Mattias Ohlund hit in the neck.. not

I was coming home in the lovely weather we've all been enjoying and heard on News 1130 that Mattias Ohlund was hit in the neck during practice this morning. Not sure if that means anything in terms of his playing or not though.

EDIT: Actually, I must've heard wrong. I read in the Province that it was Luongo who got hit in the neck by a puck shot by Ohlund.

Markus Naslund with Murph

Poor Markus Naslund. I swear, he must get tired night in and night out answering the questions of how badly the Canucks played and what they need to do better. Tonight he scored the lone goal for the Canucks and Luongo shut out Columbus. At the end of Naslund's interview with Dan Murphy, Dan commented the he looked like a fighter (referring to the mysterious streak of dried blood down Markus' chin). That broke Markus' interview mode and, flustered, he did an aww, schucks, yeah I do reply. What was really cute was when Murph told him to go clean up and he responded with a meek "OK, I will.." Like he was a young boy being scolded. lol.

Other news: Anson Carter was booed by our ever classy fans. Pronger and his Anaheim Ducks came back to take a win in his momentous return to Oil Country. Auldy played great tonight but let the shootout goal in to give the Habs a 1-0 victory over the Panthers.

Sweden is Finland's bullying big brother

From a CP article back in February when the Olympics were still in progress..

History favours Sweden, which has a 39-15-15 record against Finland in Olympic and IIHF world championship play.

But history is also what makes it somewhat of a grudge match. Several Finnish players described Sweden as being like a bit of a bullying big brother.

Centuries ago, Finland was part of a Swedish empire. And Finns learn Swedish in school, but Swedes don't bother to learn Finnish.

But if there is bitterness, if doesn't show on the surface. Selanne called it a "nice" rivalry.

"I think the culture, the history and the background make it special," he said. "They are like big brothers.

"They have always been a little better than us and that's why we want to beat them so badly. But what great guys they are. I have played with so many Swedes and I haven't met one bad guy yet. They're so nice and down-to-earth people."

The Finns won the 1995 world championship In Sweden. Sweden beat Finland in the 1998 world championship final. In the quarter-finals of the 2003 worlds in Helsinki, Finland led 5-1 before a packed arena only to see Forsberg, Mats Sundin and the Swedes roar back for a 6-5 victory.

One Finnish reporter called it his country's worst sports disaster ever.

"It was a long time ago and I think this team is way better than at that time," said Selanne. "I don't think anybody's thinking about that any more."

A Pretty Productive Trip from Sweden..

I found this photo album of this person from Sweden who went to America in 2005 and got autographs from Naslund, the Sedins and of course, Mattias Ohlund.

So let's not talk about tonight's game

Yikes. Well since I last posted, we won in OT in Detroit and lost in Nashville. I guess the only semi-good thing is that Mattias Ohlund came out with an even plus/minus in tonight's game.

Now, 3 points separate the top (Minnesota) and bottom (Colorado.. for now) of the NW division.

Some cool news: The Mattias Ohlund Appreciation Page is now listed as a link on the Canucks fan links page.

Jarkko Ruutu: before and after!?!

So Jarkko Ruutu's brother, Tuomo played well in yesterday's game (2-1 Vancouver). Which, of course, prompted me to see how Jarkko was doing. I found this Finnish article on Jarkko but I have no idea what it says. It looks pretty interesting though.. lol.

Took a look to see how we were faring in the standings and 5 points separate the division leader, Minnesota, and current bottom, Colorado. 5 points! Good but tough hockey in the Northwest...

Old Canuck fan sites still up

Here are a few galleries that probably were all the rage in 1998, for the few Canucks fans that were online at the time. I see that there were a few Mattias Ohlund fans back then too.

Janice's Canucks Photo Gallery
Clearly Canucks Gallery
Number1canuckfan's gallery
Canuck_angels' gallery
Canucksfan604's gallery

What was with the white glove anyway?

