The Best of the Sedins, 2010-11 (10-6)

PITB's first post ever was a top 5 countdown of the best Sedin goals of last season, posted exactly a year ago today. We thought, in honour of our first birthday, and the fact that the Sedins are totally balls, it was time to return to our roots. What are blogs for if not for lists?

Unlike last year, there is no de facto number one, but there are about fifteen plays worthy of a spot in the top five. As a result, we've doubled the list, and will now be counting down the top ten Sedin plays of 2010-11. Be warned: this list is highly subjective. Last week's post, in which we shared 12 wizardous candidates, proved consensus on this issue to be impossible. As a result, we just decided to go with our gut, and I can safely say that my gut's never steered me wrong (apart from the time it asked for a bacon sundae).

Anyway. Here are plays 10 - 6. Check back here at 4pm sharp for the final five.

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10 December 23, vs the Columbus Blue Jackets
A lot of people fail to realize that Daniel Sedin is a power forward who loves to comes out from behind with a guy draped all over him. Here, we see him actually draw the defender, wait for contact, then make an incredible back pass right into the slot for Henrik. Commentator John Garrett simply exhales. I imagine his sentiments are echoed by most of Ohio.

9 December 28, vs the Philadelphia Flyers
This is actually a give-and-go between Alex Burrows and Daniel Sedin, but it still counts as Sedinery. Burr gets a pass because he spends a lot of time under Sedin tutelage. His patience is impressive here, as is Kimmo Timonen's draw to the button.

8 January 07, vs the Edmonton Oilers
This ludicrous lob play was utilized the Sedins to start a number of breakouts, but this is the prettiest finish. After Burrows lofts it over two zones, the twins go in two-on-one. Theo Peckham's job, in this situation, is to take away the pass, but the Sedins still manage to make two. Henrik's saucer pass is absolutely perfect, as is Daniel's backhand deke for the goal.

7 April 09, vs the Calgary Flames
The most recent goal on our list comes on a partial breakaway. Think about that when you watch it happen. Rather than streak to the net, Daniel curls away, then makes a ridiculous backpass to Henrik that splits three Calgary defenders. Henrik then makes a beautiful one-touch pass to Ryan Kesler, who finishes the play by one-timing the puck.

6 December 31, vs the Dallas Stars
This is one of the finest executed powerplays you'll ever see. Daniel and Henrik break down the Stars' box like it's the day after Christmas, first with an obscenely high tape-to-tape saucer pass, then a back pass to Alex Edler. Before the Stars realize they've shifted about a foot from the center of the ice, Edler finds Henrik, who pots a one-timer from a difficult angle. it's so fluid it's ridiculous.

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10 - 6
5 - 1

Was This Goal a Set Play?

Here's a basic principle for watching the Sedins: they never do anything by accident. Often times, the twins will pull off something so unthinkable that you'd be forgiven for deeming it a fluke. It never is. Rather, it's a set play from two eternal optimists--guys convinced everything they try will work. Usually it does.

With that in mind, take a look at Alex Burrows's goal from last night's season-ending matchup with the Calgary Flames. At first glance, it looks like an accident: Daniel Sedin comes out from behind the net and tries to go top corner with a shot. Instead, he misses wide and hits Alex Burrows in the gut. The puck falls in front of Burr and he taps it in. But that's not actually what you see. This was a set play, executed to perfection. Here are three items of argumentative proof:

1. Daniel Sedin's shot isn't that poor. Daniel proved at this year's All-Star Skills competition that he's one of the league's most accurate shooters. Furthermore, when he comes out from behind the net, he tends to put the puck exactly where he wants to.

Now, you'd be forgiven for assuming this is a shot, especially since it's four feet in the air, but watch the overhead angle at 0:37 of the clip: the puck goes straight across the crease. Either this is the worst miss of Daniel's career, or the puck goes where he wanted it to. On second glance, it looks like Daniel Sedin meant to put it exactly where it went--into Alex Burrows's glove.

2. The Sedins love that high pass. Each year, the twins return from the offseason with a new series of plays, and it appears they spent last summer focusing on how best to utilize all that undefended space above the ice. All season long, we've seen obscenely high saucer passes, such as on this powerplay goal versus the Stars.

We've also seen a new arsenal of full-blown football-style lob passes. This year, a common occurrence during Sedin shifts has been a high pass across one or more zones meant to be caught and dropped onto the stick of the receiver. We saw it in this goal versus the Oilers, where Alex Burrows shows he's a good student, lobbing a backhand pass over the defensive and neutral zones to spring Daniel and Henrik for a two-on-one at the offensive blue line.

We see another use of the high pass in the clip above, when Daniel gets the puck past two Calgary defenders by putting it four feet in the air.

3. There's a precedent for this play. This goal bears something of a resemblance to Marian Hossa's goal from last season, where he snags the puck out of mid-air then drops it and slaps it in, all in one fell swoop. Burrows does the same thing in this clip after Daniel's pass goes right into his glove.

Granted, Burr doesn't convert it with Hossa's fluidity, but what he lacks in grace, he makes up for in intention. Where Hossa is improvising, Burrows and Daniel are executing a planned play.

That's sort of impressive, no? Many people are talking about the Sedins' other goal on the night: a setup for Ryan Kesler that tied the game at two. That, too, was a beautiful passing play, but while you're marvelling over that one, be sure to give this one another look. It might have been prettier.

What Are Your Top Five Moments of Wizardous Sedinerie?

Image from Blue Soup.

In just under two weeks, PITB will be counting down our top 5 moments of Wizardous Sedinerie from the 2010-11 season, just as we did last year. Solemn guarantee: it's gonna be a sweet list. While there isn't a de facto number one this year, that doesn't mean the Sedins have been scoring boring. They've done some mind-blowing stuff this year.

I've managed to pare their ever-expanding highlight reel down to 12 wizardous plays, all of which are embedded after the jump. I'm angling for a top five, and I could use some reader input. If you've got the time (and I know you do, slacker), watch the clips. When you feel you've given each play a fair viewing, give me your five favourites, either in the comments, via tweet, using the hashtag #sedintop5. In two weeks, we'll unveil the official list.

Be warned, however: five minutes watching their highlights and you'll lose the ability to find joy in the simple play. The next time someone dumps the puck in instead of cutting across the blue line and making a drop pass to his identical twin, you'll scream at the television. You'll see an open guy, and wonder why his teammate didn't make the simple no-look, backhand saucer bank pass off the boards his defender was giving him. You'll see your guy getting crosschecked in the back and you'll wonder why he isn't calling for the puck. The Sedins are hockey ecstasy. The Sedins will ruin you.

1. Vs. Avalanche, November 24, 2010 (Daniel Sedin)
   
2. Vs. Lightning, December 11, 2010 (Henrik Sedin)
   
3. Vs. Blue Jackets, December 23, 2010 (Henrik Sedin)
4. Vs. Oilers, December 12, 2010 (Alex Burrows)
5. Vs. Stars, December 31, 2010 (Henrik Sedin)
6. Vs. Flyers, December 28, 2010 (Daniel Sedin)
7. Vs. Sharks, January 03, 2011 (Daniel Sedin)
8. Vs. Oilers, January 07, 2011 (Daniel Sedin)
9. Vs. Stars, February 19, 2011 (Henrik Sedin)
10. Vs. Sharks, January 20, 2011 (Henrik Sedin)
11. Vs. Predators, March 29, 2011 (Alex Burrows)
12. Vs. Kings, March 31, 2011 (Daniel Sedin)
    

Edit: the official list has been unveiled. Go HERE to check out which plays fell where.

I Watched This Game: Canucks at Predators, March 29, 2011

Canucks 3 - 1 Predators

The two of us have differing views on goaltender's duels. Keep in mind: Harrison enjoys basketball; Skeeter enjoys soccer. Our opinions regarding tight-checking, low-scoring affairs echo these tastes. This is also why, during games, Skeeter often screams more slide tackles! and Harrison often screams more black people! But we digress. [We] watched this game:

• With tonight's victory, the Canucks improved their record against the Predators to two wins and two losses, sewing up the Western Conference in the process. With five games yet to play, this leaves plenty of time to finish up other, neglected sewing projects. Henrik promised Daniel that he would sew Anna a new pair of booties. Mikael Samuelsson's lucky underwear needs patching. Alex Burrows is making a snood.

