Shutout of Blue Jackets makes 3 for Louie

So Luongo's got himself a franchise record now: longest continuous time period without allowing a goal against. Aaron Portzline's article is a good feel read. A flukey goal leaves Mattias 1 away from tying Lumme for most goals scored by a Canucks defenceman. I'll try and find a vid cause nhl highlights doesn't seem to be showing it.

Here's some love for Markus Naslund. Larry Wigge NHL.com article excerpt:"There are less than a handful of players in this game who can take a play where there’s nothing – I mean no room, no pass, no shot, no play – and turn it into a scoring chance,” Crawford said. “That’s what the truly exceptional players like Markus can do for you. It’s a creativity that only that type of superstar can see ... and then have the ability to make it look easy.”

Well, Chicago looks good again

Not only is it a nice place to live, but now fans can get some quality hockey there now too (again). The Blackhawks, surprisingly, aren't the lowliest of the original six anymore. Now, they are in playoff contention leaving Toronto in the dust.

Nice to see Brent Sopel again. I always wonder if the guys get together for a drink after the game when old teammates roll into town. Salo's playing big minutes despite just coming back from a serious injury and surgery - 26. Trevor Linden had some decent minutes too - 14.

Oh! and here's an Ohlund sighting.. although I'm pretty sure Ohlie has a son and daughter so the blogger may have made a mistake in identification.. =P I love this part though:

Did I mention that he looked really good? <3 Oh, and I touched his credit card! ... I sound like a crazy.

Ohlund, quote from Kuzma's article:
"We put up a few Christmas trees and I skated here in the mornings, but it was weird week not being a part of it," he said of missing the three-game road trip in which the Canucks went 1-1-1."

Mattias Ohlund returns Sunday

Welcome back Ohlie! Hope you had a nice vacation!

Usually I post stuff that I find on Ohlie because if it's in the media, then it's public knowledge and fair game. There was a Q&A on Ohlund that was verging on being too personal I felt, however. So, instead of the article link, here's a photo of Mattias Ohlund, instead!

Blues still stumping us

Well, what a week! It started with Mattias getting that suspension and Krajicek coming back early, then continued with high drama with Minnesota and Naslund getting his hat trick (woo hoo!), then ending off with getting pummeled in St. Louis. I guess signing Sanford didn't end our routine losses to the Blues after all. =P

I'll be happy come Sunday when Mattias comes back into the lineup!

On an aside, here's an article that made me laugh. With my distaste for social networking sites like the dreadful FB, I'm actually wondering if this would be a perfect solution for the FBing that's plaguing the office. Heh heh. "Wanna be my FRIEND??"

The infamous Koivu/Ohlund incident

Well, someone finally posted the vid. I think that with all of the stricter enforcement of rules, NHL players are finding more subtle ways to show their displeasure in the game: properly timed words, trips, slashes and elbows. Things that fly under the radar. I think I would have preferred Ohlie going after Koivu rather than that instinctive slash. So does he, probably, in retrospect. However, maybe this will bring the elbowing to the head to the attention of the league and potentially make it a penalized offence.

UPDATE: So Ohlie's getting a 4 game suspension without pay. There was some opinion that he should've been out for at least 3 so as to not be present during the next Minnesota game on Wednesday. I guess the NHL went along with that. Koivu's fibula was cracked so he won't be playing until the crack fills in (approximately a week) - Youngblood's article in the Minnesota Star Tribune.

6-2 against Minny... *wide eyes*

Man, of all of the games to miss! Going out and being seated at the table furthest away from the tv during a game like this is horrible! *sob* So.. apparently Luc Bourdon got his first goal, Mattias Ohlund set tongues wagging with his retaliation slash to Mikku Koivu's elbow to his face and we scored 6 goals against Minnesota! MINNESOTA...

ADD ON: So! Mattias Ohlund was named the 1st star and had the game winning shot. I hope that they post this game in full on Google video.

So Sami Salo will now wear a visor

Here's a quote from Sami Salo from Ziemer's article in the Sun today:

"I want to protect my eyes. You can always fix noses and cheekbones, but you can't fix your eyes. I don't want to be in a vulnerable position if I don't wear a visor and the puck hits my eye. I'm not worried about my face and nose."

Losing a sense, even temporarily is quite a scare. Health is one of those things that you take for granted when you have it. Having it threatened really puts things in perspective.

You didn't think the NHL was about winning, did you?

I'm quite surprised to see NHL team values published for free by Forbes. This is an enlightening Forbes article, which goes into the NHL franchises turning from being in the red to being in the black after the salary cap. Near the end of the article is a brief observation that profitable teams don't win Stanley Cups and non-profitable teams do.

Considering that the Vancouver Canucks (worth $211 million) are a profitable franchise (made more so by the salary cap and the rising Canadian dollar), it makes me question whether we'll ever see the Stanley Cup.

Here's an interesting snippet from Nathan Vardi's article focused on the Toronto Maple Leafs:

To the most rabid hockey fans in toronto, Richard Peddie, chief executive of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, is a bum. The Toronto Maple Leafs, the company's biggest asset, are off to another mediocre start this season, with a 5-5 won-lost record. The team hasn't won the Stanley Cup since 1967; in the four decades since the last Cup, the Maple Leafs have won 1,298 regular season games and lost 1,378.

