<table width=100%><tr><td><img src="http://cdn.nhl.com/canucks/images/upload/2007/09/sunny_blog.jpg" align="left" hspace="4">Some quick thoughts after the game of the season (so far):

1) Upon leaving GM Place, I raced home to re-watch the game on television, eager to see what the TSN panel said about the Pronger cross-check. I was quite disappointed, to say the least, with what I saw.

For all the rants we’ve been forced to endure from the TSN talking-heads about how players don’t respect each other anymore, no one had a problem with Pronger cross-checking Kesler in the back two seconds after the puck was already in the net.

Leading the charge was Pierre Maguire, who shrugged off the incident by saying, “Kesler will be fine, he’ll just have a little mark on his ribs,” while Ryan was still being looked over by a trainer.

Once the crowd, understandably, started booing Pronger at every turn, Maguire credited the Anaheim defenseman for being a warrior and for elevating his game when in a hostile environment.

In retrospect, Maguire would have just been better served if he said something to the extent of, “Look, Chris Pronger’s one of my favourite players. I routinely choose him as my monster of the game. I’m not going to bad-mouth him because I dream of a day when Chris, Dion Phaneuf and I can tie the knot.”<a href="http://cdn.nhl.com/canucks/images/upload/2007/11/nov2707_canuckvsduck14_b.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://cdn.nhl.com/canucks/images/upload/2007/11/nov2707_canuckvsduck14_t.jpg" align="right" border="0" hspace="4" vspace="1"></a>

Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.

If one TSN employee deserves any credit for trying to point out it was a dirty play, it’s Darren Dreger, who was making that claim until he was shouted down by Bob McKenzie and Mike Milbury.

McKenzie, by the way, had the gall to suggest Kesler was faking his injury.

“Kesler, I don’t know if he’s trying to sell it or whether he’s really hurt, got caught in a bad spot.”

In Bob’s defense, he wouldn’t really pay much attention to a cross-check anyway unless Richard Peddie delivered it to Larry Tanenbaum.

2) And while I’m letting TSN have it, how could the network not cut to the Canucks-Ducks game for BC viewers instead of forcing them to sit through the final moments of the Leafs and Habs?

If this had just been a regular game for the Canucks, then fine, let the game at the ACC finish up.

But with Todd Bertuzzi returning to Vancouver for the first time since being traded 18 months ago, I’ve got to think more BC viewers would be interested in that than watching a zamboni circle the ice in Toronto.

Just a thought.

3) In regards to Bertuzzi, I have to say, I was pretty nervous for him heading into Tuesday night’s game.

I was convinced Vancouver fans would boo Bert mercilessly, forgetting all the good #44 did for this franchise.

But Bertuzzi got a nice hand when his name was announced in the starting lineup and an even louder one when he first hit the ice.

Coming from an often-sarcastic, borderline-rude Vancouver crowd, it really was nice to see.

4) Has anyone else realized that when the Canucks host Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday, December 8th, it will end a stretch in which Vancouver played on only one of seven Saturday nights?

How many games did the other Canadian teams get on CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada over that stretch?

Toronto: 7. Ottawa: 6. Edmonton: 5. Montreal: 4. Calgary: 4.

<a href="http://cdn.nhl.com/canucks/images/upload/2007/11/nov2707_canuckvsduck09_b.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://cdn.nhl.com/canucks/images/upload/2007/11/nov2707_canuckvsduck09_t.jpg" align="left" border="0" hspace="4" vspace="1"></a>5) Lastly, even though it’s not directly related to the Canucks, I have to get my two cents in on the Olympic mascots.

Ever since Quatchi, Miga, and Sumi were introduced to the world yesterday, there’s been a lot of complaining. A lot.

It seems that many adults have forgotten that mascots generally aren’t designed for their benefit. They’re for the kids and the kids, for their part, seem to love the little critters.

Still, everywhere I go I hear people complaining about how the characters look too cartoonish, how the characters aren’t created to scale, even how the name “Sumi” sounds suspiciously like “sue me.”

Thus, I propose a new Olympic mascot be created and named, “The Vancouver Complainer.”

The Complainer will be charged with going around the city between now and 2010 to complain about all of Vancouver’s shortcomings, no matter how minor.

Raining too much? Complain.

Construction too loud? Complain.

Too many attractive women on the street? Complain.

Such a character would truly catch the essence of the city of Vancouver.

In fact, now that I think about it, such a character would probably catch the essence of this very blog.

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