The Goods and the bads going into the playoffs

After finally clinching a playoff spot with a win over the Ducks last night, I can now make this post without fear of jinxing us and causing a meltdown that could only be considered remotely feasible in Canuckland. Our odds of winning yet another division title are looking very good as the Flames and Avalanche battle for 8th, both of them looking largely incompetent and bringing me great joy while doing so.

The Canucks, on the other hand, have been large and in charge most of the season. A well rounded team with one of the best first lines in hockey, one of the best goalies in hockey(when he's playing well), and a defense that, well.. it has Christian Ehrhoff, so that's nice. Following, the things that make me nervous, and things that, for the most part, overcome that nervousness so that I can resume being an overconfident asshole.

Guide to the Internets: Hockey Thoughts and Links

Every Wednesday, I'll post a collection of thoughts and worthwhile links from the week. And you will enjoy it, damn it.

• Watching the Boston - Buffalo game, Ryan Miller is one of the most technically sound goaltenders in the game today. In contrast, Tim Thomas' style makes about as much sense as this commercial for Japanese noodles. Speaking as a one-time goalie who relied (very) heavily on things like positioning and, you know, always facing the puck.. I prefer Miller. 

• Duncan Keith blames his skates for sucking post-olympics. lolol

• Florida Panthers video technology is still stuck in 1998. It actually makes old school Youtube look like Blu Ray ... Trying to follow the puck kind of explains why hockey still isn't catching on down south.

• Shane O'brien's general attitude and misconduct pissed off the Canucks coaching staff, and O'Brien has been temporarily(I hope. Oh, god do I hope) replaced by a people-shaped pylon Andrew Alberts. He won't even be practicing with the team for the next week. I suspect that he is also sitting in a corner wearing a dunce cap and thinking about ugly girls at the Roxy. Ed. Note: Yes Alberts was decent last night, but it'll take more than one game to remove the fear from my heart.

Savard Out For Season, Cooke Buys Bullet-Proof Escalade

While Savard sat in front of the cameras, somewhere Matt Cooke was cherishing his remaining six teeth.

After his likely season-ending concussion, Savard spoke to the cameras about the hit, about Cooke, and about the continual effects of the play which created quite a stir around the league. The hit ended up setting a precedent throughout the league until the GM's decided to push forward the "No Head Shots" rule that was going to be initiated at the beginning of the '10/'11 campaign.

The Bruins came under fire after their lack of response after Savard went down, and it wasn't until Scott Thornton stepped up at their next meeting where they showed any backbone. Cooke, known for being a pest, refused to take off his visor, losing whatever respect he could have gained by dropping the mitts with a visor-less Thornton.

While I applaud Thornton for sticking up for his teammates, and Savard was happy about Thornton's response, I was disappointed in the rest of the Boston squad that seemed to gain no energy from the fight, and ended up losing a disappointing 3-0 game to the Penguins.

Who's got your Hart?

There are 5 names being tossed around as potential Hart Trophy winners these days. Alex Ovechkin, Henrik Sedin and Sidney Crosby are the three skaters in the mix, while Ryan Miller of the Sabres and Ilya Bryzgalov of the Coyotes make their cases from the crease. Ovechkin could be taking home both the Art Ross and Maurice Richard trophies despite injury and suspension. He’s 3 points off the points lead and sitting in a 3 way tie for the lead in goals, putting up a league high 1.53 PPG and has helped the Capitals to a sizable cushion atop the East.

Henrik’s likely led the Vancouver Canucks to another division title, setting career and franchise records for assists with 7 games to go. He excelled even when his brother went down with a foot injury, not missing a beat and helping the Canucks to keep winning.

Crosby has shown a sniper side we hadn’t seen in the NHL for a full season, tied with Ovechkin and Stamkos for the league lead in goals. As always he’s putting up assists, and as always he’s a big reason why the Pittsburgh Penguins are competitive, even sans Evgeni Malkin.

1-2-3 in league scoring, and the 3 skaters who are in contention for the Hart trophy. Here are a few stats to try and get a handle on exactly what each of these superstars means to their team.

Burrows may think Kesler is kind of a douchebag

Yeah, I'm a little late to the party on this one. But some things need to be blogged about by anonymous assholes on the internet.

Remember back when Kesler rallied the team to take hometown discounts so they could 'be a great team going forward'? Burrows does. I appreciate the fact that Kes signed here long term, and is showing commitment to the franchise. But I do not appreciate the fact that he most definitely did not take much of a discount. Sure, he could've gotten better money on the open market, but only because of people like Garth Snow and Paul Holmgren. I can only hope that Kesler fully intends on buying Burrows lobster dinners for the next several years to make up for that mean, mean joke on the little French boy.

The First Post

A Canuck-centralled blog that also covers other awesome things. Posts will often be written while we are pooping. We may discuss our pooping in graphic detail and relate it to everyday objects and innocent childhood ideals.

Female readers frighten us.