I Watched This Game: Canucks at Senators, November 11, 2010

Canucks 6 - 2 Senators

Thank goodness. After the Canucks' win streak was halted at six the other night in Montreal, cracks in the sky began to form and it seemed a foregone conclusion that it would fall. I mean, seriously, you guys, they lost. They lost a game. The hockey media began to panic, trying to decide which press box banishment was the magical formula for stopping the Canucks' losing skid before it got any worse. Alberts out, Ballard in, they said. Rome out! Ballard in! Alberts out, then Rome out, then Ballard back in, then Alberts back in! One guy suggested the Canucks call up Lee Sweatt and Patrick Coulombe, put one on the other's shoulders, then have them wear a big trench coat and pretend they're one guy. The panic button was quite nearly pushed, I say.

And then the Canucks won tonight, and now they've won seven of eight. All is right with the world, and not just because victory is Vancouver's--also, because I watched this game.

• Tonight's game was a welcome change from the Montreal game, as wide open as a pervert's bathrobe. Still, I think we all would have liked to see the Canucks do the tighten up. Their turnover rate was nearly as high as the food service industry.

• Ryan Kesler's two-goal night is exactly what we need out of him. The 2nd line's numbers on the road have been bad. Really bad. But they were the best line on the ice tonight. After a game in which the percentage of shots from the point was too high, it was nice to see the second line lead the way, combining for 12 shots: Samuelsson had 5, Kesler 4, and Raymond 3. More importantly, though, they had the run of play, and did an excellent job keeping the pressure on when the Sedins weren't on the ice.

• That's the big thing. When you have a line like the Sedins, you want to make sure teams can't simply target them and breathe easy once they hit the bench. That didn't happen tonight. Even the fourth line created offense, with Mario Bliznak and Tanner Glass scoring. A two-goal night from the fourth line is a little decaffeinated coffee: it is the opposite of regular.

• Congratulations, by the way, to Mario Bliznak for recording his first NHL goal. What I would have given to see Peter Schaefer's reaction. He scored? Eff. I'm never getting back in. It must have been even more frustrating because Chris Kelly let it happen by standing off to the side like a men's room attendant. I assumed Bliznak was brought up for his faceoff ability, but he was just 5-10 on faceoffs. That said, he was 2-for-2 against Chris Kelly, so maybe Bliznak was brought up because he's got Kelly's number? Anyway, Bliznak was decent tonight, and I hope he sticks with the team, at least for a little while. Long enough for me to get my Bliznak is the Shiznit t-shirts made up.

• Speaking of faceoffs, the Canucks' top three drawmen were all over 50%, which seems to be the case in almost every one of their wins, but here's the big number. Ryan Kesler was 17-20, good for 82% in the faceoff circle. If there was any doubt about who was the best player on the ice tonight, well, it was Kes.

• With his two 2nd period scraps, Rick Rypien quite nearly broke a record for most fights in twenty minutes. However, he was two fights short of the the mark set by my wife and I last month. Sidenote: My wife would like to suggest I sweeten this joke up by changing fights to hugs, but come on, that's impossible. Hasn't she ever heard of the male refractory period? Second sidenote: my wife just explained what hugging is. Then showed me. It was nice.

• I really liked Luongo's response after letting in that softie in injury time. He was choked. When the game is firmly in hand, and your goalie is that upset about letting one past him, you know he's locked in. He was fantastic tonight, stopping 33 of 35, a surprisingly high number of those shots being quality chances.

• Congratulations to Alain Vigneault for recording his 300th coaching win tonight. With so many NHL victories, I think it's safe to say he might know better than fans when it comes to personnel moves. This excludes me, of course. Use Schneider in the shootout!... as a shooter.

• I liked the flashback of Bowness and Vigneault dressed as Don Johnson from back when they worked in Ottawa. Amusing. But you'd think, upon discovering they were wearing the same Halloween costume, one of them would have gone home and changed.

• Super congratulations to my favourite player, Alex Burrows, getting his first two points of the season: a goal and an assist. I know the goal just looks like a tap-in, but watch how quickly he stops and turns back to the front of the net when he sees Henrik ring the puck around for Daniel. That is a man that knows exactly where to go with those two guys.

