The Vancouver Canucks were eliminated from the playoffs tonight in their 5-3 loss to the San Jose Sharks. They played the Sharks last night too, we went to that game, it was our last game of the season. We had 1/2 season tickets this year – 20 games – sometimes we saw good hockey and sometimes so-so hockey and occasionally hockey that stinks. Let’s not talk about the Red Wings game back in March.

There are many possible explanations for the problems this season. There were many injuries, especially to key players such as Dan Cloutier, Sami Salo, Matt Cooke and Ed Jovanovski. There were obviously – despite the claims to the contrary – problems between players. The Bertuzzi vs. Moore incident and its carry-over lawsuits, news coverage, etc. didn’t help at all.

My opinion: the players stopped listening to the coaching staff and management. It didn’t help that the Canucks’ best general manager got booted at the end of the 2003-2004 season. Brian Burke was a great influence on the team; Dave Nonis seems to be a bit of a loser by comparision.

Mark Crawford has been a great coach but he should have pushed to do more rebuilding of the team at the end of the last season. It was clear there were player issues even back then and its even more of an issue today.

Let’s hope these things will be addressed in the off-season. First up: get rid of Bertuzzi. Pay someone to take him if that is what is required. He can be a great player but most nights he is not a great player; typically he is slow, gives up the puck if the wind blows hard, and takes way too many lazy penalties. I expect Naslund to retire but if he doesn’t then consider trading him too. Not because he is a bad player but because he doesn’t play like he wants to win anymore.

Next, evaluate whether Dave Nonis is really the right General Manager for the club. Who knows, maybe he will work out, but now is the time to look around. Better look into getting more depth in goal too. I’d expect Cloutier to be back but Alex Auld probably won’t want to play second-fiddle to him.

I’m sure there will be people calling for Mark Crawford’s head on a platter. We should keep him, he has done a great job and is still a great coach. Probably management will need to put pressure on him but otherwise they should keep him. It’s the players who aren’t delivering, not the coaching staff.

Anyways, the Canucks are hosting the 2006 Entry Draft in June. Maybe they can pick up a few good players. You never know. Time to look forward to the 2007-2008 season.

The Canadian women’s hockey team won the gold medal today in Turino.

There was talk today that this win isn’t as exciting as when (or if, given recent problems) the men’s team might win a medal. I completely disagree; these women might not be million dollar NHL players but that is exactly why their win is so fantastic.

I expect the men’s team to win a medal although it looks a bit dodgy right now. That team is comprised of hockey players who’ve honed their skills based on world-class competition in the NHL all year.

Three cheers for Canada’s finest Olympic hockey athletes!

Why do I do this to myself? Today I was working at home and decided to tune into the Canucks vs. Blue Jackets game. I wasn’t watching the clock carefully (hey, I was working! really!) so I turned on the television late. That probably saved me from developing ulcers.

Keeping with tradition, the Canucks gave up two goals quickly; the first occurred at 1:14 and the second went past Auld at 4:13. I joined the game late in the first period. Not long after I tuned in the Canucks scored so I felt there was real hope.

There was no hope. Those guys lost again (6 – 5). Oh the pain.

Last Saturday the Vancouver Canucks played the Montreal Canadians at home. Montreal has been struggling a bit but even so it should have been well-matched game. Nope. It was a blow out: the Canucks scored six goals in the first period, forcing Montreal into the period break with a pitiful eight shots and no goals. Final score was 6 – 2; the Canucks played and won with confidence.

That was then, this is now. Tonight the Canucks were in St. Louise to play the Blues. The Blues are terrible this year, with just 10 wins in 46 games played. Compare that to the Canucks (28 wins in 48 games), Detroit (32 wins in 47 games) or Ottawa (32 wins in 46 games). They are the worst team in the league. They’ve lost their last nine games. Last time they won? They played the Vancouver Canucks on January 2nd. The Blues won that game 4 – 1.

The game tonight was hard for a Canuck fan, as they lost 4 – 0. The Canucks looked sloppy, took way too many penalties in the first two periods and played like someone tied bricks to their skates. Sigh.

My theory is that they purposely adjust their game to play just below the skill level of their low-ranking opponents. Maybe they feel sorry for the other team. I dunno know why they do it, it just looks like they do it. Let’s hope they can rebound, the next game is tomorrow night against the Columbus Blue Jackets who have 17 wins in 49 games, making them the third worst team in the league. I’m not sure I can bear to watch.

Just got home from the gold medal game of the World Hockey Juniors Tournament. It was Canada vs. Russia (earlier today we say USA play Finland for bronze). We shouted and cheered until we could hardly breathe, and the building literally shook from all the fans clapping, screaming, stomping and otherwise making lots of noise.

I admit that I didn’t hold out much hope. Last Monday we saw Russia play Team USA and basically the Russians cleaned their clocks. Last week in the Canada vs. USA game it was close, both teams were pretty evenly matched. So my prediction this morning was that USA would easily beat Finland to win the bronze medal and Russia would beat Team Canada. I probably would have put money down on such results, if I were silly enough to bet money on sports.

I was wrong. Oh boy was I wrong. At noon today we watched Finland beat USA 4 – 2 in a very decisive victory. Then came the game everyone was waiting for at 4pm. Team Canada came out very strong, scoring two goals in the first period. Two more goals in the second period put the Russians back on their heels. The third period was again dominated by Canada. Not to say that Russia didn’t have plenty of scoring opportunities, but for this game our goalie was better than their goalie. Final score: 5 – 0. Shots on goal: Canada 34, Russia 35.

We stayed for the entire ceremony and cheered like mad for both teams when the medals were handed out. Russia certainly earned silver. Canada earned gold.

This is the second year in a row that Team Canada has won the Juniors Tournament. It was amazing to watch, and congratulations to every player of every team. We saw two weeks of really great hockey. Tonight it was announced that we set a new record for Juniors Tournament attendance too. Cool! Next year the tournament will be held in Sweden. You can be sure that we’ll be watching the games on television.