Canucks get Clutterbucked.

When you start up after the All-Star break with a Hockey Night in Canada game, you have a fan base full of hope. When you play tentatively, barely squeak out enough offense to play even through 60, and give up a heartbreaking power play goal just 1 minute and 52 seconds into overtime, the hope fades. A 3-4 overtime loss to Minnesota, the Canucks eighth straight loss and tenth in the last eleven games, had fans at the Garage and fans at home just feeling simply deflated about their Orca. 

It started out poorly. The Canucks jumped out on the ice and played a slow and tentative match without much of the impressive pressure that 7th Canucks knew they needed to show. Mikko Koivu scored a power play goal at 7:38 after Willie Mitchell got a penalty for punching Cal Clutterbuck in the face (see above photo) and Marc-Andre Bergeron followed that up at 11:38 as the boos rained down for GM Place's rooftop. Alex Burrows got interviewed in the first intermission, and made a call to the Blue & Green to come out strong. And they did. On a power play thanks to an Owen Nolan hook at 1:42, Livonia, MI native Ryan Kesler made good at 3:37 to cut the lead in half. He was skating full tilt toward the net and lost his footing as the puck bounced off his skate blade and into the goal as he went falling beyond the net. Despite Backstrom thinking that the puck was kicked in, the goal was counted (because it wasn't kicked in, you idiot) and Vancouver was back in the thick of things. At 5:50, the thorn in the side of the Canucks Cal Clutterbuck took Alex Burrows hard into the boards. Burrows got cut up on his eye, Clutterbuck got the boarding major and got ejected from the game, and the Canucks got some increased mojo off of the dirty play. Sadly, Van-Ca-Tesh failed to score on the 5 minute man advantage (9 shots that were all stopped), and that was the turning point up to that point. Just 3:03 into the final frame, Hank Sedin fed a pass to Alex Edler, and the Ostersund, Sweden native bombed a huge blue line shot past the Minnie keeper to tie the game up. Man, was I pumped. At 7:46, Eric Belanger scored a goal into a half empty net as Luongo was trying to slide from pipe to pipe. It was a soul crushing goal, but redemption wasn't far away. Minnie's Brent Burns got called for tripping at 18:28, and the Orca had a large chance to save the day. With Luongo pulled, Vancouver had a two man advantage, and Ryan Kesler cored on a rebound from his knees to tie the game at 3 with just 16 seconds to go. Kesler got the shot off, saw it hit the twine, and looked straight up to the sky screaming. I jumped off the couch! This was the turning point we have been waiting for in the Canucks' recent season. Heading into OT, 7th Canucks around both nations knew that it had to be won in OT, thanks to a pathetic shootout record. 52 seconds into the extra 5, however, the refs called Deuce Deuce for a hook on Mikko Koivu. It was a weak call as Henrik was streaking into the zone with the puck. Hank was so pissed that he blasted a slapper after the whistle in disgust. It was a 4-on-3 in the OT, and the game was ended on a slapper from Marc-Andre Bergeron that sent the Canucks to just another B.C. loss. 

GM Place was filled to 101% capacity according to ESPN.com, and all of the fans got to watch B.C. drop to a less than impressive 22-20-8 (52 points) and a sad fourth spot in the Northwest Division. The Canucks sit -12 of Calgary (are the Flames really that hot?), -1 of Minnie and Edmonton, and just +5 on Colorado. The free fall has started rumors around Vancouver that Coach Alain Vigneault may be on the hot seat. However, Alex Burrows is ready to stand up for his leader, "I think [the rumors are] complete bullshit. We've lost seven or eight in a row, but he's not the problem. We've been in some different games where we've had penalty trouble, some other games we haven't been able to score, some others we couldn't keep the puck out of our net. So he's not the problem. He's not why we're losing. We just have to get back to work." Way to stand up for your coach, AB, but a lack of wins equals a coach on the hot seat. That's just the way sports works. Next up is a Tuesday evening bout against the 25-21-5 Carolina Hurricanes (the name-sake of the most hated team in the SB Roller Hockey League), and a game against the lowly East (slam!) may be just what the Blue & Green need to keep a nine game losing streak at bay. 

Congratulations to the Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers, I guess. I was impressed by the Cards, however. 

Even more difficult to hand out congratulations to my Dad, who cheered his Cal State Northridge Matadors to a game winning shot with just 11.8 seconds to go in the 70-72 loss for UC Santa Barbara. The Gauchos will be down in Orange County this week (Fullerton on Thursday and Irvine on Saturday), so let's get our "ole" chant going strong.