• The first line was excellent tonight, especially in the timeliness of their goals. Their first goal was 22 seconds into the first period. Their second was 33 seconds into the third. If I were a coach, my coaching strategy would be to score in the first minute of periods to really sap the opponent's momentum. Failing this, I would tell my players to give up, as I have no other strategies.

• In case you think injuries are no excuse: did you notice Dan Hamhuis looks a little shaky yet? He was back on the top pairing tonight with over twenty-three minutes of icetime, but he didn't look even close to the guy who looked almost all-star calibre to start the season. It'll take him a little time to get back up to speed. Think about that the next time you start ripping Keith Ballard while ignoring his concussion and hip surgery.

On Remembrance Day, On the Lightness of Our Being

Two seasons ago, way, way back in January of 2009, the Canucks went down to San Jose to play a Sharks team that, at that time, were the best team in hockey. The Canucks were sputtering; they had lost eight straight (and would go on to lose two more before this happened). It was a bad time for a measuring stick game, but Canucks fans needed to know their team wasn't as bad as the losing streak suggested.

After Taylor Pyatt opened the scoring eight minutes into the first, the Canucks spent the rest of the game trying to make his goal stand up as the game-winner. It almost did.

But, in the final minute, with the net empty, the Sharks blitzed Vancouver, applying heavy pressure and hemming them deep in their own zone. With forty seconds left, Devon Setoguchi tied the game.

The collective groan of Canuck nation could be heard from space (where there's no sound--that's how loud it was). To make matters worse, Patrick Marleau scored three minutes later in overtime.

Fan response was vitriolic, though perhaps none were as vocal as Richard Beach. He went nuts, wrote a scathing letter, and canceled his cable. He was done.

Vancouver fans tore him nearly in half with their mockery, but I found it all a little hypocritical. From where I was sitting, his impetuous rampage was strangely admirable. He was unflinchingly upfront about Vancouver's dirty little secret: we take our hockey way too seriously.

I think we all felt at least a little of what he felt that day; I know I did. I was watching the game alone, and when Marleau scored, I threw the most infantile hissy fit of my adult life. And as I sat there, and the blood rushed back to my brain, bringing perspective with it, I realized how seriously I take this team. It's a fine line between Richard Beach and I.

I tell this story because it's Remembrance Day, and the worst thing that might happen to me today is watching the Canucks lose in Ottawa. What a privilege to give so much import to something so trivial. Only in a country overblessed with freedom. Consider a world where we can take hockey as seriously as we do, primarily because our lives are such that there's little more grave to consider. We devote so much attention to the Canucks, I think we run the risk of forgetting the remarkable price some paid to afford us such lightness of being.

We live in a land so generally unburdened of persecution that the worst hate spewed in our direction will likely come from other hockey fans; a country where the only time most of us use military language is when describing a sports play; a country where the observation of freedom is so constant we run the risk of becoming unbeknownst to it, like water to a fish; a country where a regulation loss in January is the closest we come to the end of the world. It's a remarkable privilege to expend so much emotion on a hockey game.

It's not like this everywhere and it wouldn't be like this here without the sacrifices of the men and women we this day remember.

Lest we forget.

Mike Gillis is on Twitter and his First Tweet Is Gonna Be Boss

He looks like he'd be really funny, though, right? Gillis is the mayor of Comedytowne .

News hit the Intertubes yesterday morning that Mike Gillis, the General Manager of our Vancouver Canucks, was finally on Twitter. It was a pretty big deal. By the end of the day, before he had tweeted a single thing, he had 4000 followers and he was trending all over the place. Gillis hit the top ten Twitter trends in Canada fairly early on. It was innocuous and expected.

What was unexpected, however, was @artemchubarov's wicked hashtag, #FirstMikeGillisTweet, in which he began comedic speculation on the first thing Mike Gillis would say in 140 characters. We at PITB found it totally rad, maybe because the idea of a funny Gillis is, in itself, hilarious. Gillis only laughs when overwhelmed with incredulity at questions interviewers ask him, and he only smiles... well, never. And, since @artemchubarov is one of our favourite tweeters/readers, and I was still sore from yesterday's thrilling failure with Pratt's Day Off, #FirstMikeGillisTweet became a cathartic new cause.

