[GDT/UPDATE: Game(s) Postponed] December 18, 2021 Toronto Maple Leafs (20-8-2) @ Vancouver Canucks (14-15-2) at 4:00 pm on SportsNet TV and Radio 650

[Goal:thecup]

UP AND AT 'EM VERSION - Cuz Center of the Universe Time = 4:00 start, so you'll need the extra time to get properly prepared for the big game tonight.

This, is, how, you, do, it:

 

The BBC (Bruce Boudreau Canucks) ain't afraid a no:

- ghosts

- leap'n babes

- schedule snafus (fly to SJ, late start; fly home; face waiting Laffs at their 7pm Eastern Time(!!); Yotes tomorrow; fly back to SJ (who has rested since we whoomped 'em, etc.)

- sick 'n' lick'n rats (die you less than worthless piece a crap)

- smug 'n' smarmy craigs

- faceoffs (go ahead, DROP THE PUCK!)

- 2 goal leads

- shutout talk in da turd

- cringy MacLeans (get him Don!)

Da Doo Ron Ronnie Likes It!

(Will never forgive him for the hatchet job he did on Burroughs and the BS 'apology' where he drilled him some more, f n slimeball.)

 

 

[It seems that I have learned how to open these 'spoiler' boxes, but not how to close them, so I will edit after I post, or somebody could help...]

 

GO CANUCKS GO!

 

(This one is still one 'spoiler' inside another, don't know how to fix, help?)

Insider here somewhere is a Covid update v/v NHL:

Spoiler

 

Spoiler

COVID vs THE NHL

From The Athletic:

 

NHL COVID-19 cases: Live updates, schedule as Avalanche, Panthers postponed through Dec. 26, Flames through Dec. 23

The Athletic NHL staff

December 17, 2021 at 3:11 PM PST

 

On Monday, the NHL postponed Calgary Flames games through at least Dec. 16 as the team deals with a COVID-19 outbreak. On Tuesday, three more players were added to the Flames' confirmed case list, bringing the total to nine players and one staffer.

 

That was just the start to a wild week across the NHL.

 

The Hurricanes' Sebastian Aho, Seth Jarvis and a staffer entered the protocol Monday and Ian Cole, Steven Lorentz, Jordan Staal and Andrei Svechnikov tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday, the team announced. The Islanders' Mathew Barzal, the Avalanche's Devon Toews, the Oilers' Ryan McLeod, the Bruins' Brad Marchand and the Canucks' Luke Schenn, Juho Lammikko, Brad Hunt and Tucker Poolman all entered the protocol Tuesday.

 

On Wednesday, the Bruins' Patrice Bergeron, the Red Wings' Robby Fabbri and Michael Rasamussen were placed in the protocol, and the Predators announced their list of players in protocol: Mikael Granlund, Ryan Johansen, Matt Luff, Michael McCarron, Philip Tomasino and Ben Harpur.

 

On Thursday, the Flames added Dillon Dube and Oliver Kylington to the protocol, bringing their total to 18 players. The Bruins added three players — Anton Blidh, Trent Frederic and Jeremy Swayman — to their list, joining Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron. The Oilers also placed forward Devin Shore in the protocol. The Los Angeles Kings added Drew Doughty and the Panthers added Aaron Ekblad and Frank Vatrano. Colorado also placed Andre Burakovsky and J.T. Compher in protocol.

 

On Friday, the NHL postponed Saturday's game between the Canadiens and Bruins in Montreal, and Wild vs. Panthers was also postponed. The Flames added Mikael Backlund to the protocol, upping their total to 19 players. The Oilers also placed Ryan Nugent-Hopkins into the protocol, and the Maple Leafs placed Alexander Kerfoot and John Tavares in the protocol. Also added to the list: the Capitals' Nicklas Backstrom. The NHL postponed Avalanche and Panthers games through at least Dec. 26, and Flames games through at least Dec. 23.

