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The Morning Skate, Dec. 14: Is there joy in this Canucks Mudville, Virtanen’s Canadian turn, NBA players on dope and more

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Even sitting on opponents didn't bring the Canucks any luck on Sunday in Chicago. (AP Photo/Andrew A. Nelles)

Even sitting on opponents didn’t bring the Canucks any luck on Sunday in Chicago. (AP Photo/Andrew A. Nelles)

Here’s the scene in Mudville:

Screen Shot 2015-12-13 at 9.43.07 PM

Good lord, what an awful division.

Even crazier is Ed Willes’ note in his weekly Musings column:

The Flames are 7-1 in 3-on-3 overtime this season. The Canucks are 0-7. If you flipped those records around, the Canucks would have been 16 points ahead of the Flames going into Sunday’s game instead of two.

Overtime and shootouts are basically a flip of the coin. The Canucks and the Flames are completely on opposite ends of the odds at the moment.

Now if we take the coin flips and split them as you’d expect them to break, 50-50, we’d give the Canucks three more “wins” and three more points. They’d have 33 on the year to date, putting them in second place, a point up on Phoenix Arizona and four up on the Sharks, five on the Flames. Even then, those squads all have games in hands on your beloved Canucks.

It’s a miserable scene. At this rate, the Canucks are going to limp into the playoffs and would be wiped out, you’d think, faster than you could say ‘take the canoli’.

But then again, they’d be playing a team nearly as awful. Either way, there’s playoffs in there and lets be honest, at this point, wouldn’t you rather be in the draft lottery?

Alright, that a gloomy enough start for ya? Morning Skate time!

The Home Team

Here we are, on the other side of the page, and things don’t look all that great.

Just a week ago, we were thinking, hmm, ok, maybe things will putter along but we’ll at least be sitting on the positive side of the ledger.

Now, with injuries ravaging the back end (which wasn’t that great to begin with) and the Nine not able to produce much, we’re left with a game like Sunday night’s.

Kuzma was there, and as he put it, The Sedin Show isn’t so amazing that it can patch all the holes in the dam.

After the game, the Twins told Kuze they thought the game was pretty close, that they deserved better and there was something to build on.

Yes, it’s true the shot clock was even and the Corsi count wasn’t terrible, but this is one of those situations where the context of the shots really matters. According to war-on-ice, the Blackhawks totally dominated the shots-from-dangerous-places battle. And, once again, it was a case of the Sedins doing great work and the rest of the lineup getting eaten for breakfast.

You cannot win if you do not have the puck, and too often on Sunday night, that was the case.

Jason Pominville, Ryan Miller, Dan Hamhuis

You won’t be able to trade Dan Hamhuis while he’s sitting on the shelf with a busted face and it looks like Radim Vrbata’s highest perceived value may have taken the side door out as well. I hate the word “should”, so I won’t really point out that they *should* have been traded in the summer…so I’ll leave that to Canucks Army, where such a move was advocated…in the summer. (The main rationale here: they could have brought in some decent draft picks options – and in the Canucks’ position, drafting in volume would be a good thing.)

With their blue line struggling to get the puck up the ice and the forwards struggling to get the puck in the net, maybe the inability to deal Hamhuis and Vrbata won’t matter in the short term results department, but in the long term needs department, some decent draft picks, which they probably could gleaned last summer but now may not be able to, would have helped.

But again, I’m not going to say “should.”

Tampa Bay Lightning center Steven Stamkos (91) gets ahead of Florida Panthers defenseman Brian Campbell (51) during the second period of an NHL preseason hockey game Saturday, Oct. 4, 2014, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara) ORG XMIT: TPA106

There is a big gaping hole that is worth talking about now, even if the summer seems a long time away: that big gaping hole in the team’s cap situation.

All told, $14.5 million in contracts are ending this season. Add in a likley jump of $3 to $4 million, all of a sudden Jim Benning has space to work with. Will he be able to attract a free agent for big money? Maybe.

Could it be Steve Stamkos? You doubt it, but if him wanting to play centre is all this about, who knows, maybe, you never know. (Yes, I’m crazy.) But still, here is a list of skaters who might be free agents this summer:

Eric Staal, Stamkos, Brian Campbell, Anze Kopitar, Milan Lucic, Patrik Elias, Shane Doan, Keith Yandle, Dustin Byfuglien, Sam Gagner, Tuomo Ruutu, Alex Goligoski, Braydon Coburn, David Backes, Teddy Purcell, Dan Boyle, Kris Versteeg, Andrew Ladd, Kyle Quincey, Willie Mitchell, Loui Erkisson, Jiri Hudler, David Jones, Justin Schultz, John-Michael Liles, David Perron, Mikkel Boedker, Troy Brouwer, Luke Schenn, Jaromir Jagr, Alex Tanguay, Nick Grossman, Nik Backstrom…

Of course, most of these guys won’t be availble, but the ones towards the top might be and knowing the Canucks’ ownership, if there’s a chance to splurge, it seems likely they would. But would it be the right player? We’ll see.

