Afternoon Headshots: February 15th

 
When you think of all time great Canucks three names come to mind immediately: Pavel Bure, Trevor Linden and Aaron Rome.
Photo Credit: Jason Botchford

Tonight is the night that former Canucks defenseman Aaron Rome, beloved by no one except Alain Vigneault and the editors of this site, returns to Rogers Arena. The anticipation is palpable, and Jason Botchford is on it. [The Province]

More links, .gifs, Aaron Rome jokes and other stuff after the jump!

In his ESPN blogumn today, Pierre LeBrun lists five current assistant General Managers from around the NHL who are ready for prime time. Number three on his list is none other than Indiana Jones fan, master negotiator and Canucks Army reader (in our dreams) Laurence Gilman. Say it ain’t so! [ESPN]

Over at the fantastic hockey blog Puck Buddy’s, our old pal Tom (@Gaycanuck) pivots off of the Southsiders controversy that raged all week and describes Rogers Arena as a "no-fun zone." "Maybe this embarrassing public relations folly with the Southsiders," Tom hopes, "Will force the Canucks organization to rethink its no-fun policies and to train security and arena staff to tell the difference between out-of-control assholes and lively fans." Hey, a blogger can dream! [Puck Buddy’s]

Also on the whole Southsiders controvery (this is the last day that we’ll be talking about this thing, right?), Tony Gallagher chimes in and blames the NHL product – which has become increasingly defense oriented – for the entire kerfuffle. [The Province]

It’s a rare occurence where I feel compelled to describe a tribute video as "really moving." But I’ll admit that it got a bit dusty in my office this morning when I watched this video compliation of Manny Malhotra’s top-five moments as a Canucks skater from Bure’s Triple Deke. Bure’s Triple Deke (BTD) is best known for infringing on @BrowntoBure‘s sacrosanct personal ownership of the iconic moment in Canucks history when Jeff Brown sent a perfect hook pass to Pavel Bure for a breakaway overtime goal that finished off the Calgary Flames in game seven of the Western Conference Quarterfinal in 1994, but you should really check out their work. Just a fantastic addition to the Smylosphere. [Bure’s Triple Deke]

If you want more than just the video, Daniel Wagner captioned BTD’s Malhotra tribute video at length over at Pass it to Bulis. [Pass it to Bulis]

Writing at Puck Daddy, Cam Charron discusses how Manny Malhotra’s relatively short tenure with the Canucks and his unique usage by Alain Vigneault impacted the way NHL teams around the league deploy defensive specialists. [Puck Daddy]

Brad Ziemer looks at NHL realignment, which was first proposed last Spring and was ultimately rejected by the NHLPA. Mike Gillis is all for it, the fans are for it too and at this point it seems like an inevitability. Hurray! [Vancouver Sun]

Man this is shaping up to be potentially embarrassing:

I beseech you dear Canucks Army readers, please go vote for the Japandroids and save the Canucks fanbase from endless ridicule.

Over at the Legion of Blog, Wyatt Arndt dusts off his new feature "This Week in Photoshop" and it predictably owns. [Legion of Blog]

Finally, I really enjoyed this Ed Willes take on Manny Malhotra. The gist: the Canucks may be able to replace him on the ice (though that won’t be done as easily as some may think), but they can’t replace what he brought to the locker room, or the negotiating table, or the the community. [The Province]

Okay when I said "finally" while linking to the Willes piece in the paragraph directly above this one, I lied. I have one more thing to pass along and it’s – what else – Zack Kassian being awesomely goofy:

.Gifs via JordanEberle14