 

 

 

Nux lineup:

Spoiler

Last update: December 16, 2021 @ 2:29 PM

Source: Natural Stat Trick

LW	C	RW
JASON DICKINSON	BO HORVAT	NILS HOGLANDER
TANNER PEARSON	J.T. MILLER	BROCK BOESER
VASILY PODKOLZIN	ELIAS PETTERSSON	CONOR GARLAND
TYLER MOTTE	JUSTIN DOWLING	ALEX CHIASSON

DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS
QUINN HUGHES	TYLER MYERS
OLIVER EKMAN-LARSSON	KYLE BURROUGHS
GUILLAUME BRISEBOIS	NOAH JUULSEN

1ST POWERPLAY UNIT
TANNER PEARSON	BROCK BOESER	J.T. MILLER

BO HORVAT

QUINN HUGHES

2ND POWERPLAY UNIT
VASILY PODKOLZIN	ELIAS PETTERSSON	CONOR GARLAND

TYLER MYERS

OLIVER EKMAN-LARSSON

1ST PENALTY KILL UNIT
BO HORVAT	JASON DICKINSON	OLIVER EKMAN-LARSSON	TYLER MYERS

2ND PENALTY KILL UNIT
J.T. MILLER	TYLER MOTTE	QUINN HUGHES	NOAH JUULSEN

GOALIES
THATCHER DEMKO	JAROSLAV HALAK

INJURIES
IR BRANDON SUTTER	IR MATTHEW HIGHMORE	IR TRAVIS HAMONIC
OUT JUHO LAMMIKKO	OUT LUKE SCHENN

Badges explained:

⚠ : Game-time Decision

 

IR : Injured Reserve list

 

DTD : Day-to-Day

 

OUT : Out

 

 

Trawna lineup:

Spoiler

Last update: December 17, 2021 @ 8:25 AM

Source: Jonas Siegel

LW	C	RW
MICHAEL BUNTING	AUSTON MATTHEWS	ONDREJ KASE
ALEXANDER KERFOOT	JOHN TAVARES	WILLIAM NYLANDER
⚠ NICK RITCHIE	DAVID KAMPF	ILYA MIKHEYEV
KYLE CLIFFORD	PIERRE ENGVALL	WAYNE SIMMONDS

DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS
MORGAN RIELLY	T.J. BRODIE
JAKE MUZZIN	TIMOTHY LILJEGREN
TRAVIS DERMOTT	JUSTIN HOLL

1ST POWERPLAY UNIT
JOHN TAVARES	ONDREJ KASE	AUSTON MATTHEWS

WILLIAM NYLANDER

MORGAN RIELLY

2ND POWERPLAY UNIT
WAYNE SIMMONDS	MICHAEL BUNTING	ILYA MIKHEYEV

PIERRE ENGVALL

JAKE MUZZIN

1ST PENALTY KILL UNIT
DAVID KAMPF	ONDREJ KASE	JAKE MUZZIN	JUSTIN HOLL

2ND PENALTY KILL UNIT
PIERRE ENGVALL	ALEXANDER KERFOOT	TRAVIS DERMOTT	T.J. BRODIE

GOALIES
JACK CAMPBELL	PETR MRAZEK

INJURIES
IR ILYA MIKHEYEV	IR MITCH MARNER	IR RASMUS SANDIN
DTD TRAVIS DERMOTT	DTD NICK RITCHIE

Badges explained:

⚠ : Game-time Decision

 

IR : Injured Reserve list

 

DTD : Day-to-Day

 

OUT : Out

 

 

 

 

Other stuff:

Spoiler

 

[joe-max]

 

Go Canucks!

[Goal:thecup]

17 minutes ago, joe-max said:

 

Go Canucks!

"Where would we be if everyone said where we were going, and no one would go to see where one would go if one went." Kurt Marti

(Had to translate your German, lol.)

 

JR and BB have gone to the Stanley Cup finals and won The Cup; so we good.

 

Go Canucks Go!

[Boudrias]

Of all the games this year this is the one that the Canucks have to win. Blow the Laffers away. Send them back from where they crawled out from. Make MacLean and his scurvy bunch eat crow. 

[Hairy Kneel]

The league has to work together to overcome these problems. 

