GAME DAY PREVIEW- Game 26- Canucks @ Los Angeles

Vancouver Canucks (10-13-2) vs Los Angeles Kings (7-13-1)

Where: Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA

When: 7:00 pm PST

Where to Watch: Sportsnet, CBC

SB Nation Opposition Blog: Jewels From The Crown

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Deja-frickin’-vu, amirite? Not only did that game last night bring back some pretty terrible memories of like, every game this franchise has played against San Jose for about the last 6 years, there were a lot of other bad memories thrown in there as well. Along with the utter domination and a Canucks squad getting buried by Sharks PP goals, we had Logan Couture risking life and limb to sell a call, we also had a Canucks player biting someone.

I’m pissed.

When it was announced Antoine Roussel was signed, I didn’t like it. I don’t like his game. I don’t like the extra curricular bullshit that comes with his game. And no amount of hustle is going to change my mind here. At a time where the Canucks are changing culture and getting a reputation (despite this death spiral) as a fun team to watch, Roussel has single-handedly opened the window for all of the narrative-spewing trolls and media dicks to pile on the team. What Roussel did was garbage and he needs to be suspended for it. And if he’s not they should sit his ass in the press box tonight.

I know there’s been a lot of talk about how this year was different, that the Canucks were rolling out in a vehicle they put together with a lot of hard work and it was going to take them places. The reality is they’ve just slapped a fresh coat of paint on the same old tank, and added an air freshener. A couple weeks ago, they were 3rd overall in the NHL. In that time they’ve fallen 20 spots, and now sit a mere 7 points ahead of LA for last place. And the Kings hold 4 games in hand. We knew this was coming. All you can do now is hang on and hope for the best.

And now they play Los Angeles. Heading into this, through the lens of 2 weeks ago this one was marked down as a definite W. The Kings are awful, Willie D has yet to show any signs that he can turn them around, and injuries, old age and bad personnel decisions have slammed the window shut on what was once a perennial Cup threat. It’s funny, it really does mirror what happened to the Canucks after 2011, save for the soul-crushing Game 7 loss. Still, this looks good on them, as do the Jonathan Quick and Drew Doughty contracts that run into the next Century or something stupid like that.

Lineups should be the same apart from Reid Boucher getting in because he has to, right?

GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN

NWOBHM legends Satan are still hard at it, with a new album out recently on Metal Blade Records called ‘Cruel Magic’. Here’s ‘Death Knell For A King’. Enjoy the game.