Rypien It Up

Tonight the Canucks take on the Rangers in Rogers Arena. It's not just any regular game night tho. Tonight the machine...Ryan Kesler is back ! Tonight, Rick Rypien will be remembered before the game begins.

So I have been pondering.. who gets the most focus tonight ? With Kes back in the lineup, Coho will be shoved over to the wing.. will this work ? Will Coho shine beside Super Kes ? And is Kes ready to come back ? So many questions, which we will know the answers to by the nights end.

The other story to focus on...the one that is on my mind the most ... Rick Rypien and Kevin Bieksa. Kevin was best friends with Rick, and it is no secret how much Kevin & His family did for Rick.. so how will the tribute effect Kev ? Will Kev be able to shake it off and play hard , will he use Ricks memory to Ryp it up on the ice tonight ? Even tho Kevin and the rest of the team have been shown the tribute video so they are more prepared for it, I can only imagine it will tear them up inside no matter how many times they see it.

I will be paying much attention to Kevin tonight and he will be in my thoughts every second of the game. The boys now have Luc & Ryp watching over them while they play, because we know damn well that Luc and Rick wouldn't dare let heaven allow them to miss a game.. they will be there.. on the shoulders of our Canucks.
We will all be hoping, praying an wishing the Canucks can win this game.. for themselves, for us and most of all, for Rick. Ryp it up out there boys !

RIP #37 - Forever A Canuck <3

Ballard Needs Yellow

According to @HeyFoxman if Keith Ballard had a yellow visor, he would become a beast ! Ballard has some new wheels, so why not a new visor ? !
I think Foxman is on to something here so I am writing this to support his campaign.



 Taken from the Province Chatroom -

     - Foxmans entrance into the conversation - "ballard on the point with the yellow visor = the best damn powerplay ever in existance"
     - Foxman to Jonathan McDonald  " JMAC start the yellow visor revolution" 
     - "not if ballard get the yellow visor it wont even be close Ballard will be in beast mode and mutilate the compitition....Letang will **** his pants at the sight of Ballard and his yellow visor, shea Weber would weep like a 16 year old girl at the sheer thought of it "

Foxman to me on Twitter - 

HeyFoxman 

@ _EllieNuck_ YELLOW VISOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 HeyFoxman 

@_EllieNuck_ did you tell Ballard he needs to sport the Yellow visor like Eric Weinrich then he is a 60 pt d-man hands down...#justsaying

 and in an email -

- "the yellow visor is awesome its quite clear. Look at old eric weinrich pictures dude is a beast with it on ballard would be in beast mode once he has that" - @HeyFoxman 

- "it'll be awesome because it'll be like  he is trying to impress vigneualt or something to stand out I dunno im weird i miss the yellow visor we need one so the rest of the league hates us even more" - @HeyFoxman

So I guess it is safe to say that @TheFoxman is now leading the "Ballard Needs Yellow' campaign. He makes some very valid points so hey, let's support him in the Ballard Needs Yellow campaign .. if you see Keith, tell him  He Needs Yellow !

Getting to Know You - Chris Higgins

Our Flavour of the Week - #20 Chris Higgins aka Higgs or Higgy. Chris came to the Canucks late in the 2010/11 season in a trade which also brought us Lapierre. He is 6'0 , 205 lbs and plays left wing. Chris is 28 years old and hails from Smithtown NY. His NHL career started with the Canadiens but he went through a few teams before landing , feet first, in Vancouver.

Higgy Stats - in the 2010/11 season he played 14 regular season games, scooping up 5 points. In the playoffs, Chris played 25 games with 8 points. The stat that most stands out is the Broken Foot stat ;) .... Higgs played through most of the playoffs with a broken foot and it never slowed him down. This alone gained the respect and adoration of many Canucks fans.

Gettin Higgy with It Vids -
After Hours - a vid from shortly after Chris came to us.. P.S Thank You MG for Chris !!
Higgs Scores ! - playoff goal vs Sharks.. why'd i choose this one ? Look who's in the box during this goal ;) That made me smile :D 
Higgs History Will Be Made - i have one word for this .. Goosebumples !
Chris from Burrs - vs Flyers - Beautiful Goal !


