viking mama

I kind of agree. Was every rostered Canuck invited or expressly told to report for an interview with the media, today? I only saw 16 players seated to be grilled. Pearson probably should have taken a hard pass on it. It was uncomfortable & put him in a horrible position, seated next to teammates who may be quite affected by the tone of his opinions or even by his revelations. I wonder if “any” of the team’s doctors or training staff responsible for gaffs that could have possibly resulted in a derailment of Tanner’s earliest efforts at recovery, have been moved along? This situation echoes the chatter surrounding Cody Hodgson’s beef with the Canucks’ medical staff regarding his back or more recently, Jack Eichel’s beef with the Sabres. Without a change, relationships can sour to the point where one or other of the parties involved, needs to depart. A player’s confidence & trust in his particular team’s medical staff …goes a long way. But, if Tanner’s healing process does end up with the rehabilitation & full recovery of his hand, then his being seated with those media-day panels, does show how he still wishes to be seen as a consummate professional & another veteran leadership member for the group. Altho’ I applaud him for this, I wonder if there was much of a personal choice. Was there any monetary incentive in his decision to take part, which would not have been there otherwise…or was his presence in large part “requested” by the media-hounds in the room, all eager to prolong yet another team controversey, in a marketplace that eats up that kind of thing. Bo Horvat thanks you for moving along from last week’s obsession.

I would feel a tad better, if EP said he loves it here (instead of “I like it here”) but when they start playing play-off bound hockey well-above .500, again…I know that he will!

Group hug everyone! sniff!

This was Tortorella-esque coaching…& everyone knows how I feel about that guy. I don’t think the group skating on the ice in this game needs tough love or core-busting. Why not just let their motivations come from an obvious place on this last league game day? Kuzy infront of the net on the 1st PP unit instead of Di Giuseppe was no sacrifice. Why not do it? For the power struggle apparently & sending Kuzmenko off with negative feelings to mend over the summer, not because he deserved them - but power-mongers like to take people down a notch. Bully coaching, good luck with that. Model your coaching after Tortorella & last as long as he does in most markets. Glad that Garland got a hatty - but also calling Tocchet out. I’ll pass on wanting to be a fly on the wall at your exit meeting with that once happy-faced Russian. If we are unhappy for him, he has a beef. Reminds me a lot of the treatment Dale Weiss got from John Tortorella before he was moved & set free to play some pretty dynamic play-off hockey for the Montreal Canadians. Players are people too & their NHL rookie seasons are special & just come around once.

Pizza Guy was out there instead of Kuzmenko? What were you saying, & to who, Rick? He is slowly taking away the team’s opportunity at some feel good motivations here. But, he thinks he’s so good at message sending. Bravo to you! Maybe Tocchet is team-tank in stealth-mode.

Kuzmenko out on the 2nd PP unit,…but with Myers.

Tocchet can’t bring himself to do it,

If this is Fan Appreciation Night,…which fans are being appreciated? Go Canucks Go…for Kuzy’s 40th that is! Free Kuzmenko to be on the 1st unit PP!

Mental energies unite for it!

Preach & teach!

Seriously? Tocchet is telling them to lock it down for the win instead of freeing Kuzy to play higher up in the line-up? Yup.

John Garrett is getting all emotional, eyes sparkling & ironically becoming almost speechless. Such a difficult send-off, it reminds me of when Jim Robson stepped down. It’s the end of subsequent era!

WE WANT TO SEE KUZY GET HIS 4Oth!!! Maybe yelling will make it so! DYA HEAR ME, COACH?!

Missing the likes of Lumme, Ohlund & Salo. Those guys were all tough & got their assignments done, whatever their coaching staffs asked of them. Hail Odin!

He & Keenan can both design the course…Core-busting techniques: 101

We see him all the time in airports. Cool-dude. Super nice, willing to chat & we talked about Finnish stuff, not necessarily hockey. He’s aged well.

