Blue Jackets take it in OT 3-2

We lost this one in OT and are still in 7th position in the Western conference.. for now. Aaron Miller, mr. funny man was back in the line up (welcome back!) and Sami Salo led all defencemen with 24:25 in TOI.

Aside: Todd Bertuzzi was engaged in fisticuffs with Dion Phaneuf in the Anaheim/Calgary game tonight and Bert got a game misconduct for not doing his tie downs correctly. Sigh.

Thank you Matt Cooke and Michelle Cooke!

Matt Cooke has been traded to the Washington Capitals for Matt Pettinger.

Nonis and Vigneault have both mentioned how good Cooke has been for the community but are Canucks fans aware of what he has done? Garry Raible's Q&A from the Canucks Magazine Dec 20, 2007 gives a little insight.. Here's a link to the Cooke Family's charity website and media page:Cooke Family Foundation of Hope.

Twenty-nine years old, with 9 years of loyal service. You sure don't enter into this occupation for job security, eh? Well, Matt Cooke, thank you for your heart, your loyalty, and putting your body on the line for the team throughout the years! A huge hug goes out to you!!! *HUG* Good luck! Your home is always here.

Henrik Sedin and Mattias Ohlund

Man, I don't think I have problems telling the Sedins apart when they're together but when they're apart, it's a little harder.. Here's a great photo by Jeff Vinnick of a Sedin and Mattias Ohlund during the father/son road trip (apparently neither the Sedins nor Ohlund had a family member present). During my search as to visual clues to tell the difference, I found this 2006 article by ESPN's David Amber which had some pretty funny quotes.

Q: Last season, you played with Anson Carter on a line affectionately called "The Brothers Line." How did he influence you on and off the ice?

Daniel: He helped keep us focused. He told us to have fun, but he was also really prepared, he would always watch loads of tape before games, working on the power play and things like that.

Henrik: Off the ice, he tried to get us into hip-hop music and things like that. We tried to do our hair in dreadlocks like his, but it didn't work out [laughs].

Edit: I was pretty sure it was Henrik and now I'm EVEN MORE pretty sure. hahahaha.

Vancouver 4-1 against Detroit

Is our season high for straight wins seriously just 4 games?! Ouch. Anyway, the open practice is today. Hopefully people can get some good pics!

WRT last night's game, though I feel bad for Detroit's injury list, that's the way the cookie crumbles. So WOOHOO to a 4-1 game Vancouver! Markus Naslund played despite a nagging groin injury and Mattias Ohlund played though suffering from the flu. Kevin Bieksa's 2nd game back in the line up had him skating a 25 minute night.

Here's a nice profile shot of Alexander Edler from the All Stars.

Trevor Linden, we love you!

Iain MacIntyre's article was a tear jerker.

We better win the Cup this year for Trevor.

All Canucks fans should think positive thoughts for the Canucks to win the Cup this year. If this is going to be Trevor Linden's year, then this better damn well be the year we win the Stanley Cup. If anyone deserves to hold up the Cup, it's Trevor Linden!!! :'(

A win in Minnesota! 3-2 OT

Lots of news out today: 1. We won 3-2 OT against Minnesota. (Good game to be at, eh M?) 2. Lukas Krajicek will be out for the season after he undergoes shoulder surgery (WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!) 3. Peter Forsberg isn't coming back to the NHL this season after all due to his foot 4. the Dice and Ice dancing is up on canucks.com (See Part V) and 5. Jeff Vinnick's photos of the Canucks and their Dads are posted too.

I swear, they had to have had a few beers before doing any of those dance moves. Edler's break dancing and Bourdon's booty rolls had me howling though. Anyway, tonight's win felt really satisfying. When I saw Ohlund heading to the front of the net, I knew we were going to score.

Wow! What an exciting game!

I really enjoyed that! I have no idea where all that aggression came from though. Is it the frustration of both teams for having such bad luck throughout the season? When teams are so physical that they take out each other's players, it really should be those in Cup contention, not the bottom dwellers though. :|

Here's a random photo of Bertuzzi checking Ohlie in 2007. It's so weird to be seeing ex-Canucks in different uniforms.

Happy St. Valentine's Day..

I can't remember if I've done anything on the blog WRT Valentine's Day before. Anyway, Happy Valentine's Day!

A letter to the puck gods.. Dear Puck Gods, please bless my team, the Vancouver Canucks. They've been injured and have been trying really hard. It would really be nice to make it to the playoffs, blow everyone out of the water and then win the Stanley Cup. Thank you. Amen.

Being ugly just doesn't pay..

Being attractive gets you benefits.

OK. I suppose I knew that but I've never really had to think about it before. It was interesting listening to other interviewers after this one particular interview though. One person admittedly discounted this one well qualified applicant due to her dowdy appearance. Not to her face but it still surprised me. Aren't clients and employers supposed to be more interested in your capacity, character and personality rather than your looks?

Anyway, that didn't shock me as much as the headline for this career article, "Cosmetic Surgery for Career Advancement," by M. Douglas on monster.ca. Are people recognizing surgery as a venue for increasing the chances for a higher paycheque?
Snippet:

Just how big a role does “attractiveness” play in your career and life?...

