Will the real Sabourin please stand up?

Dany to the Sabourin is manning the big hole tonight against the Ducks. So which Dany will we see tonight? Jekyll or Hyde? I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he’ll pick off where Luongo leaves off. More or less.

Prediction: 4-3 Canucks in OT. Pronger, Nieds and Kunitz all score off their throats. Daniel, Pyatt, Morrison and Cooke net Dany his first NHL win. Luongo sits on the bench, plays some Sudoku and tries to scratch out the “Cloutier blows” bench graffiti with his skate.

Drunk Bloggin' In Process

Pregame notes: I suddenly have a bad feeling about doing this. Which means it must be the best idea...ever. My face is still frozen anyway so I may as well drink, right? Besides, while the players have changed, the fact remains I hate the Avalanche and will gladly get stupid in hopes of watching them lose to a crazy happy GM Place.

- Theodore's in net? AND they spent last night staying busy losing to the Flames? If Vancouver doesn't come out with an obscene amount of high energy in the first, I'm going to shoot myself.

First Period: Rookie Paul Stastny has 49 points. If anyone was curious. Sick.

First Period: Luongod gets beaten by some Av. Brunette with help from 600 boy Sakic. Fine, clearly they want me to drink harder. Fair enough, I'm game.

First Period: It took a goal to remind the Canucks a game is being played tonight on their ice. Jan Bulis of all people is showing a pulse. Good lord, anything's possible.

First Period: ...and on the heels of that very comment, Daniel "dance machine" Sedin gets his 25th that Theodore kicks in on himself. Nicely done. And Mitchell got an assist! What's that bring his season total to? 4?

First Period: Garrett just spent about 3-4 minutes complaining that the Avs don't use Theodore enough. Do I really have to address this? Wikipedia just gave me a fun fact about good old Jose - "Theodore is a friend of Simple Plan drummer Chuck Comeau and was a guest at the band's December 2005 show at the Bell Center." That's adorable; perhaps they'll make a crappy song in his honor that'll sell a zillion copies and I'll die a bit more inside.

First Period: Canucks cough up a shorty to some lad named Richardson. A decent shot by him, a mortal-like mistake play by Luongod. Gets me thinking...you think Dan Cloutier, since he has all the time in world, watches Vancouver games and secretly hopes Roberto's groin snaps like a twig? Just a thought.

First Period: Hughson nails the obvious point of the night so far, "this hasn't been a good period for Vancouver". Cooke takes a penalty although I missed what it was. Let's go with two for slue footing...do they even call that anymore?

First Period: Am I drunk already or did I just hear them say Green is centering Naslund? So... Reid and Moran are absent, Chouinard and Bulis are clocking time, and the captain has Green at center? Viggy...viggy...viggy...

First Period: Matt Cooke! Killer. Morrison has been lights out recently. Great stuff. No way this game should be 2-2 at this point.

First Period: Henrik...shoot the damn puck.

End of the first: Not precisely the period I was expecting, but not bad either. Avs came out as a better team, but the Canucks capitalized when they needed to. They have to tighten their defensive game up significantly in the second since Luongo doesn't have his A game just yet at all.

Second Period: Why is Hughson even bother talking about Sakic going to Vancouver? That'll never happen...the Avs may be on the outs this year, but no way they're sending Mr. Colorado to a rival the likes of Vancouver for a meager first rounder.

Second Period: Luongod is showing signs of earning that very name. Several good saves as the Canucks need to wake up badly. Someone poke Cooke and trash his mother to get him going. Something. Anything. Being outshot 18-9 is a fucking crime...hey, that rhymes. You are witnessing the power of Bacardi folks.

Second Period: Being outshot 19,000 to 10 clearly doesn't phase Vancouver as Morrison (who just made an atrocious pass up the middle to absolutely no one) jumps on a rebound and flings it past Theodore low to his blocker side to push the Canucks up by one. They don't remotely deserve the lead at this point. Mitchell gets another assist...this could be a career night in the making.

