Hotels and rented cars -- Blues v. Canucks

Tonight's the last night the Canucks, as an NHL team, get to play in Vancouver until March 13th. Understandably, there's a lot ahead of the Canucks that isn't desireable... long travel, unfamiliar food, Olympic pressures, but that can't start until they skate at least 60 minutes against the St. Louis Blues (7 PM PST, Rogers). The Blues don't care about road trips, they care about history, and that history would be made tonight, as they've never swept a Western Canada tour (Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver). Two out of three are done. The third...? Desperate to win in front of their fans.

LAST TIME WENT WELL... The Canucks ended the old year with a bang, beating the Blues 4-3 in St. Louis. This game was remembered more for the ejection of Rick Rypien for his wrist-wrap than for the end result. Could some Blues seek revenge and try to see how tough Rypien is without his mitt taped up? Hope for a Janssen-Rypien brawl has never been higher.

SEE YOU ON CBC... Vancouver is looking to quash their feud with the Canadian Broadcasting Company to start this road trip, but might find it difficult to find the right people to talk to, considering Hockey Day in Canada is Saturday and the CBC's already spread out all over the map. We'll see how it works out after the game and on After Hours: If you see a Canuck with a HNIC towel on his shoulder, you know everything's good between our boys and the powers that be.

TONY TANTI, PAVEL BURE, MAKE ROOM... Alexandre Burrows is tied for the Canucks record of goals scored in the month of January with 13, currently. One more goal and he holds this record as his own. A stunning feat indeed.

PREDICTION!!! I can't see the Blues doing the Western Canada thing. Not tonight. Canucks win, 5-2, Burrows GWG.

DRINK OF CHOICE: Tonight we're going pre-funk style, so a cheap six-pack of Milwaukee's Best Ice is just what the doctor ordered. Sure enough, it might be awful, but it will get the job done and keep working until most have gone to bed. Plus it was on sale, come on now.

Hope the Canucks remembered to pack their toothbrushes...

--GoodKeith