Higgy Tid Bits - I love this guy ! He may not be a stand out super star , but in my eyes, he is up there with the brightest stars on our team. The fact he couldn't walk on his foot, yet once he hit the ice you couldn't tell he was in agony, amazes me. I saw Chris at a practice shortly after he shattered his foot and he could barely walk, he came out limping, using his stick to hold his weight, but once he hit that ice it was smooth skating. That day, my respect for Higgy hit high levels. Chris plays hard and it shows every time he is on the ice... this is the kind of guy I want on our team :) I won't mention his sexy lips, gorgeous eyes & how good his butt looks in spandex.. oh yes I will ! How could I not ? *sigh*

Gettin Higgy With It

Canucks in Columbus & Sedin Security

The Canucks are on a road trip which started with them in Columbus taking on the Blue Jackets. Our Canucks came out on top with a final score of 3-2. Cory Schneider got the start between the pipes & stopped 23 of the 25 shots he faced as well as a penalty shot to help swing the momentum our way.
Higgins opened up scoring with a tip off a Manny shot, Coho sank the 2nd goal for us and Burrows popped his own rebound in to get the game winner. It wasn't the best start we have seen but it was a great finish :)



One thing I'd like to touch base on is the fact that our super stars get zero respect in this league. Henrik and Daniel Sedin, two of the best players in the NHL and two of the nicest more respectful players, seem to get beat on quite a bit. We saw it in the cup finals , and have already seen it just two games into the season. Opposing team players seem to think it is open season on the twins, possibly because in the cup finals when it happened, the league took no steps to stop it, and the refs turned a blind eye. This may have given other teams a sense of security when laying cheap shots on the twins. If others got away with it, why won't they . It needs to stop. Our guys can beat up every guy who hurts a Sedin, but then our guys take the risk of sitting in the sinbin and giving the other team the PP and the chance to score. Not a very fair trade off I'd say, especially when we have refs who are supposed to stop and punish that type of behavior.
Last night Henrik was hit from behind by Blue Jacket Marc Methot, a very dangerous hit which resulted in a 2 minute penalty for Methot. When Bieksa and Volps called Methot out, he refused to drop the gloves. If Bieksa or Volps would have dropped them first, we would have been given an instigator penalty .. so they let it go. Understandable in a close game where we are after the win.. but this hit better be reviewed by Shanahan , and a message should be sent out that other teams cannot bully the twins and get away with it. The twins have earned the respect they deserve, and the league needs to keep that in check... or we need to pick a goon up and call him ' The Sedin Security'. Bottom line, it needs to be dealt with.. our Sedins are worth it and much more.

The Canucks The Bright Side & The Choice

Canucks played their opening game of the regular season last night in Rogers Arena and came up short in a shootout, losing a point & the game. Final score was 4-3 Penguins. Max Lapierre#40, Keith Ballard#4 and Daniel Sedin#22 scored our three goals. Roberto Luongo#1 made 28 saves and ended with a .893 save %. We scored zero goals in the shootout giving the Pengs the extra point when they scored twice.

 Maybe I should warn you before you proceed.. I am not one to sit and complain about all the things Canucks did wrong, for more than one reason, so if that is what you enjoy, stop reading right about now :) Not everyone in life finds the need to focus only on the negative.. some of us prefer to seek out the positive ... I am one of those types. I form my own opinion, I make my own choice on which team I am a fan of and I don't always agree with the main stream.. so shoot me .. or read me, the choice is yours ! ;)
I can agree, Luo allowed 2 not so great goals & his tummy flop thing on the last shootout goal was Luo-ish,  the team came out way sluggish, Coho was caught in slow motion a few times, Bieksa became a screen at one point, Samuelsson on the shootout?, Coach AV didn't play the vets enough in pre season waa waa etc... but I also saw a Higgs who was playing very well, I saw many great saves made by Luo, I saw the twins dominate many times, I saw a few nice hits , some good passes and 3 great goals ! I mean heck even Ballard scored a goal... that in itself is one huge bright side for Ballard fans.
I'm horrible at remembering specifics and I am not the biggest stats person, stats do not always tell the story & it's too easy to copy & paste a stat, so I write from my recollections for the most part and to my recollection, I got the chance to say LUUUOOO many times during the game, which means he made good saves because I only LUUUOOO when he makes a save . I also recall cheering on Higgins an awful lot, saying " Damn this guy is on a mission", I remember Lapierre playing killer .. and I recall thinking how good Ballards goal looked ( can't believe I have to admit that ;) ) so yes, there were good aspects of the game. The fact that we came back from 2 goals down, twice, is something to be optimistic about as well.. much better than not coming back at all right ;)
I could complain about all the hate from Canucks fans that gets spewed so often, but what's the point ? I'm sure those fans also have some good aspects about them... I am also sure that those fans can make the choice to stop following a team which makes them so unhappy, just like I can make the choice on what I focus on.. The Bright Side !

We lost to the Penguins in a shootout.. imagine if we lost to the Leafs by a shutout ? ;) Yes, there is always a bright side :)
If fans are condemning the Canucks to a horrible season because of one game, those same fans must be thinking the Leafs will win the cup and that Boston sucks !
Suck it up or hop off the wagon.. it's your choice . :)