• It's official. Aaron Rome has his first goal as a Canuck (above), which could either be used as evidence that he doesn't deserve the icetime he's been getting, or maybe as an explanation for why he's been getting it: Alain Vigneault's been determined to get him that goal all season. Apart from Rome, nobody was more excited to see him score than Keith Ballard, whose minutes will finally skyrocket to seventeen.

• It's been awhile since Alex Burrows took it upon himself to win da turd. Tonight, he scored two goals in the final frame, doing just that. Like Seth Rogen in Knocked Up, Burrows only has one move. That's the umpteenth time he's gone backhand on the breakaway. Burrows is predictable, yes, but goalies can't afford to predict and shade left. He sucks at skating, so they have to respect the possibility that he might fall down and have the puck roll to the opposite post.

• The game-tying goal--Burrows' first goal of the night--comes on some positively Wizardous Sedinerie. For the unobservant, this is a no-look bank pass to a one-timed no-look backhand saucer pass to a mid-air one-timer. Nothing but net. This is Bird/Jordan stuff; Burrows wins the Big Mac. Mind you, in Örnsköldsvik, they learn this in peewee.

• Like Mason Raymond and Ryan Kesler, Alex Burrows and Shane O'Brien are clearly besties. In a previous version of the plan, O'Brien and Burrows moved to London together and shared a flat. Instead, the plan changed, and they were separated by forces beyond their control. They spent the whole night fighting hat-wearing agents to retake control of their own destiny. (This is the movie we're referencing. Yeah, we don't recommend it.)

• To explain: Burrows and O'Brien engaged multiple times in post-whistle scrums. The most entertaining moment was the time they were separated by both linesmen, and still waved at each other, smiling and chirping like the birds that circle Uncle Remus in Song of the South, the most racist Disney movie ever. Having seen Pocahontas and Aladdin, that's saying a lot.

• In the first period, the Sportsnet crew showed a graphic with pictures of Alain Vigneault and Barry Trotz, their impressive win/loss records, and the caption, "Hottest in the NHL". That is not a caption that goes above pictures of those two guys, for what should be obvious reasons.

• Roberto Luongo was really good, huh? He's been doing that lately. Despite having to make only 16 saves, Luongo earned third star honours, because a lot of them were tough saves, like Alice Cooper or Brian "Head" Welch. Of note: Head Joins the Body is the greatest headline ever.

• 5 of Nashville's 17 shots came from Jordin Tootoo. So really, they took 12 shots. Ha, just kidding, Tootoo's not too, too bad. Zing. Anyway, Daniel wants everyone to know he's ashamed of this bullet point.

• Despite looking absolutely dominant at several stages of the game, Ryan Kesler and Mason Raymond were the only minus players on the Canucks. The line of Kesler, Raymond, and Chris Higgins gave the Nashville defenders fits with their speed, board play, and rugged manliness, but couldn't generate a goal. They did, however, combine for 13 shots. They took more shots than Roy "Speedy" Harper.

• Frankly, a lot of their excellent work died on the stick of Aaron Rome, who can only hit the net when shooting from the opposite end of the ice, but he scored a goal tonight, so we'll save our grumbling for another night.

• Shocking stat of the night: Ryan Suter and Shea Weber both finished the game minus-3. Not so shocking stat: they both played over twenty-seven minutes. I guess when you're on the ice all night, there's a large chance you'll be on the ice for the opponent's goals.

• Upon seeing Sami Salo on the powerplay, Harrison commented that the Canucks weren't really missing Mikael Samuelsson. Then Victor Oreskovich jumped the boards with the Sedins.

• In truth, Oreskovich has been playing solid hockey since his call-up, and his turn on the first line while Alex Burrows rested, post penalty-kill, was a nice reward. While he only finished with 9:55 of icetime, that's almost three minutes more than Jeff Tambellini. When Tanner Glass returns, Oreskovich may be pleased to learn that he's earned a playoff roster spot. Pleased, that is, unless he thinks top line duty will be a regular occurrence.

• And finally, we've already mentioned Aaron Rome's goal, but we left out the best part: watch Henrik Sedin show true leadership by stretching out his arms to ensure nobody derails Rome's 200-footer. Granted, there's no one around him, but Kevin Love would be proud of this boxout. It's been said that the Canucks have nothing left to play for, but look how excited everyone is when this puck goes in. Other motivations aside, this team simply enjoys playing together.

I Watched This Game: Canucks vs. Avalanche, March 16, 2011

Canucks 4 - 2 Avalanche

With their win tonight, the Canucks now have 103 points, a mere 2 points from their team record, set in 2006-07. In addition, they clinched the Northwest Division title, meaning they are the first team in the NHL to clinch a playoff spot. Most remarkable, however, is that they have accomplished all of this with 10 games still remaining in their schedule. 10 games, people. If there was any lingering doubt that we are witnessing the greatest regular season in Canucks histroy, it should be completely wiped away. My only disappointment tonight was the the player number I got at the pub belonged to Alexandre Bolduc, so there was no chance for a free beer. Oh well. I watched this game.

• This is the third time in the last five games that the Canucks have gone down by two goals in the first period and come back to win the game. That's significant enough to be called a trend. Last season, the Canucks were the comeback kings, winning 10 games when trailing after one period and 11 games when trailing after two period. This season's Canucks hadn't come back after trailing after one period until this recent spate of 3 wins. The issue, of course, is that they've had so little practice: clearly, the Canucks are secretly allowing the opposition to build an early two-goal lead (the worst lead in hockey) in order to practice coming from behind.

• The Canucks weren't even really outplayed in the first period. They carried the play, particularly the Sedins, who created scoring chances like a Keys to the VIP winner. The difference came down to two hard luck shifts from Sami Salo, who took an interference penalty that led to the first Avalanche goal, then had the second bank in off his skate. The two-goal Colorado lead had little to do with how the Avalanche played, though they should be commended for their opportunism. Still, the Canucks were clearly unhappy with the results of the first period. They came out in the second like Kyle Wellwood men possessed, outshooting Colorado 15-5.

• Manny Malhotra left the game after taking a deflected puck to the face early in the second period. He went to the hospital with blood in his eye and it's feared that he may have a broken orbital bone. Here's hoping that it isn't anything that serious, as Malhotra is essential to the Canucks' chances in the playoffs.

• The fourth line was flying tonight, none moreso than Chris "Kiss Huggins" Higgins, who played 17:18 in the absence of Manny Malhotra, double-shifting with both the second and third lines throughout the game. Kiss Huggins just has a lot of love to spread around. The Canucks' first goal of the game, shoved home by Maxim "The Pierre" Lapierre, was all Huggins. He recovered from mis-handling the initial outlet pass from Keith Ballard by kicking the puck into the corner, where he embarrassed Ryan Wilson, took the puck behind the net, and drew Matthew Hunwick away from Lapierre before neatly slipping the puck in front. Kiss Huggins then gave everyone a heartfelt embrace: no word on whether it included a peck on the cheek.

• Higgins played on the second line in place of Mason Raymond, who was hog-tied to the bench after the 6:32 mark of the third period. Although Raymond had a game-high 5 shots, his overall play was lackadaisical, negating much of the fire that Ryan Kesler played with all game. Instead of feeding off Kesler's fire, Raymond felt the need to stop, drop, and roll at every opportunity. Kesler, meanwhile, was held off the scoresheet despite his best efforts and went all Jason Voorhees on Shorty and Garrett to vent his frustrations.

• Further evidence that Kesler played with a massive chip lurking just over his shoulder: he led the game with a whopping 6 hits. Considering he averages 1.57 hits/game, that's fairly significant, which shouldn't be confused with Puck, who is a significant fairy. Kesler also picked up the majority of the faceoffs in Malhotra's absence, taking 31 draws. The rest of the team, Malhotra included, took 42. And if anyone needs more evidence that Kesler has a heavy shot, witness how he took Adam Foote out of the game with a wristshot. Foote isn't exactly a shrinking violet (I consider him more of a Blok), so it takes a lot to send him to the locker room.

