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This Week in Anguish is the Canucks podcast that feels your pain out loud.

 

A weekly conversation about the only thing that really matters

with co-hosts Tristan and Ardella Thompson.

 

New episodes released each Sunday during the season,

some Sundays during the off-season.

  1. All Episodes
  2. Ep 76: Still the Group Soldiered On (2019/12/22)

Dec 23, 2019

This week in anguish:

- After a grave oversight last week, this week's episode is the Michael Dipietro edition. Like its eponymous tendy, this episode is also a fair bit shorter than you've come to expect. 

- We couldn't get together to record a regular episode this week, but boy howdy has Ardella ever come through with 1) a festive and timely Canucks poem, 2) another illuminating trip in the Canucks Time Machine, and 3) a footnotes-inclusive edition of How Did I Not Know That? Happy holidays from everyone here at Anguish Industries; you'll hear from us again next week.

- The Week that Was

‘Twas the week before Christmas and out on the ice,
Canucks were a mixed bag of naughty and nice.

A lost weekend concluded in Vegas - no joys,
Knights outshone our lads, it was men against boys.

Surely, we hoped, losses couldn’t come thrice,
But goals proved elusive - that darn Carey Price.

At last some redemption from an unlikely source,
An overtime winner from TanMan - of course!

But we know that for this team, no victory is free,
It came at the cost of poor Josh’s right knee.

Still the group soldiered on and beat Pittsburgh in style,
Maybe Murray puts this one in his “Lotto Luck” file.

One more win against Oilers would suit me just right,
A Merry Christmas to all if Monday’s a good night.

- Canucks Time Machine

Dec. 21, 1990 - Canucks recorded a 7:4 win against Edmonton. A young team trying to find its way after several losing seasons and recently recovered from 5 game winless slump extends it winning “streak” to 2 games on the back of an all-star performance from 20 year old Trevor Linden who had a 6 point night - 3G and 3A.

Can history repeat itself - please!

Dec. 20, 2000 - Brian Burke (how can we forget he was a Harvard Law School grad when it is mentioned almost every time we hear his name) sues BCTV for a report suggesting he did not fully co-operate with Vancouver police department in its investigation of the McSorley - Brashear incident.

Tireless research (ok - it was three slight variations on a google search) did not reveal the outcome of this litigation. I was reminded, however, that defending Brian also turned to the courts to defend his reputation in 2013 when he sued anonymous internet posters who made comments that the real reason Burke was terminated by Toronto was an affair with a sports reporter and not his complete inability to steer the Maple Leafs to playoff success.
Interesting from a legal perspective as he was allowed to bring an action against defendants known only by their online handles without knowing their real identities and the BC Supreme Court ruled that the defendants could be served with notice of the lawsuit through private messages on a discussion forum. But, as usual, I digress.

December 15, 2010 - Ryan Kesler scored his first (of 4) NHL hat trick in a 3:2 OT win against Columbus. He had previously recorded twelve 2-goal performances. 2010-11 was Kesler’s 7th season with the Canucks and, according to Damien Cox in the Toronto Sun his scoring success (10 G in previous 15 games) was due to a maturation in his game and personality. Described as a “less verbose” with “far less silliness and chirping and a more focussed approach”.
The same was said to be the case with Burrows and Bieksa - who were “just as fierce” but “just smarter about it.”

Shout-out to the Kes and Juice podcast episode 2 where the hosts and guest Alex Burrows once again demonstrated their famous maturity and lack of silliness!

 

How Did I Not Know That?:

Here is the short(ish) version of the long and winding road that led to my HDINKT moment this week.

  1. Much was made of the fact that Pittsburgh did not muster a single shot on goal in the first period of Saturday night’s game.  This was the 5th time in Canucks history that they have held an opponent shotless for an entire period but before we get too cocky about that we need to know that the Canucks recently set an NHL record for shot futility themselves.   On January 26, 2017 in a 3:0 loss to Arizona their first shot came almost halfway into the second period - a full 28:12 minutes of shotlessness. (To add insult to injury - one shot was initially recorded in the first period but was subsequently removed by the scorekeepers.)
  2. Thoughts naturally turned to other shot stats and I learned that the NHL regular season most shots by a team in a game is held by Boston with 73 against Quebec Nordiques on March 21, 1991.  The Canucks regular season record is 62 shots registered in a 3:3 tie against the N.Y. Rangers on January 31, 1991. Apparently 1991 was a very prolific year for shots or the scorekeepers were unusually generous for a few months. 
  3. Pause for a brief reminder that the NHL record for shots against in any game is also held by our Canucks.  Luongo faced 76 shots (and saved 72!) in the quadruple overtime first round playoff win against Dallas in 2007 - his first NHL playoff game to boot.
  4. Back to the point - Looking further into the Canucks 62 shot performance against the Rangers I discovered it was a tie at the end of a 1W 7L stretch for a team with an abysmal 19-30-5 record and coach  Bob McCammon was fired immediately following that record-setting offensive performance. He was replaced by Pat Quinn who joined the team the next day on their flight to Los Angeles.  
  5. What I didn’t remember was their plane being nearly (100 meters away) involved in a tragic fatal crash at the Los Angeles airport and the team being so shaken that they, understandably, suffered their worst defeat of the  season (9:1) against the Kings. 

Despite this lengthy post which might indicate otherwise - hockey is really just a game and there are far more important losses to worry about than what goes on in the arena.