10/15/07 Canucks vs. Sharks 2-4 L

The same story as last year. The Nucks dominated the first two periods but only scored one goal. Then the Sharks put it away with 3 straight in the third. Ah my Nucks. In a weird twist Isbister had a great game. Aside from that it was nice to see Edler and I hate the Sharks.

Sedin-Sedin-Pyatt
Naslund-Morrison-Kesler
Cooke-Ritchie-Isbister
Burrows-Rypien-Linden

Ohlund-Weaver
Mitchell-Bieksa
Edler-Miller

Luongo
Sanford

10/13/07 Canucks vs. Oilers 4-1 W

Another fine performance from my precious Nucks. Cowan fought five seconds into the game with Stortini and never returned. After that it was all Nucks. The Nas-Mo-Kes line looked great. Who knows, maybe Kesler on the right wing will work better for him. I am currently loving the fourth liners and Ritchie. I am not crazy about Linden so far this year. He has done absolutley nothing. Matt Cooke was scratched for the first time in 8 years. I would love to say I noticed. That is all.

Sedin-Sedin-Pyatt
Naslund-Morrison-Kesler
Raymond-Ritchie-Linden
Burrows-Rypien-Cowan

Ohlund-Weaver
Mitchell-Bieksa
Krajicek-Miller

Luongo
Sanford

10/12/07 Canucks at Oilers 5-2 W

This game played out like my NHL08 games usually do. Where else would Alex Burrows have a pretty breakaway goal and Rick Rypien end the night with a goal and an assist? The fourth line were the all-stars tonight, with both Burrows and Rypien coming away with two points. Ritchie also made himself very hard to play against, including a little fight turned wrestling match. Ol' B-Mo also had a great game, including an end to end goal that was gorgeous. The two teams play again tomorrow night. We'll see if Rypien's prescence will continue to have its positive effects...

Sedin-Sedin-Pyatt
Naslund-Morrison-Kesler
Cooke-Ritchie-Isbister
Burrows-Rypien-Cowan

Ohlund-Weaver
Mitchell-Bieksa
Krajicek-Miller

Luongo
Sanford

10/10/07 Canucks vs. Flyers 2-8 L

There is losing. And there is getting destroyed. Tonight's game was the latter. This was one of the most depressing games I have ever seen. The game was never in question. The Flyers scored early and never looked back. The Nucks meanwhile did just about everything wrong. The defence was laughable and gave up numerous man advantages. There was no team toughness at all. I can't remember one decent five on five scoring chance. To make matters worse it was a Flyers broadcast and the commentators were really rubbing it in. I liked when it was 7-2, late in the third, and Jesse "I got knocked out in one punch by Aaron Downey" Boulerice decided that he needed to cross check Ryan Kesler in the face. Behind the play. Away from the puck. When he wasn't looking. And knock him out cold. Nice move douche. Have fun getting suspended. Since the Nucks didn't take him on a fan took it upon himself to tag Boulerice with a soda. Nice. I also liked when five minutes later, now 8-2, Ben Eager decided it was time to run the goalie. The Nucks kind of went after him but he made it back to the bench just fine. Way to go Nucks. Where were you Cowan? Bieksa? Ritchie? Burrows? Isn't this your job? Where is the payback? Thanks to this ludicrous schedule you might have to wait until 2017 until you play Philly again. Ridiculous. I think that my favorite moment of the game, though, my real favorite, was when we gave up a 5 on 3 shorthanded goal. That one hurt the worse. This game was embarrasing and I was ashamed to watch it.

The only positive of the game was that it never went to commercial. Instead I could hear the commentators preparing for the next segments and talking to each other. Which was more interesting than the game. Ugh.

Sedin-Sedin-Pyatt
Naslund-Morrison-Shannon
Cooke-Kesler-Raymond
Burrows-Linden-Cowan

Ohlund-Weaver
Mitchell-Bieksa
Krajicek-Miller

Luongo
Sanford

10/06/07 Canucks at Flames 4-3 W (OT)

What a game. This is what I was waiting for. Back and forth, evenly matched, a little dirty, I missed Nucks/Flames hockey. When I say a little dirty, I mean that it was rough but there were no actual fights. How in the hey did Cowan and Godard get through the game without dropping the mitts? I mean, c'mon. In a related note, the captain himself, Markus Naslund took a roughing penalty after being challenged after the whistle. I never really understood the call but it looks hilarious on the score sheet. Speaking of hilarious, check the photo of the hugging twins above. I don't know why but I really enjoyed it.

Daniel Sedin netted the overtime winner with just five seconds left. After 6 Labatt's Blues I was motivated to leap from my seat and give a resounding Ric Flair-like "Woooooooo!" I loved the idea of our fourth line but wish that AV would have given them more ice. Isbister looked slow and useless. Shannon finally scored his first goal. I am loving Aaron Miller. He plays mean and throws some gnarly checks on the opposition. Bobby Lu made me pray to the hockey gods in the middle of the game after a Flame was pushed on him and he laid on the ice holding his knee for what seemed an eternity. Luckilly he recovered. No more games 'til Wednesday but this should hold me over...