I say a bubble light protocol for teams to follow. Pull back on all extra contacts with the teams and facilities. Increase air circulation in locker rooms, neg air types used in construction. 

Don't let the young guys go to the No5 Orange and such. 

[BlakeQuinnAndEggs]

Who is replacing Tyler Motte?

 

Hope they call up Lockwood on emergency 

[JM_]

[Googlie]

12 minutes ago, BlakeQuinnAndEggs said:

Who is replacing Tyler Motte?

 

Hope they call up Lockwood on emergency 

Will be DiGee.  4th line DiGuiseppe - Dowling - Chiasson in all likelihood

 

Read this morning (Daily Hive, iirc) that we have no more cap room.  If another player tests positive or gets injured and weekend games go on we'll have to play a man short

 

 

Edited December 18, 2021 by Googlie

[BlakeQuinnAndEggs]

1 minute ago, Googlie said:

Will be DiGee.  4th line DiGuiseppe - Dowling - Chiasson in all likelihood

 

Read this morning (Daily Hive, iirc) that we have no more cap room.  If another player tests positive or gets injured and weekend games gs on we'll have to play with 19 players

Oh ya how could I forget about Dan Riccio's favorite player.

 

JR might have to make some cap magic happen 

[Spoosh]

I hope they play tonite. I hope everyone will stay safe at the same time. 
 

Go Canucks Go

[mll]

3 minutes ago, Googlie said:

Will be DiGee.  4th line DiGuiseppe - Dowling - Chiasson in all likelihood

 

Read this morning (Daily Hive, iirc) that we have no more cap room.  If another player tests positive or gets injured and weekend games gs on we'll have to play with 19 players

Hamonic went on LTIR - they have over 2.8M in cap space for recalls per CapFriendly.

 

The league was also going to make a recall exception for Carolina where they wouldn't have to play a game short-handed because it was Covid related - the game ended up being postponed.  Still Vancouver would have likely also been able to argue that they are in the same situation as Carolina had Hamonic not gone on LTIR.

 

Edited December 18, 2021 by mll

[FijianCanuck]

5 minutes ago, Spoosh said:

I hope they play tonite. I hope everyone will stay safe at the same time. 
 

Go Canucks Go

Lebrun just tweeted more postponements to be announced for today.

[Strawbone]

What a coincidence, that’s exactly how I got out of bed this morning. 
 

GCG! Assuming there’s a game.. 

[Alienhuggyflow]

Completey off topic but SN has a wonderful 

read on Conor Garland. To find out he was the best offensive player at 15 on a team with  with Eichel or the only player in CHL history besides Sid to lead the league in scoring in two seasons is pretty cool.

The main thing I gleamed from the story is he hasn't come close to his peak yet.

His first year in the AHL he only averaged 4 minutes a game and as an NHLer he's yet to play in a normal 82 game season.

Scary to think he's just starting to realize his full potential, well scary for non Nuck fans that is.

[-DLC-]

Thank you so much for doing the GDT's lately, GTC...it is very much appreciated.

 

Toronto, ew.

[-DLC-]

CANUCKS VS MAPLE LEAFS PREVIEW

TV: CBC, Sportsnet Pacific
Radio: SN650

MATCH-UP INFO

• Tonight marks the first of two meetings between the Canucks and Maple Leafs this season: Dec. 18 (home), Mar. 5 (road).
• Vancouver is 4-6-0 in their last 10 games vs Toronto (3-2-0 in their last 5).
• The Canucks have a 69-63-22-3 all-time record in 157 games against the Maple Leafs. Vancouver holds a 43-24-11-2 record at home against Toronto.
• Among active Canucks skaters, J.T. Miller leads the team in career scoring vs Toronto with 21 points (9-12-21) in 28 games.
• Thatcher Demko has faced the Leafs five times in his career (2-3-0) and has a .898 SV% and 3.45 GAA.
• Jaroslav Halak has faced the Leafs 20 times in his career (10-4-5), owning a .910 SV% and a 2.90 GAA.

