Dan Dennett on dangerous memes

Keeping Track of Puck Battles: Can Puck-Strength Be Quantified?

I think Jannik Hansen wins puck battles, but I don't know if I can prove it.

Tuesday morning on the Team 1040, Scotty Rintoul and Ray Ferraro held their regular weekly interview with Mike Gillis. These interviews tend to range in their entertainment value, depending on whether Gillis feels like needling Scotty for the inanity of his questions or not, but there was one particularly interesting moment. Because Gillis attended the Moose/Heat game on Saturday, he was asked about what he looks for in a young prospect in terms of bringing them up to the NHL. He didn't hesitate to answer¹: "the one most telling test is their puck-strength and their ability to win puck battles...that's what really separates guys from the American League and the NHL." He talked about strength in protecting the puck and winning puck battles as being the number one thing he looks for on the ice. Not skating, not shooting, not defensive positioning, not stickhandling - puck-strength.

I was intrigued by this, as puck-strength is one of those qualities of a player that seems to defy quantification: there are no statistics that track how strong a player is on a puck, yet it is one of the foundational abilities that leads to success at the NHL level. It's also one of the most easily discernible differences between a rookie and a veteran in the NHL: rookies tend to be knocked off the puck easily and lose puck battles along the boards, while veterans do not. They've got old-man strength. I'd like to look at the one particular area of puck-strength that Mike Gillis mentioned: winning puck battles.

Earlier this month, Justin Bourne wrote an article on Hockey Primetime on the topic of puck battles, stating that they are "hockey's most underrated non-statistic," and identifying some of the abilities that help win puck battles. He talked about turning 50/50 pucks into 60/40 pucks, the tiny difference leading to tremendous success. Unfortunately, there currently is no statistic keeping track of puck battles won--at least no statistic that is publicly available. I have a hunch that savvy coaches and general managers do keep track of this, or at least try to, though coaches may simply rely on their impressions in the moment. It's easy to watch a game and get frustrated with a player who seems to consistently lose puck battles and it's clear that Mike Gillis watches games with an eye for puck-strength and who wins those battles. It's unclear, however, whether anyone in the organization is actively tracking won and lost puck battles.

Instead, statisticians are far more concerned with keeping track of results: shots, goals, assists, etc. or, if they are especially keen, missed shots, blocked shots, and points in relation to time-on-ice, teammates, and opponents. The issue is that many of these statistics are the result of winning puck battles. A statistic that purports to measure puck possession, such as Corsi, is profoundly influenced by consistently winning puck battles. Is there a way to get to the source and quantify puck battles with a statistic?

On the surface, the task seems easy enough. Statistics are already kept for faceoffs, which are just a particular breed of puck battle. It's simple: the team that gains possession off the faceoff has won the faceoff. The issue is one of identification. Identifying a faceoff is easy: the play has stopped and the linesman drops the puck to re-start play. There are two clear players involved who oppose each other: the winner of the faceoff is the one whose team gains possession, even if his teammates played a key role in gaining that possession. There is a clear beginning to a faceoff and a somewhat muddled, but still identifiable, ending.

Identifying a puck battle is far more difficult. When does a puck battle begin? When does it end? It's a problem of segmentation, which is a common problem for hockey statistics. Baseball, which easily has the most advanced statistical analysis in sports, is easily segmented. Every pitch is a separate event that can be analysed relatively easily. Each pitch has a distinct result that can be further segmented: if the batter reaches base, it could be from a hit, error, walk, or other circumstance that can be quantified. In hockey, the continuous flow of play resists segmentation: there is no distinct beginning or ending to any given event. Has a puck battle begun when two players meet with the puck on one of their sticks? Then a hit is a type of puck battle, which seems counter-intuitive. Perhaps a puck battle can be defined as when more than one player has the puck on their stick at the same time or within a given timeframe, but this is also not without its difficulties.

If the problem of identifying when a puck battle has begun can be solved, the measurement of winning and losing said puck battle seems to be simple, as it can be measured in a similar fashion to faceoff wins and losses. There are, however, further difficulties. For instance, what about players who win a puck battle when the odds are stacked in their favour, such as when they begin with possession of the puck? What about players who lose a puck battle under the same circumstances? Furthermore, which players are involved? Teams with excellent puck support can swing puck battles in their favour simply by having more players involved. Can that be measured? Is it fair to say a player lost a puck battle when the opposing team had two players involved? Would it be possible to measure such a statistic on an individual basis or only as a team?

Indeed, given the wide variance in how seemingly simple statistics such as hits and blocked shots are counted in different arenas in the NHL, it may be a hopeless task to expect a more nebulous event like a puck battle to be counted accurately. But I am willing to bet that a GM like Mike Gillis would appreciate knowing who wins the most puck battles, especially when it comes time to re-sign pending free agents². For instance, both Kevin Bieksa and Christian Ehrhoff are set to be UFAs following this season. The consensus amongst the majority of Canucks fans is that Ehrhoff needs to be re-signed, while Bieksa can be traded this season with little damage done to the on-ice performance of the Canucks as a whole. Hypothetically, if a statistician could show that Bieksa consistently wins more puck battles than Ehrhoff, this could play a huge role in deciding who stays and who goes. Is a won puck battle as important as a hit or a takeaway? More important? Can it be quantified as equivalent to a certain percentage of a goal?

I am not sure of what work is being done in this area of hockey statistics and must admit to a certain deficiency in myself in that I am not a statistician. However, Elliotte Friedman indicated in a recent 30 Thoughts that the late Pat Burns was angriest when players lost puck battles and that Craig Ramsay, the current head coach of the Atlanta Thrashers, does indeed keep a "battles won" statistic³. Has he solved the issue of identification of what is and is not a puck battle? Are any other hockey statisticians, coaches, or general managers doing any work in this area? Or will this very important facet of hockey remain in the realm of qualia, remaining a subjective judgement? To be quite honest, I do not know. I am just beginning to ask the question.

1. The question and response starts at 11:43 in the linked podcast.

2. Which would fit neatly into Gillis's oft-cited Moneyball philosophy. If winning puck battles is a huge part of winning hockey games, analogous to on-base percentage in baseball, and winning puck-battles is undervalued by the market, the Canucks could gain a huge advantage in paying less money for players who play a large part in winning games but do not have gaudy traditional statistics, and avoid paying big money to players who have decent counting statistics but consistently fall short in those areas that win games.

3. Massive hat-tip to @ArtemChubarov who reminded me in the comments section of this fantastic tidbit from Elliotte Friedman. I feel foolish for having forgotten it in the first place.

The NCAA Tournament As It Would Look Right Now

Playoffs? Already? No, but the Pair Wise rankings have come out and have been out for a couple of weeks now. The PWR determines the field of 16 for the NCAA tournament. You will not find it on USCHO (they're still figuring out how to use their new format to their website), but the PWR is up on The College Hockey News and Sioux Sports.com.

BU sits in fourth right now, making them the final number one seed.

The winner of each Conference tournament is an automatic qualifier regardless of their Pair Wise Rank. 