Sedin-Sedin-Pyatt
Naslund-Kesler-Shannon
Cooke-Morrison-Isbister
Burrows-Ritchie-Cowan

Ohlund-Weaver
Mitchell-Bieksa
Krajicek-Miller

Luongo
Sanford

10/05/07 Canucks vs. Sharks 3-1 L

Who knew that Jeremy Roenick would be the deciding factor? Originally scratched, JR hit the ice in the place of injured Devin Setoguchi and netted two goals, including the game winner, to take the victory from my precious Nucks. Although GM Place seemed really excited about it being opening night, it was another story for the team. They came out slow and never really seemed to get things going until the third period. By this time the Sharks were shut down mode and it was too little too late.

It was nice to see Brendan Morrison get the first Nuck goal of the year. I am really hoping, as is most of Vancouver's fans, that both he and Naslund have bounce back years. Speaking of the captain, he played great tonight. Shannon missed a wide open net in the first period which I would attribute to nerves. Raymond didn't play much which was too bad. I think AV needs to give the kid more of a chance. It was his very first game in the NHL for chrissakes. This was new addition Mike Weaver's first game. My only thoughts on him were that he looks very small. I hope Edler's injury doesn't last too much longer. Bobby Lu started out rusty but got better as the game went on.

I am not too surprised at the outcome of this game. The Sharks had already played, on paper they are better than the Nucks, and there were two brand new faces on the top two lines. It just wasn't met to be. I am looking forward to tomorrow's Hockey Night In Canada presentation of the Nucks and the hated Flames. I love hockey. Happy Birthday to me.

Sedin-Sedin-Raymond
Naslund-Kesler-Shannon
Cooke-Morrison-Pyatt
Burrows-Ritchie-Linden

Ohlund-Weaver
Mitchell-Bieksa
Krajicek-Miller

Luongo
Sanford

10/02/07 2007-08 Season Predictions

The NHL season kind of begins tomorrow. Sure, it technically started this weekend but everyone else starts Wednesday, and before the season starts I wanted to make my ham-fisted predictions for what promises to be an exciting year in hockey. While making my notes I realised just how evenly matched most of the teams seem to be. Sure, there are a few obvious front runners, but even they are one or two injuries away from fighting for a playoff spot. The only choice that I feel completely confident about is choosing the 'Yotes and the Blue Jackets to once again battle it out for last place and the first draft pick for next season. They both finished at the bottom last year and made only minimal changes to their roster over the summer. The Blues and the Panthers are my dark horse choices for their respective conferences as I think they will surprise a lot of teams. The Panthers have a strong young team and acquired a great goaltender in Vokoun. The Blues got rid of some dead weight, got some great talent in return and will overachieve their way into a strong finish. I will break down my divisional choices and then my conference choices and then finally my Cup choice. Remember that the top finishers in each division are guaranteed the top three playoff spots and that only the top eight teams from each conference get in to the playoffs. Hockey is back.

Western Conference

Northwest Division

1. Vancouver Canucks
2. Colorado Avalanche
3. Minnesota Wild
4. Calgary Flames
5. Edmonton Oilers

Central Division

1. Detroit Red Wings
2. St. Louis Blues
3. Nashville Predators
4. Chicago Blackhawks
5. Columbus Blue Jackets

Pacific Division

1. San Jose Sharks
2. Anaheim Ducks
3. Los Angeles Kings
4. Dallas Stars
5. Phoenix Coyotes

Eastern Conference

Atlantic Division

1. New York Rangers
2. Pittsburgh Penguins
3. Philadelphia Flyers
4. New Jersey Devils
5. New York Islanders

Northeast Division

1. Ottawa Senators
2. Buffalo Sabres
3. Toronto Maple Leafs
4. Montreal Canadiens
5. Boston Bruins

Southeast Division

1. Atlanta Thrashers
2. Florida Panthers
3. Carolina Hurricanes
4. Washington Capitals
5. Tampa Bay Lightning


Western Conference

1. Detroit Red Wings
2. San Jose Sharks
3. Vancouver Canucks
4. Anaheim Ducks
5. Colorado Avalanche
6. St. Louis Blues
7. Minnesota Wild
8. Nashville Predators
9. Los Angeles Kings
10. Calgary Flames
11. Dallas Stars
12. Chicago Blackhawks
13. Edmonton Oilers
14. Columbus Blue Jackets
15. Phoenix Coyotes

Eastern Conference

1. Ottawa Senators
2. New York Rangers
3. Atlanta Thrashers
4. Pittsburgh Penguins
5. Buffalo Sabres
6. Philadelphia Flyers
7. Florida Panthers
8. Toronto Maple Leafs
9. New Jersey Devils
10. Carolina Hurricanes
11. Washington Capitals
12. Montreal Canadiens
13. Tampa Bay Lightning
14. New York Islanders
15. Boston Bruins

Stanley Cup

San Jose Sharks vs. New York Rangers with the Rangers pulling out the victory.