Even "sick" the guys were still able to do magic tricks and pull rabbits out of hats and doves out of handkerchiefs. Pretty damn amazing when you think about it. But that's our Nucks. So nice to see a regulation win, though I must admit that tonight's Twitter buzz was relatively tame - and somewhat less entertaining - in comparison to the last month of games,

Twitter you say? Yeah. I haven't been able to see a game since late December and now I'm grateful. I don't think I could have handled the stress of watching the play while they were "under the weather." All my game following has been my Twitter feed and then clips and posts on Nucks Misconduct. Don't know what I'd do without you guys. I WILL get to watch Saturday night's game on CBC's HNIC net broadcast. Halleluia!

The Vancouver Canucks are in a slump. Eight of their last 10 games went into overtime or needed a shoot-out to determine the outcome, and one of the two games settled in regulation over that period was a loss. The Canucks are being outshot routinely, in eight of the last ten games, and often by a wide margin. They are entering far too many third periods behind and needing late game heroics to salvage a point or two. Their game is so far off that coach Vigneault has resorted to a lot of line shuffling in order to light a fire under his players' butts. He's even broken the cardinal rule and split up the twins who could hardly have played together much more in their hockey careers if they were conjoined twins.

And yet, for all those signs of a mid-season malaise, the Canucks are the hottest team in the league right now.

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I am going to be in Arizona on vacation and by a stroke of luck, the Canucks have had their February 13, 2012 game against the Coyotes rescheduled to February 28, 2012.

I know that various people have done trips to Phoenix for Canucks games in the past, and was just curious if anyone here is planning on being at that game? Not exactly sure if I'll be going alone or with my wife and or parents (who are going on the trip as well), but if anyone else is planning on being there, might be cool to connect!

Hey guys, long time lurker (but long time Canuck's fan from the states) here.

Name's Ben. I just moved to Denver from Bellingham, WA. I'm wondering if there are any super kool Vancouver followers in the area, and if there's a bar around town that is a good bet to have the Nuck's game on. I can only go so long without HNIC, and there is no way on this green earth that I'll be missing the postseason because I'm too cheap to get cable. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Also, just want to add how PUMPED I was to get to see the guys pull it out on Saturday. First game in person and it was sweet. My man-crush with the sick one timer not 50 ft from me. I was definitely reppin' the KesLORD number 17 well, and all the Canucks fans were awesome (especially the girl in town from VAN on business, you were so cute it was wrong, uhem totally not creepy :)) God that was a good time!

One more also thing...this is by far the best SB Nation blog I frequent and you guys always deliver with great material. Keep it up, and let's go NUCKS!

Is it just me, or do some of you get a nostalgic feeling in the pit of your stomach when you drive by a park? I'm glad I don't have to crawl through those blasted plastic tunnels anymore, yet something very near to my heart seems to have been left there. Faded memories of my kids laughing, begging me to be "the alligator" are all too soon gone with the wind.

When my son Greg was about two, we went to the park one day. I began to notice he was falling down way more than usual. I began to worry, wonering if something was wrong with his legs. Was some terrible disease beginning to manifest itself? Quite concerned, I loaded him back up on the bike and headed for home.

I decided to throw him in the tub to see if I could detect any physical abnormalities. Quickly undressing him, I uncovered the problem. It seems that morning I had put both of his legs through one leg hole in his underware. Overcome with relief, I hugged him and put him in the tub. It was then that I realized that he still had his socks on. No one ever said this Fatherhood thing was going to be easy!

Kahlil Gibran wrote, "Love knows not its depth until the hour of separation." Those words, so painfully true, hit home the morning my mom called and said, "Dad died last night." I was the first one to get to my parents house and di my best to console my mom. When my brother Bob arrived emotions I knew nothing of poured out like a summer thunderstorm. When our eyes met, we began to sob uncontrollably. One of God's greatest gifts was being taken away from us. My dad had finally succumbed to diabetes, one of the few things he couldn't fix.

My dad had a little green box that contained an assortment of worn out tools. It seemed like he could fix anything. In a family that included 9 kids and Mac the dog, believe me, he never ran out of things to fix. When I described the little green box to my wifes mom she said, "You better get that box!" I just smiled because I realized that little box was much too heavy for my hands. Out of all the tools in the box though, the most important ones didn't hammer, saw or drill. No, they were the tools of patience, hard work, faith wisdom, discipline and the greatest of them all, love.

I had no idea what love was before the birth of our duaghter. About a month before the big day, a friend at work told me, "No matter what, do not miss the birth of your child." My immediate reaction was, "I don't know. There's a lot of pain and blood and stuff going on in there." The big day finally came when Nathalie woke me up at 2 am and said, "I think my water broke." I recall saying, "Are you sure you just didn't pee a little bit?"

Upon further review, there was no doubt, the bed was getting pretty wet. At 2:30pm the next afternoon, Taylor Josephine entered this world. It was, bar none, the most exciting moment of my life. When they took her to the cleaning table, I went over and said the only thing I could think of; "Hi Taylor, this is your dad." Her frightened little eyes responded to my voice, a voice she had heard over the last few months. I'll never forget the moment our eyes first met. She took a piece of my heart that I know I'll never recover.

While in the delivery room for my son's birth, we decided to put on the TV. There was a cooking show on Channel 11 I suggrested or the Phil Donahue Show. The P.D. show that day featured 5 transsexuals and 5 other ladies. My choice was vetoed by Nathalie, the nurses and the doctor. The gist of the show was for the audience to guess who was what. Thankfully, the show was truncated by Gregory Wolfgang's birth, not a moment too soon I might add! When he entered this world the doctor held him up and exclaimed, "Look, it's a boy!" As the saying goes, "parts is parts."

So it was Babies 101 at the Lindblooms. Much of what I learned about being a dad came from observing my dad. I don't konw how many of you know the Randy Atkins song, "I've been watching you," but for better and worse, we are ebing watched.

The things I saw were a dad who rarely said anything bad about anyone. Two of his favorite sayings we're, "they always speak highly of you," and "If you don't have something good to say, don't say it." He also planted the seeds that grew the roots of my faith. My brother's and I were told under no circumstance do you ever hit a girl. This was extremely hard to do with 5 sisters tormenting you! We were also constantly reminded to "Be careful," a refrain my kids hear all too often. He aslo influenced my decision to become a White Sox fan, saving me from countless years of heartache following the guys on the north side of the city.

One of the greatest lessons he ever taught me was with the boxing gloves. I was about 10 at the time and was pounding my younger brother Bob. My dad decided to give me a taste of my own medicine and knelt down behind Bobby, grabbing his hands. He easily blocked my roundhouse rights, simultaneously scoring heavily with counter jabs. I can still envision my brothers face laughing hysterically as he pummelled his older brother for the first time. Throwing down the gloves I whimpered, "I quit, this is no fair."

The closest moment I ever had with my dad was the the morning after all hell broke loose in our household. I won't go into the detais, but the result was my dad blaming my mom for onr of the many problems that surface in the teenage years. (you know, that period in our lives when our parents don't know anything) One of my sisters was moving out without my dad's blessing. I was working third shift at the time as a janitor at OFHS and I spent the night reflecting on a family about to crumble.

Towards morning, the story of the Prodigal Son entered my mind in a very illuminated way. With fear and trepidation, I approached my dad who was eating breaksfast when I got home the next morning. I remember mumbling something about the prodigal son and how we kids were all going to start making our own choices, good or bad. All he could really do was to pray that eventually we'd come to our senses. He sort of nodded and that was the end of the conversation. That night though, my mom said, "I don't know what you said to dad, but keep on talking to him!"

There's an old axiom, "When all else fails, ask dad." It's corollary is when that fails, ask your heavenly Father."

Jim Croce had to say it in a song, I have to say it in an article; I love you dad. In a vivd dream one night, I was riding down an escalator when a man was ascending in the opposite direction. When we corssed he looked up and I exclaimed, "Dad!" as he broadly smiled. All the hardships and worries associated with being a dad, seemed to be far from his mind. Apparently where he was, the little green bos was no longer required. How I longed to join him. to have him point out the constellations in the sky once more or play catch or just sit ina boat with his malfunctioning fish finder and a few beers. Actually, I just wish he'd come over with that little green box and fix a few things!

