So, I thought now would a good time to make my way back into the wonderful world of hockey blogging when I should be writing term papers for school. Procrastination is a great thing. There has been a lot to talk about as far as the Canucks go. A big game tonight in Minnesota where the Canucks have already won twice this year. Of course I’ll weight in on the Canucks-Blackhawks brawl from Sunday night. Better late than never I suppose.
Canucks vs Wild Pregame Thoughts
Later on today the Canucks will have their first opportunity to take over top spot in the Northwest division for the first time since probably December. I’m actually not totally sure the last time they occupied top spot in the division but it’s definitely been a while. Back then I was more concerned about being overtaken by Minnesota, but interestingly enough the Wild are barely hanging into the playoff race for the time being.
Tonight’s game should favour the Canucks considering they have beaten the Wild twice at home already this season and neither of those wins included Roberto Luongo. Curtis Sanford got the call in a 3-2 win November 20th and who could forget Cory Schneider’s first NHL victory on December 5th. It was most definitely the finest game he put together during his call up here.
Also setting up well for Vancouver is the fact that the Sedin’s have typically performed extremely well against the Wild in their career and with Alex Burrows scoring on a nightly basis the top line should provide plenty of problems for the Wild defense. I’ll try and find the stats to back up the Sedin’s domination of Minnesota, and if you know them be sure to leave a comment.
For Minnesota, a loss might effectively end their playoff aspirations. With just six games to go and trailing eighth place St. Louis by three points they will need to win this game on home ice. The Canucks faced a desperate team in St. Louis and didn’t answer the call all that well, but with first place now on the line I would expect a better effort, especially against a team that they are 4-0-1 against. Gaborik’s return to the lineup has energized their offense a bit, but at this point it does not appear that it will be enough and with his desire to play in a more offensive system this might be the last time we see him playing for the Wild against Vancouver
Canucks-Blackhawks Brawl: Burrows and Eager
The Canucks soundly beating the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday was encouraging proof that this team could indeed handle a playoff series against the Hawks. The win only evened the season series, but the last two times out the Canucks have dominated Chicago. The brawl that erupted in the third period was proof that the Hawks may indeed be worrying about the Canucks as a first round opponent and that Vancouver had definitely gotten into the heads of their potential opponent.
Dustin Byfuglien’s push in the face of Luongo was the unnecessary trigger to the start of all the fun. Up until that point it hadn’t been a particularly rough game, but I think at that point it should that the Hawks had certainly lost their composure and were perhaps trying to send a message for the playoffs. After the game Daniel Sedin disagreed by saying “it’s not 1975 anymore” but I think it was more than just being a poor loser. I don’t really have a problem with the tactics of sending a message for future games and I didn’t think the push was particularly cheap but some of the things on both sides that followed were rather embarrassing for players on both sides.
Alex Burrows is my favourite player on this team, but i couldn’t help by be disgusted that he decided to pull on Duncan Keith’s fair during their half fight. Pulling hair is just something you don’t do and I would not have opposed a one game suspension for it. Unfortunately I’m not all that surprised that it happened considering some of the things he has been accused of in the past. On the other side, Ben Eager’s MMA take down on Bieksa was dangerous and unnecessary. Bieksa is lucky his head wasn’t smashed into the ice. When you’re as big as Eager and you want to fight then do it properly instead of slamming you opponent onto the ice. His psychotic attempt to get away from the linesman was ridiculous and surprisingly did not end up in a suspension for someone who is considered a repeat offender. I like brawls as much as the next guy, but they sure bring up a lot of questionable behavior and heat up the debates on both sides.
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