• Mikael Samuelsson is back to his logo-sniping ways. He hates that logo! Stay away from the logo! Jeff Tambellini, meanwhile, seems intent on continually attempting to score from somewhere other than his Magic Shooty Spot. They need to go back to what works: shooting where the goalie is not and the net is.

• Dan "Community Man" Hamhuis had yet another quietly effective game, posting a +3 rating in 23:55 of ice-time and making many excellent defensive plays. His loudest moment came when he picked up an assist on the game-tying goal with a wonderfully patient play after picking up his own rebound. It's remarkable how Burrows manages to create space for himself in front of the net despite being surrounded by three Colorado players when he chipped in the Daniel Sedin rebound. As for Hamhuis, he desperately wanted to help man the phones for the Canucks for Kids Fund Telethon during the intermissions, but had a prior commitment serving soup to the homeless at a local soup kitchen. Dan is a man of his word.

• Speaking of the Telethon, it has raised $1,695,000 already. Holy monkey, that's a lot. It was cool seeing some of the people working the phones, including Stan Smyl, Francesco Aquilini, Victor de Bonis, and Filomena Nalewajek, who is the CEO of Canuck Place. Harrison and I got a chance to meet her at the Scrabble Battle and she is a delightful lady.

• In the pre-game show on the Team 1040, Dave Pratt practically drooled all over his mic at the possibility of the Art-Ross-race-leading Sedins taking on the lottery-pick-bound Avalanche, while Ben Kuzma cautioned that such opportunities frequently don't result in much. Up until the third period, it looked like Kuzma was right; the Sedins were dominating the offensive zone, but were unable to finish their chances. Then, Burrows tied up the game and the door was open for some classic Wizardous Sedinerie. Ehrhoff held the line, Burrows out-battled a defender to hack the puck to Daniel, and Daniel decided that his best course of action upon receiving the puck with room to shoot at the right faceoff circle was to, of course, pass the puck blindly between his legs to his brother. As seen above, Henrik made no mistake, demonstrating a quick release akin to a weaker Joe Sakic.

• Finally, Henrik took a major chance at the end of the game, risking an icing call to ice the game with an empty-netter that was the icing on the cake of this victory. As pointed out by Justin Bourne last month, it's generally considered selfish to take that risk, especially considering there was still over a minute left in the game. A faceoff in the defensive zone in a 6-on-5 situation is less than ideal. That said, it is Henrik Sedin, one of the most accurate passers in the NHL, and considering the force of the shot, it was really just a glorified saucer pass. The risk was a little less than if it had been, say, JaMarcus Russell. I'm guessing he just wanted to net the goal without an assist from Daniel. He needs to make up ground in the Art Ross race somehow.

I Watched This Game: Canucks at Flames, March 12, 2011

Canucks 4 - 3 Flames

Last night, the Canucks wrapped up their five-game West Coast road swing with a convincing 4-3 win over the Calgary Flames, and I do mean convincing. Don't let the final score fool you; this wasn't a one-goal game. The Flames may have jumped out to an early lead after Mikael Samuelsson and Dan Hamhuis got confused about the game's start time, but the Canucks woke up immediately thereafter, perhaps buoyed by the Flames' damning two-goal lead, and spent the rest of the evening putting Calgary under pressure on the ice [ice, baby]. After the slow start, it was great to see them so immediately snap to life, and I did see, because I watched this game:

• That's right. Two song references in one sentence, wherein the first song referenced is sampled by the second. PITB for the win, y'all.

• Alex Burrows potted his 20th goal of the season on a tip in front that tied the game at three. I don't think we give Burrows enough credit for what he does in front of the net. He's not the biggest guy and he's not that strong on his skates, so the only way he gets space in front is by zipping around at breakneck speed. Watch the next time a Sedin gets the puck behind the net: cue Burrows, darting back and forth around the crease like a squirrel in the street. Also watch, on last night's goal, as he gets effortlessly moved from the area by Matt Stajan, then immediately scurries back there once Stajan thinks his work is done. In the split second between Stajan heading to the side boards and Steve Staios realizing Burrows has been left alone, Burrows is in the position to be found by Daniel Sedin.
  

• Speaking of Daniel Sedin, he and Henrik were fantastic. They were on the ice for all four goals, combining for 5 points and completely dissecting Calgary's defensive coverage with Wizardous Sedinerie and fabulous vision all night. My favourite goal (Daniel Sedin's first of the night, above), comes when Rene Bourque drifts about a foot too high, and Daniel cuts through the middle of the offensive zone ice at full speed. That's a fabulous read, and it's matched only by Henrik's vision to get him the puck. The moment Daniel starts his sprint, it's obvious what's coming, too, as Henrik puts a backhand pass through the legs of Robyn Regehr (who seriously opens up to let it through), and Daniel one-times it past Kiprusoff. So good. Not so good: Rene Bourque practicing his first star twirl while this play is unfolding.

• When the Sedins are going like this, the power play tends to trend upward as well, so it's no surprise that the special teams were spot-on last night. The first unit went 2-for-2, scoring just over thirty seconds into each powerplay (32 and 37 seconds, respectively). Daniel Sedin's game-winner was so effortless it was hard to tell who moved less when it happened, he or Miikka Kiprosoff. It came so quickly off the faceoff you'd have thought the linesman just chucked it into the net.

• What a road trip. The Canucks went unbeaten in five games, all of which were against teams currently top 8 in the West. It was the best road trip since the one where that carful of girls literally punched Stuntman Mike to death.
  

• Ryan Kesler played a fabulous game as well, finishing with a goal and an assist, both on the powerplay. It was great to see the return of his lethal wrist shot from above the faceoff dot. Kiprusoff seemed a little befuddled that it got past him, but Kesler's been getting behind everyone these days--it was inevitable. Of note: while Kesler was back there, he took his shirt off and offered Kiprusoff a half-eaten slice of pizza.

• One thing Kesler does well is take hits to make plays. He got drilled three or four times last night, but the Canucks never lost possession of the puck.

• In the broadcast booth, Garry Galley was a nice change of pace from Kevin Weekes. He made some good observations, including his call on the Alex Burrows goal, in which he dubbed Daniel Sedin's open ice "The Quiet Zone." It sounds like the title of a Cronenberg movie full of weird sex. I'm glad that Galley was good, because he's owed me one for fifteen years. He was the slowest player in NHL 94 and somehow, he was always on my team. I was so sick of his painfully slow sprite lugging the puck through the neutral zone. Anyway, now we're even.

• By the by, Garry's son Wyatt is the star goaltender for the Langley Chiefs. They're in the BCHL playoffs right now and tickets are cheap.

• You always hear criticism that the announcers are biased against your team, but you had to think Calgary fans were pulling their hair out as Galley marveled at the Canucks. It was somewhat inevitable, though. Vancouver's the best at everything right now. They'll be the first team to 100 points, and Daniel Sedin, too, will probably get there before any other team does.

• Curiously, someone threw a fish on the ice. No idea why. Curiosities abound: why a salmon, and how does a salmon gets through security, anyway? They'll confiscate a Ziploc bag of goldfish crackers but they'll let a real freaking fish through? Ridiculous. But, perhaps the most curious element of this very curious action was that the fish found the ice late in the third period. Why wait? It's been my experience that, when you've got a fish in your backpack, you get rid of it as soon as possible (unless you're the shopping penguin). Suffice it to say, someone just ruined a backpack.

• Thanks to Qris for covering this feature in our absence. We haven't missed an IWTG this season. Without him, that streak ends.
  

• Chris Higgins is going to be a great addition to this team. He was good wherever he played last night, and he was all over the lineup, especially after Mikael Samuelsson got benched early in the first.