Here's how my playoff bracket looks going into December:

Regional site: Bridgeport Connecticut, East Regional 
1. Yale vs. 16. Canisuis/Robert Morris (Atlantic Hockey Conference leaders)
8. Michigan vs. 9. Denver

Regional site: St Louis Missouri, West Regional 
2. Nebraska Omaha vs. 15. Maine
7. North Dakota vs. 10. Minnesota

Regional site:Green Bay Wisconsin, Mid-West Regional 
3. Minnesota Duluth vs. 14. Rensselaer
5. Notre Damevs. 11. Union

Regional site: Manchester New Hampshire, North-East Regional. 
4. Boston University vs. 13. Dartmouth/Boston College
6. New Hampshire* vs. 12. Miami

*Site host automatically seeded at their host site. In a normal Bracket the 5th seed would play the 12th seed and the 6th seed would play the 11seed.

The Frozen Four is in St. Paul Minnesota on March 7th and 9th.

What's the Story With Mason Raymond?

Canucks fans rejoiced this summer when Mike Gillis avoided arbitration with Mason Raymond, the speedy winger that had broken out with a career-high 25 goals. Optimists said that Raymond was a future 30-goal scorer and that he would reach the next level this season.

His renovated ceiling and a new echelon of comparable players led to offseason chatter (or, at the very least, rumours mongered by superagent J.P. Barry) that Raymond was looking for somewhere north of 3.5 million dollars in arbitration. On the steps of the courthouse, however, the Canucks and Raymond agreed to a deal worth 2.5 million for two years. Here's what I said at the time:

I love [this signing]. Gillis gets Raymond at a reasonable cap hit for two years. This is brilliant, because if he turns out to be a one-season wonder as a genuine top-six forward, he's still got a ton of value as a speedy checker. Even if his scoring numbers dip a little bit, Raymond is worth 2.5.

It was and is a reasonable contract, which might be the only reason he's yet to be seriously called out for his slow start to the season. He isn't overpaid, and in a cap world, that seems to be all that matters to people. Furthermore, he's still contributing as a checker (fore- and back-); he doesn't take penalties (only 1 minor all season); he's an important part of Canucks special teams; and his speed backs off defenders 5-on-5, giving his linemates space and time to work. He's got 9 assists for his efforts, only one point back of his point totals through 22 games last year.

But he's not scoring. It's problematic, and it's tough to know what the problem is. Through 22 games, he has 4 goals. The season is still young, but last year, through 22 games, he had 8. A year after scoring 25, Raymond is on pace for nearly half that, at 14. So what's the problem? It's hard to say. He could simply be a one-season wonder. He could also be playing hurt. Was that last year an anomaly or is there something else wrong?

He hasn't missed any games this season, but there's been scuttlebutt about Raymond suffering a wrist injury early in the year. He admitted as much. From the Sun:

"I don't feel my best right now. My body's not 100 per cent, but that's all part of hockey. Some days are better than others. You're never 100 per cent."

If it was severe enough to genuinely hinder his play, you'd think he'd sit out in order to heal, but Raymond continues to dress, and it certainly hasn't prevented him from shooting the puck. You'd think he'd be shooting less if there was a problem with his wrist, but Raymond has registered 59 shots this season, two more through 22 games than last year. In fact, his shot totals are the third-highest on the team, behind Mikael McShooterson and a similarly trigger-happy Ryan Kesler.

Raymond isn't passing up opportunities to fire the puck on net. He's just not beating netminders this year. Raymond's shooting percentage is 6.8, the lowest of his career, and a full 3 points below his career 9.8 shooting percentage. We could turn our attention, again, to his mystery injury. Is it that his wrist shot, one of his best assets, just isn't strong enough right now to beat goalies the way it did last season?

The third option is that Raymond is just a streaky player, and he's poised for another strong December. Last season, he scored 8 times in the month, including a hat trick in Calgary. If Raymond closes out the calendar year with a handful of tallies, then this whole post is a waste of time. I wouldn't mind. Is MayRay on the verge of a criticism-silencing hot streak?

Maybe. Maybe not. It's tough to know if he's going to turn this around; it's tough to know if he's playing hurt, especially when he's playing. Worse, it's tough to know if the Raymond we're seeing right now is the Raymond we should get used to seeing.

Captain's Log With Brock Matheson - November 30th, 2010

Hey Union Hockey Fans, I hope everyone had an enjoyable Thanksgiving with family and friends. Dan has asked me to submit a weekly paragraph to keep everyone updated on what's going on with the team. Since classes have ended, we've been practicing and lifting hard, and have definitely shown signs of improvement in some of the areas we wanted to focus on. We were also given a few days off for the Thanksgiving holiday. It was nice for all of us to get away for a couple of days - some of the guys went home, while others went to see some NHL games in various cities.

It's been a while since we've played games so we're all itching to get back out there. The Brown and Yale roadtrip is always a tough one. Both teams are having great seasons so far. Brown is playing great hockey right now, so we're anticipating a tough battle against them. Last weekend, they tied two great Hockey East teams in UNH and BU. Yale is also having a great season so far, and we're looking forward to playing them Sunday on national television.

Overall, we're all looking forward to the weekend. The prospects of knocking off some tough opponents and gaining some ground in the always tight ECAC standings are in sight. This is a very important weekend for us and we're looking to take advantage of it. Thanks for reading and thanks for your support!

#6 -Brock Matheson

PEAC BOYS HOCKEY UPDATE - NOVEMBER 29th, 2010

November 29, 2010





Good morning PEAC Hockey Parents,



As you probably already know, PEAC Sport reports were sent home this week. The reports covered on and off –ice testing results, skill development marks, coach comments as well as health. The students overall mark was generated by the following: on-ice performance (60%), dry-land fitness (20%) and health (20%).



On-ice marks are a combination of coach assessments and on ice testing results. As the report indicates students are marked on various skills such as shooting, offensive concepts, skating, and technical defence.



Dry-land marks were calculated by off-ice testing results as well as their dry-land log sheets. Please continue to encourage your child to be logging their workouts at least twice per week in their Elite Athlete Binders.



Health class is held every Friday and divided by grade. Health units cover personal safety and injury prevention, nutrition, healthy growth and sexuality, substance use and abuse, decision-making, conflict resolution and social skills. We are happy to have health as a regular part of our weeks this year.



Our University of Michigan trip was a great success. We took down a small group of Grade 9’s and 10’s who represented PEAC well. These students toured the campus and Yost Arena, and met with the Director of Hockey Operations, Josh Richlew and Head Coach Red Berenson. The boys also got to watch the University of Michigan defeat Lake Superior State 7-2. Thanks to all students, staff and parents who made this trip happen!



We are looking forward to showcasing the skills of our U-14s on December 3rd and 4th in the Upper Canada College Invitational Tournament. Our roster will be made up of students from both our Toronto and Burlington campuses. Our PEAC team is the reigning champion and we hope to bring home another trophy. If your schedule permits, come out and support our boys and girls! (finalized schedule will be available later this week)



Throughout the last few years students and parents have inquired about the potential of PEAC offering a before and after school Hockey program. The program would be an additional fee and would run at 7:30am and 4:30 pm. We are only trying to determine interest in this program at the moment. If you think your son would be interested in participating in this program please e-mail me at jwalters@peac.ca. Thank you.



