Saturday February 6 - Vancouver Canucks vs. Calgary Flames - 7:00 p.m. - CBC, TSN1040
Vancouver Canucks: 51 GP, 20-19-12, 52 pts, fifth in Pacific Division
Calgary Flames: 50 GP, 22-25-3, 47 pts, sixth in Pacific Division
I seem to still have Torts on the brain a little bit. It was Hockey Day in Canada two years ago when the Calgary Flames came to town and—well, you know the rest.
I don't expect the same degree of emotion, but there's plenty on the line tonight for two teams that are currently separated by just five points in the Pacific Division standings. The Canucks and Flames haven't seen each other since the first week of the season, when Vancouver kicked off the year with a 5-1 win in Calgary before blowing a 2-1 lead to lose 3-2 in overtime in their first game of the year at Rogers Arena. That pattern started early.
Judging from this photo from today's morning skate, I presume we'll be seeing Ryan Miller in net again tonight.
The organization has said that Jacob Markstrom would be used more, but he hasn't seen a minute of ice time since Jan. 21. Markstrom is 4-0-1 in his last five starts. Miller is 1-2-2. For a team that insists it's fighting for every point it can get, I find the continued commitment to Miller mystifying.
Thank goodness the Canucks play back-to-back games on the road next week. Markstrom should at least get one of those starts, right??
Tonight's other roster change, of course—Dan Hamhuis will be back in the lineup, eight weeks and three days after he had his face shattered by Dan Boyle's slap shot.
If you're up for it, check out this video from Global TV, which outlines the extent of Hamhuis' injuries and how the doctors put him back together.
Amazing stuff. I did not think that Hamhuis would be back in action anywhere near soon enough to be a possible trade chip as we head towards the deadline.
There's buzz that Washington's interested in adding Hamhuis for their Cup run—and I'd think that's an option that could even appeal to a loyal family-first B.C. boy. The Caps are currently the class of the NHL and look as close as they've ever been to snapping their lifelong playoff curse.
Earlier this week, though, Hamhuis told
Ben Kuzma at
The Province that his focus is on getting the Canucks into the playoffs.
“My biggest focus is helping our team win and putting Jim Benning in a place where he can become a buyer and make a good run in the playoffs,” Hamhuis said of a trade-deadline suggestion for the Canucks general manager.
“We’ve had key injuries and now we’re healthy. It would be good to go on a run here and put ourselves in a good position for the playoffs, and instead of thinking about trades and selling, we look at buying and building a team for the playoffs.”
After watching the Canucks match up pretty evenly against the last-place Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday, my playoff hopes dropped significantly. The Flames also lost to Columbus last night on their home ice by a score of 2-1 so on paper, tonight's game could go either way.
With Hamhuis back in the lineup, the Canucks waived defenceman Yannick Weber. He cleared today, so he'll be assigned to Utica along with Chris Higgins and Brandon Prust. For the first time all year, the Canucks are healthy—though I'll be keeping a close eye on Henrik Sedin again tonight.
The Flames, of course, are without Dennis Wideman, who will have his appeal of his 20-game suspension for abusing an official heard next Wednesday. Jonas Hiller will likely start in net after Karri Ramo took the loss on Friday against the Blue Jackets.
Here's a stat that might surprise you: Bob Hartley's Flames are the second-least penalized team in the NHL this season with just 120 penalties in 50 games. The Canucks are also on the bottom half of the list, ranked 17th overall with 162 penalties in 51 games.
Hockey Day in Canada
Kamloops, B.C. is playing host to Hockey Day in Canada today.
I lived in Kamloops for a couple of years back in the '80s, when Ken Hitchcock coached the Kamloops Blazers at the old Memorial Arena. They won the 1986 WHL Championship shortly after I arrived in town and went on to play in the Memorial Cup, powered by league scoring champion Rob Brown (58-115-173) and offensive defenseman Greg Hawgood (34-85-119).
Local boy Mark Recchi also made his mark with the Blazers during my time in Kamloops, scoring 154 points in 1987-88 before being drafted in the fourth round by the Pittsburgh Penguins and going on to a 1,652 game NHL career.
Recchi's now part of the Blazers' ownership group along with other former Blazers Shane Doan, Jarome Iginla and Darryl Sydor, as well as Sandman Hotel (and Dallas Stars) boss Tom Gaglardi.
Four NHL games are already underway today, with eight more still to come—and a light schedule for Super Bowl Sunday tomorrow, as you might expect.
Enjoy!
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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