• I understand the criticism that Mason Raymond's had a number of off-games without getting benched so summarily as Mikael Samuelsson did tonight, but I think Alain Vigneault wanted to whip Sammy with a sock full of batteries after that Michael Backlund goal. This goes back to Samuelsson's Borg-brainwashing in Detroit, but he often refuses to to give up possession by dumping the puck out of the zone. In this case, it bit him. How to win AV's love: make the safe plays. Why do you think Aaron Rome had more shifts (34) than any other Canuck? Hint: it's not his skating.
  

• I liked Manny Malhotra trying that icing play the Sedins always do. He and Raffi nearly connected for some Plagiarized Sedinerie. We've actually seen a lot more of that this year, when players who aren't the Sedins try their hand at Sedinerie. It's very Mickey Mouse. Mind you, considering they're the top two scorers in the NHL, it's probably safe to learn from them. On the flipside, it's probably not safe to learn from Mary Kay Letourneau. Especially if you're Chris Tanev; he's quite young.

• And finally, we often criticize the way Alain Vigneault metes out icetime, but he's managed his roster quite well. Nobody played under 11 minutes, and in the last game of a five-game road trip, icetime management matters. Know what else matters? Family.

The Canuck Academy Awards

In honor of the Academy Awards coming up this Sunday, we here at Pass it to Bulis have taken it upon ourselves to award our own versions of the Academy Awards to our beloved Vancouver Canucks. Like the actual Academy Awards, it's incredibly self-congratulatory, but that's just fine. After all, the Canucks are first place in the NHL, Daniel is leading the NHL in points, and Pass it to Bulis gets more and more famous every day. So let's take this opportunity to feel good about the team, pat each other on the back, and dress up like we're going to a shindig on Persephone.

THE WINNERS

Writing (Original Screenplay): James Duthie and Roberto Luongo for "The Heart of a Poet: A Moment of Luongo"

An easy win for the the superfriends for this incredibly entertaining TSN segment. "Rhinoceros hips" alone was a brilliant bit of writery. I'm going to give Luongo a co-writing credit on this one because I'm feeling charitable and assuming he made a few ad-libs in-between poems.

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Writing (Adapted Screenplay): Rollie Melanson for "The Butterfly Effect"

Melanson has done a fantastic job adapting Luongo to a new style of goaltending that keeps him deeper in his net, more efficient in his movements, and more focused in the face (or buttocks) of adversity. This adaptation has taken time, as Luongo struggled early in the season, but he is now second in wins and in the top-5 in save percentage and goals against average. While the playoffs will be the true test of whether Melanson's adaptation is as good as Charlie and Donald Kaufman's "Adaptation.," which was only nominated for Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay), Luongo is looking sharp and claiming to be better than ever.

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Visual Effects: The Sedins for "Wizardous Sedinerie"

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Sound Mixing: Rick Bowness for "Ham-Juice"

With the multitude of injuries on the defensive end, Bowness has had to be especially creative with how he mixed his defensive pairings and has done a remarkable job. His pairing of Dan Hamhuis and Kevin Bieksa at the beginning of the season paid immediate dividends as a shutdown pairing, but I've been especially impressed with his mix-and-match patchwork defense in response to injuries. Rome and Tanev together sounds like a potential disaster, but they were the best pairing on the ice against Dallas on Saturday.

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Sound Editing: The Sedins for "Wizardous Sedinerie"

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Short Film (Live Action): Lee Sweatt for "Rudy"

Sweatt bears a strong resemblance to Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger, both in stature and facial features, a fact not lost on his Canuck teammates, who chanted "Rudy, Rudy, Rudy" prior to his first ever NHL game. And just like a Hollywood sports movie, Sweatt had an inspiring finish, scoring the gamewinning goal. Also, he's short. Short film. It's funny.

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Short Film (Animated): Jeff Tambellini for "Tamby's Magic Shooty Spot"

Like Sweatt, Tambellini is short. Unlike Sweatt, Tambellini has managed to stay in the lineup long-term. A big reason for this is Tamby's magic shooty spot, that small patch of ice near the right faceoff dot that seems to impart magical accuracy to Tambellini's stick. Unfortunately, he hasn't been able to get to that patch of ice recently and has found himself demoted to the fourth line and is in danger of gorging on press-box popcorn with Cody Hodgson on his way back up from the Moose.

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Music (Original Song): The Sedins for "Wizardous Sedinerie"

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Music (Original Score): Cody Hodgson for "Scoring a Goal"

Hodgson's first ever NHL goal, his original score in other words, was a beauty. Sure, it wasn't a great shot, but it was effective. More impressive was his ability to fend off the barrage of stick-lifts and the patience he showed in getting to a prime scoring area. Other nominees in this category were Mario Bliznak, Alexandre Bolduc, Lee Sweatt, Aaron Volpatti, and Sergei Shirokov. Shirokov's effort was the closest competitor for Hodgson, but Shirokov is clearly the black sheep boy of the Canucks' prospects, whereas Hodgson carries the golden fleece.

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Makeup: Mike Gillis for "The Vancouver Canucks"

Gillis has convinced me that he knows what he's doing, and one of the areas that has been getting a bit more attention lately is the psychological makeup of the team. His acquisition of Manny Malhotra has provided an instant leadership upgrade, the establishment of Henrik Sedin as Captain instilled a calm, business-like demeanor, and his demands on Ryan Kesler to mature as a person have made Kesler a better, more-focused hockey player. People have laughed at Gillis innovations like the Mind Room, but it's hard to argue with the mindset of this Canucks team.

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Foreign Language Film: Alex Burrows for "Win Da Turd"

During the pre-season, Burrows was still recovering from off-season shoulder surgery. In a burst of inspiration, he was asked to provide colour commentary for the Canucks and he was delightful. You could barely understand a word he said, but it was enjoyable nonetheless. At some point during one of those broadcasts, Burrows made the observation that the Canucks needed to "win da turd." A few enterprising Canucks fans jumped on the phrase and began spreading "win da turd" across Twitter. It's now a staple of the Twitter-verse during Canucks games and a worthy winner of this award.

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Film Editing: The Sedins for "Wizardous Sedinerie"

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Documentary Short Subject: Lee Sweatt for "Seriously Guys, He's Short"

Seriously.

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Documentary Feature: The Sedins for "Wizardous Sedinerie"

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Directing: Alain Vigneault for "V for Vigneault"

Mike Gillis made the decision to keep Vigneault when he became the GM of the Canucks and it appears to have been an excellent decision. There are some who would argue that Vigneault's job should be easy given the conglomeration of talent on the Canucks' roster. Those people are silly. It's not an easy task keeping such a strong ensemble cast focused and ready day-by-day, game-by-game, but Vigneault has been up to it. He even has some prominent mysterious third contributors to popular Canucks' blogs arguing that he should be considered for the Jack Adams award this year. He just might deserve it.

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Costume Design: Fin for "Green Man"

It doesn't get much better than that.

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Cinematography: The Sedins for "Wizardous Sedinerie"

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Art Direction: The Sedins for "Wizardous Sedinerie"

In case you haven't noticed, the Sedins clean up in all the technical categories.

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Animated Feature Film: Jannik Hansen for "Beaker: Based on a True Story"

Hansen is my favorite forechecker, but his talents aren't limited to his dogged determination on the ice. His voice work for the animated biopic of Beaker from The Muppets is sublime. You can tell he put his heart and soul into the role.

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Actor in a Supporting Role: Manny Malhotra for "The Enabler"

Malhotra is the ultimate supporter, gaining few accolades for himself but constantly improving the performances of those around him. I have to be careful about singing his praises too much, as I might make him ineligible for the one award that he might actually win this year: the Fred J. Hume award as the unsung hero of the Canucks.

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Actor in a Leading Role: Ryan Kesler for "Forget the Selke, I'm Going for the Hart"

Kesler is very clearly the leading man of the Canucks. Sure, the Sedins are having brilliant seasons, with Daniel having jumped to the lead for the Art Ross trophy, but they're just not sexy. Meanwhile, Kesler is appearing on the cover of video games, posing for pictures in his underwear, being named one of BC's most beautiful people, and scoring goals by the bucket-load. While he's been a two-time Selke runner-up, Kesler is now being discussed for the Hart trophy as his offensive production has begun to outshine his defensive contributions. Ryan Kesler is clearly in the leading role for the Canucks, while the Sedins get to win all the technical awards that are incredibly important but no one really cares about.

