Hey! Long time no see. Sorry about the general lack of blog updates as of late…summer can be weird about taking oneself away from the computer. But I found myself with some downtime and thought I’d give my thoughts on what looks to be a fairly important day for the Canucks.

For those unaware, Mason Raymond’s arbitration ruling is set to be handed down later today. This is important for a number of reasons: first, there is a lot of anxiety over exactly how much Raymond will end up with in his arbitration award. Atlanta Thrashers forward Clarke MacArthur ended up with a $2.4M award last week, a rather substantial contract for someone who only notched 16 goals and 35 points last season. The Thrashers chose to walk away from the ruling, something which Mike Gillis could do if he were so inclined. So, whether or not Raymond stays with the club and how much he’d cost were he to stay will be known today.

Wow. Huh.

So Mike Gillis and the Vancouver Canucks opted to make a deal with the Florida Panthers. Unlike the Indiana Jones franchise, it seems that making yet another trip to the well has paid off for the Canucks, as they obtained defenseman Keith Ballard and forward prospect Victor Oreskovich in exchange for Steve Bernier, Michael Grabner and the Canucks 1st round pick in this year’s draft.

Many folks are screaming bloody murder over the deal, believing that the Canucks were ripped off or overpaid. I will admit that I was initially one of those folks, although I will attribute that to my being a fan of Grabner and being a little irrational when hearing that the Austrian had been traded. Having given it some more thought, though, I actually really like the deal. Broken down, it makes a lot of sense and isn’t as bad as one would think.

Let’s take a look, shall we?

Whao, hey! Yeah, I’m still here.  I recently found work in a rather stressful/time consuming job so there’s been less time for Tweeting and blogging.  I’ve also been working on some creative fiction, which has also eaten into my blogging time. Apologies all three of you (Mom, Dad and my pet) who frequent this blog.

So the NHL Awards were tonight and Henrik Sedin just won the Hart. I’d just like to take the time to say…

Check out what I wrote back in January if you don’t believe me!

I should have some stuff up on Friday for the NHL Entry Draft, as well. Til then, I think I’m just going to bask in the awesomeness of Hank’s Hart trophy.

So the Canucks season ended last night. Honestly, I want to say that it took me by surprise and bowled me over, but it wasn’t the case. Going into the series I was feeling strangely confident about the Canucks. Yes, they had been beaten by the Blackhawks last season, but this year was going to be different.

There was talk about the newfound purpose and focus the Canucks had and that they weren’t merely happy to have made it to the second round. Unfortunately, it didn’t do them a whole lot of good as Chicago slowly but surely took them over and curbstomped them.

Tonight was a very interesting game, if you’re a fan or have been following the Canucks.

The talk going into this series is that the Canucks ‘wanted’ the Blackhawks, who ousted them last year in the playoffs. There was talk from the Canucks that they weren’t going to let Byfuglien bother them and they were going to take a measured, disciplined approach.

Really? THAT was Game 1?

Against the Blackhawks?

The same Blackhawks that resulted in the Massacre at the Madhouse last playoffs, where Chelsea Dagger played the Canucks right out of the playoffs?

Where Dustin Byfuglien was this out of control rampaging monster that the Canucks couldn’t hope to contain him?

And the Canucks won 5-1?

Wow.

What an ugly finish. And I’m not talking about Kopitar’s grinning mug as he scored his very first powerplay goal. Fans serenading the on-ice officials as the Canucks lost in OT tonight wasn’t exactly what I was wanting in Game 2, nor was I looking for another instance of Kevin Bieksa getting sliced up by a skate blade or the Canucks taking a bench minor.

But it all happened, unfortunately. And as nice as it would be to blame the referees for the loss, as great as it would be to point to officiating as the reason why the Canucks were ’screwed’, you can’t really pin that on anyone but the Canucks themselves.

I am le horrible with le blogging. I know. Interviews and other responsibilities have taken me away from this. Or, excuses, excuses. What will the lazy bastard come up with next?

Ahem. So, the Edmonton game was pretty horrible. I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to blog that, as I like to try and write something up even when the Canucks lose. So, sorry. I do think that Luongo looked bad and that he’s probably run out of mulligans this season for off nights. I’ve got something brewing shortly looking at Luongo, but, well, time.

Normally if a goalie makes 50 stops, you’d figure that they won the game after putting up such an impressive performance.

Not the case tonight for Roberto Luongo, who may felt like he was back in Florida playing for the Panthers. It was in Florida, you’ll recall, that Luongo set a dubious record for most shots faced in a single NHL season. The fact that the Canucks defense was having, and this is putting it charitably, an off-night must’ve had him thinking he had fallen asleep in a hot tub and gone back in time.

Yeah, I’m skipping the Islanders game. Don’t worry, I have a blog post forthcoming on that game! Chronological order? What’s that?