GAME DAY PREVIEW: Game Seventeen- Canucks vs Calgary

VANCOUVER CANUCKS (6-10-0) vs CALGARY FLAMES (6-5-1)

ROGERS ARENA- VANCOUVER, BC

7:00PM PST

TV: SPORTSNET PACIFIC, SPORTSNET WEST, SN360. RADIO: SPORTSNET 650

OPPOSING BLOG: MATCHSTICKS AND GASOLINE

I honestly keep expecting them to announce that they’ve made a trade for Jayson Megna. That’s how dire and dreadful the Vancouver Canucks season has become a mere sixteen games into the season. I saw someone use the phrase ‘moral victory’ in a tweet the other night and I am shaken. I knew they weren’t necessarily going to go forward this season, but even the most pessimistic of Canucks fans probably didn’t anticipate this crew slamming it into reverse and crashing through the walls of Rogers Arena. Perhaps it’s a bit hyperbolic, but if it wasn’t for the Ottawa Senators, this team would be completely and utterly screwed right now.

And being the proud owners of a 5 game losing streak, the longest active one in the league at the moment, they probably couldn’t wait to get home after nearly two weeks on the road, only to find the Calgary Flames awaiting them. Yes, that would be the Calgary Flames who’ve already beaten them twice this year, outscoring them 8-2 in the process. And with no back to backs in this three at home, one on the road set against Calgary, the Canucks could very well see Jacob Markstrom run his win total over his former team up to 6. The question is: will we have to wait through this for something to happen with the Canucks? I can’t imagine that ownership will be happy with a 6th straight loss, let alone 9, and especially given all of the Canucks that left Vancouver for Calgary. If you thought the Tyler Tofolli nonsense was bad, wait til Chris Tanev scores a hat trick and Marky goes on a shutout streak. And boy, if only Jim Benning, who was looking to upgrade the Canucks defence over the summer, had been able to find a defenceman like Tanev.

And on top of all that, there’s this story over at nhl.com today, which of course Bo’s going to say all the things he has to say. And I am not implying he’s not telling the truth at all, just to be clear. The bottom line is, these things do not help the situation, and ultimately put more pressure on the players to have to cover for the sins of management. 2011 seems a lifetime ago, doesn’t it?

LINEUPS

Courtesy of nhl.com, here’s an educated guess at what we’ll see lineup wise tonight:

Flames projected lineup

Matthew Tkachuk — Elias Lindholm — Dillon Dube

Johnny Gaudreau — Sean Monahan — Sam Bennett

Milan Lucic — Mikael Backlund — Andrew Mangiapane

Joakim Nordstrom — Byron Froese — Josh Leivo

Mark Giordano — Rasmus Andersson

Noah Hanifin — Christopher Tanev

Juuso Valimaki — Nikita Nesterov

Jacob Markstrom

David Rittich

Scratched: Brett Ritchie, Connor Mackey, Zac Rinaldo

Injured: Derek Ryan (hand)

Canucks projected lineup

J.T. Miller — Elias Pettersson — Brock Boeser

Tanner Pearson — Bo Horvat — Nils Hoglander

Justin Bailey — Brandon Sutter — Adam Gaudette

Antoine Roussel — Jay Beagle — Zack MacEwen

Alexander Edler — Nate Schmidt

Quinn Hughes — Jordie Benn

Olli Juolevi — Tyler Myers

Thatcher Demko

Braden Holtby

Scratched: Loui Eriksson, Jake Virtanen, Jalen Chatfield

Injured: Tyler Motte (undisclosed), Travis Hamonic (upper body), Jayce Hawryluk (undisclosed), Micheal Ferland (head)

Thatcher Demko will get back in tonight against Jacob Markstrom for the Flames, and it looks like Jake Virtanen will again be a healthy scratch in favour of Zack MacEwan. Hamonic skated for the first time today but is not likely to return to the lineup anytime soon.

GAME DAY CHATTER

GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN

Much like Dave Mustaine’s former band METALLICA, MEGADETH’s modern day output simply doesn’t hold a candle to those first few albums. And man, does ‘Peace Sells... But Who’s Buying?” ever hold up well all these years later. They were at the top of their game, and sadly it was the last output featuring guitarist Chris Poland and the late Gar Samuelsson on drums. Here’s the video for ‘Wake Up Dead’ from that album. Enjoy the game if you can, and Go Canucks Go!