Student Achievements:



CONGRATULATIONS TO PEAC‘s Pol Gonzalez who has been selected to represent Spain at the 2011 IIHF World U20 Championships, the 2011 Euro Ice Hockey Challenge in Spain and the 2011 IIHF World Men’s Championship in Budapest, Hungary.



Congratulations to Rob Polesello on being selected as a reserve player for U17 Team Ontario.



John

PEAC BOYS HOCKEY UPDATE - NOVEMBER 29th, 2010

November 29, 2010





Good morning PEAC Hockey Parents,



As you probably already know, PEAC Sport reports were sent home this week. The reports covered on and off –ice testing results, skill development marks, coach comments as well as health. The students overall mark was generated by the following: on-ice performance (60%), dry-land fitness (20%) and health (20%).



On-ice marks are a combination of coach assessments and on ice testing results. As the report indicates students are marked on various skills such as shooting, offensive concepts, skating, and technical defence.



Dry-land marks were calculated by off-ice testing results as well as their dry-land log sheets. Please continue to encourage your child to be logging their workouts at least twice per week in their Elite Athlete Binders.



Health class is held every Friday and divided by grade. Health units cover personal safety and injury prevention, nutrition, healthy growth and sexuality, substance use and abuse, decision-making, conflict resolution and social skills. We are happy to have health as a regular part of our weeks this year.



Our University of Michigan trip was a great success. We took down a small group of Grade 9’s and 10’s who represented PEAC well. These students toured the campus and Yost Arena, and met with the Director of Hockey Operations, Josh Richlew and Head Coach Red Berenson. The boys also got to watch the University of Michigan defeat Lake Superior State 7-2. Thanks to all students, staff and parents who made this trip happen!



We are looking forward to showcasing the skills of our U-14s on December 3rd and 4th in the Upper Canada College Invitational Tournament. Our roster will be made up of students from both our Toronto and Burlington campuses. Our PEAC team is the reigning champion and we hope to bring home another trophy. If your schedule permits, come out and support our boys and girls! (finalized schedule will be available later this week)



Throughout the last few years students and parents have inquired about the potential of PEAC offering a before and after school Hockey program. The program would be an additional fee and would run at 7:30am and 4:30 pm. We are only trying to determine interest in this program at the moment. If you think your son would be interested in participating in this program please e-mail me at jwalters@peac.ca. Thank you.



Student Achievements:



CONGRATULATIONS TO PEAC‘s Pol Gonzalez who has been selected to represent Spain at the 2011 IIHF World U20 Championships, the 2011 Euro Ice Hockey Challenge in Spain and the 2011 IIHF World Men’s Championship in Budapest, Hungary.



Congratulations to Rob Polesello on being selected as a reserve player for U17 Team Ontario.



John

Colby Cohen Traded To Bruins From Colorado

Former Terrier, Colby Cohen was traded today to the Boston Bruins from the Colorado Avalanche. The B's gave the Aves defenseman Matt Hunwick, and in return received Cohen.

The Bruins say it was to make room on the salary cap for when Mark Savard comes bak from a concussion.

"This (move) will be enough to activate Marc Savard when he's ready to play," general manager Peter Chiarelli said in a conference call. - USA Today


Last season at BU, Cohen racked up 14 goals and 16 assist, his most productive offensive year with the Terriers. In case you forgot he did score the game winning goal in the National Championship game back in 2009 and was named tournament MVP. He was also an All American last year. 


This season with the Avalanche, Cohen has played in only three games, recording no points and is -1 on the year. In AHL Lake Erie he has played in 14 games, scored one goal, his only point, and has 12 penalty minutes.

It's Like '07 All Over Again

Garret Noonan (top) and
Ben Rosen (bottom) are
my "Players of the
 Week"

Noonan had two assists
over the weekend and
one came on Rosen's goal,
his first collegiate goal
in the first period of the
Brown game.That is why he
was named
a "Player of the Week"

(Photos by Matt Dresens)

During the 2007 season, BU racked up nine ties throughout the year. This season they are just four away from that mark and we're not even in December yet. (although the next game will come on Friday which is in December). 

After going an impressive 6-0-1 through the first month of the season, BU has only been able muscle together one more win since the end of October. That came last weekend against New Hampshire in a 4-2 win at Agganis. The night before, the Wildcats ended the Terriers unbeaten streak at 10. 

Parker had this to say about the abnormally high number of draws thus far this season:"I have a closet full of ties; I’ve got enough ties.”

He might need a bigger closet because there is still more than half the season to go. 

At this point in 2007, BU had an identical number of ties at five. They also both won and lost a game in overtime before the last month of the year rolled around. 

At The Polls 

BU remained in second in the USCHO poll by the skin of their teeth. The Bulldogs from Yale and BU are tied (the theme of this article) at 901 points, but BU gets a leg up because they picked up one first place vote and Yale did not. Minnesota Duluth held on to the top spot and Nebraska Omaha and NewHampshire rounded out the top five. 

Yale edged BU for second in the USA Today poll by just six points (454-448). The top five was the same except for that. 

The Terriers slipped to fourth in the INCH Power Rankings. 

BU moved up from 6th to 4th in the Pair Wise Rankings. 

Around Hockey East

On Friday night, BC was taken down by Merrimack, 5-2. The Eagles responded by blanking Vermont 6-0 on Sunday. UMass also beat Vermont last Tuesday 4-1. Northeastern tied the Catamounts 2-2  Saturday night. That same night, Lowell was blown out 8-3 by Minnesota State. State beat the Riverhawks again the next night, 3-2. Merrimack was upended by UNH 2-1 and UMass picked up it's second straight win by beating Quinnipiac 5-1, also on Saturday night.

Running out of time

Atheists vs Christians

Atheists launch new billboard campaign calling the Bible "a myth"

Aaron Volpatti Crushes Mitch Wahl; It is Decidedly Not Awesome

It's not the best quality video, but this hit on the Mitch Wahl was perhaps the scariest moment of Saturday's game between the Manitoba Moose and Abbotsford Heat. Wahl comes across the offensive zone and takes a shot, but he spends a fraction of a second too long watching the puck. In that time, Moose forward and Canucks prospect Aaron Volpatti catches him with a devastating open-ice hit (on the right side of the screen).

Volpatti is immediately challenged by Heat defenseman Joe Piskula. Unfortunately for Piskula, Volpatti is good at fighting; preliminary observations indicate Piskula is not.

I was at this game, and the hit was a particularly scary moment. Wahl didn't move for quite some time, and was eventually stretchered off the ice. After removing him to the ambulance, the ice crew scraped away a large pool of dried blood.

The only good news was that the stretcher didn't leave the arena right away, indicating Wahl's injury wasn't as serious as it initially looked.

