Chairman Maouth

In other words, at least I'm being mature about it. Canucks announcer says - "Canucks defenceman Sauve clears the puck." I thought - WTF? Who the hell is Sauve and where the f*** did he come from?

They just showed number 13 depth defenceman Evan Oberg on the Canucks pre-game show. He looked a lot like this.

Oh it's all good. I have to make jokes about it at this point. It was comical after the Ballard and Hamhuis injuries, then Alberts... with Bieksa now it's moved towards the ridiculous. The guys on Vancouver sports radio have pretty much stopped analyzing things now. When you tune in chances are you'll probably just hear a bunch of nutty laughter with no commentary whatsoever. It's like some sort of weird MP3 on endless repeat. But you've got to wonder how Christian Erhoff feels at the moment -- probably like the second to last camper alive in a slasher movie.

Well out of our top 6, 4 are out and one (Salo) is still working himself back into the lineup after being out nearly a year. We're running on less than a third of our cylinders at the moment. Additionally, guys we've brought up to replace the injured have also been injured. Now I believe we're at number 13 on the depth chart with first year AHL pro Evan Oberg getting the callup tonight because of Bieksa's injury. If we don't have some guys returning before the next time we play the Wings, the Wings are gonna be eying up our defense like a biker gang eyes up a room full of virgins.

As you recognized, I was referring to what we know at this point, not what we're speculating on when it comes to the playoffs. I think I backed up my assertion that the Canucks are very deep fairly well up above. And your point about the Canucks, Wings and Flyers -- I couldn't agree with more. I just heard on the radio that the Canucks are the number one favourite to win the cup in Las Vegas, but I don't agree. I can't honestly pick a favourite over the Canucks, Wings and Flyers. Anaheim is beginning to scare me a little too. The Canucks and Flyers are currently the two strongest teams in the NHL, but the Wings can never be counted out. Any team with Holland at the helm, Babcock in the middle and Lindstrom on the back end deserves a great deal of respect; not to mention their history of being able to bring the cup home. For that reason I give the Wings just as much chance as the Canucks or the Flyers.

Not going to be any trades in Vancouver. While the current injuries rival anything I've ever seen before, all D-men are expected back by the playoffs.

Canucks do have secondary scoring. Luongo/Schneider will be fine. Hopefully the D will all be back in time. I think you meant "possible", not probable. I don't think the Canucks probably will win the cup. Odds are against any one team winning when the playoffs start. I do think they've got a shot though. I don't recall anywhere that I said we are the "chosen ones" or anything like that. I'm very busy today. Sorry I couldn't elaborate more.

There are 5 Canucks in 11 positions in 8 categories in the top 5 of NHL stats. In contrast, the next closest team (Anaheim), has 3 players in 5 positions followed by Tampa with two players in 4 positions. The Canucks occupy more of the popular NHL stats than the second and third teams combined. If you want to make it exact you can add Detroit to Anaheim and Tampa and that will match the Canucks. In addition, all three of the major team disciplines are represented: offence, defence, and goaltending. If that's not indicative of a dominating and deep team I don't know what is. The "evidence":

No problem.

Yes he's one point behind Stamkos with 73 points -- but if you notice in the part that you highlighted that I said goal scoring. Kesler leads the Canucks in goals with 33.

Messier was a cancer to the Canucks organization and was present through the three darkest years of the Canucks franchise. I swear to God that if I ever see a guy wearing a Canucks Messier jersey I will offer him $1,000 just so I can get it out of circulation. Then I will light it on fire and piss on it. Finally, I will bury it out back in the compost heap for the worms to do the rest. And I ain't kidding. Messier was all about Messier and getting a fat paycheck when he was here. He didn't care who he hurt or whose toes he stepped on or whose careers he f***ed up. Messier was not about the team. Messier was about Messier. Piss on Mark Messier. (I just reread those two paragraphs and I'm a little concerned that I didn't get my point across quite strong enough)

Then you're not following it well. Playing against Clarke taught me that there was a compete level and desire to win that went way beyond anything I had ever experienced before. If Clarke's actions on the ice could instill that kind of knowledge in me then it could certainly rub off against players of any level, including his teammates. If they're smart enough to realize it, they have been taught that there is a level of desire to win that goes way beyond what they've probably had within themselves in the past and they have room to up their game to a whole new level. This is about the level of desire to succeed, not about tactics.

As a 14 year old I played against Clarke in an exhibition game when he was in his prime with the Flyers. I'm surprised he didn't do that to me. He sure as s*** high sticked and speared me. You've got to understand that he just doesn't care. If he was on the ice it was all personal and he had to win no matter who he was playing against. That's part of being a good leader in my opinion.

Better, and faster to load. Thanks Matt.

