Canuck Brunch- Oh the Shark bites, with his teeth, dear...- Sept 25

via www.lolblog.co.uk

Last night's match against Anaheim went pretty much as advertised, didn't it?  We saw the scrappy AHL and 4th liner's of the Canucks hold their own, and the Ducks, who decided after being completely outplayed in their 1st 3 exhibition games so far not give their stars a night off, and thus rolled to the 4-1 victory.  Oh yeah, and of course, more patented Duck douchebaggery, as for Oiler J.F. Jacques jumped Mike Duco after Duco had tussled with Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf.  Getzlaf being 7 inches taller than Duco or something ridiculous like that, obviously not able to stand up for himself had to send a guy not good enough to stay in the Oilers lineup  out to pounce and begin pummeling an unsuspecting Duco.  And hilarity ensues when after the game the Ducks, including coach Randy Carlyle were crying fowl (see what I did there?) over the incident.  Not much was said about George "yes we know he's an Ivy Leaguer and has a mustache, shut the hell up about it already" Parros bowled over Cory Schneider however, because that was just a hockey play, right? 

Anyways, new night and a different set of scumbags to deal with as the San Jose Sharks roll into town.  No doubt they're still pissy after getting their asses handed to them in the Conference final, and though Kevin Bieksa won't be in the lineup tonight to make them look ridiculous again, you can bet the rag-tag collection of tryouts and bottom pairings the Canucks are icing once again will have their hands full with a team as dirty as their Orange County cousins.  After the jump a little more on tonight's contest, some cuts made today and a recap of last night's action...

This lineup for the Canucks is looking a little more seasoned, at least in terms of games played.  Cody Hodgson will center the 1st line with Marco Sturm and rookie Nicklas Jensen.  Owen Nolan returns to the lineup on the 2nd line with Andrew Ebbett and Antoine Roussel.  Maxim Lapierre centers line 3 with Mike Pinizzotto and Aaron Volpatti, and Jordan Schroeder, Mike Duco and Niko Dimitrakos are the 4th line.  Keith Ballard and Chris Tanev, Alexander Sulzer and Anders Eriksson, and Aaron Rome with Nolan Baumgartner are the Canucks D pairings, Eddie Lack gets the start and will play the whole game with Matt Climie as backup.

If you follow Twitter you've no doubt seen a lot of people take issue with the lineups that the Canucks have been icing.  From opposition media (and some of our own) saying it's mocking the rule book re:icing a certain number of veterans, to fans paying regular season prices to see a great majority of players who will not be in the lineup, it really seems like people have issues with what the Canucks are doing.  Hockey Night In Canada's Greg Millen of all people wasn't one of them however.  He felt the Canucks were doing the right thing by resting their stars for the first week, letting them focus on training and conditioning at camp before getting in some games.  With the core somewhat depleted as is due to injuries, the rest of the players getting rest became the perfect opportunity for those trying to nail down a spot with the big club or the Wolves.  Lots of ice time in game situations, especially where they were often outmatched talent-wise.  You may not like it, but the Canucks didn't get to within 1 win of the Stanley Cup by making stupid decisions.  They know what they are doing, and this will benefit the team in the long run. 

Last night's leftovers...

Tonight's opponents won their 3rd straight of the preseason with a 1-0 over Phoenix... Pittsburgh defeated Minnesota 1-0, the Leafs lost 3-2 in Buffalo; Ottawa squeaked out a 3-2 win over Montreal; Nashville scored 2 power play goals after Winnipeg's Troy Bodie got sucked in on some classic douchebaggery from Oiler castoff Zack Stortini en route to a 4-3 win over the Jets; and the Oilers outslapped the Flames 2-1 in their first meeting of the season.

BAND OF THE DAY- SET TO DESTROY

Crossover from Southern California in the vein of Suicidal Tendencies and D.R.I., Set To Destroy are all about high speed riffs and odes to beer, weed and skateboarding.  Heady stuff I know, but I am sure you will enjoy them nonetheless...