According to Cam Tucker's Twitter account, Heat coach Jim Playfair said today that Wahl suffered a cracked cheekbone and a cut on his eye, and may require surgery. Playfair also said the hit wasn't malicious or dirty.

But who cares about the legality of the hit? The real issue is that a guy was left motionless on the ice, bleeding from the head. Delivered within the rules or otherwise, head injuries are a do-not-want situation. It's a damn shame when something like this happens.

PITB's sentiments are with Mitch Wahl. Here's to a full recovery.

Union in the Rankings

The Dutchmen were off for the second weekend in a row. They return to league play at Brown and Yale this weekend.

INCH: Union moves up two spots to #8... Yale is ranked second

USCHO: Union stays at #13... RPI moves up one spot to #16

USA Today/ USA Hockey Magazine: Union drops one spot to #13... just six points behind #12 Notre Dame

Cathedral City Classic schedule set with times

Game times and field assignments have been set for the nation's premier in-season college softball tournament, the Cathedral City Classic.The 34-team field in Cathedral City in February promises to be the best group of college softball teams ever assembled in one location during a regular season. Seven of the eight teams who reached last year's Women's College World Series will compete (including

I Find This Photo Odd: Some Dude's Leg Edition

This image is from the season-opener (that's a Kings' leg Sammy is strangling). I'm not really sure what to say about it.

I feel like this photo is already photoshopped, like something else was in place of that leg before. Maybe originally, Samuelsson was posing with a horse, or a puppet, or a great big number seven, or a novelty candy cane, and some joker came along and spliced an upside-down leg in there. Maybe Samuelsson is really angry and he's actually in the process of contorting this Kings player so he can go eff himself? My brain is trying to make sense of this, but it can't. What the crap is going on here?

I find this photo odd.

A Gift of Five Babcocks

Yeah, the Canucks are a great team, but let's not get too excited. They may have the league's best power-play, be among the best in penalty killing, and have rediscovered their even strength game, but that's still no reason to get too worked up. In fact, I apologize to all those fans mashing the panic button for writing this article trying to talk them down. Those fans are still wrong, but at the same time, maybe they're oh so right.

Look at what Mike Babcock said to the Detroit Free Press: "I want to be real careful that we don't sound that excited. I've found over the years coaching in this league, as soon as you think you get excited about your team, then you lose four in a row."

The man is a prophet. Wait, prophets see things before they happen--let's check the date. Okay, that's fair, he's not a prophet, so much as somebody who is able to talk about events after they occur, like a televangelist. Remember when the Canucks had won seven of eight? People were talking Cup, and then BAM! Four-game losing streak. Was he talking about the Canucks specifically? We can't be sure. All we know for sure is he definitely was. Clearly, we got excited about the team. That's where we went wrong.

So what's his method? "I find that being a little scared is a good way to live." Great, but easier said than done. His team has the best win rate in the league, is at the top of the conference and has at least one game in hand on everyone else. What could they possibly be scared about? He's got the answer:

"We've played the fewest games in the league, so that means there's going to be a point where we play the most games in the league. And that means back to back, and that's when you get injured."

Wow. That's what makes him the best -- the ability to rain on any parade. Even a Stanley Cup parade.

Well, it's the least we at Pass it to Bulis can do to help everyone embrace that pessimism. Here's five out-there reasons things could always go wrong, or five "Babcocks" for the Canucks.

• The better your team does, the harder other teams play against them and the more you lose. How can the Canucks win when it just makes losing more inevitable?


• All the Canucks goals so far have come either with the man advantage, playing shorthanded, or at even strength. What if the Canucks don't get into these situations?


• The holidays are approaching, and with them, the spirit of giving. What if Joe Sakic buys snowblowers for the whole team?


• The Canucks dominate at home and on the road, but what if teams find somewhere else to play?


• If the Canucks defy the odds and make it to the Stanley Cup Final, I and many others may get excited. The ensuing four-game losing streak will knock the Canucks out.
  

Hopefully, these Babcocks can help us stay scared and stay competitive, but they won't. There is no hope.

Holiday Sale!

Folks, everything in the webshop (with the exception of the sports commissions) and at my Etsy Store is on sale all week for 20% off! Please, skate on over and enter the code "holiday10" to save some bucks!

Also, all orders will receive a special Atom-Bomb Bikini Christmas card!

Introducing Your New Guest Blogger

Welcome to the Union Hockey Blog fans. First off, I want to thank Dan Greene for allowing me the opportunity to take over these next few weeks, to follow the team and keep you guys updated on team news and game recaps. Secondly, for those of you don't know me, I figured I would tell you all a little about myself that way you know we're not in trouble. Great, Grand, Wonderful...lets get started.

My name is Justin Zolot - I am from North Andover, MA, about 25 minutes north of Boston, and a Junior at Union College. I'm an Economics major with a Classics minor (yes, I love reading about unbelievably ridiculous stories about would never happen in real life), and also the current treasurer of the Chi Psi fraternity, as well a member of Speakers Forum.

While I am not raising havoc on campus, I work as a sales and marketing intern for the Albany Devils AHL hockey team. I love this job - I manage the team store and take in as much hockey as I can. Many of you at Union see me at every home game - I love going to the games, knowing our players both on and off the ice, yelling, screaming, and chirping the visiting team's goalie. When people ask, I like to call our group the Dutchmen Diehards and it is our pleasure to continue the legacy of Will Friedman and to inspire young students to join us.

So without further ado, I'll conclude my first post, say welcome and thank you guys for having me. If you have any ideas for posts or things you'd like us to do more of, please let me know. You may contact me at zolotj@garnet.union.edu. LETS GO U!

College Hockey Video of the Week (11/29/10): Union "Throwback" Video from 2006-2007 season

To me this is a "throwback" video because I was not at Union and neither were any of the current Dutchmen. In this video you get to see some of our favorite past Dutchmen like T.J. Fox, Justin Mrazek, and Lane Caffaro.

This is footage from overtime when Union hosted #10 Clarkson on January 20, 2007. The Golden Knights held the nation's longest unbeaten streak at the time, while the Dutchmen were en route to a last place finish in the ECAC standings. For the game recap click here.

The 2006-2007 was an awful season for Union as they finished in dead last in the ECAC standings with a 7-14-1 record... but look at Union College hockey now!

P.S. Look for a young "UnionHockeyManiac" (aka Will Friedman) at the 2:23 mark.

Game 11 (28Nov10)

Back to Fair and Balanced CompetitionWhite 7 - Dave P, George, Peter K, Ahsan, Rocky, Battle, Chris G (Goalie -Bleacher side)Black 6 - Dave G, Leo, Al, Edwin, Imran, Mauro, Chris S (Goalie - Wall side)This was another back and forth game. Team White jumping out to a 2-0 lead, only to fall behind 4-2, catching up and going ahead 6-4, seeing the game get tied again at 6, and then eventually scoring

PITB Continues to be Almost Famous

Solid video from The Score exploring the Blogger vs. Mainstream Media Battle Royale that Pass it to Bulis was briefly embroiled in for approximately 3 days earlier this month. Damien Cox is featured as the spokesman for the mainstream media, which is a shame, as he spews his usual rhetoric regarding how bloggers can't be held accountable because they don't use their real names, yada yada yada. He does more damage for his own position in the interview than I could ever do taking him to task on our piddly little blog.