QUICK NUMBERS

• Brock Boeser has eight points (5-3-8) in his last seven games.
• Bo Horvat has eight points (4-4-8) in his last nine games.
• J.T. Miller has 13 points (3-10-13) in his last nine games.
• Quinn Hughes has 11 points (0-11-11) in his last nine games.
• Conor Garland has eight points (4-4-8) in his last 10 games.
• Thatcher Demko has posted a .959 SV% and 1.36 GAA in his last five games (5-0-0).

LAST MEETING - MAY 1/21: VAN 1 at TOR 5

Tanner Pearson opened the scoring at 13:28 in the first period for his 10th goal of the season...Quinn Hughes extended his point streak to three games with an assist on the play, while Bo Horvat collected the second assist...Brock Boeser and Travis Hamonic led the team in shots (4)...Jayce Hawryluk registered a team-high in hits (3)...Bo Horvat won 13 of 21 face-offs...Thatcher Demko faced 29 shots

LAST GAME PLAYED - DEC. 16/21: VAN 5 at SJS 2

Brock Boeser opened the scoring for the fourth time in six games at 12:41 in the first period, assisted by Tanner Pearson...Bo Horvat capitalized on the power play under four minutes later for his third goal in two games, assisted by J.T. Miller...Brock Boeser notched his second of the game for the eventual GWG at 17:17 in the second period...J.T. Miller and Tanner Pearson registered their second assists of the game...J.T. Miller (unassisted) and Jason Dickinson (assisted by Elias Pettersson and Kyle Burroughs) each added third period tallies...Noah Juulsen led all Canucks in hits (6) and blocks (4)...Elias Pettersson won 11 face-offs...Thatcher Demko made 34 saves.

LAST 5 vs TORONTO

• May 1, 2021: VAN 1 at TOR 5
• Apr. 29, 2021: VAN 1 at TOR 4
• Apr. 20, 2021: VAN 6 vs TOR 3
• Apr. 18, 2021: VAN 3 vs TOR 2 (OT)
• Mar. 6, 2021: VAN 4 vs TOR 3

RECENT TRANSACTIONS

• Tyler Motte placed in COVID-19 Protocol, Dec. 17
• Madison Bowey recalled from Abbotsford, Dec. 17
• Guillaume Brisebois recalled from Abbotsford, Dec. 16
• Phillip Di Giuseppe recalled from Abbotsford, Dec. 14
• Travis Hamonic placed on LTIR, Dec. 14
• Luke Schenn, Juho Lammikko, Brad Hunt, & Tucker Poolman placed in COVID-19 Protocol, Dec. 14

BROCK STAR

Brock Boeser collected his 14th career game-winning goal on Dec. 16 at SJS, ranking t-4th with Bo Horvat and Patrik Sundstrom for most franchise GWG before turning 25 years old, trailing only Tony Tanti (26), Pavel Bure (26), and Trevor Linden (22).

BRUCE BOOST

Defeating the San Jose Sharks by a score of 5-2 on Dec. 16, Bruce Boudreau became just the sixth coach in NHL history to begin their tenure with a new team 6-0-0. He looks to tie Geoff Ward (7-0-0, 2019.20 w/ CGY) and Jacques Lemaire (7-0-0, 1993.94 w/ NJD) for most wins to start with a new team when the Canucks host the Maple Leafs on Saturday. Boudreau can also tie Roger Nielson (5-0-2) for most games earning at least a point to start a Canucks coaching tenure.

DOWN BUT NOT OUT

6-0-0
22
10
5-15 (33.3%) 10-12 (83.3%)

Rallying from a 3-0 down after the first period on Dec. 14 vs CBJ, the Canucks earned their first regulation win after trailing by three goals for the first time since Mar. 9/10 at COL. The last time the Canucks achieved a similar regulation comeback at home was Feb. 13/96 vs the original Winnipeg Jets.

TRIPLE THREAT

Contributing assists on three of Vancouver's four goals on Dec. 14 vs CBJ, Quinn Hughes registered his 10th career game with three or more points, tying Rick Lanz for fourth-most by a Canucks defenceman in franchise history. He now only trails Jyrki Lumme (16), Alex Edler (12), and Dennis Kearns (11).

