GAME DAY PREVIEW- GAME SEVENTEEN: Canucks vs Colorado- Nov 17, 2021

VANCOUVER CANUCKS (5-9-2) vs COLORADO AVALANCHE (6-5-1)

ROGERS ARENA, VANCOUVER, BC

6:00PM PST

TV: SPORTSNET. RADIO: SPORTSNET 650

OPPOSING BLOG: MILE HIGH HOCKEY

I am sure that for some of you, giving a shit about this godforsaken hockey team right now is the least of your worries. And if you’ve been affected by the storms in BC these past few days, our hearts go out to you. If you are paying attention, tonight’s game is definitely must-see tv, but the game itself isn’t the reason. If you’re in BC, maybe get in on the 50/50 tonight, proceeds are going to flood relief efforts, and as we’ve seen from the shocking videos and pictures, a lot of people are going to need help.

A lot of people will be watching for the fan reaction as the team returns home after an utterly disastrous road trip that saw them outscored 19-6, their hopes of a playoff return that was all but guaranteed by GM Jim Benning, now pretty much dead in the water. It may not happen right out of the gate, but I think it’s safe to assume Colorado scoring first tonight is going to provoke some feelings in the crowd. And after yesterday’s meeting between Canucks owner Francesco Aquilini and Jim Benning and his crew, which resulted in absolutely no action whatsoever, another loss will not sit well with a fan base that has seen this team stumble from first to worst over the last decade.

The Avalanche seem to be recovering from a stumbling start, inspite of the injuries they’ve faced so far. They lost JT Compher for at least a month (concussion) thanks to a Bo Horvat elbow, on top of already having Nathan MacKinnon out of the lineup. Other players are stepping up to fill the void, like D Samuel Girard, who had a four point night in a 6-2 win over the San Jose Sharks Saturday night.

LINEUPS

This is what nhl.com says is likely to happen. Not that it matters...

Avalanche projected lineup

Gabriel Landeskog — Mikko Rantanen — Logan O’Connor

Valeri Nichushkin — Nazem Kadri — Andre Burakovsky

Tyson Jost — Alex Newhook — Nicolas Aube-Kubel

Darren Helm — Jayson Megna — Kiefer Sherwood

Devon Toews — Cale Makar

Ryan Murray — Samuel Girard

Jack Johnson — Erik Johnson

Darcy Kuemper

Jonas Johansson

Scratched: Kurtis MacDermid

Injured: J.T. Compher (upper body), Bowen Byram (upper body), Pavel Francouz (ankle), Martin Kaut (upper body), Nathan MacKinnon (lower body), Stefan Matteau (lower body)

Canucks projected lineup

J.T. Miller — Elias Pettersson — Brock Boeser

Tanner Pearson — Bo Horvat — Nils Hoglander

Vasily Podkolzin — Jason Dickinson — Conor Garland

Justin Dowling — Juho Lammikko — Tyler Motte

Oliver Ekman-Larsson — Tucker Poolman

Quinn Hughes — Travis Hamonic

Kyle Burroughs — Tyler Myers

Thatcher Demko

Jaroslav Halak

Scratched: Alex Chiasson, Brad Hunt, Justin Bailey

Injured: Luke Schenn (lower body), Matthew Highmore (upper body), Brandon Sutter (illness), Brady Keeper (leg)

Lotto line is reunited. D pairs shuffled. Demko in goal. Will any of this make a difference?

GAME DAY CHATTER

GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN

Fuck it. Let’s get stupid. It’s never gonna change, so have a beer and either find a team that doesn’t suck, or join us here in misery, year after year.