Let's start with the Milan Lucic incident from Saturday night.
If you missed it, video is circulating of Lucic talking to police outside a Vancouver nightclub, insisting that he was attacked without provocation.
CBS' Eye on Hockey has the latest, including a link to the video. Click here for the story.
I was downtown working my DJ beat on Saturday night and got myself out of the area the minute my shift was over. These weekends right before Christmas are some of the craziest of the year—Granville St. was packed with holiday-partiers and hockey-watchers in various states of inebriation. I guess when you're a 25-year-old bruiser like Lucic with a healthy sense of self-esteem, you're less likely to see the scene like I do now: "Nothing good can come of this."
With the level of intensity that continues to fuel the rivalry between the Canucks and Bruins, I'm not surprised that something allegedly happened. If the incident went down the way Lucic says it did, he has every right to look at his options. I hope once he cools off, he'll realize he doesn't have to demonize the entire city:
Lucic: "I have no reason left to defend my city and the people in my city. I'm disgusted and outraged."
— Joe McDonald (@ESPNJoeyMac) December 16, 2013A comment like that will keep the bitterness burning. I'd recommend that the Canucks keep a low profile off the ice when they visit Boston on February 4.
Nuggets from Saturday's win:
- Who got the Haida Hat after the Boston win? Roberto Luongo was named first star, but I didn't see the usual celebratory photo. Maybe Twitter has it right?
Someone quick, put the Haida hat on torts! #firststar
— Canucks Girl (@Canucker22) December 15, 2013The Canucks' good fortunes began around the time that the Haida Hat was introduced. Is it a good luck charm? I hope we see it again soon.
- Eddie Lack was a terrific guest on CBC's After Hours following the game. I'd forgotten that he's been with the franchise long enough that he would have watched the 2011 Final as part of the team. He's engaging and offered lots of good information. It's long, but it's good:
Scott Oake has done a tremendous job of building an entertaining and insightful feature that's become a can't miss for me, even when it doesn't feature a Canuck. I really hope Rogers keeps After Hours alive in some form next year.
Questions Still Surround TV Deal:
Speaking of the new Rogers/NHL TV deal, CBC ran a piece on the weekend quoting rating agency Moody's saying that the agreement could still run into regulatory challenges from the CRTC before it's officially approved. Click here to read the story.
The piece also mentions that further sub-licensing beyond the CBC could still be possible. Will we ultimately see Rogers selling the rights to broadcast some games to TSN? I'd guess it will all depend on the money that's involved.
Tough Trip Ahead:
As well as the Canucks have been playing, they have to keep their foot on the gas as they head east for three games in four nights against the tough Central Division.
The trip starts on Tuesday with the first meeting of the year against the Minnesota Wild. The team has already arrived and is catching up with an old friend:
#Canucks have arrived in Minny. First stop? Catching up with Ballard. http://t.co/z03XxxxJYm
— Vancouver Canucks (@VanCanucks) December 16, 2013I'm interested to get a good look at how Ballad is deployed. He has generally been playing between 11 and 14 minutes, but is a minus-3 over the last three games as the Wild have started to slip down the standings. They're 4-5-1 in their last 10 games and now sit two points behind the Canucks, with both teams at 35 games played.
After Minnesota, it's on to Dallas on Thursday, then a back-to-back against Chicago on Friday. Despite their goaltending uncertainty due to Corey Crawford's injury, the 'Hawks continue to score their way out of trouble, and they followed up their uncharacteristic loss to Toronto on Saturday with a dominating 3-1 win over the red-hot Los Angeles Kings on Sunday.
Despite Vancouver's seven straight wins, the team still needs points if it wants to stay in the thick of the playoff hunt. They're still in sixth place, but have closed the gap on San Jose, St. Louis and Los Angeles just ahead of them.
Quick Hits:
- The first episode of the new edition of 24/7 premiered in Canada last night. I wrote about it for Bleacher Report—Here's the link. With high expectations brought on from the first two seasons, I had hoped for more juice.
- If you're looking for that special Christmas gift, the Canucks are auctioning off those ugly Christmas Sweaters, with funds raised benefiting the Canucks for Kids Fund.
Click here and type "sweater" into the search box to check out the choices. Just scrolling down the options is pretty entertaining. The auction ends Tuesday at midnight and prices are currently as low as $100. It's for the kids!
I'll be back tomorrow to set up the Wild game. In the meantime, give me a follow on Twitter if you haven't done so already, at @pool88.