I just hope it won’t be another dis-respecting, soul/crushing decision like when Tortorella chose to play a reluctant Eddie Lack in that once in a life/time “Heritage Classic Game” instead of bequeathing the honour to the veteran record-breaking legacy-player, Roberto Luongo. In that particular instance, it was a once in a life-time experience for our local fans, as well. But, the will of the players & the fans was NOT going to over-ride the tyrannical purposes of an obviously narcissistic coach. That lack of respect, empathy & complete disregard for the opportunity to get a little extra motivation for the W that day, was clear. Canucks lost to OTT. I didn’t get it then & I don’t get it, now.., other than to see it for what it was, a cleverly calculated core-busting move. Tocchet is sending signals to his core players, new players, rookies, prospects & prospective free agents, what kind of a coach he will be upon that scale between Boudreau & Keenan/Tortorella. I just pray that he has a little more compassion for his players, their families & their fans, than the latter two, MK & JT did.

I’m criticizing him for his crustiness in a time where some love & appreciation were well warranted for the way all those points that Petey has were obtained. But, apparently he doesn’t want to acknowledge EP40 that way. People play this game for plenty of reasons…respect just being one of them. Acknowledging the importance of team play is great, but if he can’t appreciate the opportunity to acknowledge some things worth modelling in that key public relations moment…hmmm, then he may been more Keenan-seque than we may want. As a fan, on behalf of EP, I expected & hoped for something better. I guess we can expect another benching of Kuzmenko instead of just letting the guys help him get his 40th. It reminds me of the “Heritage Classic Game” in VAN when Tortorella refused to play Luongo & rewarded Eddy Lack with that once in a lifetime honour, instead. It’s about respect vs stripping players of their dignity for your power-mongering, core-busting, petty character-testing &/or soul-crushing purposes. Whatever that decision to defy the collective will of the fans & the players was…?? I don’t know where Tocchet ranks on the “tyrannical” coaches scale, but I do hope the will of the players & the fans, in certain moments, ranks some consideration at times, because that can buoy us & the players up signifigantly, as well. Just sayin’….we pay, they play & coaches work or not - due to the inclinations of both.

LOL. Yah…like the second to last game of the year is the time for lots of team goals, when you’re out of the play/offs & draft positions are on-the-line. If you want them to dig deeper now, for each other - personal & individual goals DO matter for inspiration, another major reason for inserting these kids into the line/up. Tocchet is still coaching with thunder. I get that it is all about the future & creating a new team culture & all,…but inspiration also comes from sayings upon a wall, over-coming personal challenges, a belief in one another, and wanting to see your besties attain milestone rewards & be the best they can be. Give it a rest post/game. Dig down & find some more enthusiastic praise for your Super Star player who’s been unselfishly sacrificing himself & playing his arse off for this team & for quite sometime now - will ya?! Gheez!!

Bad analogy. I’m perfectly okay with Podkolzin. You are comparing a flamingo to a horse. Well, maybe that’s a bad analogy too. It’s like comparing apples to oranges & I think Podz will have greater value to his team over time, than perhaps even Zegras will have to his.

Blasphemy. Juvenile Joe can’t hold a candle to EP40. He’s a head-case. I’m sorry if that’s un-woke of me to say, but I just don’t see Juvenile Joe having head-smarts as a leader off the ice & at times on the ice, either.

In this age of NHL parity, all teams live & die on goaltending. A great team - is beyond just 2 or 3 deep in really good ones.

The more I think about it, I’d love to keep the 3 amigos (EP40, Huggy & BB6) together. Their character, attitude & investment in one another as teammates & friends is something extra special. Boeser has been thru something & he is bouncing back. The character thing will save a dressing room, never break it. Losing Tanev was a bit like that. We missed him far more than the demographics of a basic player asset. Team chemistry during this time of league parity means something. In developing this, it’s very hard to remove avstarting ingredient from a good soup pot.

You were saying about Miller….?

Is there a record to break for that? What do we hope for? What?!! Tell me someone, please.