often???  Even the top 10 in shooting % doesn’t have a 3 shot per game guy listed!  A player who has had a career year like Loui Eriksson and his 36 goals should make the Dallas coaching staff to maybe stop and take him aside and say, “heyyyy Loui, shoot more ok. yer on a roll“.  Maybe that is why they are not making the playoffs this year.  Perhaps one of many reasons.  Look for some huge Stars’ Shakeups this post season.

Seriously though, all the top guys should be shooting more.  Only one of the top 10 has his season shots over 200 and that is Buffalo’s Thomas Vanek!  He’s actually missed 10 games!  Poor coaching is the only reason these guys aren’t 50 goal scorers this year.  If they had been told to shoot more, we’d have more than Ovechkin’s 55 goals to discuss and a race for the Rocket Richard Trophy.

PS: Congrats to the Columbus Blue Jackets for making the playoffs for the first time in franchise history!

Tuesday NHL Stuffings

Here’s what we were thinking about today…

Gerber is now 3-2 with a 3.20 GAA .893 SV% in 300 minutes as a Leaf?  Some1 wake us!

Trade Day Gems:

• Jokinen CGY 6 games, 10pts,
• Kunitz PIT 9 games, 11pts,
• Guerin PIT 6 games, 8pts,
• Vermette CBJ 5 games, 6pts,
  
• Avery/Antropov NYR each with 6 games and 5pts

Trade Day Busts:

• Ales Kotalik EDM, Dominic Moore BUF each with 5 games and 0 pts.
  
• Gratton CBJ, Morrison DAL, Leopold CGY each with 6 games and 1 pt.