February 28 2014 04:30PM
Here is the Puck Daddy Viewing Guide: Spotlighting five things to watch for during tonight's slate of games. Make sure to stop back here for the nightly Three Stars when the games are finished.
Create-a-Caption: "Gnash, the mascot of the Nashville Predators stands on a ladder during a game against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Bridgestone Arena."
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Preview: San Jose Sharks at Buffalo Sabres, 7:00 p.m. EST
Preview: Phoenix Coyotes at Colorado Avalanche, 9:00 p.m. EST
Preview: Minnesota Wild at Vancouver Canucks, 10:00 p.m. EST
Preview: St. Louis Blues at Anaheim Ducks, 10:00 p.m. EST
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Five things to know about tonight's NHL games ...
1) Quack attack is back Jack. The Anaheim Ducks are the last team in the league to play their first post-Olympic break. To put it in perspective, after tonight's game the Buffalo Sabres have played three games in four days since resuming the season on Tuesday.
2) Ryan Kesler is playing tonight...for the Canucks. He didn't play in the Canucks first game back due to a hand injury sustained while in Sochi. Once Kesler's name was floated in trade talks, the mainstream hockey media had a collective orgasm.
3) Shark attack. Last night San Jose put up seven goals on the Philadelphia Flyers. Three of those goals came from Joe Pavelski. The other four came from Logan Couture and Raffi Torres in their first game back after being out for months due to injury. Did I mention Patrick Marleau, Joe Thornton and Brett Burns are on the team, too? Swimmers beware.
4) Varly's post-Olympic debut. The last game Seymon Varlamov played in, he was yanked after giving up three goals on 15 shots against Team Finland. He's putting all that behind him and seems to be in good spirits. After his first skate back with the Avs, he met with reporters and quipped , ''Sorry I didn't bring my gold medal with me.'' He's making the start against the Coyotes.
5) Wild for Kuemper. Do you even know who Darcy Kuemper is? He's the rookie goaltender for Minnesota who is on a three-game win streak and will be going for four tonight against Vancouver. At the other end of the ice is Eddie Lack for the Canucks.
Bold prediction: Ryan Kesler. Four-point night. Canucks lose 4-3 to the Wild.
February 28 2014 03:35PM
VANCOUVER -- Shortly after renovating its private suites and concessions in the first phase of a major renovation, BC Place hosted the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. The global events were a landmark for the city. B...
February 28 2014 03:25PM
VANCOUVER -- For Vancouver Canucks forward Zack Kassian, growing up in southern Ontario on the shores of Lake Erie meant building a rink and playing a lot of outdoor hockey every winter.
It also meant coming up with creative ways to maintain th...
February 28 2014 02:21PM
The Ottawa Senators are looking forward to Sunday's Heritage Classic against the Vancouver Canucks.
February 28 2014 02:14PM
The Ottawa Senators are looking forward to Sunday's Heritage Classic against the Vancouver Canucks. After a 6-1 loss to Detroit on Thursday night, the Senators enter Friday five points back of the Red Wings for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. Sunday's game at BC Place will be the first in a four-game Western Canada road trip for the Senators and could have a significant impact on their playoff aspirations. ''We're going to have fun with everything leading up to the game and playing the game, but at the same time we're professionals,'' center Zack Smith said.
February 28 2014 01:55PM
VANCOUVER -- Growing up in Switzerland, Vancouver Canucks defenseman Yannick Weber skated on all sorts of different ice surfaces, from lakes and ponds to outdoor rinks.
He'll add another unique ice pad to his resume Sunday when he skates onto t...
February 28 2014 01:55PM
OTTAWA - The Ottawa Senators are looking forward to Sunday's Heritage Classic against the Vancouver Canucks, but know their focus has to be on picking up two points rather than the novelty of playing outdoors.
After dropping a 6-1 loss to Det...
February 28 2014 12:16PM
After missing Vancouver's first post-Olympic break game with a hand injury.
February 28 2014 11:00AM
Even sadder than this kid? The kids that will never get to be this kid.
The Vancouver Canucks owe hundreds of their young fans an apology, and not just for icing a team that can't score goals.