I had a silver glove just like Michael Jackson when I was a youngun'. Oh yeah, I was a fan. Here's the moonwalk in Billie Jean! You know who reminds me of Michael? Justin Timberlake, surprisingly enough. Here he is beatboxing in Rock Your Body.

A win! A win!

.. and all of Vancouver/BC breathes a big sigh of relief. Oh thank GOD!

4-2 Vancouver over a tired St. Louis team. Too bad Naslund didn't get his hat trick. That would have been nice. My favourite part of the game was actually Jim Hughson's comment late in the third after the 4th goal was scored, "For the first time Vancouver can relax.." He pauses and then as he watches the puck pass across Luongo, concludes.. ".. maybe." John Garrett pipes in with, "Yeah, MAYBE." LOL

Mattias Ohlund was a plus/- 1, played 24 minutes and had a couple of assists. A good night. That'll do.. That'll do.

The 2 man screen... hilarious!

Other than Salo's humour and the Burrows/Bourdon 'pie'ing, this was the other highlight of the Canucks Skills Competition: the two man screen.

A Markus Naslund headshot

So I normally hate posting headshots because they never turn out flattering. That's why it's so amusing to exchange driver's license and passport photos. Here's one of Markus and a rare one of him actually truly happy. I miss seeing him happy.

Is it my imagination or are we losing a lot?

CHUCKLE.

Well, Willie Mitchell came back to the blue line in tonight's Detroit game. We lost 2-3. He and Sami put up 23 minutes each (roughly) and Mattias Ohlund did 25 minutes. I never understand how I can never have a good estimate on his ice time. It's mind boggling.

Trevor Linden notched the 700 point for his career.

Can you believe this guy?

From Ben Kuzma's article in the Province today,

"Mattias Ohlund has shouldered a heavy load in the wake of injuries to Mitchell, Salo and Rory Fitzpatrick, but was burned Saturday by a hard-charging Jarome Iginla. The Flames captain blew past Lukas Krajicek and shoveled a backhander under Roberto Luongo while being mugged by Ohlund.

That's why Canucks coach Alain Vigneault is hopeful that Mitchell won't need much polishing once he practises with team.

"I'm thinking one practice and a morning skate and he should be fine," said Vigneault.

In Vigneault's playing days with the St. Louis Blues during the early 1980s, players often got their "bells rung." They would miss a shift or two and return to the game.

"If you had a headache the next morning, it was because you had too many beers," he said. "It's different today."

BURN! It's a happy day everyday for the press when they've got Alain on a mic. He's always got some non politically correct remark up his sleeve. So that's what everyone meant when they said, "You always know where you stand with Alain."

The Knights Who Say Ni!

Haha! Only in England would you find random Monty Python graffiti! Don't you love it?!

The Knights who say Ni demand .... a shrubbery! NI! ... it! NOoooooooooooooo!!!

Mattias Ohlund narf!

Just because we haven't had a pic in awhile.. heeere's Ohlund!

He, along with Naslund, Luongo and the Sedins were the only ones from the Canucks to make the ballots for the NHL All-Stars.

6-0 Loss to Ducks

Wow... just, wow. The game was painful to watch on so many counts. I did some reading while watching. When I looked up, I alternately saw traps, Canucks skating into each other and Ducks pounding Canucks. And when Canucks tried to throw hits of their own, they just bounced off their checks and fell down. If they weren't my team, I would have found it kinda funny actually.

Oh, and now that Mattias Ohlund is a -4 in plus/minus, it just renews the bash Ohlund debates once again. You just can't win in Vancouver. If I were a player, I'd consider the moderate weather, outdoor activities and food to be pros. Cons would include the rain, and the fans.

Coulombe up..

Here's Grant Kerr from the Globe & Mail,

The turnstile continues to revolve for the injury-plagued defence of the Vancouver Canucks with the recall of Patrick Coulombe and the assignment of Luc Bourdon to the Moncton Wildcats of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

Coulombe, 6 foot 1 and 190 pounds, was summoned yesterday from the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League, likely to replace Rory Fitzpatrick, the latest Canuck defenceman with an injury.

