[PGT van loses to queens]

Sorry, are you inside the dressing room hearing exactly what Torts/the players are saying?

Ever think this is the response by the players do to what everyone is saying about their lack of response and all that crap? I'm sure Torts cares more about the win and the standings more than a response without the win? Or at least grabbing ONE point?

And sorry, at this point in the season every game is a must-win. In such a tight division/conference and less than half a season left, if we had won this game we'd be tied with LA, instead we give up a crucial 4 point swing, and now they're 4 points ahead of us and the Coyotes are STILL only 6 points behind us with 2 games in hand.

What if we miss the playoff? Does the "pushback" games matter? Or do the games we win, even if we get thrown around, shoved around, bullied etc. matter? What would you prefer in that scenario?

This game shows the Canucks to be a team that will win more games than it loses this season, so missing the playoffs is very unlikely. As we all know, offense and flash is not the key ingredient come playoff time (see Canucks last 2 playoffs), so it's great to see this grit that will be so needed come the post season.

[PGT van loses to queens]

The Canucks best game of the season. Impressive "stiffness", to use a Tortorella word, and bad luck that they couldn't pull it off. They had more shots, better chances and as we've seen with the Leafs season this year, those stats will eventually catch up with you. Play this game against the Kings over 7 times and the Canucks win most of them.

The players were pumped by this game. Hopefully they can parlay it into more Ws and get on a roll.

IF MG can get a bona fide top 6, that could be a big deal. With that and Burrows back in the fold, and a lineup playing like tonight, they're sure to be tough to beat.

[Too Early to call Kassian a dissapointment?]

Kassian has been put in a tight spot. If he gets sent down, MG admits he did not get a good trade for Hodgson. So he keeps him up in the bigs to keep his ego stroked, but Kassian suffers as a result of being on 3rd line and tryingt o develop that way.

Problem is, Kassian is the kind of player who needs to develop with time through the AHL.

Until that changes, Kassian will remain a big disappointment on the 3rd line.

The only thing that could save him up here in the bigs is if he has more smarts than we're giving him credit for, and he figures it out soon. It seems like he doesn't have strong hockey sense, but that could just be a mis-read. Could. Maybe. We'll see.