Ask Katie about the Canucks: Conspiracy Theories and Some Slash

[Every Monday, Katie Maximick takes your questions and gives her take on the Canucks in her own cantankerous style. If you have any questions about the Canucks, send it to her via Twitter (@KMaximick)]

Hi there, hungover Canucks fans! For those of you who don’t give a damn about football, thanks for your questions for today’s column. You were a big help during a hectic weekend when people were too enthralled with Troy Polamalu’s mane of hair and Fergie’s train-wreck version of Sweet Child of Mine to help me out.

You, my friends, saved the day.

I feel like I’ve already answered the following question, but what the heck.

Jovan (@jovanheer) asks: Who should we trade for at the deadline?

I had this discussion during the Super Bowl around a poker table (not like I played, I’m useless when it comes to poker), and the conclusion we came to was – nobody. Unless we lose a defenseman right before the playoffs, there’s really no reason to go for or unload anyone by the 28th. As I’ve mentioned before, probably last week, we have a very deep roster and our secondary scoring is picking up again after a bit of a slump.  Raymond’s name is being tossed around as a favourite to go, similar to Bieksa’s story before he decided he wanted to perform well, but let’s face it, if he’s going to go anywhere, it probably won’t be until the off-season.

Then again, I’ve been surprised before.

BCAA Booster (@BCAAbooster) asks: Hodgson’s cage… what’s the deal?

As the Kurtenblog wrote, some may have noticed that Hodgson’s been “wearing a facial cage from the Hayley Wickenheiser collection”. This is because he cracked the orbital bone in his face during a Manitoba Moose practice on December 9th and missed 16 games as a result. The cage is basically to protect his face until he has the orders that he’s in the clear. It was a pretty serious injury and he can’t risk a stick to the face at the moment. Remind anyone of the Willie Mitchell look from the ’03 playoffs?

David (@merlynbc) asks (or actually suggests): The coincidence of injury/recovery with Canucks is interesting. Think #6/#23. Think #54’s foot. Not a conspiracy theorist but…

You’re not the first to point this out. I think even Jason Botchford and Tony Gallagher addressed the “conspiracy” on The Province’s live chat last week. Conspiracy theories are very popular among Canucks fans, or NHL fans in general. I wouldn’t go as far as to think that the Canucks could plan blueline injuries with such impeccable timing to make cap room for Salo. I would just think it was good (and lucky) timing for the team. Perhaps Salo was close to coming back anyway, and was taking things slow so as not to shatter any of his glass parts too soon; perhaps Edler’s injury forced Salo to make a decision and return quicker than he would have liked. We don’t know, and knowing the tight-lipped Canucks we probably won’t ever find out the exact details.

Jason (@@jasonwheelerBC) asks: How many starts do you see Schneider getting for the rest of the season?

So far Schneider’s played 13 games, and according to pre-season comments by Mike Gillis, Ginger Bricks would likely see 20-25 starts in order to give Luongo a long-awaited break. I may be really bad at math, but I’m going to go and estimate that he’ll see 7 to 12 more starts before the playoffs. Cheeky enough for you, Wheeler?

That’s all, folks.

And just to update you all, my introduction to football didn’t go well yesterday. I think I’ll stick to hockey.