But are we so piddly? What is that I see at 2:01 in the above video? I do believe that's a certain article written by our own real-named Harrison Mooney. Sure, they blur out our name so we can't benefit from being featured on The Score, but we still can pat each other's backs and feel good about ourselves.

Seriously guys, this is big. This is being featured in your local newspaper as the "Smile of the Day" big. This is getting re-tweeted by Iain MacIntyre big. This is World's Largest Maple Leaf big. Okay, maybe not that big, but it's still big.

Hat-tip to Canucks Hockey Blog.

Crap Shoot Goes For Knot

Ben Rosen, scored his first career goal

in the first period. Behind him is Harry

Zolnierczyk who was later tossed from

the game.

(Photo By Matt Dresens)

Tonight, BU and Brown played one of the ugliest games in a long time. There were 8 total goals but, at the same time, lacked any sort of flow at all. Pucks were being iced and tossed into the stands, plus there were many penalty stoppages.

Brown came out of the gates with a full head of steam. Two goals in the first two minutes put the Terriers in hole. Brown's first goal was kind of a fluke. The puck bounced up in the air and Harry Zolnierczyk batted it down and in one motion somehow hit it over to Jesse Fratkin, who put it past Millan. It was the first shot of the game. Brown's second shot on goal also found the back of the net. BU's David Warsofsky tried to headman the puck, but was pickpocketed by Zolnierczyk, who then skated in on Millan and slipped a backhander between the goalie's legs, giving the Bears a 2-0 lead on just two shots.

BU responded with a little over 8:30 left in the period. Garrett Noonan made a nice play to keep the puck in the Brown zone. At the same time, he slid a pass to Ben Rosen who scored his first collegiate goal. Rosen transferred from Brown, before the start of last season.

BU tied up the game in the early minutes of the second period. Captain Joe Pereira was sent on a 2 on 1 with Ryan Rukkia. Pereira opted not to pass and took a shot that was stopped by Mike Clemente, but there was a small rebound that Pereira pushed in, along with the goalie.

Later in the second frame, BU took the lead on a 5 on 3 power play. Brown's Bobby Farnham and Zolnierczyk were sent to the box for crosschecking. Zolnierczyk disagreed with his penalty and threw a fit, resulting in a 10 minute misconduct and another penalty. Might I add, this guy is the Captain of an Ivy League school. His night of penalties did not end there. In the middle of the third period, after Adam Clendening made a nice spin-o-rama move on him, he tried to take out Clendening at center ice. Clendening was skating through the neutral zone and Zolnierczyk threw a nasty leg check and was tossed from the game and BU was given a five minute power play. Clendening took a long time to get up, but did return on his next shift. Anyway, back to the goal.... Clendening and Warsofsky both help set up Alex Chiasson for a goal. Once Chiasson got the puck at the top of the crease, he delayed and waited for Brown goalie Clemente to over-commit to the left post. Alex popped the puck in on the right side, giving BU a 3-2 lead.

The lead was short-lived, Jack Maclellan tied things up for the Brownies on a power play of their own.

Brown took a 4-3 after BU successfully killed off a power play to begin the third period. David Brownschidle beat Millan by collecting his own rebound and puting it past the netminder. Although the goal was not a power play goal in the box score, it may have well been. BU's PK unit was still out there and was very tired, thus resulting to a muscle goal.

BU was not about to lose its first home game of the season, thanks to Wade Megan. Megan tied the game with about 7 minutes left by stuffing home a rebound on the far post, giving the assist to Warsofsky and Guadet.

Video Highlights 

BC's Jimmy Hayes does the John Wall dance

Am I the only one out there that's completely bored because Union is once again not playing this weekend?
Well, to entertain everyone (and myself) I give you Boston College's Jimmy Hayes doing the John Wall dance. This goal celebration took place during the Eagles' blow out of Yale in the 2010 NCAA East Regional Final. From what I know, Hayes is the only college hockey player to pull off the dance during a game.

For those of you who have been living under a rock, John Wall was a freshman phenom basketball player at Kentucky last season, and was picked first overall in the 2010 NBA Draft by the Washington Wizards.

Wall is famous for being an incredible basketball player and for his dance. The dance has become so famous that it is a pop culture thing. There was even a song made after the dance! People all over the country have been doing the dance... including college hockey players. It's a very simple dance, but people seem to love it.

Jimmy Hayes


John Wall does the "Dougie" and his own dance on Opening Night


Do The John Wall - Troop 41

Swann on Sale

As post-Thanksgiving sales go, you could do a lot worse than Mitchell and Ness's 40% off deal all weekend. You can even pick up Swannie's Super Bowl X jersey! He was unquestionably my favorite Steeler growing up (though I still probably wouldn't'a voted for him in 2006!).

Quarter Poll: Which is the Best Hit by a Canuck This Season?

After Dan Hamhuis obliterated Douglas Murray last night with a crazy hipcheck, I got to thinking about the Canucks overall hittiness and the number of big checks we've already seen this season. I asked, in this post, if that was the best one? Some of you answered in the comments, reminded me of a few I'd forgotten about, and led me to this post.

We have seen six pretty excellent hits seen from the Canucks this season: Raffi Torres on Tyler Myers, Raffi Torres on Andrew Cogliano, Alex Edler on Matt Duchene, Andrew Alberts on Pavel Datsyuk, Keith Ballard on Evgeni Malkin, and Dan Hamhuis on Douglas Murray. It's a quarter of the way through the season and it's a good time for a poll. You'll find that poll to the right of this post in the sidebar. Which hit was the best one?

All six bone-rattling candidates after the jump.

Raffi Torres juggles Tyler Myers' organs


Alex Edler gives Matt Duchene the roughness


Dan Hamhuis makes Murray do sweet flipz


Keith Ballard shows Evgeni Malkin what's hip


Raffi Torres sings Andrew Cogliano a song


Andrew Alberts gets thwacky on Pavel Datstyuk

Isn't man an amazing animal?

He kills wildlife - birds, kangaroos, deer, all kinds of cats, coyotes, beavers, groundhogs, mice, foxes, and dingoes - by the million in order to protect his domestic animals and their feed. Then he kills domestic animals by the billion and eats them. This in turn kills man by the million, because eating all of those animals leads to degenerative - and fatal - health conditions like heart disease, kidney disease and cancer. So then man tortures and kills millions more animals to look for cures for these diseases. Elsewhere, millions of other human beings are being killed by hunger and malnutrition because food they could eat is being used to fatten domestic animals. Meanwhile, some people are dying of sad laughter at the absurdity of man who kills so easily and violently, and once a year sends out cards praying for "Peace on Earth".

