The Good The Bad and The All Star Break

The Good: Winning Shootouts, Specifically: Luongo Winning Shootouts

It’s those rare hockey games in which the Canucks fail to ‘win da turd’ and leave the game tied until the very end of it, that Canucks fans everywhere all think the same thing: “Please do not let this game go to a shootout.” The frequency of the aforementioned statement increases when the goaltender in net is Roberto Luongo. As great of a goalie as he is, Luongo is just not known for his ability to make great shootout saves. He has a dependency on his D-men, and who can blame him (hi Aaron Rome) so perhaps he just feels naked and vulnerable out there all on his own so uncovered and unprotected. However, this is the “good” portion of my column which I am now dedicating to the hockey gods being in a glorious mood and allowing Luongo to be a shootout hero….

It happened in Montreal on December 8th and it was good. So good that I screamed and giggled and jumped up and down for about 3 minutes afterwards. Lighting does strike twice because it happened again on Tuesday night against the Oilers  This time Luongo faced five shooters and allowed only one goal. It was a game that the Canucks needed to win to keep some of the momentum before heading into the All-Star break. On a night when the team faced an impervious opposition goalie, (Devan Dubnyk) Luongo prevailed to steal the show and win the game. Sometimes, it’s the little things that you have to celebrate.

The Bad: No Canucks Games For A Week

This next week is going to be pretty quiet on the Canucks hockey front. The anticipation for their return is elevated even more given that the next team to visit Vancouver and face the Canucks is their bitter rival, the Chicago Blackhawks. I would sell my right kidney to attend this game. However, we still have five days in between now and then. Five wonderfully free days. So, whom of you actually planned ahead to ensure that these particular days were filled with activities to distract yourselves from the lack of seeing David Booth and Keith Ballard parading around as ice gods?

I suppose this would be a good time to visit with friends that are not hockey fans. Perhaps try to convince them how much better their lives would be with a little bit of Canucks … but don’t mention the stress, the sleepless nights or the susceptibility to stalking (Hi Alex). You could have a Lord of the Rings Extended Version marathon and kill three days right there. Or you could just watch the All-Star game on Sunday and ponder a hockey world in which the Sedins were separated or worse, on the same team as the villainous Zdeno Chara. Or you could bake cookies.

Personally, I have never really been all that into the All-Star game. I watch it every now and then but mostly because I have been forced to by a certain Sidney Crosby fan I know. Seeing how Mr. Hockey is not participating this year, I am seemingly off the hook. However, I REALLY hope that something exciting happens. Perhaps, something scandalous. And I don’t mean on the ice during the game, though with the assortment of interesting characters I am sure it will be highly entertaining, but off the ice.

Maybe Shane O’Brien, Dale Weise and Kyle Wellwood will all go to Vegas and end up in getting handcuffed by strippers and have to be rescued by Paul Bissonnette, all of which will be posted on twitter of course. Maybe Jonathan Toews will go to Disneyland and be caught smiling likes he means it – this would probably come at the hands of ruing some child’s day, but hey, such is life. Or maybe, just maybe, we will discover the real reason that Alex Ovechkin didn’t want to participate in the All-Star game: the embarrassing fact that Phil Kessel has been a better player than him this year.

Whatever happens, I sure hope it gives bloggers everywhere lots to write about.