We were thrilled for everyone involved when it finally took off. At its peak, the hashtag was the 3rd highest trend in Canada, just below #6millionBeliebers, and proudly above Lake Shore. Below you will find the 20 best contributions from the Twitterverse, as well as 10 from PITB.

From the Twitterverse

• @gutsmctavish24: I hope no one tampers with my twitter account when we're in Toronto
  
  
• @geoffgauthier: Salo tripped at pregame buffet and broke hand on potato salad. I LOL'd.
  
  
• @smoothmedia: Now that he's been voted off of Battle of the Blades, I'm considering offering Theo Fluery 20mil over 2 years.
  
  
• @artemchubarov Boy, if Dale Tallon hadn't waived party-boy Grabner and blown that pick, I'd really be regretting the Ballard trade
  
  
• @artemchubarov: @justinbieber saw you're a moose fan omg! We have so much in common! Love that baby track, I hum it whilst biking.
  
  
• @CanucksCorner: The real reason we traded SOB? He was cramping my style at the Roxy.
  
  
• @glassedpickles: Hi everyone this is mike gillis gm of the vancouver canucks
  
  
• @KingMicah49: I'm not sure if twitter is something the team can build around moving forward
  
  
• @artemchubarov: suggested All-Star game change: flaming pucks so that the net lights on fire after goals like in Gretzky's 3D hockey!
  
  
• @Mozy19: You know that contract I gave Sundin? He won it in a hand of poker.
  
  
• @Mozy19: Boom.
  
  
• @canuckshockey: Just saw Moj at the buffet table again. I reintroduced myself.
  
  
• @RogerNairn: Do you have any idea how much Roberto's annual hair grease budget is?
  
  
• @whatnojagr: wonder how Bieksa will like Washington..... oh crap. Shouldn't have said that! LOL!
  
  
• @Twitchy67: I'm here to interact with fans in a more honest and open forum. I'll be here til someone disagrees with me.
  
  
• @camdavie: Fans - any thoughts on who the Canucks should target for trade? I really value your input. /sarcasm
  
  
• @opiatedsherpa: At the Rick Rypien hearing in New York, I actually got to spin the Wheel of Justice... so much fun!
  
  
• @opiated sherpa: Before every home game, I like to stop at every Starbucks on Robson for coffee... I like to get my buzz on like that.
  
  
• @AlanJackson76: Somebody needs to tell Garrett to lay off. He's being far too critical of our play.
  
  
• @HeadtotheNet: Is it ok to fire a coach through twitter? I've never really liked Vigneault, but I hate confrontation.

If you're asking me, I think @opiatedsherpa won the day with his tweet about the wheel of justice. Funny stuff. Here were some of ours:

From the Desk of @PassittoBulis

• @passittobulis: Lolz Bettman totally looks like Hypnotoad amirite??!
  
  
• @passittobulis: We do not discuss contracts or potential trades, Pratt. Stop asking.
  
  
• @passittobulis: Hopping on @Team1040 to talk Canucks! FML!
  
  
• @passittobulis: I can tell the Sedins apart because I scribbled on Hank's neck with a permanent marker.
  
  
• @passittobulis: Kes sent me one of his RK17 jackets. Just noticed there's a 17 *inside* the R. Wait, there's totally a K too! Dude!
  
  
• @passittobulis: Aw yeah! The continental breakfast has cinnamon raisin bagels! #nomnomnom
  
  
• @passittobulis: Full disclosure: Tanner Glass is my son.
  
  
• @passittobulis: Apparently I'm trending. What the hell does that mean?
  
  
• @passittobulis: Next inductee into the #Canucks ring of honour: Jan Bulis.
  
  
• @passittobulis: Ehrhoff extension is for 4.5 million "dollhairs" LOL let's see if his agent can read.

And, of course, Mike Gillis ended all the fun this morning when he actually tweeted his first tweet. Did it live up to the hype?