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Best Picture: Tanner Glass for "Glass Half-Full (Of Bears)"

I just saw Black Swan last night. This picture is almost as good.

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I Watched This Game: Canucks vs. Stars, February 19, 2011

Canucks 5 - 2 Stars

I ask you: what is the difference between Skeeter and the Dallas Stars? Well, Skeeter was at tonight's game. It's a good thing the tickets were a gift, because otherwise he'd be demanding a refund on the grounds that he paid to watch two teams play hockey and only one showed up. I'm kidding, of course. Skeeter was definitely spoiled tonight, as the Canucks ran Dallas out of the building to sweep the season series, potting five lovely goals (a couple of them what some might call wizardous sedinerie) in the process. Suffice it to say, I'm very jealous, as this was definitely one to see live. And, while Skeeter attended, I merely watched this game:

• The Canucks still have not suffered two consecutive regulation losses since mid-November. Give them credit for bouncing back like Maggie Simpson covered in springs, led by the Sedins. After the loss to the Predators, some of the Vancouver media guys gently called them out, but the Twins were definitely not gentle in their response. The top line busted out in a big way tonight, picking up eight points, collectively, while scoring three goals: the opener, the game-winner, and the back-breaking insurance goal (above). What a beautiful goal the last one is, by the way. Of note: it adheres to the previously-defined Third Law of Sedinery, which effectively says that the Sedins always make one more pass than is customary.

• Andrew Raycroft hadn't made a save in a start since January 21, and you know the Canucks talked about getting to him early. Daniel Sedin's goal to open the scoring was exactly the sort of shot the Sedins never make: from a bad angle, simply hoping for some puck luck. Typically, Daniel would have cut back to the boards and tried to set up something prettier, but considering the possibility of a rusty netminder, he stuck to the game plan, and sure enough, it went in. I'm sure it was humiliating for Daniel, a bonafide wizard, to attempt something so ordinary, just like it was humiliating for Gandalf the Grey to be imprisoned by Saruman atop Orthanc, the black tower of Isengard.

• Kevin Weekes had a rough game tonight, stating the obvious a bit too much for my liking. His shining moment: "[Karlas] Skrastins plays a defensive game." Yes, defencemen will do that.

• Proof that Daniel "Out For Blood" Sedin was everywhere tonight: he somehow managed to get up to the broadcast booth immediately after the game and pick the three stars. How else to explain Ryan Kesler (0 points) getting third star honours over Henrik Sedin (1 goal, 2 assists, infinite wizardousness)? But seriously, doesn't the colour guy usually pick the three stars? Because if so, this is more tangible proof Kevin Weekes needs a new assignment.

• Raffi Torres had an inspired game tonight, breaking out of his 23-game goalless streak to score twice (here and here). With a little luck, he might have had one or two more, even, buzzing all night and registering a game-high 5 shots. He also threw his weight around, collecting 3 solid hits and getting into a fight with Brendan Morrow. It was a stupid fight for Morrow. He's the captain, the emotional leader, and the top scoring threat on the Dallas Stars; Torres is the guy that serves Vancouver's bench minors. Something tells me the Stars suffered more for the next five minutes than the Canucks. We've pointed out before that Morrow's leadership skills leave a bit to be desired, in our opinion. I'd like to enter "poor fight selection" into evidence.

• Evan Oberg was much-improved tonight. He made some good outlet passes, generated a few promising rushes, and even doled out two hits. He's been inconsistent in Manitoba, but if he returns to the Moose and plays like he did tonight, he'll make a lot of friends. I wonder if being thrown into the fire will wind up being good for him.

• Yann Sauve has really impressed me. His desperate play to poke the puck out to the neutral zone and spring the Sedins on that 3-on-1 was fantastic. His strength along the boards has been really unexpected. Chris Tanev, who played 19:57 tonight, has earned praise for having the look of an NHLer, but Sauve might deserve some appreciation as well. This song by Andrew Bird is a good start, although Bird spelled his name wrong.

• Mason Raymond has apparently decided that nothing is better than a wrap-around. Just wait until he becomes a father; he'll love swaddling.

• Raymond's linemates have also apparently decided to stop passing to him on the rush. Maybe you noticed this: at one point, Mikael Samuelsson and Raymond got in behind the defense, and rather than make a pass would have sent Raymond in alone, Samuelsson took a low percentage slapshot from just inside the blue line. It seemed like a silly decision, but what else was he going to do? Pass it to Raymond> I'm sure he pictured Raymond receiving the pass in front, then taking the puck wide around the boards for some reason before trying a wrap-around. So hedecided to keep it.

• Great defensive effort by the Canucks tonight, as they did fantastic job of lightening Roberto Luongo's workload. The Stars only managed to get 24 shots on Funny Bob, which is especially impressive considering they directed 55 at the net. 16 were blocked, and 15 went wide. 11 Canucks registered a blocked shot, Chris Tanev leading the way with 3. The team-wide defensive effort was also on display in the hits department, where the Canucks tallied 28, with 14 different guys getting at least one and 10 guys getting 2 or more. Conversely, Dallas had 21, less than half the hits they registered the last time these two teams met. By the game's end, the Canucks appeared to have completely demoralized the Stars. It was like the paddling scene in Dazed & Confused.

• All kidding aside, I feel bad for the Stars. They simply don't match up well with the Canucks. The Canucks have similar problems with the Anaheim Ducks.

• Brendan Morrow basically confirmed this, too. Here he is, shaking his head while discussing the Sedins (postgame via Jeff Paterson): "You know what they're going to do and you still can't do anything about it." Which makes the Sedins hockey's version of The Strangers, from Knowing. It also makes Brendan Morrow hockey's Nicolas Cage, which is fitting, because they're both ridiculous.

• And finally, courtesy of Scott Rintoul: all five Canuck goals tonight were netted by gingers. It was clearly a night for redheads. Rick Astley could have scored.

I Watched This Game: Canucks vs. Blackhawks, February 4, 2011

Canucks 4 - 3 Blackhawks

Was that an exciting game or what? The correct answer is not "what." Chicago came out flying tonight and put the Canucks on their heels through most of this game. It can be argued that they deserved the win: a questionable no-goal call went against the 'Hawks and the Canucks' first goal was demonstrably offside. Having felt the burn of poor officiating in the past, I certainly sympathize with Blackhawks' fans. At the same time, the 'Hawks had ample opportunity to win this game and gave up two leads, so it's a little unfair to place the blame solely on the referees.

In any case, the Canucks were, arguably, outplayed in this game. But, their best players were their best players and they won. It was marvelous. I watched this game.

• We at PITB have frequently complained about Luongo's tendency to use his glove to punch pucks rather than catch them. Tonight Luongo proved that Rollie Melanson reads Pass it to Bulis. Clearly Melanson took our complaints to heart and taught Luongo the proper use of his trapper. One of his finest glove saves can be seen above, but there seemed to be dozens of slick glove stops from Lu in this game. He was very, very good. It took a wide-open all-star and two rather unfortunate bounces tonight to get the puck past him.

• Chris Tanev made up for Luongo's lack of punchiness by punching in the Blackhawks' third goal. It was an unfortunate moment for the rookie who has played remarkably well since being called up. Unfortunately, with Andrew Alberts set to return soon and Sami Salo remaining remarkably uninjured during his first game for the Manitoba Moose, Tanev won't be with the Canucks for much longer. Still, he has vaulted his way up the depth chart like an angry pole vaulter and I have a feeling we'll see a lot more of him in the future.

• The Canucks' top line combined for 12 shots on goal and had another 9 attempts blocked or miss the net. They seemed to be the only line that was able to create sustained offensive pressure. Henrik finished with a goal and two assists to earn first-star honors. His bloodthirsty brother not only became the NHL's leading scorer tonight, he also passed Markus Naslund to become the Canucks' all-time record holder for game-winning goals. Remember when people used to claim the Sedins weren't clutch?