The players for over 300 minor-league hockey teams are battling disappointment after they were told they had won tickets to the Heritage Classic, only to be later informed that they actually hadn't.
How did this happen? How did the Canucks come to dash the hearts of so many kids (again, outside of just being the Canucks as currently assembled)?
A computing error. The Canucks sent an e-mail to 1100 minor-league teams informing them of an opportunity to win tickets to Sunday's game at BC Place, and of those 1100, about 300 replied to enter the contest.
The message these teams were supposed to receive upon entering: Thank you for entering! The message they actually received: Hey wow, you won!
When the Canucks learned of their error, they back-pedalled, but by then, that meant coaches like Anthony Bucci of Abbotsford had to tell a bunch of eight-year-olds, including his son, that they didn't actually have tickets to the game. From the CBC :
"[The players] were really happy to go and excited and jumping up and down. And then I had to tell them that, 'Hey, we're not going now. They took the tickets away,'" said Bucci.
"They're eight years old, future hockey players, and they look up to the Canucks. Now they don't get to go and participate in probably what's going to be a once-in-a-lifetime game."
Player Jayden Bucci said he is disappointed and would like the Canucks to give his team tickets to another game to make up for the error.
I'm sure he would.
"I was excited to go, but now I can't," said a young child, wondering why the world is so full of cruelty and misery.
Now, if it's any consolation to these eight-year-olds, watching the Canucks these days borders on a chore, and what's more, the novelty of these outdoor games has totally worn off.
But it probably isn't much consolation, since, because they are children, they still possess their childlike sense of wonder and innocence. Unless they don't. It's possible this incident has left them jaded and cynical.
If so, don't mourn for them. Cheering for the Canucks, that just happens. Really, it's good of the team to get it over with early, like the chicken pox.
What the Canucks will be doing to make up for the unfortunate glitch remains to be seen.
"It didn't roll out properly," Canuck spokesman Chris Brunwell told CBC. "We are trying to put our heads together, and we'll hopefully be able to get back to those teams that didn't win tickets [with] some good news about something that will get the kids excited again."
Tickets. They want hockey tickets.
Update : they will apparently get tickets.
JUST IN: Canucks say each child impacted by PR blunder will get to go to a hockey game in the future. Earlier glitch saw a mass tix giveaway
— News1130 (@News1130radio) February 28, 2014
If you're asking me, the people who should really be apologizing are the 800 coaches that didn't bother to enter this contest.
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Harrison Mooney is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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February 28 2014 11:00AM
VANCOUVER, B.C. – Eight-time Juno Award and three-time Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan and 2014 Juno Award nominees Tegan and Sara will headline the musical performances at the 2014 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic™ between ...
February 28 2014 12:27AM
It appears all the Vancouver Canucks needed was a few weeks off to regroup. Ryan Kesler could be back as the Canucks try to build on their first win in a month Friday night against the visiting Wild. After dropping its final seven games before the Olympic break, Vancouver (28-24-9) pulled out a 1-0 win over St. Louis in its first game back Wednesday. Jannik Hansen scored 11:13 into the third period and rookie Eddie Lack made 20 saves for his third shutout.
February 28 2014 12:20AM
Also: Halak starts again tonight after strong game in Vancouver.
February 27 2014 06:48PM
VANCOUVER -- NHL senior manager of facilities operations Mike Craig hasn't actually been working on making ice outdoors for two straight months. It just feels that way sometimes.
After prepping ice for three outdoor games since Jan. 1, Craig an...
February 27 2014 03:00PM
VANCOUVER, B.C. – The 2014 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic™ game between the Vancouver Canucks™ and Ottawa Senators™ at BC Place on Sunday, March 2 (1:00 p.m. PT / 4:00 p.m. ET on CBC and RDS in Canada; NBCSN in the U.S.) will feature a salute to...
February 27 2014 02:01PM
VANCOUVER -- Raphael Diaz didn't just get traded to the Vancouver Canucks on Feb. 3.
Diaz got dealt back to his youth.
The trade that sent the 28-year-old defenseman from the Montreal Canadiens also put Diaz into the 2014 Tim Hortons NHL Her...