• @GMMikeGillis: I have a twitter account after months of talking about it. Plan to be active & update every few days. In OTT getting ready for Senators tmr.

No. No it did not live up to the hype. Thanks for coming out, Mike.

I Watched This Game: Canucks at Canadiens, November 9, 2010

Canucks 0 - 2 Canadiens

After the sublime pleasure of watching the last two Canucks games, this game was excruciating. It wasn't just that the Canucks lost - though that certainly doesn't help - it's that they lost in such a lacklustre, boring way. The Canucks started the game flat-footed, were unable to string passes together, generally looked slower than a Shaun of the Dead zombie. Everything seemed to go wrong: instead of possessing the puck, they chased it. Instead of forechecking hard, they lazily coasted through the offensive zone. Instead of setting the tone with strong physical play, the Canucks were the victim of a couple early big hits, setting them back on their heels.

In any case, I watched this game. It wasn't fun. And while the IWTG posts are usually full of wit, in-jokes, and joie de vivre, it's a lot harder to do after such a terrible game. That said, it's a lot easier to take a game like this after a 6-game winning streak. Canucks fans have a tendency to go through rapid-fire mood-swings, like a terrible Katy Perry song. One loss like this is not the end of the world: the Canucks are still a good team that should be able to learn from this defeat and put together a stronger effort through the rest of their Eastern road trip.

• I'm sure some people will characterize this game as the Canucks running into a hot goaltender, but it really wasn't the case. Often when a goalie is on his game, he makes difficult saves look routine, but in this game, the saves looked routine because they were. Yes, Carey Price was as good as he needed to be and did make a few good saves, including a good one on Dan Hamhuis when the score was still only 1-0 and a great one on Jannik Hansen that would have been more meaningful if it hadn't been with only a few seconds remaining in the game.

• A revealing statistic: 9 of the Canucks' 34 shots came from Christian Ehrhoff, with an additional 9 from the other defencemen. That's a lot of shots from the point and nowhere near enough shots from the forwards. An inability to get shots from in close meant an easy night for Carey Price.

• The Canucks were generally terrible on faceoffs, going a combined 23 for 53, for a winning percentage of 43%. Henrik was disastrous at 13%, including going 0 for 8 in the offensive zone. It's no surprise, then, that the Sedins were unable to sustain much offensive pressure. Manny "Alternate Captain Mal" Malhotra was his usual consistent self at 57%. The only other centre at 50% or better was Rick Rypien, who won both of his vitally important faceoffs.

• In a game like this, it's hard to pick out one player or another who was particularly bad, because everyone was generally bad. Andrew Alberts, however, didn't do himself any favors with two careless penalties, the second of which led directly to the Canadiens' second goal. He also seemed to mistake himself for Shane O'Brien a couple times, attempting to skate the puck out of the defensive zone by juking out a couple defenders. It didn't work.

• At the same time, Alberts didn't play terribly, it's just that his terrible moments were exceedingly noticeable. Many will be calling for Keith Ballard to replace Alberts next game, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Aaron Rome in the pressbox instead. He played like what he is - a seventh defenceman - and Alberts overall hittiness is an essential component of the Canucks success. That said, Alberts was effectively benched in the third period, playing only 1:50 in the final frame, so...

• Andrew Alberts first penalty, a double-minor for highsticking, was a stupid penalty to take. Pro-tip: don't hit opponents in the face. On the plus-side, the Canucks got their first decent scoring chances while killing the double-minor and the Sedins managed their best shift of the game shortly thereafter. Considering the Canadiens' powerplay was only 6% going into the game, it almost seemed worthwhile to take more penalties as the Canucks seemed to play better shorthanded. Then Hamrlik scored on the powerplay. Forget that theory.

• The Canucks powerplay was anemic tonight. (It literally had anemia; please donate blood to the Canucks powerplay.) They were seemingly unable to gain the offensive zone and repeatedly attempted to do so the same way, by trying to skate it through the 4 penalty killers lined up on the blue line. Considering the Canucks played against the Wild's trap for years, it was incredibly painful watching them attempt the same method of gaining the zone despite its repeatedly failure. Definition of insanity, people.

