Dec 9: Canucks vs Senators

[Iced Tea]

This is it, the biggest test for the Canucks so far this season, even bigger than playing the rotten Avs. It's going to take a lot for the Canucks to beat the Senators even if the Canucks are 12 - 1 at home.

I've been thinking about it and there are several ways the Canucks can win.

1. Alex Auld will eat poutine before the game and be instantly transformed into the second coming of Patrick Roy, but without the spousal abuse part.

2. Salo and Ohlund will play 60 minutes each or be cloned 3 times each, whichever is easier to do.

3. Steve Moore will settle the case by punching Bertuzzi in the head a couple times. Bertuzzi will be dazed but the dark shadow will be lifted and Bertuzzi will return to the old Bertuzzi we all liked.

4. The Canucks will sneak the Sens beating Carolina Hurricanes into Vancouver and dress them in Canucks jerseys. The Senators may become suspicious when the forward line of Linden, Brookbank and Cloutier score 4 goals on them and also, why does Brookbank look like Eric Staal?

5. Hasek, Emery and Binghamton Senators' two goalies will all get the same bad flu, and the Sens will have to start their ECHL goalie, nicknamed "Lucky" because he's a sieve.

7. Brookbank will show some of the skill he used to win two events during the Canucks Superskills and lead the Canucks to victory with a hat trick.

8. Crawford will become so frustrated that he'll put on the gear, pull on his old Canucks jersey and single handedly win the game.

9. Iced Tea pulls a Tonya Harding and hires someone to hit Chara on the leg with a piece of metal pipe. Chara is shown on tv, crying more than Nancy Kerrigan and proclaiming, "Why, why why", just like Nancy.

10. A Vancouver Porsche dealership entices Heatley into taking a test drive with Alfredsson or Spezza in the passenger seat. They get in a fender bender and suffer concussions.

11. The Vancouver police department arrests Hasek and deports him back to Prague. It's later learned that the inline hockey game charges had been dropped and the police were mistaken. But all Canucks fans agree the police did the right thing and it's better to be safe than sorry. :D

12, The visitors' dressing room has a water pipe break and the Sens are forced to dress in the ladies' washroom on the upper concourse.

While I can dream that one of these events will occur, they are highly unlikely. So I need to believe in the Canucks and their home record.

A Canucks win would be a huge boost for their confidence and a testament to the talent that remains hidden or shows up in small amounts these days.

The Canucks fan in me says Canucks 5 - 4 over the Sens, the realist in me says Sens 6 - 3 over the Canucks.

[Max Power]

10. A Vancouver Porsche dealership entices Heatley into taking a test drive with Alfredsson or Spezza in the passenger seat. They get in a fender bender and suffer concussions.


That's just evil
But still funny

The good news for Nuck fans is the Sens have never been great on western road trips. More good news is Havlat and potentially Redden will still be out.

Bad news is I still think we can take you :wicked: =]

[Madferret]

I remember a certain West Coast trip when Tom Barrasso played his first game in a Sens jersey against the Nucks..he got lit up. Big test for the Sens also, one of the Western Conference's heavyweights. Should be a cracker of a game..Go Sens Go!


http://images.art.com/images/products/large/10033000/10033561.jpg

[Yoata]

The only hope the Nucks have is if they ALL bring their A game for 60 minutes, if they do that they might be able to keep it close if the Sens don't bring theirs, especially if Redden doesn't play. If the two teams play the way they have most of the season, the Sens will walk all over the Nucks.

Frankly, for the Nucks sake, I hope that's what happens, they need a wake-up call and to have their serious weaknesses exposed by a team against which there will be nowhere to hide if either play the way they have.

If both continue their play, the Sens will embarrass the Canucks and my guess is that's what will happen.

[charlio lemieux]

10. A Vancouver Porsche dealership entices Heatley into taking a test drive with Alfredsson or Spezza in the passenger seat. They get in a fender bender and suffer concussions.


