John Garrett

<img src="http://cdn.nhl.com/canucks/images/upload/2008/10/garrett_sm.jpg" border=0 style="float: left; margin-right: 8px;">If the playoffs started today... How many times have you heard this already? If the playoffs started today Vancouver, San Jose, and Detroit would all miss. Are you kidding me? The most games any team has played is seven and Atlanta has only played three. Colorado and the Rangers are off to great starts but they have played less than one tenth of their season. Do you really think Craig Anderson is going to win the Vezina or Alex Ovechkin will score 80 goals and 160 points.Talk show hosts have to come up with ideas to stimulate calls and conversation but please let the teams play enough games so that you can form a more realistic picture. If the playoffs started today I would be six months older. J.G.

<img src="http://cdn.nhl.com/canucks/images/upload/2008/10/garrett_sm.jpg" border=0 style="float: left; margin-right: 8px;">The Canucks are coming off a very successful 3-0-1 road trip. They have put themselves in a playoff position and have strung together a dozen games where they got 19 of a possible 24 points. They have beaten elite teams like the Washington Capitals and have beaten some struggling teams like the St. Louis Blues and the Edmonton Oilers without playing down to their opponents. Naysayers would point out that the Canucks had an extended eight game homestand and were playing on the road during the holidays where home teams tend to falter due to the multitude of off ice distractions. Remember the Canucks finished their homestand on boxing day and also played at home on the 22nd. They started the trip with a win in Calgary, never an easy thing to do, and finished with a 3-1 win in Dallas against a team that had scored ten goals in their previous two home games. They came from 3-0 down to beat the Blues and got a point in Phoenix after trailing 2-1 at the end of the second. Henrik and Daniel Sedin continue to roll and Roberto Luongo has been the best goalie on the ice in the last month of games the Canucks have played. With 9 of the next 11 games at GM place that 14 game road trip is starting to look less formidable. J.G.