Please, just give me one win against Chicago.

Can we please just beat the Chicago Blackhawks and move on? Usually on a day like today, I would bring you my "5 reasons the Canucks will win" post, but that hasn't been working. Instead, I'll just make my desperate plea. 

We have lost 3 straight to Jon's Hawks, despite me making a strong case for Orca wins in my pregame predictions (maybe I should stop blogging, as that seems to work for Jon). In two of those tests, Bobby Lu has been sent to the bench early. Our "franchise" goalie has a 4.98 goals against average during the skid. The Hawks haven't put three wins together against the 'Nucks at home in nearly a decade. We really shouldn't let it happen now.

Complaining about Chicago running the score up in the previous 1-7 loss certainly isn't helping. But, that's what Vannie bench boss Alain Vigneault has been doing, "We basically embarrassed ourselves in front of our fans, and they did everything they could to rub it in our face. It's 6-0, and they throw their #1 power play unit out there on a 5-on-3?" Alex Burows is adding to the chirping, "We're playing the right way. We just have to keep it going." I think if we win tonight, we can talk like that. Otherwise, I don't blame the Hawks for pouring it on.

It's becoming one of the most heated (and possibly underrated) rivalries in all of hockey (dare I say, all of sports?). Even the Wikipedia page for "National Hockey League Rivalries" lists the Canucks and Blackhawks as one of the "Greatest Current Rivalries." And no, I didn't add that to the Wikipedia page myself. Because of all that, if a team can push and embarrass the other team, they should. I'm sure Coachie V and Burrows wouldn't see anything wrong with us running the score up tonight. I wouldn't. Maybe we can, because Marty Turco certainly hasn't been all that good lately. He's allowed 11 goals in his last two starts, and when you compare that to our 13 goals in our last two games, you may have tipped the scale in our favor.

So, here we are. Let's forget about the stats. Let's forget about the blue line depth. Let's forget about who has the better third line. Let's just get out there, play some intense hockey, and find out who is the better team tonight.

Bring it on, Jon.

Go Canucks Go.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē