Vancouver Canucks at Winnipeg Jets - Wednesday March 12 - 4:30 p.m. - TSN
Vancouver Canucks: 29-28-10 68 points 11th in Western Conference
Winnipeg Jets: 30-28-8 68 points 10th in Western Conference
John Tortorella is still the Vancouver Canucks' head coach. Mike Gillis is still the general manager. And the same group that gave up seven third-period goals to the New York Islanders is now in chilly Winnipeg, getting ready to take on the Jets later today.
The game marks Henrik Sedin's 1,000th in the NHL, but the captain's not really in the mood to celebrate.
From Jim Jamieson at
The Province:
I’ve got a tough time talking about it, because of where we are in the standings. It would have been nice if it would have been in a different circumstance. But of course it’s great for me to be able to play for the same team for a long time. It makes it special, instead of being around five or six different teams. It is special, but a tough circumstance to get it.
Henrik's durability is part of the reason why he's reached this milestone relatively quickly, at the age of just 33. It's ironic that it comes during the most injury-riddled season of his career. Henrik's also just the second player to dress for 1,000 games in a Canuck uniform. Trevor Linden holds the team record with 1,140 games played as a Canuck.
Here's hoping that Henrik receives a nice tribute when the team returns to Vancouver next week, to help create some positive energy at Rogers Arena.
Even Steven:
As for the Jets, they sit ahead of the Canucks in the Western Conference standings going into tonight's game. Both teams have 68 points, but Winnipeg has a game in hand. Despite the trauma of the Rich Peverley incident on Monday, Dallas went on to beat St. Louis in overtime on Tuesday night, so the Canucks and Jets are now six points behind the Stars, who still have two games in hand on Vancouver.
Winnipeg has cooled off since they went on a tear after new coach Paul Maurice took over the team in January. The team's on a four-game winless streak, with a record of 1-2-2 so far in March.
According to SportsClubStats.com, the Stars' win drops the Canucks' odds of making the playoffs to a mere two percent, while Winnipeg is still at 3.1 thanks to that game in hand.
30 Thoughts:
CBC's Elliotte Friedman dedicates a good portion of his column this week to the Canucks' situation.
Click here to take a look.
I'm intrigued by the rumours that he presents, but I'm not sure I agree with his conclusion that the team is best-served by staying the course through this bumpy patch. You know what they say about how the definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results? I think the Canucks have reached that stage.
Change is needed, and I don't think money is as much of an issue as Friedman is making it out to be. If you've been down to the arena recently, you've seen that it's a massive construction zone. In addition to the high-rise tower that's being erected on the west side of the building, opposite Costco, they've now fenced off the Rick Hansen Plaza on the southeast corner and are making changes there as well.
The real-estate component of the Rogers Arena business is alive and well. It will more than cover any possible financial hits on the hockey side. Profitability is a positive component of the Canucks' business, but it's a side-effect of winning, which I think is the true goal of the Aquilinis. In his email to the season ticket holders on Monday, Mike Gillis was still talking about winning the Stanley Cup.
Gillis was cornered at the GM meetings today, and TSN has seven minutes of video of him facing reporters.
Click here to watch for yourself.
He goes out of his way not to throw anybody under the bus, but he also makes a lot of excuses. Nevertheless, Gillis stops well short of giving John Tortorella a vote of confidence that he'll be here for the rest of the season.
Positive Vibes:
There was a lot of great discussion on the comment board yesterday, including some thoughts about how Colorado was able to turn around their organization this year by making wholesale changes on the bench and in their front office. Bringing back past winners like Joe Sakic and Patrick Roy connects well with fans, and it seems they've also been able to get the job done both on and off the ice.
Would you like to see the Canucks take a similar route, bringing back an iconic former player to take a major role as coach, general manager, or a VP role similar to Sakic's? If so, who's your first choice?
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