Next, Luongo won the gold medal. I am really happy for him and the fact he finally won something. Is he now a bona fide big game goalie? Well I wouldn’t go that far. He did look shaky in the last two games (but so did Miller vs. Canada who everyone is praising as the second coming of Sawchuk). Let’s just say that I’m happy for Luongo and I hope that this does take the monkey off his back but personally I  will be just as nervous come playoff time as I would have been had he not played in the Olympics.

Earlier this year I wrote that Ryan Kesler would probably get $4 mil as a RFA this summer. I cannot see him getting less than $5 mil now. He was the best skater on Team USA in the tourney (and not to mention the most entertaining off the ice).

I like the way that they are pooling all their on-air talent together to cover the games. That said, you can really see the talent differences emerge when it comes to a national anchor like James Duthie and a regional one like Don Taylor. Duthie blows him away.

One gripe I have is that Lansberg is getting way to much air time and I don’t see how he rose through the ranks to become as “popular” as his is. Really don’t get that one.

Overall though, (besides the muchmusic nonsense), CTV has been doing a great job with these games.

However, what stands out to me is that I may finally figured out why the English love their soccer (it can’t be because they are very good at it). An excerpt from the article…

Ice hockey

Quite the most pointless sport ever to be televised as it is impossible to follow the puck unless the action is shown in slow motion. Possibly worth watching for the frequent fights but you’ll have to take the score on trust. Not that you will care because Great Britain hasn’t entered a team in either the men’s or women’s competitions.

So unless Brits are able to see big white balls moving slowly in front of them, they ain’t interested.

But I have to hand it to the English. Their taste in women is far superior than to those of us across the pond. Instead of slapping scrawny chicks on their magazine covers, the Brits actually bring us something sexy…

So while they may be clueless when it comes to hockey, for some things I’d move there in a heartbeat!

Senile reporting at its finest.

An excerpt.

Anyway, I think Americans who come to these Winter Olympics should try to be nice back. You can’t be nicer than Canadians, but you can try. Here’s how:

Pretend that you have to plug in your engine block at night to keep it from freezing, too. Makes them feel better.

Indeed. From my experience you can’t go 10 feet in Vancouver without people complaining about the winter conditions.

With such logic it’s no wonder that Pratt chose to plagiarize his words.

Not sure how a tent ends up costing $10,000,000. But hey, apparently it does.

Now I could care less about how it looks.

No, what gets me is the fact that it cost $10,000,000 for something that I’m sure any sane person could make for under $1,000,000.

Or how about the fact they hired a Chicago firm to build it. I guess people in Canada can’t come up with such high end designs.

Ilya Kovalchuk

Not sure what to think of the trade but I think Atlanta received more than fair value especially for the position they were in.

If the Canucks wanted to do a comparable trade it would be somewhere along the lines of… Jordan Schroeder (still would rather have Bergfors), Bieksa (= Oduya), Grabner (comparable prospect value to Cormier I would think) and a first rounder. That’s a pretty heavy youth dumping for a rent-a-player. Glad the Canucks passed.

Pratt & Taylor

I am pleased to announce that I’ve stopped listening to Pratt & Taylor. Well I have listened maybe a total of 5 hours in the last two months but my system is as Pratt-free as it can get. I seem quite happier too. lol.

So the title is a little very misleading  but if I may be so bold as to propose a trade.

Sami Salo, Pavol Demitra and… Cody Hodgson

for

Ilya Kovalchuk (assuming he signs a cap loophole contract that would lower the hit to $5 mil a year).

Bold move? You bet. But with Louie, Sedins, Kesler and Kovalchuk all in their primes that creates a real cup contender (not one based on hype).

Think about it. Hate to see Cody go but it’s a deal that can finally bring a parade to Vancouver that doesn’t include tight leather pants.

Excuse my absence from posting but I have been quite busy with some other stuff that I have not been able partake in my usual moronic internet banter. And no, contrary to what you may have read, The Fly has not contracted the swine flu because his immune system is that of a Greek God.

So why am I taking time away from doing nothing my busy schedule to make this post?

It’s to share this link with you. You see there are people moronic enough to actually want to trade Alexander Semin.

Seriously, sometimes stuff so stupid comes out of hockey fans that you wonder if they’ve ever actually watched a game or just ramble on the interwebs just for shits and giggles.

Nevermind  that the team is 9-3-4.

Nevermind that, if healthy, Semin is sure to score 40 goals a season.

Nevermind that Semin is just 25.

Nevermind that Semin is Ovechkin’s best friend on the team and the two have a good chemistry going, along with Backstrom.

Nevermind that you won’t get anything back of equal value to Semin because Semin is more valuable to the Capitals than any other team.

Nevermind all that.

Trade Semin.

Fools.