• Cody Hodgson had a decent game despite barely playing. A big reason for Ehrhoff's goal was Hodgson's smart play in gaining the zone and throwing the puck on net, which Tanner Glass reciprocated, creating the massive rebound for Ehrhoff to blast past Turco. Discussions of the offside nature of the goal aside, that was a hell of a slapshot. It ripped a hole in time, love and space, and was behind Turco before Ehrhoff even shot it.

• On the other hand, Hodgson went 1-for-5 in the faceoff circle and only played 7:11. And he left the ice too quickly to get a +1 in his plus-minus column. Kesler, Malhotra, and Henrik made up for Hodgson's lack in the circle, going 14-for-21, 10-for-15, and 12-for-16 respectively. Unfortunately, the Canucks went 8-for-20 in the defensive zone, a big reason why the Blackhawks always seemed to be there.

• The TSN intermission crew did a great job analyzing the two controversial plays, one highlighting the fact that Ehrhoff's goal was indeed offside and one showing that Troy Brouwer did in fact make contact with Luongo's blocker on Bolland's controversial disallowed Chicago goal. Still, the fact that it was such a minuscule piece of contact means it's still a bit of a sketchy call.

• Rough night for the third line, as they all finished on the minus side of the ledger. Particularly rough for Hansen, who finished a game-low -3 as he was on the ice for all three Chicago goals. It's unfortunate for Torres, as he was very noticeable on the ice tonight, throwing a couple solid checks and blocking 3 shots. Malhotra was solid in the faceoff circle, but was thoroughly victimized by Jonathan Toews on the Blackhawks' first goal, as he was squeezed off the puck against the boards and wasn't able to recover to pressure Toews before the shot.

• Aaron Rome played a physical game: he was only credited with 2 hits, but they were big, noticeable hits. Unfortunately, he also was credited with 3 giveaways and almost cost the Canucks a goal when he tried to give Luongo a hug behind the net. To his credit, he recovered and slid behind Luongo to make a knee save on the subsequent goalscoring chance, but it was a clear sign that he has missed a few games and is a bit out of sync. That by itself is a reason to get him back into the game ahead of Lee Sweatt. An out-of-sync Rome in the playoffs would be potentially disastrous.

• Hips laid out Kopecky with a solid hipcheck, then followed it up with a picture perfect shotblock, also on Kopecky. You may have also noticed Luongo's enormous glove save on Kopecky at the top of the page. Basically, it wasn't a good night to be Kopecky. It was almost as bad as the Olympics, when the closed captioning spelled out his name as "Could Pets Ski." Unfortunate.

• Ehrhoff doesn't seem to get angry very often, but when he does, look out. He flipped out on Stalberg, flailing around like a Flail Snail. I admit, I only wanted to mention this so I could link to the Flail Snail. Seriously. Flail Snail.

• Samuelsson has been fantastic lately: he had 5 shots on goal, including this blast from the point on the powerplay that deflected past Turco. Even prettier, however, was his pass on Henrik's goal. Leading up to the goal were, of course, two Sedin backpasses, but those are so routine that pointing them out seems superfluous. Meanwhile, Kesler braved the crotch-hacking dangers of the front of the net, and set a perfect screen on Turco. So everyone was involved except Ehrhoff, who was too busy daydreaming about punching Stalberg.

• Daniel's gamewinning goal was a prime example of Wizardous Sedinerie: Daniel clearly used Mage Hand to levitate that puck over Turco. Now, since there were no somatic or verbal components, he must have both Silent Spell and Still Spell as feats. Applying both feats would increase the level of the spell by 2, meaning that Daniel Sedin must be, at minimum, a third-level Wizard.

• I'm a big fan of Ray Ferraro. He's one of the best colour commentators in the business. I don't have a joke here, I just felt like it needed to be said.

• An indication of how good a game Luongo had can be found by looking at the Blackhawks' four leading shooters: Patrick Sharp and Brian Campbell had 6 shots apiece and Marian Hossa and Patrick Kane had 7 each. Not one of them scored. Luongo answered the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything with 42 saves.

Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin, and Ryan Kesler at the Skills Competition

Courtesy of the invaluable and highly beloved CanucksHD, the dedicated Youtuber who is to blogging what the flux capacitor is to time travel, here are the Canucks-related highlights from the NHL Skills Competition. They reinforce three things we might have already known:

1. Ryan Kesler's pretty fast. But you already knew that. He can make five million dollars and a baby in the same day.
2. Daniel Sedin is mighty accurate. I know you knew that too, but did you know he was the most accurate guy in hockey? Eklund is, of course, a close second.
3. Henrik Sedin enjoys all types of passing, but his first love is the saucer pass. We've long suspected it might be an addiction. Once, at thanksgiving dinner, Daniel asked him to pass the mashed potatoes and Henrik launched a spoonful over the gravy boat, right onto his plate.

Anyway. I like these guys, I think they're good, let's keep them.

Henrik Sedin Scored the Goal of the Year and Nobody Noticed

Do you remember this goal? Have you seen it before? It's amazing. Textbook Wizardous Sedinerie. It might be the best goal of this NHL season, it happened only one week ago, and yet nobody's talking about it.

Let me take you through what you're seeing: That's Henrik Sedin there, outskating two Shark players to turn an innocuous one-on-one into a sudden two-on-one. That's Daniel Sedin, taking the puck parallel to the blue line, perfectly timing his meandering entry into the zone with Henrik's sudden burst of speed, then making a tape-to-tape saucer pass to spring his brother in alone. And finally, that's Henrik Sedin again, drawing Antti Niemi well past his goalmouth, then wizardously dragging the puck to the backhand and sliding it into an empty net.

Henrik's move is an an incredible piece of stickhandling and poise that, up until now, was native only to the shootout. Peter Forsberg is famous for it. Henrik Zetterberg did it once, too. But, they did it in the shootout, with time, forethought, and healthy dose of space. Henrik Sedin pulled it off in-game, at top speed, surrounded by defenders.

And nobody's talking about it.

I Watched This Game: Canucks vs Oilers, January 07, 2011

Canucks 6 - 1 Oilers

I don't think there was ever really any concern that the Oilers might win tonight. There was, I guess, a nagging concern that the Canucks might lose, but seriously, this Oilers team isn't built to win hockey games. It's built to accrue picks, like Questlove's hair or Tenacious D.

My favourite thing about this year's edition of the Vancouver Canucks (apart from all the winning, naturally) is that they don't seek revenge through fighting. They just embarrass you by scoring more goals. Seriously. This is the team we have. No retaliatory fighting, just retaliatory goals. We saw it tonight as the game began to go pear-shaped for Edmonton, and they tried to salvage some measure of respect by picking on Tanner Glass. The Canucks' response? Bury them in goals. Get hat tricks. Bury them like Beatrix Kiddo. It's fun to watch. And I did watch. Yes sir, I watched this game:

• Like a high school Home Ec. class, the Canucks created a lot of turnovers tonight. The Oilers really struggled to get the puck out of their zone. You'd have to think the absence of Ryan Whitney accounts for this sudden transitional ineptitude, as the only puck-mover on the Oilers' defense continues to miss games with a bad ankle. You'll recall that he played nearly thirty minutes in a game between these two teams on December 10th.

• In Whitney's absence, we saw a lot more of Theo "Huxtable" Peckham, who continues a storied tradition of black Theos who can't seem to stay out of trouble. Among his comedy of errors: tripping Mikael Samuelsson; needlessly punching Mikael Samuelsson in the head; hitting Ales Hemsky in the face with a puck. He's lucky Bill Cosby isn't his dad, because he'd get a real talking to about responsibility.

• The Oilers came out flying, seeming to think if they won the first ten minutes, they wouldn't have to play the rest of the game. Despite not winning the first ten minutes, they stuck to their game plan.
  