C. David Coats

I Watched This Game: Canucks vs. Sharks, November 27, 2010

Canucks 6 - 1 Sharks

Often times, we react to a Canucks game as though Vancouver was the only team on the ice. By this, I mean that, for Canucks fans, the final score of the game only reflects how the Canucks played. If they win, it's because they played well. If they lose, it's because they played poorly. We tend to ignore factors like, for instance, the play of the other team. I bring this up because while the Canucks played well enough to win last night, it was the piss-poor effort of the San Jose Sharks that turned this one into an exercise in heinousness.

Yes, last night's game was heinous, but since the Canucks won it, I can't complain. It was a beautiful atrocity, like when you hit the seagull that stole your sandwich with a rock, mid-flight, and you see both plummet into the ocean. The part of me that appreciates fine things (hockey, sandwiches) groans a little, but the part of me that enjoys seeing the enemy drown in a sea of fail cackles with glee. Oh my, yes, I watched this beautiful atrocity:

• Let's talk about good coaching. In the third period, Alain Vigneault switched up his lines. He wasn't line-juggling for fun, or just to get something started; he was shrewdly reacting to the desperation of the opposing coach. When Todd McLellan starting whole-hogging it and put Thornton, Marleau, and Heatley together, Vigneault reacted by creating a checking line of Samuelsson, Malhotra, and Glass. It was a smart move. The Canucks' new trio scored the next two goals and negated any offensive pushback from the Sharks. The insurance goal (above) came after a blocked shot by Tanner Glass and some brilliant individual work by Mikael Samuelsson.
  
  
• That said, how many times do I have to say Tanner Glass should not be on the frakkin' third line? Seriously, do I have to write a song about it? Do I have to write a sonnet in perfect iambic pentameter (apart from occasional "feminine endings") with an ABBA structure right up to the concluding couplet? Because that's what I'll do.
  
  

Tanner Glass should not be on the third line,
For his offensive skills, at best, do want,
And thus, it leaves Vancouver's forwards gaunt
Of scoring punch among their topmost nine.
That Tanner Glass has value, yes, is true,
At checking, and supplying grittiness.
The fourth line profits from his hittiness,
But third-line shifts are shifty through and through.
Defensively, he's sound, and that's a plus,
But both teams will find scoring threats abated.
His fourth-lineness is greatly underrated,
So why, Vigneault, wouldst thou promote him thus?
A third-line shift doth crown a list of wrongs.
Let's keep him on the fourth, where he belongs.

• Here's hoping that was Samuelsson's breakout game. Two goals, and both of them a candidate for what we like to call Sam's Surprises. It's incredible what a multi-goal game can do for a guy, especially just in terms of projected stats. Samuelsson is now on pace for 22 goals. It's less goals than last year, but he's also on pace for 59 points, which would be a new career-high. Bet you didn't know that. Samuelsson's first goal was absolutely brilliant, as he totally bamboozled Niclas Wallin with the shot fake, and timed it perfectly so that Wallin stepped aside right when Niemi was being screened. That was a highly intelligent play from a highly intelligent player.
  
  
• And before we move on, poor Dan Boyle. I'm not sure what happened there, but here's my theory: Seven years ago, Boyle entreated Satan for his excellent hockey skills, and the dark lord sent Samuelsson, one of his secret minions (which is why he looks kinda goatlike), to grant the wish. Samuelsson arrived in a plume of wickedness and fulfilled the request. "But one day," he said, fiendishly, "I will call on you for a favour, and you must perform it, no matter the cost." Then in a wisp of devilfire, he returned to the lap of the damned. Anyway, he totally just wasted that favour.
  
  
• I thought Alex Burrows was excellent, even before he scored. He's been one of the Canucks best forwards the last two games, and it he appears to be rounding back into form. Also rounding into form? A potter's wheel.
  
  
• How terrified are opposing teams of Henrik Sedin when he's camped behind the net? Watch the Burrows goal and check out how much time Henrik has back there. Furthermore, check out how oblivious they are to Burrows smartly sliding into a scoring area. Everybody in the world knows Henrik is looking for him (I was watching Burrows from the moment Henrik got turned around). But the Sharks are so concerned with what he's going to do that they forget to take anybody else.
  
  
• A word about Keith Ballard. He was solid, playing 17:52, scoring a goal (bit of a fluke, that), and leading the team with 4 hits. He played on a pairing with Dan Hamhuis that I quite liked, and finished the night a plus-2. Here's hoping he's beginning to turn a corner and getting comfortable here. Leave the discomfort for people that buy mattresses on Craigslist.
  
  
• Many people attributed the lopsided victory to the absence of Kevin Bieksa. I hate to be the voice of reason (not true, I love it), but Bieksa was the best defender in the last game. The Canucks may have won without him, but they didn't win because they were without him. Give your head a shake, person who thought otherwise.
  
  
• Dan Hamhuis should have been a waiter, because boy oh boy can he deliver a check. I'm especially impressed with the heavy shrug he gave to ensure Douglas Murray got maximum airtime.
  
  
• While we're talking about checks, it should be pointed out that we saw the Canucks' new defensive additions pay off in spades last night. Typically, San Jose pushes the smaller Canucks around. This game was a different story. Hamhuis destroyed Douglas Murray, Alberts crushed Logan Couture, and Keith Ballard led the hit parade with a game-high 4. The stat counters claim both teams delivered 20 hits. To that I say, bah. The Canucks won the physical game handily, largely on the strength of the newfound hittiness of their top-six, as well as the total slumber party from a typically strong San Jose team.
  
  
• I owe Jannik Hansen an apology. Last IWTG, I said his hands were like the hands of the Swedish Chef, a classic Muppet show character, but on the pretty pass that led to this goal, they were more like Rowlf's.
  
  
• The Canucks have talked about being able to roll all four line. How's this? No Canuck played under ten minutes last night.
  
  
• And finally, let's talk, as we often do, about faceoffs. In a battle of the two best faceoff teams in the league, the Canucks won 57% of the draws, led by a 10-for-14 showing by Henrik Sedin. This is awesome, in that Henrik is the third-best of the Canucks three faceoff guys. When he's going, the team is going to win in the circle. Henrik won all 5 of his draws in the offensive zone, too. That'll help. Manny Malhotra had a rare sub-50% night, winning only 9 of 20 draws. Of note: the Sharks were without their best faceoff guy in Scott Nichol, and you can bet he would have helped.
  

Dan Hamhuis Brings the Zowie, Douglas Murray Brings the Zoinks

Apparently unaware that Keith "Hips" Ballard is the guy who hipchecks, Dan Hamhuis gets hip on Douglas Murray. There's little to say to this but, uh, that's pretty neat. I love a good hipcheck. How can you not love it? I think it's safe to say the only guy who didn't enjoy this hit was this guy.

You thought I meant Douglas Murray, right? Wrong. Murray probably totally enjoyed that. People love flying through the air, hence the invention of the airplane.

Question for the Bulies: we've seen Andrew Alberts level Pavel Datsyuk and Keith Ballard lay a pretty nice hipcheck on Evgeni Malkin, but is this the best hit by a Canuck this season?

EVOLUTION!

