Canucks cap 'Leafs bashing week' by bashing the Leafs

It's been a fun week here at 'Nucks and Pucks, with some good banter in the comments section (I consider 1+ comment to be a popular post - look, it's a small-time blog, 'kay?) and some irate Facebook messages from friends. Tonight was, of course, the Main Event as the Canucks and Maple Leafs faced off at GM Place in front of a sellout crowd and a national TV audience on Hockey Night in Canada. The result speaks for itself:



Clearly the Canucks wiped the floor with the Leafs. After weathering an early storm, including the spectacular sequence in which Captain Luongo barred the door on a Leafs' 2-man advantage without a stick, the Canucks struck back. Kyle "Steve Sullivan" Wellwood struck back against the team that waived him by netting the first goal. From there the floodgates opened, and by the midway point of the second period the game was already 4-0. The Canucks went on auto-pilot the rest of the way, unfortunately surrendering two goals in the game's final 6:07 and allowing the Leafs to escape the West Coast with a modicum of respect.

Despite leaving the game with a pathetic .556 save percentage on the night, Vesa Toskala was not as bad as the stats suggest. Not that that it was exactly possible for him to be worse than that SVP suggests. But if you watch each Canucks goal, you'll see that he is truly culpable on only one of them. On the other three he was the victim of the Maple Leafs weak attempts at defense:

Goal #1: Wellwood was allowed to walk to the net thanks to some shoddy defensive coverage by Matt Stajan. He then tipped the puck top shelf, a tough one to stop.

Goal #2: Blame Toskala for this one. A brutal rebound was left on the doorstep for an opportunistic Ryan Kesler to fire home. Though it would've helped the Leafs', and Toskala's, cause if someone had taken the man in front.

Goal #3: Tomas Kaberle, I thought better of you. I know it was Willie "One Goal a Season" Mitchell, but seriously, you can't just mosey back into your zone like that.

Goal #4: Daniel Sedin scored this goal standing about 10 feet from the Leafs' net in the middle of a square of four Leafs "defenders." Just brutal defensive coverage.

Oh yeah, and Luke Schenn got filled by Rob Davidson. Actually, I think this fight is symbolic of the game: an early stumble by Vancouver was easily corrected by a number of devastating blows to the Leafs, whose late effort to take down the 'Nucks couldn't mask the fact that they got pummeled by a superior opponent. Enjoy!

Maple Leafs metaphorically crushed by Canucks fan!

"Leafs bashing week" continues here at 'Nucks and Pucks with a story of one fan's need to physically manifest his hatred of the Blue & White by crushing a car that is painted, well, blue and white.

The photo above is a scan of Monday's copy of that well-respected journalistic rag, 24 Hours. Widely considered to be the "New York Times of Vancouver," 24 Hours brings its insightful brand of reportage to Vancouver commuters each weekday. Seems it's also jumped aboard the anti-Leaf train with an interesting little contest.

Yes, 24 Hours ran an eBay auction offering one 'lucky' fan the anti-Leafs experience of a lifetime: pushing a button to crush a beater car that is painted up in Leafs colours. The winning bidder paid $212.50 (!) for the privilege of pressing that button, and it all went down last Saturday. If you want to learn more, check out the auction page or the 24 Hours gallery, which has 19 pictures of the mechanical carnage. Or even better, watch the video (slight profanity warning):



Wow. Not quite Citizen Kane, is it? There are a number of things that don't quite work about this video:

1. Who pulls into a scrap yard to use the facilities? What's wrong with Tim Hortons or a gas station?

2. Who pulls over to use a porta-potty? Seriously. The dude's suposed to be in suburban Vancouver, not at Lollapalooza.

3. Why would there happen to be a crowd of Canucks fans hanging out in said scrap yard, when they clearly have no business being there?

4. Wouldn't there be serious legal ramifications for the guys who crushed the car? If I was that Leafs fan the second call I was making after 9-1-1 would be to my lawyer.

5. And finally, what's the deal with what appears to be a set of giant inflatable testicles with a Leafs logo on them, which appear at around the 1:28 mark? If they were onscreen for any less time I think it would qualify as subliminal messaging.

Turns out the guy's a Sens fan too. I think that explains it, because as much as I'm all for anti-Leafs banter this is a tad too ridiculous for me. Anyway, if he wanted to make an anti-Leafs statement doesn't he realize that for $212.50 he could have bought, like, six Eric Lindros Leafs jerseys and burned them? Although come to think of it, wearing a Lindros Toronto jersey might be the ultimate mockery of the Maple Leafs...

On a positive note, the $212.50 will go to Canucks Place which is a very worthy charity.

Sportsnet overrules NHL, Canucks to play Predators instead of Avalanche

This is a screen capture from sportsnet.ca at around 11:40AM today. Apparently the Canucks are no longer playing the Colorado Avalanche. I always had a hunch that Sportsnet pulled the strings behind the scenes at the NHL.

I think my favourite part is that the Predators are considered "a long time nemesis." No word yet on how the Predators feel about flying from San Jose up to Vancouver, before heading back to California to play Anaheim on Friday.

Maple Laughs

Get your snare drum and cymbal ready, because it's time for the "Top 5 Toronto Maple Leafs Jokes!"

Number 5

Q: How are the Maple Leafs and the Titanic similar?
A: They both look good 'til they hit the ice.

Number 4

Q: What does Toronto have that Montreal doesn't?
A: Black and white photographs of their last Stanley Cup.

Number 3

Q: Where's the red light district in Toronto?
A: Behind the Maple Leafs net.

Number 2



AAAAAAAAND... Number 1

Q: Why can’t Hamilton get an NHL franchise?
A: Because then Toronto will want one!

Thank you folks, you've been a great audience! Remember to try the house special and always tip your waitress. Good night!

Welcome to Leafs bashing week

This Saturday the Toronto Maple Leafs pay a visit to Vancouver for a hotly-contested game with the Canucks. This match-up always creates particular excitement, as there are many transplanted Torontonians in BC and Vancouverites in Ontario (of which I was one for seven years). Western Canadians tend to be particularly antagonistic towards the Leafs, and while I tacitly support the Leafs (in the same way I generally support all Canadian teams that aren't in the Northwest Division) I can't help but join in the fun.

This week, in the build-up to the Canucks/Leafs game on Saturday, 'Nucks and Pucks will feature a number of posts dedicated to Leafs bashing, hating and taunting. If I was still living in Toronto this week would be a great back-and-forth banter session with my friends who are Leafs supporters. In lieu of this annual tradition, I hope that this blog can recapture a little bit of that spirit.

I start with a highlight package from the last time the Canucks and Leafs met. I had the pleasure of attending that game, which took place at the Air Canada Centre in January 2007. There were probably 2000-3000 Canucks fans in the building, creating what was at the time the largest hockey crowd ever at the ACC. You can read a recap of the game here. Or you can watch this video for a visual reminder of the smackdown that the Canucks laid on Toronto. Oh yeah, Andrew Raycroft was in goal. Need I say more?

'Nucks and Pucks' preseason prediction off to a roaring start

Regular readers, all six of them, will recall that I made three sets of preseason predictions (well, only sort of "preseason" in one case): order of finish in the Eastern and Western Conferences and Conference and Cup Finals/major award winners. So far they are looking as conclusive as Thomas Dewey's victory in the 1948 Presidential election.

The Flyers, my Eastern darlings, are entrenched in 15th spot in the conference - a place in which they clearly feel comfortable after the 06-07 season. The Dallas Stars, my choice not only to win their division but also the Stanley Cup (!), are kicking around at 12th in the conference.

And the Canucks, my heart-not-head favourite to win it all this year? They're a middling 10th in the West.

Fortunately for my ego the Red Wings are in second in the West, while the Canadiens (who I predicted to make it to the Stanley Cup Finals) are tied for second in points in the East.

Things are not much better on the individual awards front. I was apparently prescient to choose Alex from the Capitals to be among the league's best in scoring - too bad I picked Alex Ovechkin and not Alex Semin, as the latter has 2.5 times as many points as the former.

Marty Turco, who I picked to win the Vezina Trophy, is not off to a hot start and was pulled in yesterday's 5-0 loss to the Devils after some fairly brutal goaltending (start watching at 32 seconds for the worst of it):



Other predictions are looking slightly better: Stars rookie Fabian Brunnstrom has four goals in 5 games, a pace which would likely easily secure him the Calder. And Ryan Kesler's solid defensive play and point-per-game average would place the Canucks forward in good standing in Selke Trophy voting - assuming he can overcome the East Coast bias that potentially robbed Evgeni Nabokov of the Vezina Trophy last year.

Ultimately prognostocation is an inexact science - just ask the now-panicking bookies who gave 150:1 odds on the Tampa Devil Rays winning the World Series. But it's still fun both to make the predictions, and to look back and laugh when they're proven horribly incorrect.

So, while there is still a lot of time for my NHL preseason predictions to come true (after all we're not even through the first month of the season), it is still entertaining to assess the non-success of my forecasts thus far. Maybe I should become a weatherman. Or a bookie.

Colin Powell Supports Canucks Stanley Cup Bid

VANCOUVER - IN A SURPRISING move yesterday, four-star American General and former US Secretary of State Colin Powell openly endorsed the Vancouver Canucks' efforts to secure the Stanley Cup in 2009. Speaking about new Canucks General Manager Mike Gillis, General Powell declared that "he is a transformational figure. He is a new generation coming onto the NHL stage."

General Powell's endorsement comes as a blow to the Detroit Red Wings and the team's GM Ken Holland. Powell has previously referred to Holland as "a dear friend" who he has known for over 25 years.

Although the Red Wings entered the NHL season as the reigning Stanley Cup champion, the team has amassed only 7 points through 5 games, good enough for a middling fifth in the Western Conference.

Powell refused to comment on whether the Canucks recent October 16 overtime victory the Red Wings factored into his decision to endorse the Vancouver club, but insiders suggest that it greatly altered his impression of Holland and the entire Red Wings organization.

The turmoil in the Red Wings organization extends beyond its mediocre 3-1-1 record, which places them behind Central Division rival St. Louis Blues. Last season the Blues finished dead last in the division, 36 points behind the Red Wings but clearly the divisional balance of power has tilted against the faltering Red Wings.

Holland's recent support for Detroit's "hockey moms" has drawn considerable criticism. While supporters say that it has successfully broadened the appeal of the Red Wings organization amongst a certain segment of the NHL public, critics argue that it has isolated hockey traditionalists who otherwise may have supported the Original Six franchise.

Holland took the high road in responding to today's news: "Well, I've always admired and respected General Powell. We're long-time friends. This doesn't come as a surprise."

Powell's endorsement is a strong boost to NHL newcomer Gillis, who has already bucked convention by naming his goaltender captain. The results of Gillis controversial and highly-criticized plan to increase his team's offence without adaquately replacing outgoing forwards have yet to be seen. Powell's support, however, has for now pushed these issues to the backburner.

Gillis' reaction to the news was predictabily enthusiastic. He declared that he was "beyond honoured and deeply humbled to have the support of General Colin Powell."

The results of the Stanley Cup competition will not be known until the conclusion of the Finals in early June 2009.