Man, I love/hate the playoffs.

I love the playoffs because nothing, absolutely nothing, matches the excitement of watching live sports. The only thing that I think comes close is the atmosphere that comes with the World Cup. World Series? Yawn. Super Bowl? No thanks. I’ll stick with the Stanley Cup playoffs, thanks.

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.)

Yeah, consider me surprised. After a rather forgettable 50 minutes or so that saw the last place Edmonton Oilers, a team that had just 1 win in their last 15 games, carry the play and pretty much look like a team that wasn’t last in the Western Conference, the Canucks finally woke up and decided to win the game.

This game had more twists and turns than riding shotgun with Chris Chelios after 2 for 1 night at the local watering hole. I don’t even know where to begin, as this game had EVERYTHING.

You sort of had a sense that this was going to happen. The Columbus Blue Jackets had lost 12 straight on the road, have managed 3 wins in their last 20 or so games. So it was only natural to think in the first period, with the Canucks down 2-0 off of 2 rather quick goals from RJ Umberger and Kristian Huselius, that the Canucks were back to being their inconsistent selves.

But expecting consistency of any kind from the Canucks this year is silly.

Lots to talk about this week, both on ice and off. Olympic nominations! The World Juniors! Off-ice shenanigans! Oh yes, and the Canucks also played a couple of games as well. While everyone was out celebrating Christmas and Festivus, I was staying on top of things in Canuckland. Here’s what you need to know about the Week That Was.

The Canucks were looking to extend their hot start post-Christmas with a win over the Phoenix Coyotes. The Yotes were looking to earn a franchise best 10 straight victories at home. Whatever happened tonight, someone was going to be going home disappointed. Unfortunately, it was some bad decision making in the second period that resulted in the Canucks going to overtime and eventually losing in the shootout to the Desert Dogs.

Well, hell. Looks like this whole thing with Samuelsson is taking on a life of it’s own. For those who aren’t in the know, Mikael Samuelsson, he of the Vancouver Canucks, was not named to Sweden’s Olympic roster. Samuelsson also had some rather choice words about it, stating that Team Sweden brass can go ‘fuck themselves.’

This was sort of a lazy week for me (and presumably most of you folks out there!) There was Christmas, naturally, but also travel concerns cramping my style and making it so that I couldn’t write as much as I wanted to. No plugs and also a condensed look at the Canucks. A little heavier on commentary than straight up news. I’ll try to balance it out for next week.