canuckleheads fan

Man, that hits me in the feels. My mom has Altzheimers, I'm trying to get her moved from the interior to the lower mainland where she's closer to me and my wife. We talk nearly every day on the phone. Every time she asks me the same questions we solved in the last call. She asks what day it is, when the carpet cleaner is coming, when my wife and I will be there to move her, which unit she's going into at her new place of residence. The past year has been a really tough slog. Gawd I need FREAKING CANUCKS HOCKEY!

I hesitate to hammer on the media, because that was me 20 years ago, but it seems that ALL media, not just sports media is more about creating a narrative and then looking for ways to prove that narrative no matter how misguided. The Canuck defense is head and shoulders better than last season. OEL is a revelation, he's still a top pairing guy nowhere near past his prime. I've been incredibly impressed with the defensive strides Hughes has taken, he's even been more physical in his own end something he never did last year. He's still small, so doesn't hit, but has found ways to redirect opponents using his body. Myers has recreated himself, simplified his game and is now a legitimate top 4 guy. Poolman has come a long way under Shaw's tutelage and by the end of the season will also be a fringe top four defender. The bottom pairing is still a problem, Schenn was bad against Seattle but overall has been about a C+ and Burroughs has been a pleasant surprise, I didn't expect much from him but he's been a lot better than expected. I saw somebody complaining about the Canucks not having anybody in the pipeline. Seems like Jett Woo and Rathbond are waiting for their chance, and both look like they'll compete for top 4 minutes if given the opportunity.

Fighting shortens your career and your life, simple as that. If I'm a middle six winger making $4 million a year why would I want to end my career four or five years early and risk all the the things a fighter risks. A lot of these pros struggle with long-term back, knee, neck, and shoulder problems after retirement, it's not like most of them get off scot-free. Even those of us who played the game but never professionally suffer long term issues. I have an arthritic right shoulder and I never played above Jr B. About 20 years ago when I was establishing a new chiropractor, after looking at my neck X-rays he asked if I'd been in a lot of car accidents. I told him that I grew up playing hockey as a smaller player playing a bigger guys position (defense). He said he understood. So imagine what happens when you play against guys the size of speed of players in the NHL. You're already risking your body to play at that level, why add fighting to that equation?

Iginla was a star and the team and the NHL protects their stars. I don't recall Jerome taking any of the marquee tough guys in the league when be played, but I also think he used his few fights to motivate his troops. He wasn't a renowned scrapper so much as a guy who stood up for himself when he had to. He could fight, but he didn't want that to be his calling card. He was far more valuable on the ice than in the box and a broken hand or orbital bone would sideline him for longer than management wanted.

As always, Jake got more chances than he deserved. His problem is that he's stupid and lazy. Travis was trying to turn him into to a 200-foot winger, meaning you skate hard at both ends, and Jake resisted. Jake thought he deserved to be a top line winger with Petey and Brock, but when given the opportunity he would play well one game than disappear. Had the team had more depth, he would have been shipped to Utica for much more seasoning. Even now he's struggling against far inferior competition. He's a .5 point per game player in the KHL which is on par with the AHL so it's not like he's tearing things up there with an eye to a triumphant return. Gaudette is nothing more than a 4th liner on a mediocre club. He couldn't crack the lineup for an awful Chicago team and he's played exactly one game for an even worse Ottawa team. His skillset did not transfer to the NHL and he resisted Travis' attempt to turn him into another Sutter or Motte type player, a defensive specialist, which would have prolonged his career.

The problem with being a fighter is that it significantly shortens your career and makes your post-career life less enjoyable because of arthritis in your hands and possible CTE issues. Also, if you start getting a reputation for it, then you end up fighting almost every night and facing guys who are employed to be goons like Tom Wilson and Ryan Reeves. The career and life of a professional goon are short. I think for Tanner stepping up in the moment is acceptable but taking a number for later puts him on a level he doesn't want to be.

Pearson's a good fighter. Soucy is bigger than Pearson, yet Tanner kicked his butt, and Soucy gave up.

That name and their logo are so dystopian, like they're not going in to play hockey so much as Rollerball!

I guess. I sometimes get nostalgic for my bus rides back in Junior, but the plane is a lot more comfortable. They'll be in the air for maybe 40 minutes, so I doubt they'll get the meal on the plane.

