Canucks & Beyond
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“Be Ready for Anything”
by Alanah McGinley on 11/21/07 at 12:42 PM ET
Comments (8)
So said the Hulk, beating his chest for the media yesterday.
But first, about the Oilers. The dark powers of boys named Alice (shootout specialist extraordinaire) and his partner the WhoreCough, plus a temporarily functioning powerplay, was all it took to give Edmonton their second s/o win over Vancouver in a week. But neither loss should devastate a Canucks fan—great games, right? (Although Tony Gallagher had a serious difference of opinion on that subject a few days ago—but I’ll worry about agreeing with Gallagher when the earth shifts on its rotational axis...)
Anyway, with all the fuss from Derek Boogaard, threatening retaliation on Markus Naslund or the Sedins tonight, there’s a lot of posturing going on. And I like posturing, my favorite part so far being this promotional poster for the game, found in the Pioneer Press today:
Nothing is likely to come out of it (and god knows, that would be for the best) but what’s wrong with a little drama? It’s entertainment. And it’s particularly amusing coming from Boogaard, given that I think most of his bombastic chatter comes largely out of the fact that last Sunday night, Little Alex Edler (6’3”, 220lbs… it’s all relative, when staring up at 6’7”, 258lbs of Boogey) somehow knocked him on his ass about three times.
Every time Boogaard nailed him, he just bounced off Edler like the kid was a telephone pole. Clearly Boogey could kill him in a fight, so that might have been a bit embarrassing.
Anyway, best if everyone shut up from now until game time. To this point it’s been amusing; any more of this nonsense, however, and it starts to sound like Brad May egging on Todd Bertuzzi to retaliate for the Naslund concussion that fateful night that we all try to forget. No one needs that.
(Update 11:00am PT: for a humorous take on a phone call between Colin Campbell and Boogey, check out Two Minutes for Blogging. The apple-martini zinger is a very nice touch...)
There’s a fine line between trash talk and trash behavior. I think Boogaard’s a quality guy, but it’s game time now, and the posturing needs to stop. As Michael Russo said this morning in his blog at the Star-Tribune, “Hopefully sanity prevails and it’s just a good, hard-fought hockey game.”
Amen to that. And I’m sure it will.
After all, Marian Gaborik is on the ice tonight. And the World’s Most Breakable Hockey Player probably doesn’t need to worry about Ryan Kesler & Friends looking for their own payback tonight.
As it stands, it’s kind of like the Cold War—both teams have their finger on the button, but neither wants the consequences of pushing it. Like some hockey version of détente. It seems likely that everyone will survive the festivities.
To end this on a lighter note, I grabbed some video of Alex Burrows snazzy little short-handed goal last night. I wished I’d picked up Naslund’s goal as well—also a bright spot—but this’ll have to do for now.
Updates of Related Stories
I’ll just add stuff here randomly through the day. First, some thoughts from TSN:
That was just the latest incident in a growing rivalry between these two clubs.
Last February, Brian Rolston was bloodied by a Canucks’ high stick that clipped his ear. Burrows fanned the flames by giving the bleeding Rolston a subtle slash after the whistle.
The next month, Burrows was in the middle of it again, getting a misconduct after flipping the puck at Wes Walz as time expired. The Star Tribune reported that it was the capper to a hard-hitting game that also featured Todd Bertuzzi telling Nick Schultz, “I’ll take your head off.”
The Canucks have won three of their last four contests with the Wild, but have also lost in four of their previous five trips to Minnesota.
Filed in: vancouver canucks | Canucks and Beyond | Permalink
Tags: alex+burrows, derek+boogaard, marian+gaborik, markus+naslund, mattias+ohlund, minnesota+wild, vancouver+canucks,
Comments
I doubt anything will happen, the Canucks are a team of agitators, not genuine tough guys.
Having said that I certainly do hope that Cooke, Edler and friends get the beat down they oh so richly deserve 
Posted by Poser on 11/21/07 at 01:23 PM ET
RU Reddy -- You really need to chill out, little man; it’s just hockey.
Poser -- Already with the trashtalk, huh? Fun! Always makes the game more interesting. 
Go Canucks!
Posted by Alanah McGinley from British Columbia on 11/21/07 at 01:38 PM ET
The Canucks will probably score enough to win--after all, they couldn’t really have used up their monthly goal allotment already.
...the World’s Most Breakable Hockey Player…
“You take that back! That’s my title!”
--Peter Forsberg
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 11/21/07 at 04:57 PM ET
Please refer to the Oilers as the five time Stanley Cup champion Oilers, and oh yeh they also went to the final two years ago, which is a far cry from 13 long years ago, and oh yeh again Vancouver has never won a Stanley Cup. Their fans and media just act like they have. Smells a bit like a city in the east called Toronto. Oh yeh even if they haven’t won it since 1967, they have actually won it
Its funny though how the Oilers cant sign anyone because 99% of hockey players dont want to live in a frozen tundra.
At least the Canucks have a promising future with the best goalie in the league, unlike the Leafs who will be hard pressed to even make the playoffs, and the Oilers who really arent that good a team this year, although they did beat the Canucks twice in the shoot-out recently.
They still wont get a sniff of the playoffs this season though… haha
As for Boogard, maybe Mike Brown can slap him around tonight, Id love to see that.
Posted by PuckHound61 from Speckville USA on 11/21/07 at 05:57 PM ET
Naslund with the hat trick. 
Apparently cartoon mice play pretty good hockey.
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 11/22/07 at 09:33 AM ET
I am so upset that in my fantasy league I have had Naslund, and he had not done much. I decided to drop him and the next game he goes out and snips 3 and added an assist for a 4 point night. How not thrilled am I!!
Posted by Rick Marnon from Howell, MI on 11/22/07 at 12:42 PM ET
Derek Boogaard is a badass! GO WILD. Oh, who’s ass did we beat last night? OH! THE CANUCKS! 4-2, baby! 
Posted by Me from Somewhere on 01/22/08 at 03:23 PM ET
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About Canucks & Beyond
Alanah McGinley has been blogging hockey since 2003, sharing opinions, rants and not-so-deep thoughts with anyone who will listen. In addition to writing Canucks & Beyond and helping manage Kukla’s Korner, Alanah is one of the founders and co-hosts of The Crazy Canucks Podcast, as featured at Canucks.com.
She has contributed pieces to FoxSports.com and the New York Times Slapshot blog, as well as other stray destinations in cyberspace.
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Please refer to the Oilers as the five time Stanley Cup champion Oilers, and oh yeh they also went to the final two years ago, which is a far cry from 13 long years ago, and oh yeh again Vancouver has never won a Stanley Cup. Their fans and media just act like they have. Smells a bit like a city in the east called Toronto. Oh yeh even if they haven’t won it since 1967, they have actually won it.
Truth hurts eh.
Posted by R. U. Reddy from Victoria, BC on 11/21/07 at 01:18 PM ET