Specifically, Alain Vigneault’s treatment of Keith Ballard. I could go back even further and trace this into his attitudes about Brendan Morrison, but that ship has sailed, fought in a few wars, been decommissioned and is now used as an artificial reef somewhere off the coast of Australia. A digression.

A lot of talk is being made about Aaron Rome’s hit on Nathan Horton. While I don’t want to get into that, as it’s going to be discussed ad nauseum over the next couple of days, I will say that I hope that Horton is okay and makes a full recovery. Bruins fans have already had their hearts torn from their chests with Marc Savard’s concussion woes and it wouldn’t do to see another talented player get sidelined. Imagine losing Ryan Kesler and Daniel Sedin to injuries. Yeah.

Anyway, I found Alain Vigneault’s decision to put Andrew Alberts into the lineup to be an intriguing one, mostly because I really didn’t get why a sometimes effective, bottom pairing defenseman was getting put into the Stanley Cup Finals over Keith Ballard, a guy who has shown he’s capable of being a second pairing defenseman. I guess Vigneault was getting cute and figured what’s the worst that could happen? Andrew Alberts could log significant minutes if needed…right?

Well, with your top blueliner, Dan Hamhuis, out potentially for the entire series and another defenseman getting ejected tonight Canucks fans got the answer to those questions. Respectively, 8-1 and no, absolutely not.

Alberts was on the ice for 4 goals against, 2 even strength, bringing his +/- to -5, tied with Henrik for second worst on the team. (Christian Ehrhoff, who hasn’t had the best playoffs this season, has the worst at -10.) He looked slow and ponderous out there, with shades of his whistle chasing behaviour rearing it’s ugly head in front of Luongo’s net.

This makes me wonder: why is Keith Ballard not seeing any icetime? Ballard has been on the ice for 2 even strength goals against in 9 playoff games. The Canucks are 7-2 with Ballard in the lineup. He’s played more hockey than Alberts has, both in the regular and post-season. Heck, Alberts hasn’t seen regular icetime since February.

Ballard has provided huge hipchecks, including an awesome one on Jamie McGinn in the Sharks series. He’s a guy who can log more icetime than Alberts and, in a situation like tonight where Rick Bowness was forced to shuffle his lineup because of Rome being ejected, could have handled those minutes, even if Vigneault is loathe to give him any playing time.

Vigneault’s fascination with grinders and guys with size has been one of the things that has annoyed me immensely since he’s been the Canucks bench boss. I don’t know if Alberts being 6′5 and Ballard being 5′11 is one of the factors in Vigneault’s decision making process, but frankly I wouldn’t be surprised if that were the case.

Unfortunately, this is the Stanley Cup Finals. This isn’t a regular season game where a single loss can be shrugged off and adjustments can be made. Everything matters. One win can swing the momentum back in favour of your opponent and you can’t take chances in putting questionable players into your lineup when there are better options available to you. It’s not as though Ballard has been injured or is off rescuing kittens from burning buildings in Madrid. He’s right there on the team, has shown he can contribute and be a positive addition.

So the question is, why doesn’t he play? Your guess is as good as mine. It could be size. It could a personality clash with him and Alain Vigneault. But, barring a serious injury of some kind (and there has been nothing to indicate that such is the case) Ballard should be playing, especially with Ehrhoff looking like a mess and Dan Hamhuis being out of the lineup.

Instead, Vigneault opts to go with Andrew Alberts and Aaron Rome. Potentially burning bridges with Ballard. Maybe eroding some confidence.

And now, with the Canucks getting a thorough jolly rogering from the Bruins, Vigneault may just have to turn to a player he has alienated for no discernible reason or purpose and expect him to provide a high level of play in most important set of hockey games in Vancouver Canucks history. This, while leaving his star goaltender to languish out on the ice for the entirety of those 60 minutes, leaving two huge question marks/messes on the Canucks hands going into Game 4.

The word that comes to mind, when thinking of Rome and Vigneault? Stupid.

Let’s hope it’s not too late.

What a fascinating game, today’s matinee affair was.

Partially because I’ve been high on cold medication all day and it took me a while to gather my thoughts, but also because this was pretty much the reverse instance of what went down with the Montreal game. The Canucks had a rather poor start (which saw the first goal being scored by the opposing team and which saw yet another early penalty leading to said goal) but were able to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat thanks to an absolutely stellar effort from Roberto Luongo, who responded well after being sat Thursday in Ottawa.

I mentioned in the Ottawa Postscript that I liked the decision to sit Luongo, as it maximized the chance to win against Boston, a team that’s been struggling as of late. A focused, rested Luongo was exactly what was needed against a Bruins team that had upstart netminder Tuuka Rask in net for them. Luongo had what was probably his best game in a LONG time, particularly in the second period where he was single handedly keeping the Canucks within one. It’s nice to see him getting hot and I hope the trend continues as the Canucks head down to Florida.

While I opted to defend Alain Vigneault’s decision to bench a player last game, I have to find fault with his decision to scratch Steve Bernier. Yes, I’m aware that he hasn’t been contributing any offense as of late, but you have to look at the other things that he brings to the table. Specifically, the fact that he’s not Tanner Glass, Darcy Hordichuk or Rick Rypien.

