The Game According to Twitter: Canucks 4 Blue Jackets 1
View the story “Game 24: Canucks 4 vs. Blue Jackets 1” on Storify]
Tagged: Columbus Blue Jackets
Out of Town Notebook: The Real Western Conference Quarter Pole Standings
NHL standings are a lie. Well, for the most part they’re a lie. You see, there are only two days in the schedule where all 30 teams will have played the same number of a games: the first day of the regular season and the last day of the regular season. In between these two days, 30 different NHL team schedules create standings that reward or punish teams that have played more or fewer games than their opponents. Now as usual around these parts, you’re probably wondering why this is relevant. Well, the week of U.S. Thanksgiving is usually the...
Shinny: CHBWFHP Update and Can Someone Tell Wayne Gretzky His Daughter is Blowing Up Twitter?
We’re back! Did you miss us? (Don’t answer that question.) Let’s check in on where we stand in the inaugural Canucks Hockey Blog Writers Fantasy Hockey Pool (or as it shall be dubbed this week, the “Can Someone Please Tell Wayne Gretzky His Daughter is Blowing Up Twitter Invitational”). Remember, you can check out our pool here. Onto the standings: 1. 2 Sedins, 0 Cups (Tom) – 95 points As 2 Sedins, 0 Cups continues its historic run towards the first CHBWFHP championship, I would just like to make it known that this win is all the more sweet...
Out of Town Notebook: Dealing with an Upper Body Injury
Sometimes in life you gotta play hurt. While fighting the flu bug, here now are this week’s thoughts on the fly: Just in case Canucks fans have been living under a rock, here’s what Mark Recchi said about the most arrogant team he’s ever played against. The great Terry Jones articulates what the current Edmonton Oilers freefall feels like. If a goalie is going to roam outside the crease, they make themselves vulnerable to contact. Ryan Miller wasn’t trying to make a save in traffic at the edges of his crease – he was skating 10-15 feet away from the...
Out of Town Notebook: Trap Debate and Thoughts on the Fly
One of the silliest debates to be waged across the NHL some time is Philadelphia’s “outrage” and in-game protest of Tampa’s 1-3-1 system. From Mike Milbury walking off the air to a quickie TSN poll of league GMs siding with the Flyers, the Lightning are taking a lot of heat for their passive forecheck. Here’s the thing. 1) The passive forecheck is employed all over the league, and has been for decades. Roughly half of all NHL teams use a 1-3-1 forecheck in their gameplan. The 70s Canadiens, the 80s Oilers, the 90s Red Wings – they all used a version of...
Out of Town Notebook: A Modest Proposal for NHL Realignment
Dear Gary (aka Bettman-in-da-house, aka Mr. Commish, aka Saviour-of-Winnipeg), Not to go all Peaches and Herb (or Jeremy Roenick), but “realignment and it feels so good!” NHL realignment is the hot talk around the league right now, and I know reviews are mixed concerning your latest plan to re-shape the NHL. Personally, I like what you’ve reportedly done: The first round of the playoffs features divisional play (1 vs 4, 2 vs 3). After the first round, the remaining teams are seeded 1-4, with 1 playing 4, 2 vs 3, etc. Now, the Penguins and Flyers hate this proposal, because...
Out of Town Notebook: The Fourth Line, Turmoil in Columbus, Struggles in Ottawa and Other Thoughts
[Every weekend, Canucks Hockey Blog goes out of town as Tom Wakefield posts his thoughts on what’s happening around the NHL.] If you live in a wooden house, and you have someone obsessed with fire over to visit, you don’t give them matches. If you’re a party planner hosting a VIP party you aren’t inviting the guy who streaks naked when he drinks. If you own a bank, and a known bank robber applies to work as a teller, you don’t give him the job. These are all (terrible) metaphors for why the NHL, in the next round of collective...
Out-of-Town Notebook: 2011/2012 Season Predictions and Prognostications
After more than a month of review, analysis, and rankings, it’s time to predict what will actually happen in the upcoming NHL season. If you take all things into consideration, one thing becomes abundantly clear – parity. No team is very strong at each position (coach, goalie, defence, forward), and most teams are only a shade better or worse than another. It looks like all the same teams that made the playoffs last year have a good chance of making it again this year. As we’ve discussed though, it’s rare that there’s so little change in the standings from year-to-year. Injuries...
Season Preview: Ranking the Western Conference Goalies
Yesterday it was the Eastern Conference goalies. Today, the Western Conference as we wrap up our positional previews. A+ Grade Nashville Last Year (B-) A stellar playoff performance proved Pekka Rinne is more than just a product of an elite defensive team. He’s the Conference’s best goaltender right now. If injured, Anders Lindback is a more-than-capable replacement. A- Grade Anaheim Last Year (B) Vertigo derailed what was shaping up to be a Vezina-worthy season for Jonas Hiller. Symptom-free, he’s an elite goaltender. Dan Ellis is an okay backup in the short-term, but any injury to Hiller and the Ducks are...
Season Preview: Ranking the Western Conference Forwards (and Ashton Kutcher’s Two and a Half Men Debut)
What do Michael Ryder and Ashton Kutcher have in common? Both have previously enjoyed success in supporting roles, and now both are being asked to replace bigger stars that left town after difficult contract negotiations. It’s doubtful either will make anyone forget who they’re replacing anytime soon. Last Monday, more than 27 million viewers tuned in to see how Two and a Half Men would replace Charlie Sheen with Ashton Kutcher. For those that missed it but wondered how it went, allow me to summarize: blandly juvenile. Granted, juvenile jokes and innuendo are a big reason why Two and a...