• There are games when the Sedin twins are unnoticeable, except on the scoresheet. There are other games, like tonight, when it's apparent from puck drop they're going to make their opponents look silly. Both Daniel and Henrik finished with 3 points--Henrik his customary 3 helpers, and Daniel 2 goals and 1 assist. Their first goal was a lesson in how to hit an open net (Mason Raymond, take note). Their second goal (above) was classic Wizardous Sedinerie. It also showcased the Third Law of Sedinery: if one pass is customary, the Sedins will make two. On a breakaway, Henrik makes one pass when others would make none. On a two-on-one, Henrik and Daniel make two passes where others would make one. In school, teachers hated the way they would hand in the same test twice.

• Also of note on Daniel's second goal, Alex Burrows' savvy flip pass to spring the Sedins. The line has been pulling this play all season, and it tends to catch defenders sleeping. It's safe to say the Sedins are the only players in hockey cribbing plays from Dwayne Robertson.

• A word about Daniel Sedin, who makes a living getting upstaged. Daniel scored two goals before Kesler did. This was rightfully his hat trick. But, just like Henrik took all the credit during his Hart-winning season, Ryan Kesler stole all the glory tonight, winning their impromptu hat trick fight.

• Sidenote: I imagine a hat trick fight to be two magicians pulling various weaponry out of their top hats. In the climax, the first magician pulls a grenade, and throws it at the second, who catches it in his top hat. Then, the second pulls out a bouquet of flowers. It explodes in the first magician's face, killing him instantly. Flawless victory.

• Anyway, Daniel even had his chance to match Kesler's hat trick, but his power move to the net was stopped by Khabibulin, and Alex Edler, the snake, ruined everything by scoring. Dick move. Daniel's subsequent fist bump looked a little aggressive to me. Out for blood.

• Kesler's hat trick was really something, huh? He scored three times, no lie. Thrice, in fact. His first goal came on a wrist shot so hard it broke both the Bulin wall and the fourth wall, turning to the audience and soliloquizing. His second and third goals were both tips. It was like the debit machine prompted him for a tip, and he felt obligated and tipped too much. At 2 of 3, that's a 66% tip, which is a drastic overtip.

• The best moment of Kesler's hat trick goal comes sixteen seconds into the video, as a dude wearing a hat suddenly realizes what just happened. Wait! I'm wearing a hat! #HatTrickKid

• The real story, of course, is that the Canucks continue to put in 59-minute efforts. They blew yet another shutout tonight, as Cory Schneider lost his post on a scramble at the end of the second. Ales Hemsky got the goal with 0.3 seconds on the clock. This is unacceptable. Were I at the game, I would have booed vociferously. It is my right as a ticket buyer and I'm an idiot.

• Anyway, apart from that Cory Schneider was good. He usually is. Whatever. We could talk about how the Canucks are 8-0-2 when he starts, but it's getting boring. The Canucks just win a lot. You could make up an absurdly positively stat and it would probably be half-true. The Canucks are 13-0-1 when Raffi Torres eats a pregame ham and swiss sandwich. Thi8s is a Tru Fakt.

• In his inaugural game as the fourth-line center (a promotion he clearly relished) Tanner Glass went 4-for-6 in the faceoff circle. He also had a game-high six hits in 11:38 of icetime. He looked pretty good.

• His positive faceoff numbers would have been quite the accomplishment had the Oilers not forgotten that the purpose of a faceoff is to try to gain possession of the puck. The Canucks won 37 of 54 faceoffs, led by 14-for-17 and 8-for-10 nights for Kesler and Henrik, respectively. Kesler won all 7 of his defensive zone faceoffs, and that, Reid's friends, is why he takes them.

• Ales Hemsky is a giant shovel. After being obliterated on a clean Glass hit, Hemsky proceeded to chase the Canucks' fourth-line center across the ice, hooking and cross-checking all the way. Glass, the zennest of zen Canucks, ignored this antagonism, likely reciting Scrabble's allowable two-letter words as a mantra.
  

• And finally, Daniel (Wagner, not Sedin) pointed out early on that this game would get chippy, as the referees missed some early warning signs and didn't manage the game well in the first. By the third period, the Oilers were clearly frustrated, and began taking out their frustrations in a frustrating way. In the funniest moment of the night, Tanner Glass was assaulted by Hemsky and Jason Strudwick, only to have Raffi Torres leap to his assistance from the top rope ala Randy "The Ram" Robinson, horse collar him, and then fall down. Torres, you lovable fool. Thankfully, he provided a goofy-looking cushion for Glass to land on when he was tackled.
  

I Watched This Game: Canucks at Sharks, January 03, 2011

Canucks 4 - 3 Sharks

The Canucks came into San Jose to play their third road game in four nights. Unbeaten in five, and expected to be dog-tired, there was a sense among Canuck nation that a loss to San Jose was as inevitable as the extraplanar robots that chase down lawbreakers. The Sharks came into this game fourth in the Western Conference, and with their continued employment of Joe Thornton, Dany Heatley, and Dan Boyle, looked to be formidable foes.

They were formidable foes. That said, they still got beat by a Canucks team that has seemingly forgotten how to lose. As a born loser, I'm here if they need the help, but I don't think they'll call. In the meantime, I guess Daniel and I will just have to sit around watching them win, like we did tonight when we watched this game:

• The Second Law of Sedinery: if the Sedins find themselves alone behind the defense, you may as well go line up at center ice. They will score. The opening goal (above), off a turnover by Joe Thornton (and not Jason Demers, as crazy old John Garrett insisted), is a classic case of Wizardous Sedinerie. Antti Niemi made a common mistake and got Daniel confused with Henrik. Had he realized that Henrik had the first touch, he might have realized Daniel was about to get the second. Instead, he anticipated a shot from Henrik Sedin. Rookie mistake. Also a rookie mistake? Letting Gary Busey date your mom.

• Speaking of Rookie of the Year, let's talk about casts. The second-line featured a rotating one, as Jannik Hansen, Jeff Tambellini, and Mason Raymond all saw time as Ryan Kesler's wings. When Tambellini and Raymond were together, they showed the potential to be the fastest duo since Northstar and Aurora. (Other similarities: both duos are Canadian, and spend an inordinate amount of time in dark blue. Differences: Raymond's not gay, and Tambellini's not a woman.) Anyway, Raymond and Hansen finished the night on that line, and Hansen may have re-won his spot there with this game-tying goal late in the second period. Early in the season, I grumbled about Hansen spending time on the second line--the old Jannik finished his checks but not his scoring chances. That said, like a piece of furniture haunted by the ghost of a carpenter, Hansen has magically developed finish. #WorstAnalogyAward

• What was going on during the Canucks second goal? Ehrhoff and Edler apparently switched places with Daniel and Henrik, briefly becoming the forwards on the rush. They didn't do too badly, either. Perhaps Edler felt slighted when Skeeter suggested he didn't have the stuff to play center, or perhaps the Sedins felt pigeonholed as offensive wizards and wanted a chance to play defense. Third option: the Sedins forgot that the teams switched ends for the second, and were thrilled about being in behind the defense for a second time.

• Tanner Glass played 8:25 tonight, which is about on par with his usual minutes, except that he spent ten minutes in the box for two fights (a full one-sixth of the game). The fourth line in general was noticeable tonight, spending a lot of time in the offensive zone. Chalk this up to the return of Mason Raymond, which has banished a top-nine player to the bottom three. And, while the line may not have seen an increase in minutes, they saw a definite increase in third period minutes, as Alain Vigneault trusted them with late shifts in a close game.

• Part of this might have been a desire to play fresh guys on the back-to-back games, but another part might have been that Alex Bolduc was winning faceoffs when Henrik Sedin and Ryan Kesler weren't. For the third straight game, the Canucks lost the faceoff battle, although this time by a very narrow margin. Manny Malhotra was his usual stalwart self, winning 14-of-18, including all six in the defensive zone. Just Manny being Manny. The other two big drawmen were kind of crummy. Kind of really crummy. Kesler was 35% in the circle. Henrik was 27%.

• Continuing the negativity, on San Jose's first goal, Rome needs to cover Clowe in front of the net, not the random patch of ice to Schneider's left, which he so ably defended. On San Jose's second goal, Henrik needs to not be in the box. Captain Hook strikes again. On San Jose's third goal, Schneider needs to remove all banana peels from his crease prior to the start of the period. Open letter to Rollie Melanson: get on that.

