Thursday March 26 - Vancouver Canucks vs. Colorado Avalanche - 7:00 p.m. - Sportsnet Pacific, TSN1040
Vancouver Canucks: 43-26-4, 90 points, second in Pacific Division Colorado Avalanche: 33-28-12, 78 points, seventh in Central Division
The Vancouver Canucks are taking #ThrowbackThursday to a whole new level as they celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Vancouver Millionaires' Stanley Cup win tonight at Rogers Arena.
I like the idea of celebrating the city's lone Stanley Cup victory on its centennial—it's not like this is an arbitrary anniversary like the 92nd or even the 75th. And the Millionaires swag has proved popular among the fanbase, so it's a chance for the team to rock the look and hopefully remove any further talk of "the curse" that goes along with it.
If you're interested in picking up some new Millionaires gear yourself, it's discounted by 30 percent at the Team Store today.
A few personnel updates heading into tonight's game:
• Adam Clendening was sent down to Utica on Wednesday after missing eight games as a healthy scratch.
On Clendening, Desjardins said he needs to play, as they weren't going to get him in. We heard last night 23-8/2-6/3-5/(18) are the guys
— Jon Abbott (@HockeyAbbs) March 25, 2015• Zack Kassian's back is still bothering him.
Benning on Kassian "Tweaked injury in practice last week. He's out day-to-day, and don't know when he'll be back."
— TSN Radio Vancouver (@TSN1040) March 26, 2015• Brad Richardson also remains day-to-day with his ankle injury. Ben Kuzma has the scoop in this article from The Province.
I could try to play and if I had another setback, it could be the rest of the year. We’re trying to manage it to where I can get back in and not be back out again.It’s tough. I was feeling good and the incident happened. I’m not back to square one, but it sucks because this is the best time of year to be playing.
Kuzma suggested that Richardson could return to action on Saturday against Dallas, or else on next week's road trip.
For those of you who think Chris Tanev's shot is a muffin, don't forget that he's the one who caused this damage to Richardson back in mid-January.
Also awkward in the Richardson household—Brad's wife Lauren has been the subject of a swarm of Twitter hate recently—apparently because she shares the same name as the woman who's at the centre of the Zayn Malik cheating scandal that has triggered his departure from his boy band, One Direction. 1D fans are notoriously over-the-top, and Lauren has been caught in the crossfire:
I am not the girl that had something to do with one direction. I am married and pregnant and live in Vancouver. Stop the hate messages, sad
— Lauren Richardson (@_LRichardson_) March 22, 2015As for tonight's game, the Colorado Avalanche could be running on fumes after overcoming an early 3-0 deficit against Edmonton last night, ultimately losing 4-3 thanks to Derek Roy's game-winner midway through the third period.
Semyon Varlamov was pulled just 9:36 into the game after giving up three goals on seven shots, but will start again tonight. Reto Berra takes Wednesday's loss on his record, but Varly has posted a loss against Calgary and an OTL against Anaheim over the last week, after winning six straight games earlier in March.
We won't see Nathan MacKinnon with the Avs tonight—he suffered a broken foot in early March and is out for the season. We will see the Canucks' old nemesis Jarome Iginla, who seems to get up for games at Rogers Arena no matter what jersey he's wearing.
Now 37, Iggy has delivered as promised for the struggling Avs this season. He scored his 25th goal of the year last night against Edmonton and is just one point behind the team's scoring leader, Gabriel Landeskog.
Expect to see Eddie Lack back in net for Vancouver.
I'll finish up today with some great insight from Elliotte Friedman on *how* the Canucks beat the Los Angeles Kings last Saturday, in his latest 30 Thoughts.
The whole analysis is worth a read—and you'll also get mentions of Tanev's new contract and Rick Bowness itching to get back to head coaching. Here's the nitty-gritty:
They were careful to stay above the Kings on the forecheck, trying to nullify how well the Kings control the boards. (The 1-1 goal was a good example, with Vancouver taking advantage of a bad line change moments after the Kings simply fired it out of their zone following two lost battles.)And, they were told not to worry about proving their manhood, just finish checks if the opportunity presented itself.
After last year, this seems like a revolutionary strategic approach. Props to Willie for getting to the heart of the issue and finding a successful solution.