Can Lu stop this sinking ship?

LSF reported Luongo's Thursday return in yesterday's post, and NHL "On The Fly" didn't even report it until last night. Despite the hopes and dreams of every 7th Canuck around the land for Lu to turn around the ailing 'Nucks around before the break, is he the only reason that we've been stinking it up? It can't be. Last night was just another example of the recent struggles of my BC Boys, as they got pounded 5-3 by the Devils, in a game that gave the D's 2 goals with the Vancouver net minder not even standing between the pipes. 

After the game, newest Orca hero Mats Sundin pointed out how slow starts have been hurting the Blue & Green, "We all have to be better, including myself, and be ready at the start of the game. We play like we did in the second and third and we'll have a good chance to win." With Vancouver being down to the Sopranos 0-3 after the first 20 minutes, it is hard to argue with the assessment of the elder acquisition. By the way, this 'Nucks game was on Pay Per View, and we didn't nearly get a Pay Per View type performance. That's being kind. 1:05 into the match, Jason LaBarbera was out to play the puck behind the net, and the puck was stolen. Barbie got back around the net, but kind of slipped down as Rolston buried the game opening goal. Just over 2 minutes later, Manitoba Moose fan Travis Zajac took a hard shot at Barbie that bounced off and left our keeper kind of dazed, which easily allowed Minneapolis native Zach Parise to double up the Devils lead. Coachie V had seen enough and Barbie was out. Sanford came back in, with most thinking that he was playing for the chance to be the backup once Luongo comes back later this week. Guess what? At 11:07, Sanny went to play the puck behind the net, lost the puck, and couldn't get back around in front of net to make any kind of stop on the rubber. The fans at GM Place starting to boo, which only happens when things are really going bad. One thing to point out about this game is that there were no penalties in the first, and only 6 overall whistle blows through 60 minutes. I dig that. The second period saw things settle down, with my man and Pincourt, Quebec native Alex Burrows burying a huge board after a shot from Ryan Kesler. Clemmensen had no chance to stop good ol' AB, who brought the Canucks back within 2 on his 10th of the year. The third period, however, started with a Travis Zajac goal to pull things back away for Jersey. With little hope flowing through Canucks Nation, Mats Sundin and his newest line combination injecting some hope. From about the top of the circle, and with under 8 minutes to go in the game, Mats "Bromma" Sundin sent a wrister toward the net. The rebound came right to Po Po Demitra for the second goal of the night for Van-ca-tesh. Again, with hope fading fast at 17:19 into the final frame, Stevie "Karen's favorite" Bernier crashed the net with Ryan Kesler to make something happen. His 10th goal of the year helped Coachie V to feel comfortable pulling his keeper (he could have pulled him after the first period and the result would have been nearly the same). With the goalie-less advantage, the Canucks failed to put any extra pressure on New Jersey, who saw Dainus Zubrus nail an empty netter to ice the pudding. It was another tough home loss. 

It is kind of tough to even want to contradict the media's three stars when the 'Nucks went out an put fourth an effort as sad as that, but let's try. The liberal (but also very cute) Canadian media picked 1) Zajac, 2) Parise, and 3) Po Po. It's nice that they through out the shout out to BC with the #3 star, but how about taking a look at the LSF underrated 3 stars of the puck game? 1) Ostersund, Sweden native Alex Edler (tied for the best on ice rating in the entire game with a +2 mark), 2) Ornskoldsvik, Sweden native Daniel Sedin (a 100% faceoff winning mark, 2 shots on goal, and 19:40 of ice time), and 3) Bromma, Sweden native Mats Sundin (for getting his first assist and his second point in three games with Van-ca-tesh). What a Swedish sweep!

At 22-18-5 (49 points), the Canucks are in a great deal of pain in the Northwest Conference. With just 1 win in their last 6 outings (against the Oilers, haha), my BC Boys now sit a really large 7 points back of the Calgary Flamers. Edmonton, Minnesota, and Colorado all sit with 45 points, really putting some pressure on my squad to right this Canadian ship. Thursday night against the 21-18-5 Phoenix Coyotes, the Canucks and their stellar captain will try and turn this whole damn thing back around to try and make some progress in the division chase prior to the All-Star break. The 'Yotes are coming off of a 3-6 loss against the Northwest's Wild, and hopefully will be just the right squad for Captain Luongo to return against. Just stop Doan. 

MLB Network's "Prime 9" show on "Greatest Pitching Seasons of All Time" just picked Pedro Martinez's 2000 season as the greatest of all time (even though in 1999 he won the triple crown of pitching with a 23-4 record and a 2.07 ERA). That year he pitched with an 18-6 record and a 1.74 ERA (when the league average was just over 5). However, afterward they were pointing out pitcher's who didn't have a season that made the cut, and included Athletics ultra-star Lefty Grove. In 1931, Lefty finished with a record of 31-4 (including 16 wins in a row at one point) with a eye popping 27 complete games and a miniscule 2.06 ERA. Recent memory really messes up our ability to pick all-time lists, agree?

Is anyone else getting tired of seeing advertisements for the All-Star game telling us things like, "In Montreal we would say: 'Ligne Bleue'. In the States you Yanks would say: 'Blue Line.'" Well guess what Montreal? In Montreal, you would say "Allez a l'enfer Frenchies!" What would we say?