Canucks and Beyond

As a fanbase weirdly dedicated to little green men, Canucks fans don’t expect to point fingers at anyone else’s strangeness.

Until we see this:

—Sami Salo is a game time decision
—Shane O’Brienpromises he’s “not going to go all Charlie Sheen” on his new Twitter. Damn.
—Carrie Underwood appears to be getting along with the Canucks whale (Sorry. That one’s disturbing.)

All in all, a day with mixed expectations. But Nashville coach Barry Trotz has a prediction for everyone:

“I think this series changes tonight.”

Is there anything the NHL isn’t cracking down on lately, related to the Canucks? First it was the ‘copyright infringement’ of this outdoor sign, then there was a sudden terrible fear of little green men.

Who might be next?

Charlie Smith at The Straight proposes that the Vancouver Public Library might be the next target, given this brazen and reckless display on the 3rd floor:

Whoops. From Ian Walker at Postmedia via Global BC:

With their teammates sitting comfortable in their oversized seats and undoubtedly snacking aboard the Vancouver Canucks’ charter plane, off in the distance Kevin Bieksa, Raffi Torres and Keith Ballard could be seen hoofing it double-time through the internationals level at Vancouver International Airport.

The three Canucks were hustling through the airport alongside the day’s other travellers, rather than entering through the cordoned-off area like the players before them.

And they can thank Vancouver’s public transit system for getting them there in the nick of time. Without it, Bieksa, Torres and Ballard would have surely missed the flight to Nashville, where Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinal series goes Tuesday at Bridgestone Arena.

Millionaire athletes on the SkyTrain. Only in the NHL.

NHLers taking the SkyTrain? See, they’re just like you! (Well, “you” but wiith $9 million bucks in their combined bank accounts…)

From Jason Botchford at The White Towel in The Province:

Brace yourself Glenn Healy and offended Predators, Vancouver’s Green Men are on their way to Nashville.

Riding a nice crest of publicity thanks to an absurd Hockey Night in Canada story — the Predators whined to league officials about them — Ryan Sullivan and Adam Forsythe are heading to Music City and are planning to be in spandex for Game 3.

I haven’t quite been able to decide which is more lame: The fact it became an issue in the first place and the Predators formally complained. Can’t imagine what they’d do if they ever saw what the Phillie Phanatic is up to; Or that Hockey Night would spend some of the few minutes they have bizarrely talking about it, complete with a denial for the Preds PR. Really, in the middle of the playoffs when there’s, uh, hockey going on; Or Healy’s out-of-nowhere reaction. Who knew anyone in the media felt that strongly about the Green Men?

How about: ‘Who knew anyone in the media (err, Jason?) felt that strongly about OTHER people feeling strongly about the Green Men?’ (But I get his point…it’s definitely a lot of fuss for a lot of nothing.)

Lordy… I suspect Nashville is going to take one look at those green lunatics in the stands and be writing non-stop stories about the ‘corrupting influence of BC bud on today’s youth’ for the rest of time.

In one of the more ill-advised* demonstrations of Canucks fandom, Predator Ridge golf resort in the Okanagan have temporarily changed their name to Canuck Ridge. A nice thought, but:

1. Did it occur to anyone over there that naming a GOLF course after your favorite hockey team might be sending a mixed and distressing message?

2. How long till the NHL files a new lawsuit for copyright infringement?

From TSN:

A pair of late-season additions are making an impact for the Vancouver Canucks in their chase for the Stanley Cup this playoff.

Forward Chris Higgins and centre Maxim Lapierre, both acquired at the trade deadline, have joined right-winger Jannik Hansen on the Canucks’ third line.

Read on for the full story.

Are those two ever paying off. Impossible not to miss Manny Malhotra, but that line’s chemistry certainly reduces the pain.

From NHL.com:

Fact: No Western Conference team that has made it to the second round has given up more shots per game than the Nashville Predators.
Fact: Nashville’s Pekka Rinne is a finalist for the Vezina Trophy.
Fact: Rinne will be the goaltending difference-maker to watch out West.

Why?

Of the four Western Conference goalies (let’s make that “starting” goalies since all but Detroit’s Jimmy Howard have been relieved by backups at some point), Rinne is the one who throughout the season exhibited the consistent ability to single-handedly steal games, as he nearly did Thursday night in Vancouver in a nearly perfect 29-saves-on-30-shots loss.

Rinne’s performance has led to a sometimes-entertaining hashtag on Twitter: #ThingsInRinnesGlove. Some favorites: “Keyser Soze,” “Charlie Sheens’ dignity,” and “The Real Artem Chubarov.” And god only knows what else is landing in there…

Update 4:03pm PT: Canucks discuss the difficulties and adjustments needed when playing Rinne.