But in the eyes of the owners, Peddie is a hero. In nine years running the parent corporation of the Maple Leafs, Peddie, 60, has created quite a silk purse, tripling the enterprise value of the privately held company to $1.5 billion through clever marketing and shrewd dealmaking. (Enterprise value is the market value of a business' equity, plus its interest-bearing debt, minus its cash equivalents.) Of this sum the hockey team accounts for $413 million of value, according to FORBES' estimate. We figure the next most valuable hockey franchise is the New York Rangers, worth $365 million.

How can one of the National Hockey League's sad sacks be the most valuable franchise in the sport? The answer lies in the fact that sports valuations are founded on more than championships; they are also a function of player costs, stadium real estate and the population of the home market. Peddie, of course, is acutely aware that the fans don't put much stock in economics. "My fear," he says, "is that people will say, 'Sure you increased enterprise value, but you never won anything.'"

Unlike most sports teams, the Maple Leafs are not a plaything of the rich nor an excuse to fill airtime by a media conglomerate; it's controlled by 271,000 teachers, principals and administrators, active and retired. The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan owns 58% of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, and it's thrilled with Peddie's management.

A dose of early Sedins

So their 'dancing Swedish twins' commercial apparently wasn't their first foray into commercials.. Here is a Swedish commercial that they did during their MoDo days (pre 2000).

Mattias Ohlund's reflections on Mark Messier

With Mark Messier's induction into the Hockey Hall of fame came several articles. One of which included an Ohlund quote on Mark Messier (Elliott Pap's article yesterday):

"I came in the same year as Mark and, with him being the high profile guy he was, he obviously took a lot of the blame for the stuff that went on here," current Canuck Mattias Ohlund said this week.

Ten years later, Ohlund chooses to recall Messier's positives rather than the many negatives of the day. He also remembers his first time meeting the Moose.

"Was I intimidated? Absolutely," Ohlund smiled. "I was 20 years old and just over from Sweden. I remember our first training camp in Whistler, the first day, he invited me to play golf with him, his dad and his brother. Mark was someone who really looked after the younger guys. As a teammate, he was very classy and I'm honoured to have played for one of the all-time bests. I have nothing but good things to say about him."

Now that they're the veterans, Markus Naslund and Mattias Ohlund have continued that class and support in their treatment of the younger guys too.

I found this Swedish blog posting which also showed that Messier had positives to say about Ohlund too.. (I can't quite determine the source though. By the way, a translation would be nice if anyone has the time.)

Can you drown in Taylor Pyatt's eyes..?

Well you'll get the chance on Tuesday if you're willing to take the day off. Taylor Pyatt will be at the Canucks store after practice on Nov 13 from 12:15 - 1:15. I guess everyone has to do their obligatory appearance to push the Canucks brand name. =P

Tonight's game was another winner.. but this time at home! 2-1 Canucks in OT. Oh, and yay, I finally found my Mattias Ohlund audio! Ever since the Canucks went to the new nhl website template, all the Ohlund audio links have stopped working. Anyway, once I find a way to upload the mp3s, it'll be back on the site.

Trevor Linden holds assists record for Canucks

Trevor Linden needed 1 assist to overtake Stan Smyl in all time Canucks assists and he got it tonight despite the 5:29 ice time he got. I missed Mattias getting his 200th assist last Saturday but he is now 3rd in Canucks defenceman assists.

Overall, tonight's game against Calgary (3-2 Vancouver)was pretty exciting. A nice welcome home after my drought of hockey. I see Hansen and Edler are back in the lineup - and Bourdon! It was a little surprising to see Ohlie physically involved. That Phaneuf is such a punk. Just for messing up Ohlund's hair, I'm going to post this lovely memory again...

In other news, Eric Lindros officially retired tonight.
Also, here's an interesting article from Tony Gallagher.

Is there a pox on the Canucks?

HOLY COW! 2 weeks gone and the team is in shambles and there are execution style murders abound in Vancouver!?! Yikes.

Poor Sami Salo - right after coming back after a broken wrist, Edler's puck caught him in the face and crushed his nose and sinuses. Surgery was required and his expected date back is 6 weeks. If it wasn't bad enough that Kevin Bieksa was playing poorly (maybe due to mysterious abdominal issues), he is out too.. but for 8 weeks. Some guy stepped on his calf and the skate blade did a bit of slicing of skin and muscle. Eww. Kind of like the eww of the sliced off bit of finger of Baumgartner from a couple of years ago. Lucas Krajicek hopefully will be the one soonest to be back. Fracturing his ankle while going to dinner.. I wonder if his insurance will cover that. Maybe he can sue the restaurant or the City. =P

Mattias Ohlund (from Pap's article):

I don't know if upset is the right word, but we're pretty disappointed with the way things have gone so far. The one thing you do learn after a few years is to put yesterday behind you. Sometimes all it takes is a good game or a couple of wins and you get the feeling back. It can change quickly.