Look, I’ve become a fan of Tanner Glass. As a prairie boy myself, we have to stick together, and he’s been a pleasant surprise since Gillis signed him in the off-season. But he has no business playing on the third line. Especially when our fourth line is such a disaster zone as it is, having all three of Hordichuk, Glass and Rypien in the lineup is playing with fire. Don’t believe me? The two players in the box that resulted in both Boston goals were Glass and Rypien.

I’m not convinced that Jannik Hansen would be the solution to the bottom six’s woes, but he would’ve been a far better option in lieu of Glass to slot in place of Bernier. Alas, he’s down in Manitoba, so we’d have no way of knowing. Again, I don’t agree that Bernier should’ve sat in today’s game and in my eyes, it could have cost the Canucks another 2 points.

That said, I was glad to see Alain Vigneault distributing minutes to players who were having good games. For the third straight game, the Sedins looked off. I don’t know if it’s the schedule, potential flu bug (I say only because I’m under the weather myself right now and not because I’ve read anything) or just one of those things that happens to professional athletes, but AV noticed and reduced their icetime as a result. The minutes then went to players like Kesler (25:55 of icetime), Raymond (21:50) and Samuelsson (19:26.) I know we’re like almost 5 years past Marc Crawford’s time as bench boss of the Canucks, but I greatly enjoy how Vigneault holds his players accountable no matter who they are (Luongo and the benching, the Sedins and their icetime) even if I don’t always agree with it (Bernier, for example.) Far better than with Crow, where you had no real chance at seeing an increased role even if you were playing lights out.

I also find it hilarious that Alain Vigneault was getting Burrows AWAY from the Sedins as he put him alongside Raymond and Kesler as the game went on, rather than, say, putting Kesler with the Sedins. Who are the star forwards again?

Although Wellwood didn’t get as much icetime, he was being seeing some action as the Canucks tried to tie things up late in the third. I thought his play has improved as of late (not necessarily just because of that lone marker he scored against the Senators) and I’m glad that Vigneault is trusting him. He also beat Rask in the shootout, but hit the post, so all in all a good game from him.

Demitra’s starting to round into form. Don’t mind him taking some time to get into gameshape, actually, as he has missed a significant chunk of time. The Olympics should do him some good, as he should be seeing some solid icetime.

Aaron Rome’s been quietly playing some decent-to-good hockey as of late. There are the odd miscues that will go on (the Montreal game, where he was on the ice with Lukowich and the fourth line) but he’s a +3 in his last 10 games and has been a minus player in only one game (the Montreal one.) He’s not going to win the Norris any time soon, but he’s been a damn sight better than Lukowich (who I like) and Baumgartner (who I don’t particularly care for.) I’m glad he’s sticking in the lineup right now.

That about does it for my thoughts on the game. The Canucks next game is Tuesday against the Bolts. On PPV. Woo?

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.

Yeah, there’s no real way to sugarcoat things from last night’s tilt. About the only real positive that could be taken out of the game is that Andrew Raycroft was working on a shutout. Unfortunately, that meant that Roberto Luongo was pulled after letting in a number of ugly goals. I recall over on the Canucks Live Blog that there were some calls for Luongo to get yanked after the third goal, as it was pretty plain to see at that point that Luongo was having a bad night.

Luongo stayed in and after efforts from Burrows (who else?) and Kesler to tie the game, it looked like the Canucks may have put their bad start, their second in as many games, behind them. Unfortunately, the Wild came back with three goals in the third that all but sealed the Canucks fate.

The third period was also puncuated with a number of fights, including a rather ugly one where Alex Bolduc was pretty much killed by John Scott. Bolduc, who isn’t known to be a fighter, needed help getting off the ice and ended up losing his lunch en route to the locker roomM. He may also be injured as a result of this tilt. I only mention this because of some post game comments made by Derek Boogaard where he said that Hordichuk told him that coach Alain Vigneault was telling his players to engage in fisticuffs. Now, it’s unclear whether AV was telling Hordichuk, the team’s enforcer, to go out there and fight or if he was simply telling his bottom guys to go out and scrap, but if it’s the latter, I’m not too impressed.

Again, Alex Bolduc is not a fighter. If he went out there and a fight developed because of something that happened or something that was said and he dropped his gloves of his own volition, that’s one thing. However, if he was being ordered by his coach to go out there and fight, something which he isn’t really known for, that’s something else entirely and Alain Vigneault shouldn’t have done that. It’ll be interesting to see what AV’s response to this is.

Beyond that, there’s not a whole lot of positives to take out of this. The Canucks second period was very good, as they managed to outshoot the Wild and keep them back, eventually tying the game up. The second line was looking good in spots with Mason Raymond especially standing out, although no offense can be frustrating. I thought the Canucks third line was the best overall line last night, in that they were skating well and put forth a consistent effort through all 60 minutes. Also interesting to note that either Jannik Hansen was demoted or Rick Rypien was promoted to the third line. Given Hansen’s benching, I have to wonder if Alain Vigneault isn’t happy with the Dane for some reason. Unfortunately, when your third line is the line that’s standing out, you aren’t going to be winning many hockey games.

It’ll be interesting to see how the Canucks respond on Saturday against the Penguins.