Burrows and his wife welcomed a new baby yesterday, less than 24 hours after his huge performance in Game 7 against the Blackhawks.

“It’s been good so far, obviously I stayed there a few hours at the hospital after the birth last night,” Burrows said. “My wife knew I needed some sleep so she said, ‘Go home and get some rest,’ and she knows we have a big game today.”

Congratulations to Burrows—what a week. And from Alain Vigneault:

“That’s a pretty good day for a little Frenchman from Quebec, so he was alright this morning, I talked to him briefly there and he’s ready to go.”

Oh, Alain… you sentimental fool, you.

Actually, lets skip the preview and just go straight to the happy ending:

(1) Vancouver vs. Nashville (5)

Game 1: Nashville 3 @ Vancouver 1
Game 2: Nashville 2 @ Vancouver 5
Game 3: Vancouver 2 @ Nashville 1
Game 4: Vancouver 4 @ Nashville 2
Game 5: Nashville 0 @ Vancouver 2

Vancouver wins series 4-1

Phew. Don’t you feel better now, Canucks fans? Now you can relax and enjoy the show!

For CBC, the numbers were huge for a first round playoff matchup. Game 7 between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Vancouver Canucks drew an average of 3.82 million viewers throughout the broadcast, hitting a peak of 5.08 million at one point.

The only first round game to exceed this on CBC since 2000 was the 2004 game 6 matchup between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators which reached an average of 3.9 million.

On Versus, the numbers were comparatively strong for their network too. From Puck the Media:

That telecast drew an average of 1.135 million viewers in the late night slot, and is the second most-watched VERSUS first round broadcast this year, and in network history for the Conference Quarterfinal. It was down a little over 2% from the network’s Game 6 broadcast on Sunday night, which set an all-time Round 1 record for VERSUS. The network averaged 763,000 viewers over seven telecasts for the instant classic series.

PTM further notes, “If you added in CSN viewers, total would be 1.6-1.7M viewers.”

All in all, a good night for hockey television coverage… though in absolute numbers, CBC certainly had the windfall.

From Dan Rosen via Twitter:

Confirmed: Canucks-Predators Game 1 will be Thursday (tomorrow), 9 p.m. ET, 6 p.m. PT. Predators are arriving in Vancouver this afternoon.

A bit more at NHL.com

Has there been a better game than that? Not many. An instant classic, at least for us Vancouver fans. And this is the part we’ll probably all remember till we go to our graves:

Sure, it’s just the first round… but geez, for Canucks fans, getting past Chicago is a major hurdle, especially given the drama of this particular series.

Nice to put those ghosts to rest. To quote Ben Kuzma: “Chicagone!”

Note: A pile of Video updates added below. First up, Roberto Luongo’s save on Patrick Sharp in OT:

Yesterday I said my piece about this Canucks/Blackhawks tilt being a great hockey series. And it is… so much drama, so much great (and inconsistent) hockey from both teams. From a general hockey viewpoint, it’s one hell of a show being set up in Vancouver for tonight, and it’s exciting to be a fan. However…

It’s game 7 and I’m also freaking right the hell out. I’ve been so stressed out all day. (Though maybe I’m not “stressed out” so much as just “wrung out”?) Basically, I feel like I’ve been diced into tiny little pieces and only the Canucks can put me back together.

By winning: This. One. F&*$ing. Game.

UPDATE: Mike Gillis video statement below.

From Tim Sassone’s Twitter:

Confirming XM Radio Home Ice report that Bryan Bickell had wrist surgery today to repair 2 tendons - out three weeks.

Gee, sorry for the guy. Wonder if he did it while trying to crunch Kevin Bieksa’s head? [video]

Okay, maybe not. But there’s no whining from Bieksa, at least.

Having glanced briefly at a few stories this morning, it seems like much of the hockey world has gone insane after last night’s Canucks/Blackhawks performance. In Canucks-land, a staggering amount of whining and wailing as everyone points fingers and screeches “I told you so!” and “Oh, the sky is falling” and “Trade Luongo!” nonsense. Sweet geezus, gimme a break.

And then there’s Chicago—or actually, not just Chicago but from the fans and media of every other team that dislikes the Canucks, which seems to be most of the NHL at the moment—from them, we hear this endless noise machine of cartoonish-cackling, as if they all knew this was going to happen from the start. God, it’s like a giant chorus of chattering monkeys, all hopped up on Jolt Cola and you’d give me a monster headache if I bothered to pay attention to your goofiness.

