GAME DAY PREVIEW- Game Forty Five: Canucks @ Toronto

VANCOUVER CANUCKS (19-22-3) vs TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (32-13-5)

ROGERS ARENA- VANCOUVER, BC

4:00PM PST

TV: SNP, SNO, SNW, CBC. RADIO: SPORTSNET 650

OPPOSING BLOG: PENSION PLAN PUPPETS

I had originally (and rather reluctantly) decided to weigh in on what was the ridiculousness of the comments coming from both fan bases and media after Thursday’s game, but given recent developments, they’re even more ridiculous. So instead, I will just say this:

Stop worrying about what Leafs fans and media say or do. It doesn’t matter. They are never going to give us credit when we do eventually turn things around, and they’ve always been a source of toxic negativity. This team has enough on it’s plate at the moment, and this season has been absolutely cruel. Feeding into outside bullshit does nothing but appeases their need for chaos.

I don’t care what they say about what happened. They’re never going to convince me that they’re right. And like it did with 2011, karma will address them again.

And now to the elephant in the room.

The Canucks have placed Jake Virtanen on leave, after allegations of sexually misconduct surfaced. The team has hired experts to conduct an independent investigation of the allegations, and while the police have been notified, there’s no word on whether charges will be laid at this time.

LINEUPS

Courtesy of nhl.com, this is likely what we’re gonna see from these teams tonight:

Canucks projected lineup

Tanner Pearson — Bo Horvat — Nils Hoglander

Tyler Motte — J.T. Miller — Brock Boeser

Zack MacEwen — Brandon Sutter — Kole Lind

Matthew Highmore — Travis Boyd — Jayce Hawryluk

Alexander Edler — Tyler Myers

Quinn Hughes — Travis Hamonic

Nate Schmidt — Jalen Chatfield

Thatcher Demko

Braden Holtby

Scratched: Marc Michaelis, Jimmy Vesey, Olli Juolevi, Arturs Silovs

Injured: Justin Bailey (upper body), Elias Pettersson (upper body), Jay Beagle (undisclosed), Antoine Roussel (lower body), Jake Virtanen (leave)

Maple Leafs projected lineup

Nick Foligno — Auston Matthews — Mitchell Marner

Alex Galchenyuk — John Tavares — William Nylander

Ilya Mikheyev — Alexander Kerfoot — Wayne Simmonds

Joe Thornton — Adam Brooks — Jason Spezza

Morgan Rielly — TJ Brodie

Jake Muzzin — Justin Holl

Rasmus Sandin — Travis Dermott

Jack Campbell

David Rittich

Scratched: Pierre Engvall, Ben Hutton, Timothy Liljegren, Michael Hutchinson

Injured: Frederik Andersen (lower body), Riley Nash (lower body), Zach Bogosian (shoulder), Zach Hyman (MCL)

Thatcher Demko should be the starter tonight, after Braden Holtby was on the hook for the 4-1 loss Thursday night. Jack Campbell will get the nod for the Leafs. Jayce Hawryluk will be on that 4th line tonight in place of Virtanen.

GAME DAY CHATTER

GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN

Days like these are when I am thankful for music. Back to the old school with groundbreaking LA thrashers HIRAX today with ‘Criminal Punishment’.

Try and enjoy the game.

Go Canucks Go.