Wake With Elias- Jan 12, 2022: Canucks Tumble Back To Reality In Florida

I suppose the analogy here is that nothing good will come from going to Florida in the middle of a pandemic, as we saw in last night’s utterly forgettable 5-2 loss. Is there no shame to losing to the first place team? Sure, and the Panthers certainly had some luck and by far the better goaltender last night. It’s hard to get mad when you outshoot a team 44-26 and don’t win.

What the game showed us was life after the Bruce Bump is pretty much life in the Benning/Green era. The Canucks are still not a playoff team, folks. They may be playing better under Bruce Boudreau, but unless we see better results over the next five games, there’s absolutely no reason to believe otherwise.

They’re heading north for a tilt with the defending Stanley Cup Champs tomorrow, taking on a Tampa Bay team fresh off a 6=1 dismantling of the Buffalo Sabres. What the Canucks are going to need is better nights from their best players, as their top six were held pointless by the Panthers. They also need December Demko to return, or this one will go about the same as last night.

One thing’s for sure: If it goes as bad as last night, the Canucks better hope that there’s a distraction that will keep everyone talking about something besides the way they lost the game...

By the way, Roberto Luongo is still the undisputed King of Twitter: (NSFW, btw...)

STUFF TO READ THIS MORNING

- Ken Holland’s press conference yesterday was a popcorn-worthy gong show, especially when he expressed the Oilers desire to give Evander Kane, victim of circumstances, a second chance. It would appear Oilers fans are already at the point Canucks fans were with Jim Benning a few weeks back...

- The NHL isn’t the only league dealing with Omicron’s rampant spread, as the KHL is announcing today that the season will be paused to deal with league wide outbreaks:

This comes just a day after the league and its teams met to approve they would try to play out the season, utilizing the Olympic break to help reschedule postponed games.

- Evgeny Malkin made his season debut for the Pittsburgh Penguins, and it was a huge part of their 4-1 win over Anaheim last night.

- Jack Eichel skated with his Vegas Golden Knights teammates for the first time yesterday as he gets closer to making his season debut with his new team. It didn’t help them last night though, as they lost to Toronto in the trick shot competition...

- Rick Westhead continues to be one of the most important journalists in sports right now, and he has another story that reminds us that the game we love is run by the very worst people imaginable...

- The Montreal Canadiens have been hit harder by COVID this season than any other team, but it’s created opportunities for some players that might never have happened...