* A person with below-average looks tended to earn 9% less per hour, and an above-average looking person tended to earn 5% more per hour than an average-looking person, after controlling for other variables, such as education and experience. This ‘plainness penalty’ and ‘beauty premium’ exist across all occupations. (Study by Daniel Hamermesh & Jeff Biddle)

* Unattractive men earned 15% less than those deemed attractive, while ‘plain’ women earned 11% less than their more attractive counterparts. What’s more, the possibility of a male attorney attaining early partnership directly correlates with how handsome he is. (“Beauty, Productivity and Discrimination: Lawyers’, Looks and Lucre.” Study by Daniel Hamermesh & Jeff Biddle)

* Tall people earn considerably more money throughout their careers than their shorter coworkers. Each inch adds roughly an extra $1,000 a year in pay, after controlling for education and experience. In other words, if you’re six feet tall, you probably earn about $6,000 more than your equally qualified 5-foot-6-inch colleague down the hall. (Study by Timothy Judge & Daniel Cable)

* Overweight women are more likely to be unemployed. Employed women, who are considered obsess (according to their Body Mass Index) earn 17% less than women within their recommended BMI range. (“The Economic Reality of the Beauty Myth.” Study by Susan Averett and Sanders Korenman)

Stats are often manipulated to suit the writer's purpose so take it with a grain of salt. Anyway, if pretty people really are pre-destined for a better life and better pay, maybe that's why people in Vancouver makes shitty wages. ha. ha. ha.

It looked like something from a movie..

If you haven't seen it yet, here it is (without the blood) and subsequent player interviews. Richard Zednik's carotid artery (neck) was severed by Jokinen's skate. After a rush to the hospital and 3.5 hours of surgery, he's in stable condition, thankfully. Colin Campbell was in the audience and consulted with Bettman as to whether or not to cancel the game but the game continued after they heard Zednik was stable. How bizarre that the last similar incident also involved the Sabres in Buffalo in 1989...

Ohlund back and Canucks reactions to Forsberg rumours

Wowsa. Watched Sportsnet Connected and saw the little post game interview snippet of Vigneault.

".. Mattias had to go home for a family medical reason, and for him to take the red-eye last night to come here and play says so much about that individual and how much he cares about his teammates. I think that was a huge lift for us.. I'm really pleased to be his coach because he's a top notch competitor."

I'm not sure whether that's a dig onto other team members or positive reinforcement or genuine praise.. Anyway, guessing by his reputation for off the cuff comments, let's take that as genuine praise... and let's hope things are ok for the Ohlund family! =)

As for Peter Forsberg coming to Vancouver, is anyone really holding their breath that he's be coming to Vancouver? I'm not. Brad Zeimer's National Post article has some interesting Swedish Canucks quotes. Naslund:

"I'd be surprised if he did come here.. I just think the familiarity of going back to a team he played for before, I would assume that would be a good chance. But who knows? ..... He likes [our] team. Us with a healthy team, I think we're up there with the best in the league, especially if we were to add a guy like that ... There's obviously a lot of teams that would love to have him, but I think we need him and I think we'd be a great fit for him."

I wonder whether we could have a chemistry between Markus and Peter like we do with the Sedins playing with each other. Sigh *dreaming*.

I do like this quote from Forsberg's agent, Don Baisley, taken from Elliott Pap's article in the Sun yesterday,

"We're just not in a position to say anything more than what's already out there. Peter is skating in Sweden and he's going to have to make a decision probably some time soon... I think if I start to comment, I'm dead."

Rumours abound with absence of Ohlund

So after an accidental removal of Ohlund's name off the canucks.com roster, the trade rumours and speculation flew. Thank goodness I was offline for the most of it. As there is no news as to which defensemen are going to show up for the Thrashers game tomorrow, it looks like things are going to stay at status quo. Ohlund's situation must be fairly serious so I hope things are ok.

Aside: CDC Feb wallpaper is Mattias Ohlund. Also, here's a recent video on the Globe and Mail talks about hockey and keeping hydrated.

GAK! Our blueline has disappeared!!!

Vancouver Canucks injuries:

Vancouver: D Mattias Ohlund (personal), D Aaron Miller (foot) and D Sami Salo (back) are questionable. D Lukas Krajicek (shoulder), D Willie Mitchell (back), C Brendan Morrison (wrist) and D Kevin Bieksa (leg) are out.

Ohlund's back in Vancouver for personal reasons and Miller's foot got busted while blocking a shot.

OK. Trying not to hyperventilate...

Aside: Did you know that overbreathing (too much oxygen) is the cause of hyperventilation symptoms and that the reason for the paper bag is so you can breathe in your own carbon dioxide?

Oops, maybe a blog post is in order

So! How about those Canucks? Everyone's a bit disappointed and frustrated that their hard work is not paying off. Mais, c'est la vie. Puck luck comes and it goes, you know?

Boo on Florida for booing Luongo... not to mention the flat screen tv promo. Tacky. Good on Kuzma for giving media props to Naslund. And this snippet from Brad Ziemer's article made me chuckle..

Mattias Ohlund thinks the Vancouver Canucks will persevere and break out of their second-half slump. The question is, will Ohlund keel over from exhaustion before that happens.

Mattias Ohlund does not keel over thankyouverymuch. Though these past couple of games without Willie Mitchell have put Ohlie logging 25-30+ minutes, it does not mean those minutes are unusual or are beyond him. The only reason why he isn't doing those minutes this season is because of the entrance of Willie Mitchell (who we all love by the way - here's to a speedy recovery). The fact that he can do those minutes shows his conditioning. Ok, maybe I'm a bit biased. This is the Mainly Mattias Ohlund blog, after all. chuckle.
But it's TRUE.