Spitballin’ (or Super Pass It To Bulis: All In, if you love adventurous acronymizing) is a feature that allows us to touch on a multitude of things really fast, because in the world of hockey, there are always lots of things to find and colour. Here are a few quick topics.
Can the Canucks and Kings sell hockey in China?
As always, it’s about money. We see it in Hollywood, as blockbuster movies are designed more and more to appeal to the Chinese market, which can buoy bad box office returns in North America. Now the NHL is looking to , which translates to “Please invest in the NHL.”
Maybe I’m being too cynical about the NHL’s announcement that the Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»Canucks and the Los Angeles Kings will play two preseason games in China prior to the 2017-18 season. The league has had preseason games in other countries in the past. Maybe I’m just frustrated because it will likely be a setback for a team that already looks to have a tough road ahead.
The Kings and Canucks make sense for this endeavour for a couple reasons — recognizability to the average person in China and geographical proximity — but they might be a poor choice in terms of entertainment.
Both teams are among the lowest scoring in the league this season, not that it truly matters when it comes to preseason games, which frequently feature prospects and AHLers angling for roster spots rather than big-name veterans. There might be more pressure to have veterans in the lineup for these games, of course, and the Canucks just have to hope that the flights, media availability, and games in a very different time zone won’t impact the start of their season too badly.
Jacob Markstrom done for the season, will undergo knee surgery
Markstrom, speaking to media, said he will have surgery on his knee next week.
— Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»Canucks (@Canucks)
It’s been a tough month for Markstrom after an up-and-down season. He suffered a lower body injury during Canucks SuperSkills of all things. I’m reminded of (NSFW language) leading to a hip surgery and a string of other injuries and surgeries.
I don’t think Markstrom is likely to see a similar string of injuries, but you hate to see a guy get injured during something as fun and frivolous as a skills competition. I almost feel like goalies should just sit the skills competition out, as it seems like they’re the most likely to suffer a freak injury from clowning around with, perhaps, insufficient stretching.
Reid Boucher: Driver
Someone needs to get Boucher his own pair of , because he’s one of the best drivers on the Canucks.
, who says the Canucks put up more shot attempts with Boucher on the ice than with any other Canuck. There’s a caveat with those numbers, of course: the Canucks also give up a ton of shot attempts when he’s on the ice. He’s the very definition of a high-event player: a lot happens at both ends of the ice when he’s on it.
That explains why other NHL teams couldn’t find a spot for Boucher, but to me it shows a lack of imagination. Boucher has clear offensive upside, driving shot attempts and also displaying an accurate shot with a quick release. An NHL coach should be able to find a spot for Boucher to succeed, whether it’s as a power play specialist with softer minutes at even-strength on the fourth line or as a top-six forward on a sheltered offensive line.
Canucks offer ironic promotional item for final home game
Is it too mean to suggest that the Budweiser Red Light Glasses won’t actually get used on April 8th? These glasses will light up when the Canucks score a goal and it’s entirely possible that the Canucks simply won’t score one.
Just in case, here’s a cup in action, along with an added siren sound effect because Scott Brown loves drama.
And you thought I was an annoying drinker before. will give out 13k Budweiser Red Light glasses at April 8 game vs Oilers.
— Scott Brown (@BrownieScott)
Also, I know I’m not the only one to think this is a bad idea for one simple reason: you’re giving disgruntled fans something throwable! Please don’t throw these on the ice. Even though they’re plastic and not glass, it’s just not a good idea.
Are we seriously talking about hits?
Finally, there’s . It’s absolutely incredible to me that Kuzma’s first thought when watching the Ducks dismantling of the Canucks on Tuesday was, “Gee, these guys could really use Erik Gudbranson and Derek Dorsett.”
Are you kidding me?
Of course the Canucks are too easy to play against, but it has very little to do with their ability to take the body, and significantly more to do with their inability to keep the puck. Kuzma praises their “gap-controlling structure” when they’ve allowed 36.5 shots per game in the month of March.
I get the impulse: if you can’t be good, at least be tough. There’s a sense that if you’re willing to battle physically, it shows your character. It shows you haven’t given up. It shows that you care about your team.
Sure. And throwing a few more hits and getting involved in some scrums would perhaps placate a certain segment of the fanbase. When Nikita Tryamkin manhandles a guy, it momentarily feels like something has been accomplished, but it’s illusory and it wouldn’t actually make the Canucks more difficult to play against. Teams still step into Rogers Arena feeling confident about earning a win, whether they’ve got guys throwing hits or not.
Besides, if toughness is the problem, an overpaid fourth-liner like Dorsett and a soon-to-be-overpaid third-pairing defenceman like Gudbranson really are not the answer.
It feels like this still stems from 2011, when somehow the prevailing story became that the Canucks weren't tough enough against the Bruins, when really they just suffered some key injuries (one of them incidentally came from delivering a hit; kind of wish Dan Hamhuis had decided to be a little less tough in that instant) and were up against a very skilled team and an incredibly hot goaltender. So yeah, I'm pretty sick of this narrative, and I would much rather the Canucks address more pressing issues, like a first-line centre, top-pairing defenceman, and more skill throughout the lineup, long before they worry about hits.