Want to know why Jared McCann isn’t going to join Jake Virtanen and Team Canada?

Here:

Nifty tidbit here from Sportnet’s Thomas Drance: Jake Virtanen being Canadian is pretty much an accident – his dad, a Finn, wanted to end up in Vancouver, Washington, but didn’t realize his ticket for Vancouver, British Columbia was for a different destination.

Jake Virtanen will play in the World Juniors for Team Canada, the Canucks have confirmed. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

Virtanen going to the World Juniors is the right pick writes Willes.

Did you catch Stanch going Zapruder on us?

I’m glad he did, because finally he’s given me the chance to bellow KEITH HERNANDEZ! in Your Morning Skate; and so let us take a brief interlude:

Jerry’s shirt is awful, for the record. (Also, Canucks reddit, are you happy? You’ve got Wyatt in your corner – I think.)

Last Canucks-related note: interesting look at the mess ex-Canucks assistant Mike Sullivan is inheriting from ex-Canucks assistant Mike Johnston in Pittsburgh. As many have noted, it’s awfully hard to win with a defence corps that looks like the one Jim Rutherford and Ray Shero have put together.

NBA Drug Policy

Sixers veteran Al Jefferson had a slightly mysterious five game suspension slapped on him last week, except if you read the CBA, it’s pretty clear what’s going on: marijuana. For the third time.

Jalen Rose and his radio partner in crime David Jacoby break it all down, and its pretty insightful.

All I can think of is: man, the Raptors are going to have a really hard time. And: man, the Nuggets must be having all kinds of problems.

In other words, how long can this now last? Yes, this is all covered off in the CBA, and yes, it includes clauses which prohibit stuff us civilians get to do, like snowboarding and other activities where you could break a limb, but at the same time, there’s nothing which prohibits casual drinking or smoking cigarettes. So, it seems to me a lawyer looking to make a name for himself in a jurisdiction where marijuana is now only regulated (like Colorado or sometime soon, Ontario), might go after that clause.

Canadian Content

11585973 The Morning Skate, Dec. 14: Is there joy in this Canucks Mudville, Virtanens Canadian turn, NBA players on dope and more

Corrado will play.

It’ll be Tuesday, they say.

The Canucks, mired in an injury danger zone, could use him. They could have kept him. But we already knew that.

 The Morning Skate, Dec. 14: Is there joy in this Canucks Mudville, Virtanens Canadian turn, NBA players on dope and more

Jack Todd, never afraid to tell you what he thinks, has an ode to the quick little guy over in the Gazette. There’s a lot about Steph Curry and a bit about Leo Messi but it’s really about Brendan Gallagher.

Sure would be nice to see a fine little sparkplug like that in the Canucks’ lineup.

Speaking of spark plugs, the Oilers have won five straight (all at home) and are in Boston to take on the Bruins tonight.

Think Taylor Hall might have something to do with it? Of course he does. The Oilers stink but Hall keeps showing up. He’s an absolute treat to watch and I hope we hear more and more about that.

The McGregor Era

This is all I know of what happened on Saturday night.

Admittedly, it’s just a snapshot (literally). But I could have taken a bunch more.

You. All. Had. Your. Breath. Taken. Away.

11587021 The Morning Skate, Dec. 14: Is there joy in this Canucks Mudville, Virtanens Canadian turn, NBA players on dope and more

Spencer Kyte explains what it all means to you, fight fans. (And to me too.)

Last Lap

Greg Balloch is a must-follow for his goalie analysis.

Also his fan analysis:

These are tremendous:

Another for the record: Cooperalls were a dumb, dumb idea.

Ok, stuck for a stocking stuffer? If you haven’t got your tickets for the Canada Sevens at BC Place next March, you should Why? Well…a chance to see Carlin Isles:

And Sonny Bill Williams:

And yes, the Canadians, who beat the All Blacks this weekend (for the second time in 2015):

Ok, so you hate the Pats. Fair enough.

But you have to admit, Gronk is a freak worth noting:

You may have noted my little piece previewing the Canada Rugby League guys, and their attempt to qualify for the Rugby League World Cup this past week in Florida. They came up just short:

Jeff Francis and I are the same age. He lived with my buddy at UBC when we were all there.

It’s safe to say Jeff has made a lot more money than me. He’s apparently done as a ball player.

Will he now return to his third love – physics?

It’s true, Mr. Francis studied physics for phun while out on Point Grey, ranking him, surely, as one of the smartest major leaguers out there.

Did you know last week was the 50th anniversary of A Charlie Brown Christmas? Enjoy:

Have a great Monday everyone, see you next week. “Heavy” Erik R is up tomorrow.

 

 



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