NHL teams are not static entities where a long record of not winning any cups has any effect on a current team. Chicago last year is a good example. In addition, in the last two and a half years Mike Gillis has totally revamped the culture of the Canucks. Speaking of Chicago, there were simply a better team last year, particularly when the injuries to the Canucks blueline are taken into account. Our defence was as decimated by game 6 last year as it is right now. I know though, that's a little comical considering the current state of affairs of the Canucks defence. As I said above though - most, if not all should be back for the playoffs. But I digress, the Canucks are simply a much improved team this year over last. Your final sentence is impossible to argue with though. Did you just zone on what I said here? If averaging more than a point per game each of the last two playoffs is not showing up, you're right. That's two years - 4 series. The Sedin's bump in playoff production has coincided with their rise to the upper levels of play during the NHL regular season. But your point about them not being the leading scorer is well-taken. Hell, neither of them are even the leading goal scorer on the Canucks at the present time. Anyone who follows the Canucks who sees that as a bad thing and doesn't recognize that as pretty good depth is out of his mind. Simply put, the Canucks are deeper than any other team in the league, current injuries not withstanding. And we've already passed 11.

If averaging more than a point per game each the last two playoffs is not showing up, you're right. The Canucks are offensively challenged - the Sedins are ghosts in the playoffs. Sheesh - I thought you guys were knowledgeable around here.

Suggesting that a team is offensively challenged when it leads the league in goals scored is like telling someone who doesn't know any better that Yao Ming is "not a midget". And I assume you're talking about the Sedins and Kesler? Burrows has started scoring a great deal more and is currently on the NHL's longest point streak, Sammy (you remember him) is also hot with something like 16 points in his last 9 games. Mason Raymond is also racking up the points. The Canucks also lead the league in GF/GA differential by a fairly wide margin and have the best powerplay in the league. Again, suggesting that the Canucks are offensively challenged borders on the ludicrous. The offense of the Canucks is the least of our worries. With the current injuries we have on defence we are undoubtedly going to take a hit in the standings. Before last nights game we were also first in goals against but that is pretty obviously going to take a hit in the near future. I don't really care if the Wings pass us -- all I really care about is that we have our injured defencemen back in time for the playoffs. They are expected to all return, and if the stars align and they do, we will ice our best defence lineup all year at the perfect time. If we can improve on a defence that has already led the league in GA this year, then the Canucks will be formidable in the playoffs. As for Luongo, he's played 6 playoff series in three separate years and has a 2.55 GAA and a .919 save percentage. Very respectable numbers. And that's not to mention the fact that he's having his best year since 2007 when he was the only reason the offensively challenged Canucks made it two rounds deep into the playoffs in the first place.

I know what you're doing there. That's a bad sign slogan you're practicing for a potential Canucks/Wings playoff matchup. Not sure how you can suggest the Canucks choke a lot when they've traditionally been a low to mid playoff seed and have lost mainly to teams that went on to win the cup or teams that were better than them; the exception being Minnesota in 2003. If they hang on and take the first seed in the west it will be the first time they've ever done that and the first time they're guaranteed to be facing teams with fewer points.

It's fortunate the Canucks have built up a healthy cushion on first in the west with four of the top 6 D-men currently out of the line-up leaving only Bieksa (having a great year) and Erhoff. However, Salo returns tomorrow, Hamhuis may not be far behind him, Ballard will be out for about another 2-3 weeks and Edler should be back for the playoffs. As for now, the Canucks have had a great surprise in the name of Chris Tanev who reminds me a lot of a young Edler. The guy came from totally off the grid just like Edler and Burrows. If all goes well the Canucks could ice their best D of the entire season just in time for the playoffs. Now you're up to date.

Do I have this right? All that the Hawks Guardian does is break wind?

No. It's laughable to suggest that Jackman was a bad Calder winner. He was extremely impressive in his first year in the league. I remember watching him play against the Canucks and thinking I was watching a future Norris candidate. As a matter of fact, that same year there were two teams I looked forward to playing more than any other; the Wings and Blues, and that was because of the battles that Bertuzzi had with Chelios and Jackman. Jackman was an outstanding Norris pick. He just failed to develop.

MELVILLE, N.Y. -- New York Islanders owner Charles Wang says he regrets buying the money-losing NHL team nine years ago. "If I had the chance I wouldn't do it again," Wang told Newsday. http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=4129484 Not the type of owner you want. He's essentially Nabokov in an expensive suit. Neither of them want to be an Islander.

I think it's arguable regarding who's screwing who. I'm sure Snow would prefer that Nabby report to the team and play rather than not. In my opinion, the only people being screwed are the Islanders and their fans (for many reasons of course). Also, if I were an Islander player I'd make a point of aiming high on Nabokov if I should ever face him again in the NHL. The rules are there and Snow made use of them. In my opinion the Islanders have far deeper problems than any potential fall-out from this situation; new ownership (Wang doesn't even want to be there) and a new arena for starters. Besides, I wouldn't be at all surprised if a lot of players are beginning to see Nabokov as a bit of a flake who can't make up his mind where he wants to play anymore and even in what league. The problem is, he's not in a position to call the shots anymore and not reporting to a team may not help with that judgement.

It was a smart move. Eva pointed out the reasons why in the first paragraph of her post. In addition (and for the OP specifically), it's not part of Garth Snow's mandate to take Red Wings fan's feelings into consideration when making decisions about the New York Islanders.