I mostly wanted to post this picture because Jordan Staal’s face is hilarious. Anyway…

Well, not a whole lot going on this week with the Canucks. I mean it was pretty uneventful for the most part, nothing really huge to be writing about, so perhaps I should just skip the Week That Was.

Alright, I’m a horrible liar. Let’s get into everything that was going on with the Canucks this week.

Games

Canucks continued a bit of a slide, losing to the Nashville Predators in a controversial game and then going out on the road against the Minnesota Wild, a game which saw Roberto Luongo end up getting pulled.

Things turned around on Saturday night on Hockey Night In Canada, although the controversy didn’t relent (more on that in a second.) Marc Andre Fleury continues to be scared of GM Place and opted to send the Penguins third and fourth (Fifth? Sixth?) string goaltenders in his place, resulting in a convincing win for the Canucks. I would’ve liked to have seen a totally healthy Pens club square off against the Canucks, but I’ll also gladly take the 2 points.

Pavol Demitra News Center Injuries

It took more than half the season, but Pavol Demitra finally made his return into the Canucks lineup Saturday with the Pens.

Steve Bernier suffered a groin pull early Monday that has seen him placed on injured reserve. Although he was skating this week, he apparently suffered a setback Friday which kept him out of the lineup for Saturday’s game. Per the story linked, Ryan Johnson was also skating with the team, although per CBA rules, the earliest he can return is Jan 21st against the Stars since he was placed on the long term injured reserve where players have to miss a minimum of 24 days and 10 games to count for LTIR.

After getting mauled in Minnesota, it’s looking like Alex Bolduc will be out longterm. I unfortunately don’t have a link for this, but it’s rumored that he may be looking at getting surgery done.

Willie Mitchell is also suffering from a sore back coming from the Boogaard hit on Wednesday, although he’s been playing. Those wondering why he dropped like a rock Saturday night now know why.

Aaron Rome returned to practice this week and, pending a cognitive exam on Monday, should be cleared to play.

Off Ice

Oh man. Another ‘banner’ week for the Canucks. Remember when it was just about playing hockey? Oi.

I referenced things getting controversial in the Nashville game and talked about it in my writeup on the game. Long story short, Burrows made some post game allegations against referee Stephane Auger that the official was out to ‘get’ Burrows due to an embellishment the Canucks forward made in the last Nashville game.

Burrows comments set off a powder keg amongst the hockey media, with everyone offering up their opinion. Standouts included the nephew of the Canucks former General Manager (you know, the one that was just fired) calling Auger one of the ‘best’ officials in the game (despite having not reffed a playoff game since 2003), a confused Toronto sportswriter who has been raking the Canucks over the coals since at least 2004 due to the Bertuzzi/Moore incident (yet who wrote a touching love letter to the current Leafs GM, who is currently named in a lawsuit by Steve Moore) and isn’t entirely sure of what point he is trying to get across and a wonderfully dreadful hatchet job by part time referee and full time officiating apologist Ron MacLean. I mean, I don’t fault MacLean. He is a desperate man. And desperate men do desperate, crazy things.  He’s on the verge of getting replaced with the likes of this:

So I totally understand where he is coming from.

The end result saw Burrows getting fined $2,500 for speaking his mind, a foregone conclusion if you are familiar with the rules of the NHL and no public punishment being meted out to Stephane Auger

It also led to some very interesting comments from NHL chief disciplinarian Colin Campbell. Despite stating on radio that the matter was closed and that there were no third party witnesses that could corroborate either individual’s statements, Campbell subsequently appeared on Hockey Night In Canada and it was revealed that Burrows did indeed talk to someone on his bench.

To add a further twist to everything, Alain Vigneault stood up for Burrows on Hockey Night In Canada’s After Hours segment and also brought up a since unreported 31 seconds of footage that saw Burrows and Auger skating for a lengthy period of time.

The kicker to all of this? The League knew about every single thing I just talked about yet dismissed it. I’ve tried not to get angry over this incident as a fan, but it’s getting ridiculous, especially when you have over the top productions like MacLean’s piece on Saturday.

I don’t have a serious problem with Burrows sins being laid bare. I know he’s not an innocent victim and that the Auger incident wouldn’t have happened in the first place had he not embellished a hit he had received.

That said, when we have a referee who has a track record for being involved in high-profile, controversial incidents, who hasn’t officiated in the playoffs for the past 6 seasons and where there is a pile of circumstantial evidence indicating that something may have gone on, I find it really hard to muster up a whole lot of sympathy for Auger. At the very least, the character of BOTH men should be examined. But hey, I guess that’s a sort of unreasonable expectation.

Alright, that’s enough on Burrowsgate.

There was also another, minor incident that happened coming off the heels of the Minnesota game, as Derek Boogaard claimed that Darcy Hordichuk told him he was ordered to fight. Alain Vigneault, surprisingly, took stock in the big man’s claims despite Hordi’s denials.

Down On The Farm

The Moose ended up going 50-50 this week, sweeping the Abbotsford Heat in their first appearances out West, while getting destroyed by the Milwaukee Admirals this past weekend. I missed the second Heat game, so apologies for only one recap.

The less said about the Milwaukee games, the better. Seriously, they were ugly.

Baby Canucks

Hodgson continues to make inroads with his back recovery.

Kevin Connauton also continues to put up points for the Giants.

Jordan Schroeder has also been on a bit of a tear since coming back from the World Juniors, as he has 7 points in 4 games. Good to see.

Also, this isn’t really relevant to the Baby Canucks bit, but former Canucks prospect Lee Goren was involved in a bit of a tilt with a fan over Facebook earlier in the week and…well, I’ll let it speak for itself.