• As an aside, Canadiens fans baffle me. One minute they're booing the home team (which is a great way to negate your home ice advantage) and the next they're chanting "Carey, Carey, Carey." They're moodier than Canucks fans and that's saying a lot.

• Jannik Hansen continues to be one of my favorite Canucks. He's essentially Burrows-lite, forechecking like crazy, hitting with abandon, and hounding opponents constantly to force turnovers. He's all over the opposition like slobber on a Great Dane.

• As for regular-strength Burrows, he had a reasonable game. Despite the top line's inability to get anything done tonight, Burrows was a complete nuisance to play against, with six hits to tie for Hansen for the most in the game. He and the Sedins need to start clicking as a line on this road trip or Samuelsson and Burrows might trade places on the top two lines.

Ugh. I'm tired of talking about this game. It wasn't entertaining and the Canucks didn't play well. It doesn't help that I'm writing this on an ancient laptop that goes into conniptions just opening a regular website. The bitterness is immeasurably heightened and even the rum and coke I made (with delicious Sailor Jerry rum) isn't making the bitterness go away. Hey, remember when the Canucks beat the Red Wings 6-4? That was awesome.

In Defense of Bieksa's Defense

Kevin Bieksa did not end last season well. His infamous double slide (what does it mean?) in the playoffs against the Blackhawks gave those who dislike Bieksa plenty of ammunition throughout the summer to criticize the beleaguered blueliner and demand him to be traded. In fact, with the acquisition of Ballard and Hamhuis, it seemed a foregone conclusion that Bieksa was on his way out of town, given his $3.75 million contract does not include a no trade clause.

The trade rumours did make sense: after all, Bieksa has put up two 40+ point seasons, intriguing numbers for any GM wanting to add an offensive weapon to their blueline. Meanwhile, a large portion of Canucks fans have become disillusioned with Bieksa, discounting his offensive contributions because of his defensive deficiencies. Many hoped that opposition GMs would perk up at the sight of a 40-point defeseman and conveniently ignore his career -18 rating and boneheaded mistakes.

Then, Sami Salo shockingly got injured playing floor ball. Shane O'Brien failed to make the starting roster. Ballard and Hamhuis, models of health prior to joining the Canucks, fell victim to injuries just a few games into the season. And suddenly, Kevin Bieksa is a key defensive cog in the Canucks machine.

Kevin Bieksa's detractors are quite vocal (I should know, I frequently watch Canucks games with one), but I think their distaste is misguided. I won't deny what their eyes are telling them: Bieksa does make mistakes. Those mistakes, however, are rarely as egregious as they may seem, not as plentiful as imagined, and not as detrimental to his overall defensive play as generally posited. In fact, 12 games into the Canucks season, Bieksa has been a defensive stalwart. Instead, as mentioned in a Houses of the Hockey's blog post, Bieksa's detractors are suffering from confirmation bias: due to a few plays like the double-slide mentioned above, every mistake Bieksa makes is magnified and held up as confirmation of his awful defensive play. Meanwhile, every great defensive play is ignored as being inconsequential or simply, "Every defenseman should make that play." The statistics paint a different picture.

I'm going to make a radical suggestion here: the coaching staff often know what they're doing. This isn't a popular suggestion amongst Canucks fans who always know better than those inside the organization, but there is a reason Alain Vigneault is a professional NHL coach who has led the Canucks to 1st in the Northwest three of the last four seasons. Even though his decisions sometimes confuse and infuriate me, he has also been phenomenally successful as the head coach of the Canucks. Sometimes, but only sometimes, I know better than Alain Vigneault, but it's fair to give him the benefit of the doubt.

And the way Alain Vigneault has been using Kevin Bieksa in the absence of Dan Hamhuis is illuminating. Bieksa has faced the highest Quality of Competition (QoC) on the Canucks this season. He and Alberts have consistently been sent out against the top competition, with Bieksa seeing significantly more ice time per game than Alberts. Meanwhile, Alexander Edler and Christian Ehrhoff, while leading the Canucks in ice-time, have been playing very sheltered minutes, with Edler facing the lowest QoC of any defenseman not named Keith Ballard.