Fitzpatrick, with a sore ankle that required a magnetic resonance imaging test, joined Sami Salo and Willie Mitchell on the sideline, although Vancouver may get one of them back for today's home game against the Anaheim Ducks.

Bourdon, 19, was a major disappointment to the Canucks because he almost made the team the previous fall as an 18-year-old after he was selected in the first round of the 2005 National Hockey League entry draft. He played nine games this season and was pointless while averaging 7 minutes 59 seconds playing time. Bourdon's positioning was in question many games, which limited his ice time.

Coulombe, 21, is a much smaller defender than Bourdon, who is 6 foot 2 and 205 pounds.

Sigh. When 1 inch makes you "much smaller" *shake head* Only in the NHL.. and the NBA. lol.

I can't imagine Mattias Ohlund "gushing"

A 2-1 win at home against Dallas. I was staring open-mouthed at Bieksa's goal for a long time. "What the?" "How the..?" Then the camera turns to the bench and Mattias bringing Kevin Bieksa in for a close one. Hahahaha! Damn, wish there was a shot of that!

A snippet from Jason Botchford's article in the Province:

From Edler's first training camp last season, Ohlund has locked onto him like a university professor to his most-gifted student, guiding him, answering his questions (in Swedish) and opening those all-important doors to his potential.

"It's nice to have that Swedish guy there beside me," Edler said. "It was so nice to play with Ohlund. He's able to make me feel comfortable."

Edler was paired with Ohlund for most of his 25 shifts -- only three Canucks had more. Edler's play left the big, workhorse Swede gushing over his fresh-faced protege.

"I am extremely impressed with the way he's handled himself," said Ohlund, adding that it was what the Canucks needed with both Willie Mitchell and Sami Salo sidelined. "He played great. It's tough. I mean, this guy played junior hockey last year and he's come in the last two games and played extremely poised. I believe he's going to have a long future in the NHL. It's only a question of whether that future is going to start now. He has so much skill, he's going to be a really great player."

The knock on Edler has been he can't take a hit, but he brushed aside a huge one in the third period from Lindros and even laughed it off after the game.

"I got a couple hits from Lindros," Edler chuckled. "That one was a good hit. It wasn't to the head. I'm glad it wasn't to the head because that would have hurt -- really bad."

2-3 Loss in Colorado

After a hard fought game, we lost another. Theodore had a good game, good for him.

Mattias Ohlund was interviewed briefly by Mr. I can't pronounce Bieksa Remenda behind Trevor Linden during After Hours. Linden and Ohlund have been roommates for 5 years. I guess you can get to know a person really well after 5 years. Trevor joked around with Scott and Kelly, saying that he and Mattias now debate on all sorts of sports and that Mattias thinks that he knows a lot about basketball especially and thinks he's an excellent basketball player.

Kelly: "So is he a good basketball player?"
Trevor: "He thinks he is."
Kelly: "That wasn't my question!" (grinning)
Trevor: " Yes, yes, he is."

Full NHL games now on Google Video

Heard that full length NHL games are going to be available on Google Video now. Apparently they did a deal with the NHL. I checked it out today and there aren't too many Canuck games on there yet but there is Game 7 of the 1994 Playoffs. haha! but of course!

Ohlund in Yellow

Cool shot. Can't remember where I found this. Probaby a Swedish online newspaper. Google should have Swedish translation. Their online translator is in beta stages right now but is already blowing people away.

Mattias Ohlund scores against Nashville

Once again I was able to only see part of the game but I did catch a replay of Mattias Ohlund's goal. Actually I caught it many times and thought we scored a couple times.. oops. Unfortunately, we eventually lost to the Preds.

Here's Mattias Ohlund talking about the game. I don't think he was too happy. Especially when the first goal hit his stick and rebounded past Luongo.

Morrison played, Mitchell is still out and Vigneault just doesn't mince his words. He was quoted to say Mitchell's wife "talks too much." Wow. I'd be pretty steamed at that unnecessary comment. So now I know of no one who's escaped AV's criticism.