February 25, 2004 Canucks Corner CF Miley OP Columnist Markus Naslund is the most valuable player in the NHL, hands down. Without Naslund in the lineup, Vancouver goes from being a top contender to an average pretender in the time it takes for a cheap elbow to strike the chin. The last time Naslund missed a consider- able chunk of time due to injury was back in the 2000-01 season, when he broke his leg in the 72nd game of the year. The next ten games saw the Canucks take a swan dive in the standings, dropping eight of ten games without their captain. Only a late, third-period goal against the LA Kings saved Vancouver's bacon and propelled them into the play- offs. They lost to Colorado in four straight games. Since then, Naslund has played in all but one game for the Canucks, until February 16 in Colorado that is. Late in the second period of a scoreless must-win game versus the Colorado Avalanche, all that changed in the blink of an eye. Naslund was hunched over and reaching for a loose puck in the neu- tral zone when Colorado rookie Steve Moore saw an opportunity. Moore cut hard towards the prone Swede and delivered an elbow heard round the league. Naslund didn’t see the hit coming, and crumpled to the ice headfirst. His helmeted melon bounced off the frozen surface, cutting him for 13 stitches. A woozy Naslund stared blankly at the growing pool of blood before him as teammate Brad May came over to even the score with Moore. Amazingly, May received the lone penalty as a result of the ensuing melee. After the game, Canucks’ coach Marc Crawford went off on a tirade about the officiating. “It just mystifies me why this hap- pens in this league,” Crawford said. “They talk about players not having respect for players. What about the officials? Should they not have respect for the leading scorer in the league? When does that come? That was a cheap shot by a young kid on a captain (and) leading scorer in the league and we get no call. That is ridiculous! How does that happen?” Moore was unrepen- tant after the game, claiming that he didn’t know it was Naslund he was hitting until after the play. “People can look at the tape and see what they think,” Moore said. “The refs didn’t call a penalty. I heard them yelling it was a clean check. I just hit him with my shoulder. If that’s a cheap shot, I don’t know,” Canuck fans should circle March 3 and 8 on their calendars for the final two meetings between the teams in the regular season. With the Northwest Division title likely hanging in the balance, the Canucks may be well served to leave the pay- back until next year. The points will be too important to throw away for revenge. Meanwhile, without Naslund, this week saw the wheels continue to wobble on the Canucks’ bandwag- on. Besides the Naslund injury, the February 16 game in Colorado was a doozey. Vancouver skated hard all night, checking the vaunted Avalanche offensive machine into the ice. The Avs were six points up on the Canucks going into the contest, with two games in hand. This was, as they say, a must-win game. A loss would have dropped the Canucks into a fourth-at-best season in the hotly-contested Western Conference. That being the case, Jarko Ruutu earned his paycheck for the year in sixty pesky minutes. Ruutu had arguably his best game of the campaign, playing the role of Peter Forsberg’s shadow. Ruutu poked, prodded, tripped, taunted, and generally bugged the crap out of Forsberg all night long. Forsberg finally erupted midway through the third period, trying to wipe the trademark grin off Ruutu’s face with a facewash that landed the Avalanche sniper in the penalty box. Score that round for Jarko. Dan Cloutier, bolstered by a stal- wart defensive effort in front of him, notched his fourth shutout of the year in the 1-0 victory. Daniel Sedin scored the game’s lone goal. With the puck behind the Colorado net, Todd Bertuzzi bowled over both d- men, allowing Sedin to have two Sports wide-open cracks at the Avalanche net. He managed to slide home his own rebound for his eleventh goal of the year. After the gritty team effort in Colorado, Vancouver took their show into Minnesota to play the Wild. Unfortunately, Naslund was not the only Canuck to not show up in Minny that night. None of them did. Lackluster doesn’t even begin to describe the effort put forth by the Canucks on February 19. The Wild came out looking like a Formula One _ speedster; Vancouver appeared to be out for a casual Sunday drive. Cloutier, who had shone so brightly only seventy-two hours earlier, was chased in the second period after surrender- ing four goals on only ten shots. Vancouver's Mattias Ohlund and Brent Sopel were a combined minus-five on the night. They would have been minus-seven if Ohlund hadn't managed to net a late goal with the game already out of reach. The Canucks’ glaring lack of depth seems to be evident to every- except GM Brian Burke. Missing their top sniper in Naslund, and one of their two top d-men in Jovonovski, Vancouver sank like a cinder block and lost the game 6-2. After giving fans a flicker of hope in Colorado, the Wild snuffed out any dreams of catching the Avs in the near future. The Canucks were out- hustled, out-muscled, and emphati- cally out-played by the Wild. The lopsided scoreboard was actually a kind reflection of how poorly Vancouver played. Still smarting from the Minnesota one e the other press © game, the Canucks limped into Edmonton looking to make amends against the Oilers. The game played out like a heavy- weight title fight of yesteryear, see- sawing back and forth all night. The Canucks lead 2-1 after the first peri- od on goals by Marek Malik and Daniel Sedin. Edmonton answered in the second, pulling even on Adam Oates’ first goal in an Edmonton uniform. Late in the second period, recent call-up Fedor Fedorov banked a shot off Artem Chubarov’s leg to give Vancouver another one-goal cushion. Four minutes into the final frame, Malik appeared to have a brain cramp just as a Vancouver power play expired. Edmonton’s Ethan Moreau outraced Malik to a loose puck in the Vancouver end. Two shots later, Ales Hemsky poked the puck past Cloutier to tie the affair at three. The game went into overtime, where Eric Brewer scored to give Edmonton the win. Dan Cloutier’s heroic effort in goal allowed Vancouver to eke out a single point for the overtime loss, pulling them to within three points of Colorado. Cloutier made a hand- ful of glorious saves to hold the Canucks in the game, and was rewarded with the game’s second star. Another tough week looms for the Canucks, with games against Detroit, San Jose, and St. Louis. Although Naslund’s concussion looks to be minor, this week proved—beyond any shadow of a doubt—that Vancouver needs to add some depth before the playoffs. Buckle down ’Nucks fans, the next six weeks could be bumpy ride. Go *’Nucks. Classifieds Students advertise for free! For free student classifieds up to thirty- words, email: the_editorS7@hotmail.com with your name, student number, desired section, and put “classified” in the subject line. Staff and Student Organizations Receive 50 percent off our Fast Cash Ad rate. Fast Cash Ads 3 lines 3 times for $20 (30 words max). Open rate of $5 per manager at 604.525.3542. Pictures Classifieds pictures are $10 each printing for all of the above cate- gories. The picture size is 3.5cm x 2.5cm, black and white. When placing an ad please All ads must be received by Thursday to be published in the fol- lowing Wednesday's paper. Check your ad for errors and please call or email our offices to report any cor- rections. 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