• Christian Ehrhoff was good tonight. He facilitated breakouts like working at McDonald's, had 5 shots, blocked 4, and picked up two assists. I've heard fans saying that, now that Bieksa's playing well, we should trade Ehrhoff instead. Tonight, Ehrhoff showed San Jose why they never should have let him go; let's not wish that same regret upon ourselves.
  

• Like Evangeline Lilly in a Live Links commercial, Mason Raymond draws a lot of calls. It's good to see him buzzing around the offensive zone, falling down like Cory Schneider.

• Not to rag on Cory Schneider too much. Despite his shaky moments, such as collapsing like a Jenga tower in a rowboat, he made some incredible saves, and also let in less goals than Antti Niemi. These are both positives. The Canucks are now 7-0-2 when Schneider starts.

• Worst outfit of the night goes to Dan Murphy, who wore an ugly tie that looked like it was made of dried beef broth. Someone needs to get him on What Not to Wear immediately. Seriously, where did he get it? The toilet store?

• Observation: every time the puck goes over the glass, pro hockey players become children stargazing with their fathers. They point with such enthusiasm it's embarrassing. Look, Dad, a shooting star! Didja see it? Didja?
  
• Word was Kesler might sit this one out after taking a shot to the foot in the game prior, but he wound up playing twenty-three very effective minutes. He put up four shots, as well as attempting another six, one of which hit the crossbar after a beautiful tip.
  

• Speaking of shots, the Canucks put up 47 and attempted 70. They peppered Niemi like a flavourless steak. A ton of those shots ended up in Niemi's glove, which the Canucks apparently hate as much as the shooter in The Jerk hates oil cans. The Canucks won the last game against the Sharks with considerable hittiness, but tonight, shootiness was their primary asset.

• And finally, let's give major credit to Alex Burrows, who took it upon himself to win da turd by scoring the game-winner halfway into da turd. The refs reviewed it for something that isn't reviewable but, since many officials still sort of hate Burr for that thing that happened, it makes sense.
  

I Watched This Game: Canucks at Stars, December 31, 2010

Canucks 4 - 1 Stars

The Canucks closed out 2010 the same way they opened it: with a win over the Dallas Stars, but don't let the 4-1 score fool you into thinking this was just another rout of a good team. Vancouver outscored Dallas, but that's about the only stat category they won. Thankfully, it's the only one that matters after sixty minutes, but they were lucky to escape Dallas with a victory. I've been skeptical of the Stars, especially after hearing about their astronomical shooting percentages and their litany of one-goal wins and overtime points. Ignore the cynics: Dallas is good.

The Stars have evolved into the prototypical Marc Crawford team. At their best: highly-skilled, offensively strong, and gritty. At their worst: unpoised, defensively suspect, and undisciplined. After living through Vancouver's ultimately failed Marc Crawford era, it was great to see his team have its weaknesses exposed by a smarter team without it meaning a Canucks loss. I watched this game, and it was cathartic:

• There are two ways to look at the massively lopsided shot totals: You could say, with forty-five shots to Vancouver's 22, Dallas outshot the Canucks by a margin of 2 to 1. Or, you could say, with 44 saves to Kari Lehtonen's 10 or Andrew Raycroft's 8, Cory Schneider outsaved both Dallas goaltenders by a margin of 4 to 1. I choose the latter.

• Yes, Cory Schneider was incredible tonight. He had a bit of luck and Dallas hit a couple of posts, and he got himself into a bit of trouble (including the lone goal against) with his indecision with the puck, but he was still incredible. His lateral movement was as strong as I've ever seen, he was square with the shooter every time, his rebound control was sound, and he was strong along the ice. If the Canucks are hoping to showcase this kid for an eventual trade, I'd save tape of this game. He soundly outplayed two NHL goaltenders and was rightly named the game's first star.

• My only quibble with Schneider: his nickname. In the blogosphere, folks are calling him Ginger Jesus. I don't like it. I've been wracking my brain for a better nickname, but the only redheaded goalie I remember is Archie Andrews, who played goal for Riverdale High in many a strip. (In a classic, Betty & Veronica go to see him play, not knowing he's the goalie, and when they can't find him--due to the mask he's wearing and because they're dumb girls--they leave.) Anyway, Archie's nemesis Reggie often called him Frecklesnoot. Let's go with that.

• As the calendar year ends, it was nice of Marc Crawford to remind us that one thing will never change: he will always, always have the worst hair in hockey. He looks like he killed a hedgehog and glued it to his scalp. Someone needs to find the stylist who keeps dying only the top and not the sides of his hair, then gingerly feathering it, then slicking it back, and convince them to pick a new career.

• It's no surprise that Alain Vigneault's shut down pairing munched the big minutes against an offensive machine like Dallas. Bieksa and Hamhuis skated for over twenty-three minutes each. In that time, Hamhuis had 1 assist, 3 shots, 3 blocks (including one that surely saved a goal), and 2 hits; Bieksa scored a goal and added an assist to go with 2 blocks, a hit and a takeaway. The pair was shaky at times (Hamhuis had 3 giveaways), but the Canucks don't win without their contributions.

• It was a rare rough night in the faceoff circle, as the Canucks lost 35 of 58 draws, and only Ryan Kesler finished at 50%. Henrik Sedin, who really is hot or cold in the faceoff circle, was colder than supercooled beer, at a frosty 3-for-12, including 0-for-6 in the defensive zone. If you're wondering why you hardly noticed the Sedins at even stength, it's because they spent the whole game scrambling to get the puck out of their zone after Henrik lost the draw.

• I heard Grumpy Old Man Gallagher on the Team 1040 today complaining about the Sedins, as he often does. He grumbled that Henrik and Daniel are points machines, even when they don't play particularly well. He was probably pulling his hair out tonight when the Sedins did exactly that, by putting up a goal and an assist each while playing badly, for the most part. Somebody needs to remind him that points are awarded when your team scores goals, and the team with the most goals wins hockey games.

• That said, the Sedins helped Vancouver put this one away early by engineering two very similar power play goals (one above, the other here). Along with Torres's solo rush, they came suddenly, and were major momentum killers. On the opening goal, Henrik whiffs on the pass, but Karlas Skrastins is so busy fighting with Ryan Kesler he doesn't even see the puck until it trickles to Daniel. Vancouver's power play went 3-for-6 tonight.
  

• Poor Kesler. Though his work in front of the net on the two power play goals might have deserved an assist, he didn't get one. His streak came to an end tonight, but that's why they call it a streak: because, eventually, it stops. A streak that never stops is called a nudist colony.

• Kesler will have to settle for the other streak of which he's a major part: Vancouver's 4-game win streak, which sees them finish 2010 with an NHL-best .708 win percentage.

• In typical Raffi Torres fashion, he had a so-so night, but scored a goal on a sudden burst of skill against the flow of the play. He fought off a can opener from Karlas Skrastins and deked out Kari Lehtonen forty-seven seconds after the Canucks had opened the scoring.

• Brad Richards had a message for the homers saying Kesler is the best player in the Western Conference. Something along the lines of: I am also good. He had 6 shots tonight, with another 5 missing the net and another 5 blocked. He looked dangerous every time he was on the ice, which was quite often. He played 23:41, more than any Canuck player, save Kevin Bieksa.

• Keith Ballard had a strong game, finishing with 4 hits and 2 blocked shots. He had a respectable 16:29 of ice time, but consider the Canucks were up 4-0 going into the third. Vigneault also gave nearly ten minutes to the fourth line. Tanner Glass had 11:04.

• Awesome Glass moment: after Jeff Woywitka horse-collared Alex Bolduc, Tanner Glass was the first man into the scrum, and can be seen quietly wailing on Woywitka before becoming lost in the mess of bodies.

• What, exactly, was Jannik Hansen doing tonight that was making the Stars so mad? Stephane Robidas gave him two gloved punches with no regard for the penalty he was about to take. I can't imagine Hansen chirping. He's got the highest voice on the team. It's like getting chirped by Kristen Schaal.

• And finally, PITB would like to wish every Bulie from here to Australia a happy new year.