That's just evil
But still funny

The good news for Nuck fans is the Sens have never been great on western road trips. More good news is Havlat and potentially Redden will still be out.

Bad news is I still think we can take you :wicked: =]

I totally agree Max. Evil but funny. :laughing:

Deport Hasek.:laughing: Where were you during the '98 Olympics? We could have used some fresh thinking like that.:D

[KB in Kelowna]

Iced Tea should be writing for Letterman or Leno,:laughing: :thumb:

A serious test for the Canucks, which team will show up? Frankly I can't tell until 5 minutes into the game :shrug:

[Man.Utd]

No Havlat. The big line was cold for pretty the first time since being put together vs. Florida, Hasek let in one pretty suspect goal, and the defense could be in shambles after injecting what could be a rusty Redden/Chara into big minutes.

A Canucks win isn't that farfetched. Regardless, 5-2 Sens.

[TimmyTabasco]

Now, I wouldn't say a win is out of the question.

The Canucks have beaten the mighty Wings twice..and that was when the wings were playing much better hockey.

Ottawa has also lost twice to the Canes, so that shows that they can be beaten if you have a hot goalie :D

The Canucks must play a solid game, like they have against the Wings. They always show up for the big games, and I think they will again for this one.

In the end, I think the sens will have that bit extra push. This will not be a lopsided score..yet a close game

[Bob burns]

Now, I wouldn't say a win is out of the question.

The Canucks have beaten the mighty Wings twice..and that was when the wings were playing much better hockey.

Ottawa has also lost twice to the Canes, so that shows that they can be beaten if you have a hot goalie :D

The Canucks must play a solid game, like they have against the Wings. They always show up for the big games, and I think they will again for this one.

In the end, I think the sens will have that bit extra push. This will not be a lopsided score..yet a close game

I don't understand why the Canucks play well against good teams where they don't really have a rivalry with them (like Detroit and Dallas) yet they stink it up against good teams where theres is a rivalry, ala Colorado and Calgary. Maybe in the high emotion high intensity games Crawford can not lift the team to the next level, which is where the opposition is playing which is why we get our derriere booted. So since the game against Ottawa is not a high rivalry game maybe the Canucks will do alright????

Nah, the Sens will probably play on high octane and kick some butt.

[Iced Tea]

Al Strachan picks the Sens to win 5 - 2. We know what that means; the Canucks are going to win because if anyone doesn't know his hockey, it's "Honest Al" Strachan. :D :laughing: :thumb:

[Madferret]

Good game ladies, IT be kind with the avatar now..

[KB in Kelowna]

Way too many penalties called. Like to see both teams with full line ups, go at it, ie Redden and Havalt back and Cooke in there for the Nucks. Fun one to watch at times.

[Iced Tea]

Wooooooooooooooooooo, the Canucks won. :boogie:

Except for the times when penalties controlled the flow of the game, this was a great game. The Canucks showed they could play against the best team in the league and this should/better be a big boost in confidence and the Canucks get rolling.

Good points:
1. The top line played well. I have to remind myself that this was a game against the Sens, the top team in the league so any points against them seem to be bigger than say points against Chicago or St Louis. The top unit clicked on the powerplay 67 seconds in and it set the tone for their play throughout the game. Bertuzzi played well all game, probably his best effort in weeks and only his play against Detroit could come close to the effort of last night. He was hitting guys, controlling the puck and going to the net. Naslund and Morrison also had great games.

2. The A S S line also played well. The Sedins were amazing and it really showed both with points and their play shorthanded. It was funny to see the Sedins cycle the puck down low during several penaltykills. 5 Sens couldn't take the puck from them. The effort on the goal was the style of play that Canucks fans are finally be rewarded with after years of letting the Sedins develop. The shootout goal by Daniel capped off a great night for the Sedins.

3. The Linden and Friends line had a good night and when they were out against the ASH hole line, Linden, Ruutu and Kesler shut down the Sens top unit. Linden also had several sweet chances for goals.

