Thursday March 31 - Vancouver Canucks at San Jose Sharks - 7:30 p.m. - Sportsnet Pacific, TSN1040
Vancouver Canucks: 76 GP, 27-36-13, 67 pts, sixth in Pacific Division
San Jose Sharks: 77 GP, 43-28-6, 92 pts, third in Pacific Division
Last night, I dreamt that I accidentally missed watching a Canucks game—and they won 5-0 while I wasn't paying attention!
The Canucks are 5-0 in their last five games at the Shark Tank, but I'm assuming the dream is not a premonition of tonight's outcome, when Vancouver wraps up this season series in San Jose.
With a loss tonight, the Canucks' current streak of futility would reach 10 games, a mark that has happened just once before in franchise history—during the Mike Keenan years. Between October 23 and November 11, 1997, the Canucks lost seven road games and three home games before breaking the slump—da dum!—in the Shark Tank. Trevor Linden, of all people, scored the winning goal when Vancouver beat San Jose 5-2 on Nov. 12.
The Canucks, of course, are going into Thursday's game without the services of Jake Virtanen. The rookie was assessed a two-game suspension on Wednesday for his late, blindside hit on Roman Polak.
This outcome lined up pretty well with my expectations of what would happen. As always, arguments can be made on both sides about *how* late the hit was and the fact that Virtanen didn't target Polak's head, but the vulnerability of the player being hit is an issue in today's NHL. Jake lined up Polak and went for it, full-bore.
I do miss the crash-and-bang style of the old days, but I also hated seeing players get seriously hurt from those collisions. It's a tricky balance for the league to set a standard of a happy medium, then get the players to colour within the lines.
Though we won't see Virtanen in tonight's game, he did make a brief cameo on last night's Vancouver-heavy episode of "Hockey Wives," as he checked in with Brandon Prust and Prust's fiancee Maripier Morin.
Earlier in the season, we saw Prust refer to himself as "the babysitter" with reference to Virtanen. It looks like their off-ice relationship did have some substance to it.
Last night's episode was also the first appearance of the season for Ryan Miller's wife Noureen DeWulf and their baby, Bodhi. Shot during Miller's busy month of October while Jacob Markstrom was sidelined with his hamstring injury, Noureen referred to her life as the wife of a goaltender and mother of a newborn as a navigation between naps.
Since the new episodes started airing earlier in March, I've been surprised to learn that David Booth has maintained some ties to B.C. since being bought out by the Canucks after the 2013-14 season. The show has not yet revealed the outcome of the real estate situation, but Booth put in an offer to buy Ryan Getzlaf's Kelowna summer house during training camp, explaining to his new wife Ashley how much she'd love putting down roots in Canada as they deal with his nomadic playing career.
I digress—but it was kind of nice to take a trip back in time to October, when the Canucks came out of the gate strong.
In
The Province,
Ben Kuzma reports that Virtanen is eligible to travel and practice with the team during this two-game trip to California, but he has stayed behind in Vancouver to work on his skills and conditioning.
Kuzma also has Jim Benning's thoughts on Virtanen's hit:
“We agree with the league’s take on it, but we don’t want it to take away from the way Jake plays because we think hitting and physical play are parts of who he is,” Benning said. “But he’s going to have to be more aware that he doesn’t hit late."
In the same article, Benning nods to the team's plans for NCAA stars Thatcher Demko and Brock Boeser. Benning will be headed to Tampa for next weekend's Frozen Four tournament, then plans to talk with both camps after the season is over.
With regard to Demko, "I talked to his agent (Monday) and once the season is done — because I want him to concentrate on his team now and playing the best he can to help them win a championship — we’ll sit down and figure out what the best path for Thatcher and us," said Benning.
And while it was initially expected that Boeser would return to North Dakota for a second season, that may not necessarily end up being the plan. "He’s had such a good year and if he wants, he could make the (pro) jump, but we’ll listen to what he and his family have to say and make the decision as a group,” Benning said.
Another feather in Demko's cap today: as expected, he has been announced as a finalist for the 2016 Hobey Baker Award.
Speaking of goaltending, I expect we'll see both the Canucks and Sharks switch up their netminders tonight, as Ryan Miller and Martin Jones should draw back in.
I also expect we'll see plenty of chippy play tonight, before these two teams separate for another year.
Though the Canucks remain in a battle with Edmonton and Toronto to lock down last-place overall, the Sharks have plenty to play for themselves. They're just four points out of first place in the Pacific Division and three points out of second. It's a tight race that'll go down to the wire in determining first-round playoff matchups and which California team will cross over to play—most likely—Nashville.
No word yet on other lineup adjustments for the Canucks tonight. Linden Vey or perhaps Derek Dorsett, if he's well enough, could take Virtanen's spot up front. I wonder if Nikita Tryamkin will be fit to play after missing Tuesday's game?
On the out-of-town scoreboard, keep and eye on the Leafs and Sabres at 4 p.m. PT. The Oilers don't play again until Saturday.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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