canucks week in review

JARKKO POLO: KASSIAN AND TURTLES FOR EVERYONE

Things are getting a lot tighter as the season gets closer to the playoffs and every game is worth so much now. It was an eventful week at the Rog bookended by Canucks wins to Anaheim and Toronto. I am obligated to talk about the disaster that was the LA Kings matchup only because this is a week in review and I would be cheating myself and all of you.

The theme of the week seemed to be “turtling“. This is the action one does when one does not wish to fight a combatant for fear of their life. On Monday, Zack Kassian would amplify his hero status when he challenged Patrick Maroon and you guessed it, this happened:

First the setup from 2014:

Now the sequel:

Twitter went bananas and thus the world was given a great gif….t. Not to be lost in all this was Ryan Kesler getting um, levelled by Kassian and when Kesler wanted to get a bit of revenge he was politely hipchecked by Chris Tanev; love that guy!

The Kings/Canucks tilt was a snoozer and we didn’t even deserve to be a part of it. Honestly, that’s all I want to talk about from that night.

Finally, the Leafs came to town and wouldn’t ya know it, the Nucks kicked their butts! Once again, turtling was the theme of the night, Leafs fans were one step closer to seeing Connor McDavid in a buds jersey. Jannik Hansen provided the reptile relief for this game and ANOTHER classic clip was born.

Hansen-Turtle

(Credit to Hockey Night in Canada and Canucksarmy.com)

Say what you will about the Canucks this year, they have made it entertaining in a ton of games this season. Sure, they have soiled the sheets and gone down by two goals more times than you can shake a stick at but they’re still in the hunt and really, thats all that matters.

So let’s get into it:

THE GAMES WE PLAYED

Vs. Anaheim Mighty Ducks – WIN 2-1 (The turtle was born)

RECAP: Ryan Kesler came back, took a puck to the noggin in warmups, got Kassian’d in the first followed by Tanev’d right after. Bo Horvat lit the lamp uh-gen, Eddie Lack had a bit of puck luck but otherwise stunning and Zack Kassian scored the GWG late in the third as well as being super cool when he tried to fight Patrick Maroon.

Vs. Los Angeles Kings – LOSE 4-0

RECAP: I mean, do you really care? The Kings beat Vancouver again, proved we still can’t quite hang with them yet and made us long for an easier opponent. Would have liked to see A goal but that didn’t happen.

Vs. Toronto Maple Leafs – WIN 4-1 (TMNT 2: Turtles involved but no Super Shredder)

RECAP: I called out Chris Higgins in my game day preview for Canucksarmy.com, and what happens? He scored. I seem to remember the last time I did that in my Shawn Matthias article, Higgy lit the lamp that time too! Derek Dorsett had a SHG and 2 assists, the power play was dreadful and we saw another turtle incident. For a Leafs/Canucks tilt it really wasn’t a barn burner. Once again, let me state this: That Hansen mock turtlnecking Phaneuf was a thing of beauty!

3 THINGS FROM TWITTER

Courtesy of @ZoSoNuck

https://twitter.com/tronarmy/status/576248288157921280

So all in all, a good week. Vancouver was leap frogged by Calgary but then took the lead again after the Leafs game. Zack Kassian is quickly gaining steam as the most popular player in Vancouver. I love this because he still is so raw and is finally coming into his own. Might we see the emergence of Kassian the Conquerer come April? Maybe.

Last but not least, I DO NOT HATE CHRIS HIGGINS. This team is showing they have a lot of depth and Higgins looks like he has definitely lost a step this year. He is a tough worker bee and I would love to see him come back to the 2011, heck the 2010 version and prove he still has it all going on.

You can now read my ramblings on the Canucks Army Game Day Preview. So thankful to those guys for noticing me and giving me a great opportunity. I would also like to thank former blogs The Farm Club and Two Pad Stack for the first real writing gigs.

Ok I’m done. *drops the mic*

Follow me on twitter: @always90four

Jarkko POLO: Kenins, Matt Tricks and Kassians

The new look Jarkko Polo is here! Its pretty much the same stuff with less effort, or more effort, not sure. A lot happened last week and without boring you with all the statistics and details and fancy numbers, I’m going to dumb it down so you basically just have to look at a red balloon flying around and that will make you happy.

One week ago, the Canucks were greeted by the Minnesota Wild who didn’t disappoint, as far as what we expected; they snoozed their way to victory and quite frankly I just hate mentioning the Wild. They smell, they have overpaid greedy americans and ya, we’re still bitter about 2003. A week later as I write this, they just really piss me off.

Here is the new rundown:

The Games We Played (notice the fancy use of caps?)

@ Minnesota Wild – Lost 5-3
RECAP – Former Canuck first rounder Jordan Schroeder put one past Ryan Miller and we all swore at our TV’s. It was one we didn’t want to remember but Zack Kassian netted a beauty far side off the wing and it gave us hope for the young Jedi.

@ Chicago Blackhawks – WON 5-4
RECAP – A true playoff type game ended in heroics from the Sedins. Kassian once again put Canucks fans on notice with his gritty net presence and it paid off with a goal ala Todd Bertuzzi. Bo knows put a beauty rebound past Crawford and the Dads trip sure had some fun attached to it. Side note, Marian Hossa ripped a laser after he skated 200 feet and tied the game up late in the 3rd. Great goal, not gonna lie.

Boston Bruins – made them beg for mercy 5-0!!!
RECAP – You really don’t need to know a lot here. The Canucks out played the Bruins for basically the whole game. Shawn Matthias scored 2 early goals and eventually put up his first career hat trick. It was a special night. Jannik Hansen scored an empty net goal, no breakaway needed.

@ Calgary Flames – Lost 3-2 in a nail biter
RECAP – Somehow when the Canucks face random cold goalies, we lose. Not sure how, we just, lose. The Valentines Day tilt was no different. Even with the loss, the Latvian Lunchbucket Ronalds Kenins scored yet again. It was basically the same goal he has scored every time so you know it was awesome.

Four games in one week? It must be the second half of the season. Feels so good to see hockey every other night even if we forgot they played in some of those games.

The Canucks are going through quite the war of attrition lately with huge losses on the blue line to Kevin Bieksa, Alex Edler, Frankie Corrado (yo Franky!), Chris Tanev and Sami Salo. Sorry, force of habit. It’s quickly becoming the Utica Comets in Vancouver. That’s actually not a bad thing considering the Comets are the talk of the league down south.

Surprise efforts from Ronalds Kenins and Adam Clendening as well as the mentioned hat trick from Shawn Matthias, Zack Kassian’s recent surge and goaltending we are actually proud of has given the Canucks a chance to stay in the playoff race.

It won’t be a cake walk for the rest of the year so every game will be the ever famous “biggest game of the season”. That does it for the important stuff, time for the rest.

The twitter game sure is strong during the week, new feature

3 things from twitter:

Hopefully that last part becomes a thing.

See ya next week!

Jarkko……POLO!

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