Bret Hart once said, who are you to doubt El Dandy?

I guess it’s my turn to say, who are you to doubt the Canucks?

So, is it premature to be getting excited about the playoffs?

On one hand, the Canucks have become the team that doesn’t die. Today’s win over the Nashville Predators marks nine instances this year where they have battled back from being down after 2 periods, winning the game. That sort of ‘never say die’ attitude and work ethic is something that will be incredibly useful going into the playoffs and I have to say it makes me optimistic about the Canucks chances. (Also, you have to wonder if the Canucks being so strong in the third period is reflective of some of the initiatives Mike Gillis has introduced, like the sleep specialists. Are the Canucks better conditioned than their opponents? Something to think about.)

You win some, you lose some.

And sometimes you lose horribly. Guess what category tonight’s game slots into?

Yeah, this matchup had just about everything tonight. Some fights, some 5 on 3s, a goalie getting pulled, a lopsided score. Just about everything.

The NHL trade deadline came and went earlier this afternoon and man, what a difference it made with these new look Canucks. What do you mean, we only traded for one NHL regular? Oh well.

Amazing how tonight’s game worked out. Second game of a back to back, Luongo playing his first post-Olympics game against Detroit on the road, all signs pointed to a Canucks loss. But it was not meant to be!

Mike Gillis didn’t go hog wild on the trade deadline, as he continued to play a conservative game with his picks and prospects. While his contemporaries were doling out 2nd rounders like candy, Gillis, who didn’t have a 2nd rounder in this year’s draft, decided to be a little more creative with his wheeling and dealing, heading over to the bargain bins of the various NHL teams.

Gone are Mathieu Schneider, PC Labrie and a 3rd round draft pick.

Coming in are Yan Stastny, Andrew Alberts, Sean Zimmerman and a potential 6th rounder.

Been a while. I think it might take a while to get back into the swing of things.

That goes for both my blog posts AND the Canucks. What a weird first period that was. The NHL trade deadline is tomorrow and I’m feverently hoping and praying that Gillis is going to do something to address the problems with our defense and our bottom six. The first goal surrendered was a bottom pairing/bottom line disaster. Aaron Rome or Nolan Baumgartner Were on the ice for all three goals against. That Brad Lukowich was sent down on waivers today gives me hope that there’s a deal in the works to bring in another quality defenseman.

So the Olympics are over. Boo. Now, everyone has to go back to watching mighty teams like the Carolina Hurricanes and the Toronto Maple Leafs battle it out for the right to lay sole claim to the NHL’s basement.

But before we get into that, everyone’s still basking in the glow of Team Canada’s victory on Sunday. I’d just like to point out that I more or less correctly called how things would go for Canada to get to the gold medal game (Slovaks scoring the upset over Sweden, Russia having problems and Canada coming out huge against them.) Sometimes a blind squirrel finds a nut!

While everyone’s focused on Roberto Luongo’s performance as a goalie (my opinion? He finally cemented himself as a legitimate big game/name goaltender) I thought I’d go in another direction and focus on another Canuck who had a huge Olympics. Pavol Demitra, who led the tournament in scoring and led Slovakia to their highest ever finish at the Olympics (and losing in what could only be described as a heartbreaker of a loss) is going to be having some mighty high expectations now that we’re going back to NHL hockey.

I’ve been on a bit of a blogging hiatus as of late. Sorry folks. That said, wow, talk about a tough loss to take on Sunday. Canada getting beaten by the Americans was something that most folks north of the border wouldn’t have predicted, but that’s goaltending for you: Ryan Miller was absolutely stunning, shutting down Team Canada with aplomb while Marty Brodeur was looking more like Marty Turco, with several weird decisions he made that translated into goals for the Yanks. I still think he ‘earned’ the start against America (compare his play against the Swiss to Luongo’s against Norway. Brodeur WAS tested far more than Luongo was and #30 looked a lot better as a result), but there’s no use crying over spilled milk now, is there? Luongo’s starting and Team Canada has their work cut out for them.

I guess you could say that I called this game. Literally.

You had to know the Canucks were looking to avenge a rather ugly loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Roberto Luongo was overdue for a shutout and the Sedins/Burrows couldn’t be held off the scoresheet forever. Going up against a team that was short a few men (Nathan Horton was out due to injury and Dominic Moore had just been traded to Montreal) and really only had Tomas Vokoun going for them and you sort of figured that the Canucks had to win this game.

It comes down to six.

The bottom six, specifically. Tonight’s game was a frustrating one that saw the Canucks put forth a rather solid effort, but found themselves lacking a bit in the ‘puck luck’ department. Unfortunately, were it only that, the Canucks probably would’ve had something to show other than a regulation loss to the Bolts.