Second Period: Only two penalities so far, one a piece. That's damn good for the home team, although Quebec did score shorthanded. So maybe it all gets cancelled out. But I need some piss and vinegar here somewhere...or I'll just start drinking everytime Hughson or Garrett start bitching about Theodore's lot in life again. We should all have such problems.

Second Period: Well, just like that, the teams trade off penalities (both, obviously, for slue footing). Canucks powerplay wasn't anything special. In turn, the #1 PK in the league just gave up one to Brunette again. The Avs special teams are tearing Vancouver apart. No one saw that coming.

Second Period: Is Santala even playing? If he is, he's as invisible as Chouinard but at least I saw the latter for about 3 seconds before being benched or sent out for coffee.

Second Period: I know Krajicek is still a project, but his shot needs some work. Beeska rings a fantastic one timer off the post that would have made going to the locker room in a few a bit easier to stomach.

End of the second Period: If you're just walking by this blog and curious what this game has been so far: Canucks special teams have been terrible, Luongo was Auld-like in the first period, Henrik Sedin has decided shooting the puck is beneath him, Green is centering Naslund, Brunette has two goals that he never even shot, the television announcers have giant man-crushes on Theodore and I'm almost out of rum. Oh, and Nonis is out of his damn mind if he thinks of moving Cooke and/or Morrison before the trading deadline.

Third Period: Shit...I was making a new drink and talking to my roommate's boyfriend and I miss two goals? Henrik Sedin I see decided to start shooting after all. You know, that's so typical...well, at least they're winning.

Third Period: So as I backtrack to see that Morrison hits paydirt again, I watch Laperriere score. He's got to be my least favorite Av. He looks like a tool, I don't like having to check if I spelled his name correctly and he always plays well against Vancouver. 5-4 Canucks...this should be a fun race to 60 minutes now.

Third Period: Cooke's never had a four point game. Tonight seems like the ideal time to end that chicanery. He's flying tonight and is letting his play make the difference rather then his fists, mouth or body checks. Pay attention Raffi and take good notes.

Third Period: I just realized that, if the Canucks win, they'll go 10 points up on the Oilers, be tied point-wise with Dallas and be a single point behind the incredibly slumping Sharks.

Third Period: I ALSO just realized that the Canucks take on the Ducks (who lost tonight), the Kings and the Stars this week. These games are huge with the Ducks and Stars...but at any rate, back to this game. I just heard Laperriere's name again. Painful. More rum and soon I'll spell his name with 15 r's.

Third Period: A beautiful 3-on-1 which Pyatt converts on becomes nothing. The reply shows H. Sedin was tripped. Christ I hope that doesn't come back to haunt them.

Third Period: Shit, Brad May just became a bit less dense after getting hammered behind his own net. Wild finish in process...

Third Period: Matt Cooke makes a great clear to end the game on what has been one of his best nights this season, if not his Vancouver career, by far. Damned if someone didn't mention his value earlier this week. Canucks take the win, move 12 up on Colorado for what it's worth and don't just have the Northwest Division lead but are sneaking slowly into the upper echelon of the conference. Remember, this is a team that was forecasted to not even make the playoffs and suck worse then the Blue Jackets. That alone deserves one more drink for and the happy foggy thoughts it will bestow. G'night all.

You're like bread on a windowsill. Mine, when I want ya.

Thanks to one of the more random holidays we get, I'm off snowboarding for the next few days. If I don't end up kissing a tree/rock/chair lift pole/skier/Sasquatch at 20 mph, I should be back in time for Sunday night's Canucks/Avs game.

And, ah what the hell, let's drunk blog the darn thing shall we?

I do love it when a plan comes together.

Ginger kids can make you cry

Two for roughing, two for unsportsmanlike conduct and two for the Canucks. In a nutshell, that was Raffi Torres's forgettable two-for Tuesday at Rexall Place. And if you're looking to hang another debilitating Oilers loss on somebody in the home unis, the enigmatic winger who can be dangerous at both ends of the ice is certainly your man.
- Edmonton Journal

I know some well intentioned people despise Matt Cooke, but he was well worth every damn penny towards the cap last night. Besides, isn't what Cooke was doing precisely why you keep a guy like Torres around anyway? Torres could have done the same thing and forced the Canucks to over react, so it is what it is. Live and learn.

