mslepp

"http://twitter.com/mslepp"

Okotoks, AB • Canada • 27 Years Old • Male

Hank and Dank and the Pointless Shootout

Having lived in Vancouver for just about a year now, I've had the esteemed privelage of attending 4 Canuck games. All of which I lovingly cheer for my Flamers' division rival, but more importantly, cheering for a good game. The Canucks are 0-4 in the games I have attended, including a loss last year late in the season to the Flames! They are currently marred in a 7.5 period scoreless drought in those games... (last night vs Oil, 3-0 loss to Nashville, and the game 5 loss to Anaheim). Basically, it seems i'm bad luck for the Canucks, which is exactly why I'm looking for tickets to Sunday night's game vs the Flames... although I'm sure Kipper can find a way to stop this goalless drought for the Canucks. Either way, this is not the point of the blog.

The last two games I've seen, the Sedin sisters have been back to their old selves, hence referring to them as the sisters. All the Vancouver media can talk about in the papers is "the shift" that occurred back in early October against the Oilers. Nobody criticizes these two for floating around during games that actually involve a good checking matchup. Although the Canucks did have the edge in that department last night.

On the jumbotron before games, they open with a picture of all the Canucks with their nicknames beside their pic. It is so stupid... but anyway, I guess it all goes in line with the We are All Canucks slogan they've adopted, so it fits. But, regardless, Daniel Sedin shouldn't be known as Danny, or whatever they put up there... I nominate, "Dank," as you see in the title of the blog. Hank and Dank. Has a nice ring to it and some added connotation to boot. Whenever the sisters come to play instead of the cycling twins, they shall be referred to as such. okay, enough of that.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. The media is barking up the wrong tree when it comes to the Oilers prospects. Andrew Cogliano is the one to watch. He was the Oilers best player again last night and is nearly every night. He will be a superstar, likely on both ends of the ice. Forget Gagner... he's a solid prospect and a good player, but Cogliano is leaps and bounds ahead of him to the point where Gagner looks good because of Cogliano. And don't forget Kyle Brodziak. He looks like he belongs too. Oh, and if I'm an Oilers fan, all I can hope for is that Roloson continues to remain sidelined so you can start the better goalie every night. How many more times does Garon need to shine before he gets the nod?

As for the pointless shootout. I'll elaborate. Last night's game was pretty good despite the score. Lots of checking, a couple of posts here and there and some pretty good action. But the one thing I noticed all night was Ales Hemsky. Why, because he floats around the ice all night long. The kid is dangerous. Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to know it. All he wants to do every time he brings the puck into the offensive zone is dangle thru his legs or try to make a highlight reel play. I can think of a half-dozen times off the top of my head that he turned the puck over trying to be fancy. Most of them led to odd-man rushes the other way. He was a liability instead of a strength all night long. That is, of course, until the vaunted shootout. I hate the shootout. I don't care how exciting it is. It doesn't allow the better team to win, necessarily. Hemsky scores the winner on a beautiful move to beat Luongo. Why? Because there were no defenseman in between him and the goalie. If there were... regardless of the experience level or age of the depleted Canuck corps. He would not have scored. It was a brutal end to a game that wasn't that bad at all. Which brings me to my final question... what was Torres doing in the shootout? And why was he in there in the first place? Made for a good laugh at least.

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