Now to my thoughts…

• I’ve noticed myself, in the last few games, really looking forward to the times that the Kesler line hits the ice. It’s very similar to how I feel when I watch the Kings (Kopitar line) or the Caps (Ovechkin’s line). Obviously they aren’t in the class of those that I mentioned but they sure are entertaining to watch.
• Speaking of Kesler, he’s been play some very good hockey of late after a tough start. Very good to see. Hopefully Burrows can get it going much in the same way soon.
• Even though Mathieu Schneider didn’t do much last night, he played with so much poise and fluidity (is that a word?), which is a nice change of pace from the “hot potato” play that some our defencemen partake in.
• Like I mentioned after the last four or five games, Luongo’s game is coming along just fine. Actually, I would venture to say that his game is back now.
• I’m liking the way Alexandre Bolduc has looked in his stint up. I find his skating to be much better than Tanner Glass’ and  I really believe he should stay up in place of Tanner once that decision has to be made. Not that impressed with Tanner Glass.
• Sergei Shirokov didn’t standout to me that much. However, he did have one shift (in the second period I believe), where he buzzed around like a bee in the offensive zone. I saw that from him in the preseason but not in the regular season. The hope is that he does that more in future games because he can be effective doing that.

In closing, another win, another solid Luongo performance and another great showing by the Kesler threesome. I can’t help but think how good things will be when Daniel returns and the first line gets firing on all cylinders as well.

I really do not get some of the people that follow this team. Many are so clueless that they latch on to the popular opinion and just roll with it. It’s just pathetic. (This paragraph is not meant to be a swipe at Tony because he’s usually the opposite of the popular opinion).

Yesterday, the Canucks didn’t play a good game but they did pick up two points. In the third period, it was obvious that they were trying to sit on the one goal lead and if it wasn’t for their defensive clearing follies, it would have been a good plan. 

How you can write stuff like Tony did, is beyond me:

That’s what hockey fans in Vancouver got here Saturday afternoon with a visit from the Toronto Maple Leafs and to describe this as anything but absolute rubbish would be to ignore what unfolded at GM Place.

This was easily the Vancouver Canucks’ worst performance of the season by a wide margin and after 10 games, a pattern is beginning to emerge that presents a profoundly disturbing picture to anyone who happens to have paid for season tickets.

First off, I found the game pretty entertaining. Because of the giveaways, there were lots of scoring chances and good saves. It was a close game with a good atmosphere. And maybe, just maybe, the Leafs played their best game of the year.

Secondly, I find calling it the Canucks’ worst performance a bit of a hyperbole. I don’t know about you but I was more upset with their dismal starts in the Calgary games which really should have never happened. A game versus Calgary, a division rival = no excuse to come out flat. A game against the last place Leafs, an Eastern Conference foe = well you know.

And let’s give Grabner, Kesler, and Raymond their due. They had a pretty damn good game and carried the play most of the time they were on the ice. Let’s be thankful that they are carrying the team because there have been games this year where no line showed up.

Henrik had his worst game. He’s allowed a pass every now and then, no? Burrows hasn’t been playing that great of late. You had to expect a regression from him at some point, no? There’s no way he would be able to keep up his play from last year on a consistent basis. If he did, he’d be a $5,000,000 player, not a $2,000,000 one. And let’s not forget about Daniel. A couple games you can get away without him but sooner or later it’s going to catch up. Welcome to that time. Once Daniel returns, that line will be fine and if the Kesler line can keep it up then we will be rolling two solid lines. Think positve!

Now let’s talk about Luongo. The way Roberto played is how he needs to play. Many people are missing the fact that Roberto needs to win games for the Canucks and he did so last night. Again, I’d much rather see Roberto on his game, getting the win, than the way the Calgary or Columbus games unfolded.

So come on people, there were times this year to ride the team hard but last night wasn’t one of them. Did they play their best game? No. Was it their worst performance of the season? Not in my view.

By the way, Shirokov has been called up and Kyle Wellwood is out for three weeks with a broken toe. Too many broken bones on this team, these guys should start drinking milk. hehehe.

Now, my thoughts on the game…

• Mason Raymond and Michael Grabner had a great game tonight. Along with Kesler, they created like 85% of the scoring chances for the Canucks. Solid game by them.
• Roberto Luongo played great. He’s had two damn good games (vs. Leafs, vs. Hawks) and two pretty good games (vs. Wild, vs. Oilers) in the last four. The team goes as Louie goes so his play of late is definitely good news.
• I thought Shane O’Brien and Willie Mitchell had good games on the back-end. Shane used his size to out-muscle the Leafs and both him and Willie were pretty good with the stick.
• The Sedin line was invisible tonight. In fact, Burrows and Henrik haven’t been playing good hockey the last few games. It’s very apparent that they both are missing Daniel quite a bit.
• 5-on-5, the Leafs out played the Canucks. That’s a little alarming but maybe the Leafs did play their best game of the year and seeing how Vancouver won, it’s alright.
• There were far too many turnovers in their own end by the Canucks. Against more skilled teams that’s going to kill you. If they play like they did tonight against Edmonton, they won’t win.
• Remember when the Canucks were coming off that week-long break and came out sluggish against Calgary? The Leafs sure didn’t show any signs of that. It’d be nice for the Canucks to come out of long breaks like that.

It was a pretty entertaining game, though. I like the way Louie is coming along and I like the way the second line is playing of late. If they can get another line firing on all cylinders as well then good things will happen.