Wednesday March 19: Vancouver Canucks 2 - Nashville Predators 0
I'm a little surprised to be saying this, but if you have a chance to pick up some discounted tickets to one of the Canucks' remaining home games this season, you should grab 'em.
Though there were some less-than-scintillating on-ice moments in Wednesday's matchup against the Nashville Predators, it was a fun night at Rogers Arena.
Here are your game highlights:
There are two interesting forces in play here. The players are working hard and showing an impressive amount of heart considering their situation, and the folks behind the scenes are also doing everything in their power to create positive moments off the ice.
Can't say how long it'll all last, but on Wednesday night, it felt like they were getting it right.
There wasn't a whole lot happening on the ice for the first 40 minutes of the game, but my hopes were buoyed when the teams came onto the ice in the third period to the dulcet tones of AC/DC's "Thunderstruck." That was the Canucks' entrance music for the '94 run and I know the song was a favourite of Pat Quinn's. It's a song that still gets crowds pumped up, 20 years later. I play it often when I DJ.
The Canucks played it for the first time in recent memory at the Heritage Classic—which made sense, as part of the tribute to the '94 team. I was thrilled to hear it then and hopeful when it was played last night—maybe this kind of high-energy rock anthem would be just what the Canucks needed to boost the energy in the building and help create some goals?
It did! At the first stoppage of the period, the DJ followed it up with Nickelback's "Burn it to the Ground"—also a great, driving, rock anthem—and at 6:06 of the third period, red-hot rookie Nicklas Jensen did it again. His third goal in four games was his first on home ice, giving local fans a chance to see his impressive scoring prowess first hand. It proved to be the eventual game-winner.
Alex Edler added an insurance marker on the power play, just five seconds into Vancouver's only man advantage of the game. How crazy is that?
For today, I'll take pleasure in the absolutely unprovable correlation between the music and the on-ice result. Hopefully the game presentation crew keeps it going.
There aren't a lot of great rock songs coming down the pipe these days, but I'd also love to hear more of Fall Out Boy's "My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark" at games. That "light 'em up up up—I'm on Fi-YAH!" chorus is perfect for hockey.
Another off-ice item of note was the enormous ovation that Trevor Linden received as he made his pitch on behalf of the Canucks for Kids Fund telethon. For all the talk of how Linden's not very connected with the organization these days, it was interesting to see him at the rink in such a high-profile spot—and the fans ate it up.
The Globe and Mail ran a piece back in February suggesting that Linden is on the NPA's list of desirable candidates that it would like to be able to put up to run for mayor against Gregor Robertson in the next civic election.
Click here for that story.
With his popularity, I can see why he'd be a very attractive political candidate. If he preferred, I bet he could also have a role at the federal or provincial levels.
The organization also shone a positive light on much-maligned Mike Gillis last night with the announcement that he and his family, along with TEAM1040, had donated $55,000 to the Canucks for Kids telethon.
The press release goes on to mention that this is the sixth annual donation by the family, so they've done it every year that he's been with the team. As far as I can remember, it hasn't been announced with quite as much fanfare in the past.
I wasn't the only one in a good mood at the end of the game. After everything he's been through, it was great to hear the crowd chanting Eddie Lack's name as the clock ticked down on his fourth shutout of the season, and teammate Ryan Stanton added some cheeky fun on Twitter:
Brad Richardson rejoined the team after missing two weeks with an undisclosed injury, and he made himself noticed. Richardson was solid on draws, played over 19 minutes, and was a presence both on the penalty-kill and on his line with Zack Kassian and David Booth. The group had one long shift that was almost Sedin-like in the first period, controlling the puck in the Preds' zone for nearly two minutes and even went for a chance before Nashville finally managed to clear the puck.
According to sportsclubstats.com, the win moves the Canucks' playoff chances up to a gaudy two percent as they hold their 10th spot in the Western Conference, now three points behind Phoenix. The Coyotes play Florida tonight, so for the moment, the Canucks' postseason hopes are, ironically, back in the hands of Roberto Luongo. Can he steal another win for the Panthers like he did in San Jose?
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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