But what everyone—Canucks fans included—seems to forget is that this is going down as one helluva classic series. Is there anyone in the hockey-loving world who would dare miss Tuesday’s game?? How often does that happen in the playoffs, much less in the opening weeks?

“We feel like we want to win this one. Do we have to? Absolutely not. But we’re playing this like a Game 7. We’re going to go in that building and play like we’re playing for our lives. We’re going to throw it all out on the table.”

—Ryan Kesler in the Vancouver Province

Seems like he’s contradicting himself a bit, but I get his point. Still, what do you think? Is Sunday’s game against the ‘Hawks a “must win” or just a “must not completely suck”?

“Hockey Playoffs” vs “Sticking Hand in Meat Grinder”: What might be most fun on a weekday night?

I’m torn.

“Hockey Playoffs” seems like a no-brainer… till you suddenly remember you’re a $%#@&! Vancouver Canucks fan, and unexpectedly the hand-in-meat-grinder thing sounds like it might have an upside.

God bless the Canucks—all that sheer talent, all of it unilaterally focused on some mission to terrorize their own fanbase.

Questions, questions, questions.

Like, will the Canucks finish the series tonight or fold? Are Luongo/Edler/Sedin nursing injuries, or did they just get Wednesday practice time off to reflect on their Tuesday night crimes? And of course, did Vince Vaughn really just get eaten by a whale??

“I’m not going to tell you anything. I’ve been pretty good at standing up here and not saying much so far.”
—Alain Vigneault

Don’t think I’ve ever heard it put quite so bluntly before.

God, I’m tired of this series. Not the hockey, but all the sanctimonious punditry surrounding it.

As Tony Gallagher pointed out today—and as every hockey fan in the connected world already knows—the Vancouver Canucks laid a giant egg in Chicago last night. And there’s nothing worse, the day after such a birthing, for us thousands of Canucks fans to have to eat it. Alas, if you call for a sweep, you’re going to get eggs—it’s just one of those things and we’ve all done it. Damn hockey karma. (Wait and see, Chief.)

But am I worried? No. A little sick, but not worried.

A final word on Raffi Torres from Mark Spector—

Say what you want - as long as the National Hockey League is fine with that check, then Torres is doing his job to a tee. Even Quenneville did not rail against Colin Campbell’s work after the morning skate Tuesday.

“Justice would have been served if he got a major and a game,” Quenneville said. “That would have been the way to deal with it. Supplemental discipline? I’ll let other people deal with that.”

Also over at Sportsnet.ca, some discussion on the coaching, and a few other topics. Video below:

I posted the ruling about the Torres hit earlier (to much debate/annoyance/ranting, etc). Now, from the NHL, an explanation of their reasoning:

Vancouver Canucks forward Raffi Torres will not face further discipline for a hit behind the net on Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Brent Seabrook in Sunday night’s Game 3 of their Western Conference quarterfinal-round series.

NHL Senior Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations Colin Campbell issued the following statement after reviewing the hit by Torres that resulted in a minor penalty for interference at 12:14 of the second period:

“When Rule 48 (Illegal Check to the Head) was unanimously adopted by the General Managers in March 2010, there was no intention to make this type of shoulder hit to the head illegal. In fact, at that time, we distributed a video to all players and teams that showed a similar hit on a defenseman by an attacking forward coming from the opposite direction behind the net and stated that this is a ‘legal play’.

“This hit meets none of the criteria that would subject Torres to supplemental discipline, including an application of Rule 48: He did not charge his opponent or leave his feet to deliver this check. He did not deliver an elbow or extended forearm and this hit was not ‘late’.”

Jonathan Toews say ‘yes,’ of course, as this video from this morning’s skate shows, and explains:

“They’ve got weakness just like any other team, and it’s up to us to expose them and we just haven’t done a good enough job of that.”

On the other hand, Chicago’s media isn’t too optimistic. At least not ‘4 games in a row’ beatable. Or four periods, for that matter. So, will having Dave Bolland back really help? (Well, yes, but…)

Tony Gallagher is concerned:

From TSN:

Vancouver Canucks forward Raffi Torres will not be suspended following his hit on Blackhawks’ defenceman Brent Seabrook during Game 3 of their series on Sunday night.

There was no scheduled hearing with the league on Monday.

Note: Updates Below.

Video Below:

He’s still expected to travel with the Vancouver Canucks to Chicago, but a league source told me this on the phone a few moments ago:

Torres’ expected return for game 3 is being challenged by the Blackhawks, arguing that since he would have missed the game with food poisoning, he may have to sit another game when he is healthy to properly serve the terms of his suspension.

Say what???? He explained further: