A Voyageurs Cup Primer

Posted on May 2, 2012 by Chris Withers

Are you still upset about the Vancouver Canucks early exit from the Stanley Cup playoffs? Do you like sporting events? How about teams from Vancouver?? Then you, good reader, are in luck, for that playoff-sized hole in your heart is about to be filled with MORE PLAYOFFS! Tonight, the Vancouver Whitecaps will hope to steal some of the Canucks’ audience as they begin their Canadian Championship campaign against FC Edmonton. Continue reading →

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It’s time to Harperize the NHL

Posted on April 21, 2012 by Chris Withers

Marian Hossa was severely concussed by a late hit by Phoenix Coyote forward Raffi Torres. Torres received a 25-game suspension. This image was gratuitously stolen from the interweb.

The NHL’s justice system is broken. It’s gotten so bad that a lengthy suspension to a career predator who may have ended the season of a superstar is seen as laughable because of the suspensions that have gone before (or in the case of Shea Weber, the ones that have not gone before). Despite much acclaim early in the season, Brendan Shanahan has now clearly shown that, when the games really matter, he’s no better at meting out punishment than his predecessor, Colin “My Son Plays for the Bruins So I Won’t Suspend Bruins and Miraculously They Just Won the Cup How About That” Campbell. If the NHL wants to regain any measure of credibility it needs to look to (and I’m holding my nose as I type this) the Conservative Party of Canada. It needs to establish clear and consistent rules (not guidelines, rules) for what constitutes a suspension and the length of that suspension. It needs to establish mandatory minimums.

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Pens force a game 6

Posted on April 20, 2012 by Jason Kurylo

Before I say anything else, the pic of the Flyers bench below was stolen unceremoniously from the Puck Doctors. You oughtta surf their site, yo.

The big, bad Flyers have lost two straight games to... THESE GUYS?!?!?!

All right. The Pittsburgh Penguins have dodged two bullets now, coming back from a 3-0 deficit in the first round to force a game six. Game four was a laugher – Philly wasn’t even in the building, and the Pens had something to prove. They scored at will, putting five pucks past each of the Flyer goalies for a 10-3 win.
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Canucks discussion, part 372

Posted on April 16, 2012 by Jason Kurylo

Jason: I’ll be very disappointed if the Canucks can’t gut out game four, at least.

Chris: If they lose, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Craig MacTavish coaching next year.

Jason: If he can get Kesler to play to his potential, bring him on. I’m far more disappointed in Kes than I am in AV. I mean, is he still hurt? If so, he was selfish not to sit longer at the start of the year. Is he pissed at V? Then he’s being an unprofessional baby.

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A royal pain in the arse – Kings go up 2-0

Posted on April 13, 2012 by Jason Kurylo
The Canucks host the Kings in round one

Vancouver Canucks Australia came up with some great playoff banners!

Final exam at UBC tomorrow, otherwise I’d write up the wheat thresher that is the LA Kings special team attack.

Just two observations:
1) Both games at Rogers Arena featured massive defensive zone giveaways by Alex Edler that wound up giving the Kings a goal. Something’s wrong with this kid. Injury? Relationship trouble? Lupus?
2) Roberto Luongo is just about the only guy in blue who cannot be blamed one whit for Vancouver being down two-bagel. (Anyone who tries to blame him either hasn’t watched the games, doesn’t know a thing about hockey, or both.)

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2012 Playoffs – Day One – Ref You Suck! edition

Posted on April 12, 2012 by Jason Kurylo
Ref, You Suck!

We dedicate the Day One blog to the fine folks at Ref You Suck!

The 2012 playoffs are under way, and I’d like to congratulate officiating crews on and off the ice for kicking things off with a bang. Zebras in all three games on day one were awful, and Brendan Shanahan made complete his cold-water shrinkage from pre-season promises to trade in the NHL Wheel of Justice for consistent punishment across the league.

Before you think this is a partisan rant about the Vancouver Canucks getting jobbed of game one against the Los Angeles Kings, I’d like to proffer this: the Kings were by far the better team Wednesday night, and if not for the early heroics of Roberto Luongo, would have been in a 3-0 or 4-0 position long before calls became an issue. Also, the royal men from SoCal were flogged by a couple of questionable whistles too – I am under no delusions that Vancouver deserved that first game. Refs in Vancouver, Nashville and Pittsburgh were way too visible on the first night. Even the affable Detroit Red Wings coach Mike Babcock commented on it during an in-game interview with Brian Engblom:

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Playoff Predictions from Winnipeg

Posted on April 11, 2012 by Jason Kurylo

By Jim Chliboyko, Pucked in the Head’s official Winnipeg correspondent. Yes, he actually lives there. And yes, for our American readers, they have indoor plumbing and central heating. No, they don’t live in igloos. Well, not all of them anyway. Consider this a companion piece to our first round picks, posted yesterday.

Jim's predictions even make Henrik smile.

I’m especially well-positioned to pre-judge the 16 teams geared up for the 2011-12 Stanley Cup Playoffs. I only really paid attention to the Winnipeg Jets this year, and all the live games I managed to see this season were with teams that, consequently, missed the playoffs. Which is sort of like cheering for all the red-headed and albino kids in The Hunger Games.

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Pucked in the Head Playoff Predictions

Posted on April 10, 2012 by Chris Withers

Finally. After 301 days, 1230 games and eleventy billion unfunny Vancouver riot jokes, Wednesday will bring the return of NHL playoff hockey. Having learned absolutely nothing from the annual debacle of our regular season predictions — Leafs sneaking in, bah. Sabres winning the East, HA! — Pucked in the Head presents 2012 NHL Playoff Predictions… because dammit, that’s what loudmouthed fans with self-published blogs do.

The Canucks host the Kings in round one

Vancouver Canucks Australia came up with some great playoff banners! Check 'em out here.

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This Year’s 7 Most Double Rainbow Jets Moments

Posted on March 25, 2012 by Chris Withers

By Jim Chliboyko

Yeah, the double rainbow is an old meme, but for fans of the Winnipeg Jets this whole season has been like one big double rainbow (full-on, all the way), right from that May 2011 announcement at the Forks that let us know that Winnipeg was back in the hockey business, baby.

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Rogers Arena, BC Place and the Canucks’ Culture Conundrum

Posted on March 13, 2012 by Chris Withers

On Saturday, I took advantage of a pretty rare opportunity: I got to see Vancouver play Montreal in two different sports on the same day. After an off-season that stretched seemingly forever, the Vancouver Whitecaps finally got to show off their revamped squad against the Montreal Impact at 3pm. Then, at 7pm, the Habs made their only visit of the year to Rogers Arena. I’ve been to my share of Canucks games in the past, and I was at all but one Whitecaps home game last season, but I’ve never been able to so directly compare the atmosphere in the two stadiums.

It couldn’t have worked out better, frankly. The Habs always inspire one of the liveliest affairs (off the ice) you’re likely to see at Rogers Arena, while the home opener in any sport is usually a noisy one. I even got to take in the games from a similar vantage point in each stadium. So how do the two events stack up? Read on to find out. Continue reading →

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