DEMMER, YOU'RE A STAR

After sweeping the week (Dec. 6-12), Thatcher Demko was named the NHL's First Star of the Week on Dec. 13. Demko went 4-0-0 with a 1.20 GAA, .962 save percentage, and one shutout (4-0 vs LAK, Dec. 6. He also led the NHL in wins (4), shots faced (133), and saves (128) for the week.

SHOOUTOUT SPECIALIST

Netting the game-deciding goal in the shootout on Dec. 10 vs WPG, Elias Pettersson now has nine career shootout goals on 22 attempts, which is third- most in club history behind Alex Burrows (16) and Ryan Kesler (11). His shootout shooting percentage (40.9%) also ranks second in team history (min. 15 shots), behind only Kyle Wellwood (43.8%).

QUINN'S CAREER NIGHT

Quinn Hughes collected a career-high in points (4) and assists (4) on Dec. 1 at OTT, becoming just the fifth defenceman in franchise history to record four assists in a game, and the first since Jeff Brown (0-5-5) on Feb. 20/95. Hughes now ranks t-6th all time among NHL defencemen for most games (8) with three or more assists before the age of 23.

RECENT CANUCKS MILESTONES

• Quinn Hughes recorded his 100th career assist, Nov. 29 at MTL
• Kyle Burroughs scored his 1st career NHL goal, Nov. 19 vs WPG
• Juho Lammikko appeared in his 100th career game, Nov. 14 at ANA

CURRENT INJURIES

• Travis Hamonic - 4 games
• Matthew Highmore - 23 games
• Brady Keeper - 31 games
• Brandon Sutter - 31 games

COVID-19 PROTOCOL

• Tyler Motte
• Tucker Poolman - 1 game
• Brad Hunt - 2 games
• Juho Lammikko - 2 games
• Luke Schenn - 2 games

Total man games lost (due to injuries or illness): 133 games

THREE STARS - DECEMBER

• Demko - 20 pts
• Miller - 15 pts
• Boeser - 15 pts
• Hughes - 10 pts
• Horvat - 10 pts
• Garland - 5 pts
• Höglander - 5 pts
• Pettersson - 5 pts
• Myers - 5 pts

NOVEMBER WINNER - GARLAND (15); OCTOBER WINNER - DEMKO (15)

[Googlie]

16 minutes ago, mll said:

Hamonic went on LTIR - they have over 2.8M in cap space for recalls per CapFriendly.

 

The league was also going to make a recall exception for Carolina where they wouldn't have to play a game short-handed because it was Covid related - the game ended up being postponed.  Still Vancouver would have likely also been able to argue that they are in the same situation as Carolina had Hamonic not gone on LTIR.

 

Ah. - was Patrick Johnston in The Province ......

 

The Canucks called up defenceman Madison Bowey Friday as insurance in case defenceman Guillaume Brisebois is unable to play against the Leafs. Guillaume, who was called up ahead of Thursday’s game, suffered an undisclosed injury in the victory.

The team still has cap space to call up another player, but were they to lose anyone else to injury or to COVID protocols they would likely have to play one player short because of their salary-cap situation

[Alienhuggyflow]

10 minutes ago, FijianCanuck said:

Lebrun just tweeted more postponements to be announced for today.

I could see the Oilers game being canceled due to the rules of quarantine. Unless the leafs or nucks get more results I think they play.

 

On the positive side of things,  out of 10000 cases of the new variant in the UK only 100 (all non vaccinated) ended up in the hospital with 1 death.

[AlwaysACanuckFan]

30 minutes ago, JM_ said:

Mine works

[CanucksJay]

30 minutes ago, Googlie said:

Will be DiGee.  4th line DiGuiseppe - Dowling - Chiasson in all likelihood

 

Read this morning (Daily Hive, iirc) that we have no more cap room.  If another player tests positive or gets injured and weekend games go on we'll have to play a man short

 

 

There should be a covid relief... Playing a man short makes no sense