Special thanks to the Blackhawks for rising from the dead to steal a point from Calgary. Now, please go back to the grave tonight so we can retake first.

Three quick points:
1. I like that Dallas is within reach and San Jose is within striking distance too. The entire Northwest division is going to mess up the upper echelons of this conference. Mikey like.

2. Messier is like the Dick Cheney of the NHL: few outside his inner circle want him around, he maintains an indoctrination center to break the will of the young, and almost no one challenges the absurdity of his statements. Although it would be great to watch the Rangers fall flat with him at the helm, we've all seen that happen since the end of 1994 if I recall accurately (save for the few years he took off to kick the Canucks in the groin for $6 mil a season). Even questionably credible folks in NY are aware of this. (h/t Kukla)

3. As for the "Ultimate Canuck's Fan" contest, it took all of 24 hours for it to go from moronic to frightening and borderline illegal.

Didn't we just do this?

The Oilers are like the bad guy in the final scene of what's likely a crappy movie you catch on cable when you're bored. The hero (think Bruce Willis in Die Hard) shoots the bad guy (think Bruce Willis in The Jackal) directly in the face, he falls down a flight of stairs, crashes through a window and lands on the lawn three floors below. Bruce goes to check on the woman he no doubt will plow during the credit roll (think Milla Jovovich in The Fifth Element) and the bad guy crashes through the side glass door with chicken wire to wrap around the hero's neck. Bruce (the good one) shoves broken glass through Bruce's (the bad one) neck and he slowly bleeds to death on some lovely kitchen floor tile. Bruce (yes, the good one) strolls off into the sunset with Milla in one hand and a cigar in the other while Bruce (yes, the bad one) flicks open an eye and growls...presumably at the shard of glass in his throat. Or the fact he doesn't get Milla and, yes, we understand this pain all too well.

So yeah, why won't the Oilers just go away? Oh right, because we're in the most ridiculous division in the damn league. Somehow the Oilers can lose all of December and be within striking distance of the Luongnucks. Seems about right.

On the plus side, the Oilers are useless on the man advantage against the Canucks (1 for 34 on the season) and have lose three straight since humiliating Sabourin some time ago. On the negative side, the Canucks sucked against the Flames on Saturday and lost out in the valuable Sean Avery sweepstakes. Damn you Sather, you win again.

At any rate, both teams will beat the shit out of each other again. Assuming the Oilers play with more anger in their strides, this goes to OT or a shootout in which Vancouver wins. The Oil will be happy with a point, the Canucks will be happy with the extra one.

Beauty has a twin

Don’t fret Dwayne, Mikka probably knows a good therapist.

It’s good to see the playoff atmosphere creeping into these divisional games now. Say what you will about Edmonton, that team is gritty as hell. A lot of good hits in both ends. Do they still even have Nedved? If he was out there, I never saw him.

Good to see the dual-headed maligned free agent monster known as Chouinard/Bulis both scoring key goals when the team needed it. Nazzy is slowing coming around which is a godsend at this time of the season. Best of all was seeing the team actually play an entire 60 minutes without sitting back and letting Luongo earn his money.

I have to go check eBay now.

You betta bring it. Oh it's already been broughten!

Vancouver should be angered at blowing a game against the Blue Jackets, the very same team that the ideally-tired Oilers just spanked last night. With three straight games against the stubborn Alberta teams, this is certainly no time to have confidence issues in how the Canucks have played the past few. Listening to 1040 during the day you’d think the Canucks were Los Angeles, the fair-weatherness is absurd. Last I checked we still have that long haired guy in net and Tomax and Xamot up front and clearly capable of leading this team. Time for guys like Pyatt and Bulis to step up and Mattias and Beeeska to clamp down in their end and this team will be fine.

Tonight’s Prediction: 4-2 Canucks. Cooke and Torres, respectively, punish anything that moves. Then they meet at center ice and Cooke removes more of Raffi's teeth. The teeth themselves get thrown in the stands and are on eBay this time tomorrow morning.