So dads; what's in your little green box? Remember, "they've been watching you." 19th century author, Lydia Child wrote, "Blessed indeed is the man who hears many gentle voices call him father." And just a word to the wise for you expectant dads, don't miss the delivery. And dad, I think you're finally getting through to me.

Defending the Blue Line, a group that your very own Ryan Kesler is a supporter of, is up for an award directly from the President of the United States, and we need votes from the people... we need votes from you. The contest was going very smoothly, until this morning. One of our competitors has made a huge push today, and is threatening to take our lead.

We don't want that to happen.

So here I am, asking for your help. The process is very simple. Go to the Joining Forces Community Challenge DTBL page and click "vote." You will need to register, but that process takes less than a minute. Once confirmed, your vote will be counted, and you will be given the chance to share your vote on Facebook or Twitter.

The voting is open to one vote, per day, per person. The voting window resets each day at midnight eastern, so if you are willing to help, be sure to go back each day and vote again.

We would appreciate any support we can get, and would love the support of the Canucks fan base, as you all have been very good to our organization in the past. Would you do us the honor of casting your vote to help us out?

For your reference, you can visit Defending the Blue Line's website HERE, should you need more information.

Sorry for the distraction from hockey talk, but we really could use all the help we can get.

.. Alright If I Use Your Teeth To Help?"

A "Love" Letter to The Vancouver Canucks from the Chicago Blackhawks.

(Need I add that this is all entirely in jest?)

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Whats that "show," when you watch Canucks games, or Oilers games, maybe its any Canadian team, during the intermission they have this hot stove of hodge stove or something where some insiders talk about trade rumors, legit ones, maybe Peirre Lebrun is there or maybe its just some sportsnet or TSN guys, recognizable faces anyhow from the canadian hockey media... Whats this called?

And more importantly, where can I watch the latest episodes of it online?

Thanks v much!

In the orgy of sports coverage that has enveloped those of us of the hockey persuasion, there has been a veritable feast of things to follow these last couple days. Starting with a somewhat underreported story of an NHL goalie and his President, (when is the last time the NHL got in the Christian Science Monitor?) and basically gathering steam, its been glorious for hockey fanatics.

There have been a few things to come out of media day today. Ryan Suter stating on the record for the first time that he was not going to talk contract and play hockey at the same time was fuel for rostabatory fantasies in many a market. ( though, in a classic case of burying the lede was the news that the Ying to Suter's Yang Shea Weber had basically said the same thing a long time ago...being an RFA its slightly different, but he also will not be talking about $$$ and sense during a stretch run. )

There's Gary and his views, Big Bad Don and his "getting to know you" meeting with 28 superstars of the game. It is a corporate event, after all. When you get everyone together and every puck media person from across North America, its expected.

But buried in all that was a very solid interview with one Daniel Sedin by James Cybulski and Co on TSN Radio Toronto. More on that ( and more!) after the break.

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(Poor Ballard. Not even the Swedes want him.)

The NHL Trade Deadline is February 27, but as you know several trades happen days and even weeks before that date. So I figured I would post this now and as this is a FanPost, please "rec" it to keep it on top of the FanPost section on the right sidebar of the main page for the month of February. That way it will be easier to see and access.

I will buy a nice warm Canucks hoody for anyone who guesses a trade correctly. If a tie occurs, the person who has commented on this site the most will be awarded the prize. If you guess Mike Gillis does nothing and Mike Gillis actually does nothing.....you get nothing. A trade must occur.

Rosterbation, which we more or less define as (most of the time unrealistically) creating a dream Canucks team via trade or signing to make it the best experience possible, has been rampant already all over the League via mainstream media, blogs, Twitter, Forums, etc. What I am trying to do with this thread is to provide a hub for that kind of conversation for our NM Community, commenters and lurkers alike. A place for you to voice your opinion on what you'd like to see Mike Gillis do. But first, I am going to provide a bunch of information and get the conversation going. Lots after the jump.

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