Brown Comes To Town

Tomorrow, BU will take on the Brown Bears at Agganis Arena. Brown is unranked, but are currently riding a three game unbeaten streak. Starting with a 5-2 win over Colgate on November 19th. The next night the Bears upended Cornell 3-2. This past Tuesday, Brown skated to a 5-5 tie with New Hampshire.

In the UNH game, Brown was up two goals in the third period. UNH scored two goals in the final two minutes and tied the games at 5.(Video Highlights)

What To Watch For
I honestly know nothing about this team. I looked at the stat sheet and will put up the scoring leaders and goalies.

• Harry Zolnierczyk, Brown forward. Zolnierczyk leads the team in goals with 5. He is also second in overall scoring with 8 points, 5 goals and 3 assists. 

• Jack Maclellan, Brown Forward. Maclellan leads the team in points with 11 (3g, 8a). 
• Brown goalies. Mick Clemente leads the team in minutes played with 245. He has 2 wins, one loss, and one tie. Freshman goalie Marco DeFilliop, has a 2-1-1 line and 119 minutes in the cage. 

In Other News

Last night Three former BU standouts were all in action in the same game. Ryan Whitney of the Edmonton Oiliers, faced Kevin Shattenkirk and Brandon Yip of the Colorado Avalanche. The Aves found themselves down two in the second frame. Shattenkirk got the Aves rolling with his third goal of the season. (Video Highlights). Colorado tied it later in the second. Matt Duchene jammed home Yip's pass from behind the net (Video Highlights) . With less than a minute left in the game, the #1 overall pick in the NHL draft, Taylor Hall put home a rebound and won the game for Edmonton (Video Highlights). 

Crows vs Cat

Rick Rypien Granted Leave of Absence For Personal Reasons

The Canucks announced today that they granted Rick Rypien an indefinite leave of absence for personal matters. This is the second time in three years that Rypien's been granted a leave for personal reasons. It could be a completely separate issue; it likely isn't.

People are wondering what it is, and I hope it stays a secret. If it's substance abuse (as rumoured last time, and only rumoured), it's nobody business but his own. Most of us have a family member or friend that's struggled with substance abuse and it's Hell; there's no need to add a public element to it. And if it's something else, it's still nobody's business but his own.

PITB's prayers go out to Rick Rypien during what must be a very difficult time. Get what you need, Ryp.

Atheists: the most discriminated against minority

Fascinating study posted on the the Rationalist's Blog with interesting commentary. Thanks CJ.

The results for ‘this group does not at all agree with my vision of American society’ were:

Atheist: 39.6%

Muslims: 26.3%

Homosexuals: 22.6%

Hispanics: 20%

Recent Immigrants: 12.5%

Jews: 7.6%

The second part of the survey included, “I would disapprove if my child wanted to marry a member of this group”:

Atheist: 47%

Muslim: 33.5%

African-American: 27.2%

Asian-Americans: 18.5%

Hispanics: 18.5%

Jews: 11.8%

please visit Godhatesyou.net

Jets' Burns looking for college chance

Tommy Burns has been in this situation before.

As a 20-year-old playing for the Metro Jets, Burns is fast approaching the end of his junior hockey eligibility.

Two years ago after playing for Pinckney High School, Burns came down with mononucleosis and was forced to take a year off of hockey.

Was that the end of his hockey career? Nope. And he hopes to still be playing the sport he loves this time next season.

“It killed me thinking that that could have been my last year playing competitively,” said Burns. “Before the start of this season, I decided I was going to lace back up the skates in hopes of continuing my hockey career, which I am doing right now. I hope to continue next year playing for a university.”

This year with the Jets, Burns is among the team’s top scorers with nine goals and 20 points in 19 games in Waterford. He started the season in Flint and after one game with the Jr. Generals was acquired by the Jets.

“We had known about Burnsy for a few years and knew he had a decent scoring touch,” Metro GM Butch Wolfe said. “He’s been playing well on a line with Brett Grech and it’s my hope we’ll be seeing both of them move on to the next level next year.”

“All throughout my hockey career I've always been a leader in the points colum,” noted Burns. “I love scoring goals, but making a nice play to get an assist is also a huge part of my game.

"When I came to the Jets after the start of the season, I was a little nervious and I moved through a few lines, but when I got paired up with Grech, there was instent chemistry. I have never been so in sync with a linemate like him. It seems like no matter where we are on the ice, we can find each other.”

And while Metro is currently looking to battle out of a losing skid, Burns feels a little offense from him, as well as others, can help end the slump.

”We have great chemisty as a team and I feel we are about to break through this slump at anytime now,” Burns explained. “As long as we start playing our game and believing in the system, we will turn our record right around.”

LOOKING BACK, LOOKING AHEAD

The Jets took a single point last weekend with an overtime loss and a regulation loss at Lakeland Arena to the Pittsburgh Jr. Penguins.

Saturday night, Charles Williams' goal 48 seconds into the extra session won it for Pittsburgh, 3-2, after Dan Hudson (Gregory) had tied the game at 2-all 16:53 into the second period.

Matt Elswick (Gaylord) scored the first goal for the Jets (also his first of the season), while Eric Trunick (Commerce Township) made 32 saves in goal.

Sunday afternoon, Matt Stemkoski (Novi), acquired last week from Toledo, scored his first goal in a Metro uniform in an 11-3 defeat.

Matt Stirling (Dexter) and Tommy Kilgore (Pinckney) added the other goals for the Jets, Mike Moroso (Macomb) tacked on a pair of assists and Trunick finished with 33 stops.

Then Wednesday night in Flint, the Jets suffered a 6-2 defeat to the Jr. Generals.

Elswick and Burns tallied for Metro and Matt Braun made 44 saves. Newcomer Jake Schlacht (Allen Park) assisted on both goals from the blue line in his Jets’ debut after signing with the team earlier this week.

Metro (7-13-1-0) plays at home next Sunday afternoon at 1:20 p.m. against Toledo.

JET STREAKS

Schlacht started the season in the NAHL with Port Huron, going pointless in two games with 11 penalty minutes, before signing with Toledo where he had four assists and 45 penalty minutes in 12 games with the Cherokee. The 19-year-old Schlacht was released by Toledo last Thursday.

The Jets also acquired defenseman Jordan Jones (Toledo, Ohio) from the Cherokee on Tuesday. Jones had two assists in nine games with Toledothis season and also made his Jets debut Wednesday night in Flint.

In other transactions, defenseman Brian O’Loughlin (Franklin, Tenn.) was released Sunday and goalie Rick Ice (Sterling Heights) was released Tuesday. O’Loughlin had one goal in 12 games with the Jets, while Ice did not see any game action for Metro.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Ex-Jets defenseman Ian Cosgrove (2006-2007) is now in his sophomore season at Division III Fredonia State University and has two assists in eight games thus far for the Blue Devils.

Cosgrove appeared in 13 regular season games for the Jets in ’06-07, amassing eight points on three goals and five assists. He also went pointless in the Jets' two playoff games that spring.

In 2008-2009, the Rochester native recorded five goals and 18 assists for 23 points with the Soo Thunderbirds of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League.