4. The defense was amazing for the most part, clogging up the front of the net, especially on the PK.

5. Auld played arguably his best game yet, not many juicy rebounds and he can't be faulted for Allen's skate scoring the one goal.

6. While the PP unit only scored once, it was against the #4 PK in the league.

7. The PK allowed no Sens PP goals.

Bad points:
1. The Sens scored shorthanded. I know the Sens are #1 for shorthanded goals but it still hurt.

2. Kesler gave the puck away in his own end for an excellent chance by the Sens.

3. The Sens had a lot of excellent chances and didn't score only because they missed the net. The Canucks need to clamp down on opposition scoring chances.

4. Hasek was freaking amazing. If he doesn't win the Vezina, the NHL is insane.

Other points:
1. My local junior team won, I saw part of the Canucks game between periods and the winning score in the Canucks game was announced at the local game.

[TimmyTabasco]

1. My local junior team won, I saw part of the Canucks game between periods and the winning score in the Canucks game was announced at the local game.

So, you missed the game? :no: :conspire: :D

[Iced Tea]

So, you missed the game? :no: :conspire: :DYaa I know. After getting mad at you for missing a game, I do the same thing. But at least I didn't waste my time hanging out with my mom and sister; I went to watch and support my local junior hockey team. :box: :talkhand:

[Max Power]

Hey guys
Not to pick on you Nuck fans because you?re all a good bunch here but I have a question. What?s with the Nuck fans booing? I?ve never heard anything quite like it. Any time a whistle was blown potentially against Vancouver the crowed unanimously booed like every call was ridiculous. I know every teams fans do this to a certain extent but it was extremely overpowering and for all calls in GM place.

[Iced Tea]

Hey guys
Not to pick on you Nuck fans because you?re all a good bunch here but I have a question. What?s with the Nuck fans booing? I?ve never heard anything quite like it. Any time a whistle was blown potentially against Vancouver the crowed unanimously booed like every call was ridiculous. I know every teams fans do this to a certain extent but it was extremely overpowering and for all calls in GM place.Maybe they're saying "Boo-urns". :D

I have several opinions on this:
1. Peer pressure and being drunk. Everyone else is booing so I should too.
2. Canucks games are the place to be for twenty somethings even though they know nothing about hockey and any call, even if totally justified, is worth booing about and in fact shows their total lack of hockey knowledge.
3. Some of the booing is actually the fans saying "Ruu Tu", I know for a fact that this is true.
4. The Canucks have a lot of moron fans who thinking being jackasses is just part of the fan experience.
5. Part of it may be to get back at other team's fans for booing Bertuzzi during away games.

Frankly, it can be embarrassing to be associated with idiot fans. I suffer the same fate with my local junior team. There is one idiot who never shuts up and tries to get the fans chanting all the time. He might be drunk at the games but does a good job hiding it beneath his outrageous behaviour.

I think it's stupid to boo every call, we should save our strength for the obviously unjust penalties.

[Max Power]

Maybe they're saying "Boo-urns". :D

I have several opinions on this:
1. Peer pressure and being drunk. Everyone else is booing so I should too.
2. Canucks games are the place to be for twenty somethings even though they know nothing about hockey and any call, even if totally justified, is worth booing about and in fact shows their total lack of hockey knowledge.
3. Some of the booing is actually the fans saying "Ruu Tu", I know for a fact that this is true.
4. The Canucks have a lot of moron fans who thinking being jackasses is just part of the fan experience.
5. Part of it may be to get back at other team's fans for booing Bertuzzi during away games.

Frankly, it can be embarrassing to be associated with idiot fans. I suffer the same fate with my local junior team. There is one idiot who never shuts up and tries to get the fans chanting all the time. He might be drunk at the games but does a good job hiding it beneath his outrageous behaviour.

I think it's stupid to boo every call, we should save our strength for the obviously unjust penalties.

lol
2 and 5 gave me a good laugh