So, Bieksa faces the toughest competition night in and night out while playing an average of 22 minutes a night. The composition of those 22 minutes is also enlightening. In the absence of Dan Hamhuis, Bieksa leads all Canucks defensemen in shorthanded time-on-ice. He is consistently relied upon to kill penalties and is only exceeded in total minutes shorthanded by Manny Malhotra, who never seems to leave the ice on the penalty kill.

Now, all of this time spent on the ice would be detrimental to the Canucks success if Kevin Bieksa was the defensive liability he is purported to be. And yet, while he has only managed to put up 3 points this season (with 1 on the powerplay and therefore not contributing to his +/-), Bieksa is still +4.

Now I hear the stat-heads shouting already, "Small sample size!" so let's open things up from just goals scored at even-strength (which plus-minus tracks) to shot-differential at even-strength (which the Corsi statistic tracks). In a nutshell, Corsi is meant to be a measure of puck possession, using the metric of shots, including missed shots and blocked shots. Bieksa, despite being used against the opponent's best players, ranks just behind Christian Ehrhoff for his on-ice Corsi numbers with a 10.09 rating. Simply put, Bieksa moves the puck in the right direction: when he is on the ice, more pucks are directed at the opponent's net than his own.

So how do we explain this, when the story we've been given is that Kevin Bieksa is an offensive defenceman who is a liability in his own end? How do we explain Alain Vigneault consistently using him against the top players from the opposition? How do we explain his shorthanded time-on-ice? How do we explain his Corsi numbers? We've seen the mistakes with our own eyes, we decry every error he makes during each game, but the statistics for this season indicate that those mistakes either aren't as egregious as they seem or are made up for by the rest of his game. Bieksa is strong on the boards and smart with his stick, currently leading all Canucks defencemen in takeaways. He gets into shooting lanes and is third on the team in blocked shots. And he's a solid passer, getting the puck out of the defensive zone safely and still in Canuck possession.

But my theory is that one of the main reasons for his solid defensive statistics is due to what is likely the strongest area of his game: pinching down the boards in the offensive zone. Bieksa is extremely aggressive in the offensive zone, pinching all the way down past the goal line at times. With his strength along the boards, he frequently is able to keep the puck deep in the offensive zone, where the Sedins can cycle, the Kesler line can skate with the puck, and the third line can grind down the opponent's defense. And every successful pinch by Bieksa is a failed attempt to clear the zone for the other team, negating their ability to create offense. Sometimes, this tendency leads to odd-man rushes the other way, but Bieksa has shown excellent awareness thus far this season, limiting those opportunities and using his strong skating to get back into position quickly.

I mentioned confirmation bias earlier, and I admit that I am susceptible to this issue myself, as I like Bieksa and feel he has been unfairly maligned. I confess, I find myself frequently watching Canucks games keeping a close eye on positive contributions by Bieksa and risk letting those confirm my bias towards him, but I feel that the statistics strongly indicate that he is much stronger defensively than his reputation would indicate. He's not Willie Mitchell and I doubt he'll shake the reputation as offense-first, but he deserves praise for his play in the absence of Dan Hamhuis and I sincerely hope he continues his strong defensive play throughout the season.

Keith Ballard Can Play Better; Aaron Rome Can't

News broke this morning that Dan Hamhuis' return would mean the banishment of Keith Ballard, not Aaron Rome, to the press box. Quick stop for credit: Iain MacIntyre suggested this yesterday. I'll admit that I thought he was a little bit wacky, but he was right. As of right now, Keith Ballard is lower on the depth chart than Aaron Rome.

This won't last. If I were compiling a list of Canuck players that could play better, Keith Ballard would be on top of it. If I were compiling a list of Canucks that couldn't possibly play any better, Aaron Rome would top it.

Aaron Rome is a defenseman with limited skills. The words used to describe him are typically only used on 6th and 7th defensemen: dependable, steady, reliable. You may have noticed that these words are all synonyms for one another, and that's because Rome's is a one-dimensional game. If he gives you a little more, as he has been lately, that's the sort of bonus play you have no choice but to encourage.

