Canucks & Beyond

Previous entry: Chapter 1 of 82: The Story of My Progressive Heart Failure

Canucks Freak Us Out with Mysterious “Scoring Talent”

by Alanah McGinley on 10/07/07 at 04:24 AM ET
Comments (6)

Game one against the Sharks wasn’t so hot.

Friday night marked the 150th consecutive sellout in Vancouver. Less than a minute into that first game of the season, Yo! Luongo made a big save, the crowd roared “Louuuuu!” and a new season began to great expectations. (So, that part was sort of fun.)

And then of course, much of the rest of that night sucked like a hoover.

Jeremy Roenick scoring two goals felt like some kind of curse, for one thing. So in order to banish the curse, I thought I’d republish the image below that I created as an homage to Roenick a few months ago:

Mike Chen was even good enough to drop me a note the other day to say that this image still gives him nightmares. Personally, I think it’s nice to know my artistic masterpieces can stand the test of time…

Now, moving onto the Calgary matchup…

That game was a perfect example of why I expect this season to be The Story of My Progressive Heart Failure. The Canucks seem to be genuinely gifted at keeping us afraid.

But I’m not really complaining. There were plenty of positives, in addition to getting the 4-3 OT win:

Markus Naslund looked great. Worked his Swedish buns off most of the night and demonstrated some competitive fire; I can’t even remember the last time we’ve seen that from him. His roughing penalty on Phaneuf didn’t turn out so well (i.e. the Flames scored) but even the coach cut him some slack; the next shift, Vigneault had the captain right back on the ice. He ended up with 1 goal, and a wicked assist on the OT winner.
Alex Burrows is a killer PK’er. He’s particularly good at handling those dangerous 5-on-3 situations. Burrows is actually quite a smart player who sees the ice extremely well, if you ask me.
Daniel & Henrik Sedin. When those two get the puck and use their cycle game, they can create all kinds of havoc. And of course, Daniel’s OT winner was an impressive effort. My only slightly-negative observation is that I wish they’d kill that urge to pass the puck to their linemate-of-the-night. If they don’t see a chance to safely bank it off an ‘Anson’ standing beside the net, they should just shoot it themselves.
Other random things: Aaron Miller (despite almost killing Luongo when he tagged Langkow on top of him) is very steady and reliable; Mattias Ohlund’s—and soon, Sami Salo’s—offensive talents are definitely going to be important factors this season; enjoyed having Jeff Cowan back; and really enjoyed watching 4 PP goals go in the net.

I do have one question—who the hell picked these on CBC?

That makes no sense to me, but I’m admittedly pretty biased. Perhaps someone else can justify it?

And that brings me to a couple things about the CBC broadcast and its HNIC debut with the Canucks on Saturday night.

Of course it’s good to have Jim Hughson calling the games again, but I didn’t realize we were getting Craig Simpson in the color seat until tonight. And while in many ways I thought he was fine, I could have lived without the never-ending blather dedicated to hosting a Calgary Flames Love-In. Granted, fans of other teams probably get sick to death of most tv announcers worshiping Luongo (and I don’t blame them; it can get excessive) but Simpson’s adoration for the Flames was also pretty hard to stomach.

Honestly, there were moments I thought he was channeling Greg Millen. And hell, the main thing I LIKE about Simpson is that he’s NOT Greg Millen.

I just hope he can conceal his lust for the Oilers next Saturday, or we’re going to have a problem.

Another thing. The After Hours crew had an interview with Calgary coach Mike Keenan after the game that revealed him to actually be somewhat pleasant, engaging, entertaining and even likable. (God, that was disturbing.)

Anyway, before I had a chance to think I might have the guy all wrong and perhaps I should quit trashing him, Keenan spills this little gem: “I can tell you how I got hired in Vancouver: I got hired because of Mark Messier.”

Geezus… so many bad memories in one tiny, little quote. I’ll stick to trashing the guy.

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To read more about the games or the Canucks in general, be sure to check out these guys over the season, too:

Filed in: vancouver canucks | Canucks and Beyond | Permalink
Tags: calgary+flames, san+jose+sharks, the+story+of+my+progressive+heart+failure, vancouver+canucks,

Comments

Very exciting game, and the only sports event I was especially interested in that went the way I wanted it too last night. (R.I.P. Chicago Cubbies.) :(

I loved the penalty on Phaneuf, especially the way he looked so startled when he was hit--and when he saw who it was.

A functioning powerplay was nice.

The Calgary uniforms are even more stripe-intensive than I thought. They looked like the German National Team with all the colors shooting in all directions, and piping, too...fewer design elements would have been much better.

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 10/07/07 at 06:09 AM ET

The Canucks didn’t revert to their old habit of trying to sit on the 3-1 lead in the third period, but they didn’t have a total collapse, either. They legitimately got outplayed by a Calgary team that was determined to get back in the game.

Four powerplay goals in one game?! Jeez, that fulfills their quota for the month of October, doesn’t it?

I’ll admit to having a sick feeling in my stomach when I saw Luongo bending over backwards like he did when Langkow landed on him.

Posted by Rod from Vancouver on 10/07/07 at 10:31 AM ET

I’ll admit to having a sick feeling in my stomach when I saw Luongo bending over backwards like he did when Langkow landed on him.

No lie. I think I wasn’t the only one watching who broke a personal record for most “oh, shits” strung together in a 10-second span.

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 10/07/07 at 11:04 AM ET

Baroque - I was laughing at that look Phaneuf gave Naslund, too. Some of the things going through his head were all over his face. Just a general “Wtf? Naslund? Am I on Candid Camera?”

Rod - I think 4 PP goals might be their freakin’ quota for 2007.

About the Luongo near-injury, I mostly wasn’t worried. He’s caused me so many heart-attacks and yet keeps getting back up… my blood pressure just can’t afford to take it seriously anymore.

Until his heart actually stops beating and they put him in a casket, I refuse to panic anymore.

Posted by Alanah McGinley from British Columbia on 10/07/07 at 01:16 PM ET

“I can tell you how I got hired in Vancouver: I got hired because of Mark Messier.”

I KNEW IT.

I’m going pitchfork shopping.

Posted by Isabella from Vancouver on 10/07/07 at 03:08 PM ET

I know it. Gave me a queasy feeling, too.

I love your willingness to ponder violence, Isabella. The Dark Side of hockey fandom is always fun…

Posted by Alanah McGinley from British Columbia on 10/07/07 at 04:19 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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