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.