The coaching staff has been doing that: AV has been spotting Rome just over 17 minutes a night as well as icetime on the 2nd unit power play. While I'm about as comfortable with Rome quarterbacking the PP as I was with Byron Ritchie doing it, I'm forced to admit that Rome's been getting it done. He has points in his last 2 games, each an assist coming with the man advantage.

In truth, while the Keith Ballard benching is deserved, it says less about him than it does about Aaron Rome, for whom a benching would be undeserved. Rick Bowness implied something similar. From the MacIntyre article:

“This is the best hockey Aaron Rome has played for us,” associate coach Rick Bowness, who runs the Canucks defence, said. “Look at his minutes. He's on the second power-play unit and we've got the No. 1-ranked power play in the league. He has earned that ice time. He's doing what we need him to do.”

Exactly. This is about Aaron Rome making the most of his opportunities, and you have to reward guys for that or you run the risk of your motivational tactics falling on deaf ears. If you say money won't determine playing time--that you play the players that give you a chance to win every night, as Vigneault always says--and Ballard gets in over Rome tonight, you're full of crap and everyone will know. Rome has been better. So he plays.

Still, it won't be this way forever. If you hear it from Ballard, he's been bad. "I have to be more calm with the puck," he said. "I've been a little scrambly at times." And he certainly looked bad the other night when he blew a tire and let Niklas Kronwall score a 2nd period go-ahead goal. But, in truth, he hasn't been that bad. Henrik Sedin also blew a tire that game; it only resulted in a scoring chance. And even Vigneault has admitted he's not as unhappy with Ballard's play as Ballard is. From Ben Kuzma:

Vigneault doesn't believe Ballard is struggling as much as the blueliner believes and he cited a new environment, offseason hip surgery and a concussion as factors to a slow start for Ballard.

Context! Precious context! Let us remember, and not forget, that Ballard's still--understandably--a work in progress. He arrived to the team fresh off a hip surgery, and just when he was starting to get his legs under him, he was dropped by a concussion, the symptoms of which lingered for an alarmingly long time. Recall that you can't work out when you have a concussion. Now we're talking about a guy that desperately needs to be working out because he's on the home stretch of a hip rehabilitation, and he's not even allowed to ride the bike. You don't think that slows down his progress a little?

Without question, it does. Look no further than the fact he's being outplayed by Aaron Rome.

So Keith Ballard sits, and I'm okay with that. He might need a little time off anyway to catch up on his workout regimen. Meanwhile, the Canucks are riding a six-game win streak, and they'd like to keep it up. "We want to win," Vigneault said. "We'll play our best lineup." And that's the best thing about all this. We're winning. It's tough to complain when we're winning. And what a luxury to know that, if the good ship Canuck stalls, you've got a guy like Ballard ready to step into the lineup, motivated by the fear of becoming the Western Conference's version of Wade Redden if he doesn't step up his game?

Pratt's Day Off & PITB's Brief Team 1040 Mention

So in case you missed all the fun this afternoon (and I suspect you did, as I was alone for most of the day), here's what happened:

I was listening to the Team 1040 (which I often do) while doing some laundry. After discovering one minute after 2pm that I wouldn't have the pleasure of the incorrigibly fractious Pratt-half of the Pratt & Taylor odd couple, and would instead be listening to Jeff Paterson and Don Taylor be agreeable for the next four hours, I tried to start a new Twitter meme: #PrattsDayOff. I tweeted The Team 1040 and worked my tail off for the next little while trying to get the hashtag rolling.

It started promisingly. My first tweet was read on-air. (just after the 6:00 mark), as the featured tweet of the Poison Mailbag:

@Team1040 Vancouver's favourite blustery, cyclist-hating jingoist is off today? Why? Pratt helps me feel. #PrattsDayOff

Unfortunately, the meme jumped the shark right away. We had a few amusing contributions (click the hashtag and have a gander), but the Team 1040 mention was the pinnacle of Pratt's Day Off.

It would have been nice to see more people taking cheap shots at Dave Pratt. I actually really like and respect him, but ripping him is fun and super easy to do because he's such a cartoon character at times.

In fact, it's not too late. Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears: Don't let #PrattsDayOff die. Don't let this great day be in vain.