I think a lot of people forget how bad the initial wave of COVID was. New York was the canary in the coal mine, their hospitals were full to overflowing. They brought in refrigerated semis to hold the overflow dead. They set up field hospitals. Ambulances were lined up around the block with COVID patients. Hospital staff MacGyvered extra outputs for vents, used CPap and other similar machines as vents, used trash bags as PPE, it was horrific! Many thousands of people died at home from COVID for lack of hospital beds, which probably led to a massive undercount. I know a woman who lives in the Bronx who said the ambulance sirens never stopped for weeks. Imagine if that wave had been as transmissible and deadly as Delta. Where I live north of Seattle, our major hospital was full during the Delta wave. Not so much now. I was in the ER on Xmas day for a fairly minor mishap and only saw one obvious COVID patient come in while I was in the waiting room. Either we're in the lag time between infections and hospitalizations, or as hoped Omicron while being more than twice as transmissible as Delta causes less serious illness, especially if your vaxxed.

Seems strange they would fly to Seattle. They save maybe an hour by flying over taking the bus. It would make more sense to meet at the rink, test, do their skate at home, shower, dress, jump on the bus and drive to Seattle.

You're missing nothing. He's a terrific complimentary player, and makes every line he's on better by being a Swiss army knife 200-foot player. He's decent on the boards, decent as a net-front presence, can snipe like he did last night, and although not the most creative, he's a good passer. He's not great at any one thing, but he's a quality middle six at all of the above. I think people would like him to be something he's not, a scrapper. He was a great compliment to Bo, and played Bo's transition game very well. Now he's a great compliment to Miller, as they bang the boards and cycle down low. Pearson earns his money every night.

Put ice on that pride so it doesn't swell.

I missed last night's PGT as well, but I must admit I was shocked at who did all the scoring for the Canucks. When I saw that BB6 was in protocol and the third line consisted of Miller, Pierson, and Chaisson, I figured they would be the line least likely to score, yet they got both goals and had a lot of great chances. Now let's get Petey's line going again, time for them to bury two or three!

She has an amazing voice, I'm a big fan!

The Canucks called up a new defender who will be shadowing Zegras all night and I predict will completely shut him down, his name is Covid Protocol and he wears #19.

I wonder if Hogs approached EP for some coaching, or if Bruce recommended that Petey help Hogs out. I think it's great for Petey to be mentoring a slightly younger player, it's a leadership move, and if it was Bruce's suggestion, it's a stroke of genius. I've always found that teaching a skill makes me stronger in that skill because it takes me back to core principles. Maybe it helps to get Petey out of his own head.

Myers, with his play of late is becoming the team's Larry Robinson.

Pretty sure that's what I wrote, but the graph is helpful.

? No they're not what?

I've been looking forward to today's game since the end of Thursday's game. I'm glad they made the call, better to be safe than sorry, but now I have to Christmas shopping with the wife, which means will be looking at diamonds and she'll be dropping less than subtle hints, lol.

This is good news, and I know they controlled for age, but the South African population is much younger and fitter than most other nations. There are countries in Europe whose populations more resemble ours that are finding little difference between Delta and Omicron as far as hospitalizations and death are concerned. This tells me that until all the data is in, don't sleep on Omicron, mask up, get vaxxed and boosted, stay safe and live.

Based on CDC findings, natural immunity only lasts a few months, while the vaccine lasts about six months which is why they are recommending a booster after six months. A double dose of vaccine and a breakthrough case give you super immunity. According to what I've read or seen, almost every reputable doctor and scientist in infectious diseases and immunology say the vaccine was only ever intended to protect you from severe illness and death, the robustness of the protection against infection from the Covid variants up until Omicron has been a pleasant surprise. Omicron is a different variant, but a triple dose of vaccine seems to work pretty well at stopping severe illness, even if it's causing more breakthrough cases than the other variants.

Not sure how you got that from my post, JR has three more cups than anybody coming from the Canucks side, so he obviously knows what he's doing, I have no fear he'll help this team get there too. I'm just stating what's obvious to me, the people with power in the franchise will be Rutherford's people, not people coming from the Canuck side, as it should be, JR is the President, so he should get to work with the hockey minds he has molded and trusts.

The lack of butts in the stands made that feel more like a scrimmage than an actual game. Great work by the Miller line.