Life After Daniel
The sky may not be falling, but with Daniel Sedin back in Vancouver trying to figure out the extent of his brain damage, the Vancouver Canucks have won the two games in his absence.
All of a sudden the Canucks are just two points back of St. Louis for the conference title with six of seven games remaining at home.
They were right, March truly doesn’t matter at all (but have you seen the weather lately?)
All that remains now between the Vancouver Canucks and that long-awaited shot at redemption is some games with prospective playoff opponents in Colorado, LA, and Dallas.
Oh yeah, and with two games remaining against the Flames they hold the power to destroy Calgary’s fading playoff chances. Giddy up.
Let’s get to the Love Em/Hate Em.
Love ‘Em
1. Higs & Chrisses
Chris Higgins had the tying and winning goal in overtime as the forward continued his run of strong play.
The tying goal was a thing of beauty as Higgins snuck the puck just under the bar off a fantastic feed from Sammi Pahlsson who evidently hasn’t been told he’s supposed to be an offensive blackhole.
Felled by a broken foot in last year’s playoffs, Higgins could be a key contributor this Spring, providing he practices basic sanitary standards in regards to his equipment.
If the playoffs are the Oregon Trail, Chris Higgins definitely gets my vote for the Canuck who would die of dysentery.
2. A Little Bit of Jannik Hansen
Just before Higgin’s OT winner, the Honey Badger attacked Tyson Barrie with no remorse, freeing the puck and firing it through the legs of David Jones right to Higgins, who made no mistake for fear of angering Hansen and incurring his wrath.
Like Higgins, Jannik Hansen is another Canuck who had a fantastic start to the year only to trail off sometime around January, but we’ve all seen that Honey Badger video and we all know the Honey Badger eventually wakes up from the snake’s poison and continues on his business.
Welcome back Jannik Hansen, you sleepy ****.
Clik here to view.
When We Win. You Win! Avs tumbles. The girls remain! Awhaddup precious?
3. Macy!
Strangely, Mason Raymond is fitting in quite well on the top line and first powerplay unit. He might even save the Canucks season at this rate.
Really didn’t see this coming. Also not complaining.
God Speed Macer!
Hate ‘Em
1. Eastbound & Downie
Steve Downie is a name that will on everyone’s lips if the Canucks draw the Avalanche in the first round. I can almost see the scrums and altercations he’ll spark now.
The guy is the most annoying type of pest, one that can play. The Canucks should know, they have a few of them too.
I’m watching you Steve Downie.
2. This Division is Too Easy
Hear me out here. As the Canucks clinched yet another Northwest title on the back of Calgary’s loss to Dallas earlier in the day, there’s two ways you can look at it.
You can say, ” Hey cool, easy division means guaranteed playoffs and top seed.”
Or you can say, “Hey cool, easy division means inflating your record on 24 games against creampuffs who won’t be around to beat up on in the playoffs.”
Competition drives innovation, according to the Americans, and the emergence of a Northwest rival to push the Canucks wouldn’t be a horrible thing. It would definitely eliminate the lethargy experienced right now.
3. AV and his Monster
Watch this clip of Downie introducing himself to the Canucks.
Notice the hand of Alain Vigneault resting on Zack Kassian‘s shoulder.
If it doesn’t look a little like Krang holding back Rocksteady, I feel sorry for your childhood.
Why do I hate this? Because that hand and leash is going to disappear come playoff time, just not now and I really really want to see what this monster can do.
We’re so close, it’s almost here.