Mike Gillis announced today that the team has recalled the 22 year-old defenceman from the Chicago Wolves. Tanev has no goals and 12 assists, 25 shots and is a +5 in 25 games with the Wolves this season. NM's Wolves insider Ggooglyboogly mentioned this week:

Chris Tanev is just solid, probably should be in the NHL, i can’t say enough good things about him.

And that is what most Canucks fans think of Tanev after seeing his composure in a Canucks uni last season. Tanev only played 3 games for the Canucks at the beginning of this season before being sent down for developing. The Canucks already had a plethora of defencemen on their roster, with

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I know that TEAM 1040 is infatuated with a Joey from Boston, as I write this, they are letting him hang himself once again. But I was more interested in the words of our coach and general manager earlier today. As we move on ( it was a gorgeous day riding the bike on the seawall, a "ten tanker day" actually...) I got to listen to both the interviews today. We take what we can get, and they get the guests!

A breakdown of all that, and no further mentions unless our management did after the break.

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It was a great day for hockey and the Canucks - Bruins game lived up to / exceeded the hype. It turned out to be arguably the game of the year so far. Am I past it now and looking ahead to the back to back games in the state of Florida? Nope. I am strutting and gloating still that our boys beat the Beantown Bastards. Hey Bruins fans, we know this wasn't a Cup victory yadda yadda, but it was a "small victory". It is about feeling appeased. It is about feeling like some form of revenge was handed out. It is about numbing the pain of the defeat in June a little.

After a slobber knocker like that, there is a lot of news to pass on. More after the jump.

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It's a down day for the Canucks, as they prepare to take on the giant trollfaces in Boston tomorrow. We still don't know who's starting in goal (it's gotta be Lou), or how close guys like Aaron Rome and David Booth are to returning, but the team will at least have had a day of rest and should need no extra motivation for playing in a building they were embarrassed in last June.

Adding to the anticipation is the fact the Bruins are on one hell of a roll of late, not just beating teams, but humiliating them. This is Vancouver's biggest test of the season to date. Here are some links to get you set.

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Surpassed only by Evgeni Malkin and Steven Stamkos. From NHL.com:

Sedin led all NHL scorers in December with 22 points (two goals, 20 assists) in 15 games and vaulted to first place in the NHL scoring race, spurring the Canucks (24-13-2) to top spot in the Northwest Division. Sedin tallied points in 13 of 15 games, highlighted by six multiple-point performances and one game-winning goal.

His winning goal? Check it out:

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On December 26, 2011 Canucks center Andrew Ebbett did something that he had never done in his NHL career: scored 2 goals in 1 game. If Alain Vigneault had a little more trust in Ebbett he may have put him on the ice while the Oilers pulled their goaltender for the extra attacker late in the Canucks-Oilers game, you know, to give the guy a chance at an NHL hat trick. Giving the man a chance....Now that is something Ebbett has struggled in achieving at the NHL level. In Vancouver, Ebbett is a bottom 6 checking forward fighting for an NHL job. When he was signed by Mike Gillis as a free agent on July 1 many scoffed at it because GM Gillis was not addressing the Canucks' issue of toughness. Ebbett is

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• The Vancouver Canucks are tweeting that Daniel Sedin took part in the morning skate today and feels good enough to play. This is excellent news, given the magnitude of the fiesta on Hockey Night In Canada. Canucks-Leafs games are awesome. Speaking of that, the Canucks have won 8 straight against the Leafs.

• Cody Hodgson loves playing in Ontario. His fun was cut short in Ottawa by Mike Foligno days ago so hopefully he keeps his head up this time around. Hodgson's hometown of Markham is just outside of Toronto. He went to Leaf games as a kid. Look for him to make an impact tonight. It's his first time playing against Toronto at the NHL level. More on that here.
  

• Both Andrew Ebbett and Mark Mancari will participate in the warm up pregame and now it becomes a battle of which one plays. Most will love the fact that an defenceman will not be playing at a forward position. I like Mancari's so far, but with Ebbett you know exactly what he is bringing because he is an NHL vet. We'll see who gets the nod there. Also, Ebbett is a center that has a left shot. Mancari is a right winger. Take that into consideration.
  

• The Canadiens went 2-1-0 since losing in a shootout to the Canucks on December 8. But that doesn't change the fact they are 13-12-7 overall and last in their division. So Jacques Martin was fired today. High expectations in Montreal. Randy Cunneyworth was named the interim coach.
  

I saw this story a couple of days ago at HockeyExpressen.se but didn't have the time to post it. In honor of Swedish hockey/sports legend Sven Tumba, who passed away in October at the age of 80, the Swedish Hockey Association announced on November 13th the opening of the Swedish Hockey Hall Of Fame. Tumba will be the first inductee. Tumba has been lauded as the greatest Swedish player of all time. He was a very influential in bringing hockey to the spotlight in Sweden. He was inducted into the International Ice Hockey Federation's Hall Of Fame in 1997. You can read all about Tumba's accomplishments here. A legend in his country.

The reasons why I bring this up this story are obvious. First of all, I am kind of surprised that Sweden didn't already have a Hall Of Fame for hockey, but am glad that they now do. Secondly, there are a lot of Canucks (current and past) that

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