Photo by Andy Grossman/Detailed Images

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope that everyone in Union Nation has a great holiday. Thanksgiving is a holiday to look back and see what we're thankful for. I'm definitely thankful for the people who follow this blog; this is one of the most fun things I've ever done. I am especially thankful to be at Union during the Golden Age of its' hockey program. This program is relevant for the first time in their history, which makes this blog more relevant. I mean, who would've thought four years ago that a Union hockey blog would be talking about the Dutchmen possibly making the NCAA tournament? This is a special time for Union hockey fans, and we should all be thankful.

Have a happy and a healthy Thanksgiving and Let's Go U!

Also, a Happy "belated" Thanksgiving to my Canadian friends. For more on Canadian Thanksgiving click here.

Godless Heathen

http://www.zazzle.com/godless_heathen/gifts?cg=196854822089911933

11.24.10

religious kook

I Watched This Game: Canucks vs. Avalanche, November 24, 2010

Canucks 4 - 2 Avalanche

Last night was an excellent return to form for Vancouver, who did something they haven't done in ages: they won a game with sound defensive play and sustained offensive pressure. The stat sheet tells us that Colorado outshot Vancouver 23-19, but it doesn't tell the whole story: the puck spent far more time in the Avalanche zone than it did the Canucks' end. The Canucks were leaps and bounds better 5-on-5. It was nice to see the Sedins cycle return, and it was nice to see all three members of the second line looking dangerous and sharing some chemistry. The line juggling appeared to be a success, as the new-look trios all did a good job of maintaining momentum and keeping the puck out of their zone. Here's hoping they stay together awhile.

But enough looking ahead. This series is about dwelling on the very recent past. You see, not too long ago, I watched this game:

• The sustained offensive pressure meant diminished pressure on the defense corps, which played better, but still looked shaky. Hammy and Hips are still trying to find their legs, but everyone else was solid last night. Edler was jumping into rushes smartly, Ehrhoff was carrying the puck out of his zone and starting them with regularity, and Andrew Alberts' work on the penalty-kill was top-notch. In one late 2nd-period kill, he blocked two shots, hit everything in sight, and downright picked on Matt Duchene and John-Michael Liles. AV justified sitting Rome over Andy Alby by pointing to Alberts' penalty killing, and we saw it on display last night.
  
  
• That said, the best defenseman on the ice was Kevin Bieksa. It's strange to say, especially in a game that featured two potential Western Conference all-star d-men in Edler and Liles, but Bieksa really was at the top of the heap. He scored his first goal of the season on a beautiful tip-in after smartly going to the net on a delayed penalty. He made some other dangerous offensive rushes as well, and he always seemed to be the first man back when the Canucks got into a spot. If he played like this every game, he'd be a fan favourite.
  
  
• Through his first ten games, Alex Burrows had looked a little off. He scored a goal (above), factored into another, and caused his special brand of positive disarray in the offensive zone all night. Last night he looked a little on. This is a good sign, and it is entirely possible that he will soon be a lot on. Eventually, with a little luck, he might be full on, all the way across the sky.
  
  
• Yes, the triple rainbow line was, as it should be, the Canucks' best line. A spoonful of wizardous sedinerie led to 2 points for each linemate and a plus-6. A good recipe for success: score twice and don't get scored on. I've personally found that if you score and the other team doesn't, you'll win most of the time. When won't you? Collecting abstinence pledges.
  

• That said, Burrows' second assist was bogus. Daniel centered the puck for him and he missed it. Henrik pick it up on the half-wall, then pulled off the slap-pass play with his brother. During that give-and-go, Burrows never touched the puck. So why does he get an assist simply for being nearby? I'm happy for the guy, but, let us please try to protect the sanctity of the second assist before some idiot suggests we abolish it. This ain't no Russian hockey league.
  
  
• It's not always readily apparent what Jannik Hansen brings to this team. We know it's not hands, which are a bit like the Swedish Chef's in that they're never quite in sync with the rest of him. Upon hearing that he was bumped down to the fourth line, opinion vacillated between Good, he's only got four points this season, and Why Hansen? He was playing really well. The truth is that Hansen's best asset is his skating. Often we talk about skating like it's just top-end speed, but there's more than that. Hansen is a master at puck tracking--he skates fast, but he can also change directions and get back to a high speed better than anybody else. Since nobody expects the fourth line to score, Hansen's team-best skating ability can stand on its own while he's down there.
  
  
• During one of the intermissions, the Sportsnet ticker told us the final score of the FC Kobenhavn vs. Rubin Kazan UEFA game. It read: RUB -1 FCK - 0. Take from this what you will.
  
  
• My favourite moment: Jeff Tambellini, waiting for the referee to reverse the decisions on Ryan Kesler's disallowed goal. Tamby was visibly pumped when the puck went in, and you could see him waiting breathlessly for it to count. When the referee came away from the booth, the camera catches Tamby mouthing "Come on, you motherf... come on." Hilarious and sweet. I love his elation when the call goes his way.
  
  
• That was, by the by, Ryan Kesler's 100th career goal. Congratulations are in order. And now, here they are: congratulations.
  
  
• But seriously, the fact that his goal was legal is ridiculous. Here's why the puck goes in: Tambellini whacks Budaj in the side of the head with his stick. As Budaj recoils from being bludgeoned, he actually butts the puck with the other side of his head and it falls into the net. Apparently, you're allowed to do that. Tamby, on the whack: “I pulled a Keith Ballard there [...]" Hilarious.
  
  
• Reason to sigh: now some people are complaining that the Canucks powerplay is bad. Oh, shut up, some people.
  
  
• And speaking of Budaj, poor Craig Anderson. For the second straight game, he had to leave the game with an injury suffered in the warm-up. Anderson can't catch a break, save the part of his body that does exactly that whenever he comes to town. Even the NBA is laughing at his problems with Vancouver.
  
  
• Joel Perrault is a forgettable guy, ain't he? I forgot he was even playing last night, and apparently, so did Alain Vigneault. Perrault logged a team low 5:15, and I don't remember hearing his name once. I don't think I've ever missed Alex Bolduc so much and, all things considered, I likely never will again.
  
  
• In the faceoff circle, the Canucks were very good and the Avalanche were a gallon of fail. Vancouver won 34 of the game's 52 draws, led by an 11-for-15 showing by Manny Malhotra that included 6 out of 6 in the defensive zone. Faceoff goat? Paul Stastny, who only won 6 in 21 tries. Sidenote: having coined the term "Faceoff goat" I am now envisioning a live goat who takes faceoffs. And now, I'm envisioning the classic John Woo movie, Face/Off. But with goats.
  
  
• I really like the way the Canucks do the Ring of Honour tributes. Short, sweet, and classy. Apart from a terrifying moment where the tarp professed its love for the plaque beneath it and refused to leave it behind, it was a perfect pre-game ceremony.
  
  
• And finally: I thought today about what a ridiculous idea Fin is. An anthropomorphic killer whale who playfully tries to murder fans by biting their skulls open? Not awesome. You know if his teeth weren't made of foam, Brody, Quint, and Hooper would be looking for him.