January 14, 2004 Sports ¢ the other press © CF Miley OP Columnist Letting the fans vote to decide the starting lineups for the NHLs All-Star Game sounds like a great idea. It stands to . reason that any fan willing to actually take the time to cast a vote would know and love hockey enough to pick the most deserving candidates. Unfortunately, this year’s Western Conference starting All-Stars proves that having a great year has very little to do with being voted in. Case in point, Dallas Stars’ center Mike Modano is having the worst season of his illustrious career. Modano has long been one of hockey’s top centers, but his being voted as this year’s starting center when he’s posted an anemic 25 points in 42 games? It’s a freaking travesty. Even more telling is Modano’s minus 19 plus/minus this year. As a matter of fact, there are a few weird smells ema- nating from the Lone Star State. The Stars have sucked throughout the first half of the 03/04 season. In reward for being a mere one game over .500, the Stars get three starters in the All Star Game? Joining Modano, the bal- lot-stuffing Texas fans have seen fit to vote in goalie Marty Turco and winger Bill Guerin. What a joke. The NHLs leading scorer, Detroit center Pavel Datsyuk, was shafted for Modano. Granted, starting a hockey game isn't quite the same as starting in baseball, basketball, or football. Once the first shift is over, nobody will actually care who started. LA’s Jason Allison came in fifth among Western Conference centers, with 47,833 votes. The Canucks Brendan Morrison finished 6000 votes behind Allison in sixth. “Fair enough,” you may be thinking. Not really. Jason Allison is currently suffering from post- concussion syndrome, and has yet to play a game this season. This system of letting the fans vote in the starters is a joke. Canucks’ captain Markus Naslund should be the starting left-winger in front of Guerin. No one goalie has yet emerged to dominate in the Western Conference, but Marty Turco? Pah-leese. He hasn't even been in the top five goaltenders this year. Vancouver's Todd Bertuzzi was voted in as the starting right-winger. I guess this is his reward for his scoring dominance over the last two years. Bertuzzi makes a lot of highlight reels with his big hits and crafty offensive plays, but these plays come at a cost to the team. Bertuzzi’s continued drop passes are beginning to become contagious, leading to the Canucks giving up far too Canucks Corner many odd man rushes, and scoring chances in general. It’s easy to disregard these deficiencies in the regular sea- son, especially while the points continue to pile up, but come playoff time.... The Canucks are currently on a hellish schedule that sees them playing no fewer than four one-game “home stands” in 16 days between December 27 and January 11. yo Just once, I'd love to see the Toronto Maple Bums play a schedule like that. I bet Darcy Tucker would actually break down and cry. This week began with a Hockey Night In Canada show- down with the red-hot Calgary Flames. That’s right, I said “red-hot Calgary Flames.” Calgary seems to have hit their stride lately, playing the in-your-face style that coach Darryl Sutter always seems to instill in his teams. Markus Naslund, Magnus Arvedson, and Brent Sopel opened a 3-0 Canuck lead in the second period. That proved too steep a climb for the Flames who managed just one goal in response. Vancouver is now unbeaten at the Pengrowth Saddledome in their past nine visits stretching all the way back to December of 2000. But the big story heading into Saturday night’s contest was how the Canucks would react to Denis Gauthier after he hung a knee on Sami Salo eight days prior. Salo is still out with a charlie horse and Gauthier was slapped with a two game suspension. Marc Crawford answered that question choosing to dress recently reacquired pugilist Wade Brookbank in lieu of Jiri Slegr. It took Brookbank just three seconds into his first Canucks shift to give Vancouver hockey fans what they've been dying for, a bona-fide heavyweight. First up on Brookbank’s dance card was Calgary tough-guy Krzysztof Oliwa. One well-aimed right fist later, Oliwa was looking for his wits two blocks up on Queer Street. Brookbank ended the game with two fights in a whopping 14 sec- onds of ice time. You gotta love it. Next up for the ’Nucks was a home date with the San Jose Sharks. The Sharks have been surprisingly good this season, and are leading the Southwest Division. The game saw the Canucks dominate for the first two-and-a- half periods before surrendering two goals in the final 12 minutes to lose 2-1. San Jose back-up Vesa Toskala played well making 37 saves in the win, but this one will have to go down as a missed opportunity by Vancouver. In the final minute, the usually steady Trevor Linden coughed up the puck to San Jose’s Patrick Marleau. Marleau stepped into the Canucks’ zone and fired a shot passed a stunned Dan Cloutier to give the Sharks a 2-1 lead with only 39 seconds remaining. I couldn't help but remember the disappointment of finishing a mere one point behind Colorado for first place in the Northwest Division. Over the course of an 82-game schedule, these things happen. Good teams don’t let it happen too often. The swing through the Golden State continued January 8, with the Canucks in LA for a date with the injury-riddled Kings. Among the Kings’ wounded were leading scorer Zigmund Palffy, superstar Jason Allison, and BC boy, Adam Deadmarsh. Canucks’ rookie Jason King drew the short straw and watched from the press box as the Sedins had their best game in a long while. Teamed with fellow Swede Magnus Arvedson, the line was in on all three goals in a 3-1 Canucks’ win. Arvedson doubled his season goal totals, scoring twice. Daniel Sedin added some insurance with one of the prettiest goals of the year. He picked the puck up along the boards after a face-off win and cut a wide arc through the slot dipping and dodging until he had three defenders and Cechmanek sprawled on the ice. He then drifted wide around the ensuing debris and slid his fifth of the year just inside the post. The showy goal was his fifth of the campaign. After 42 games, the Canucks are 23—11-6-2, for 54 points. January continues to be a busy month for the team, with 15 games in 31 days. The upcoming week sees the lads playing in Anaheim, Phoenix, and San Jose, sandwiched around a home date versus Florida. With all four games looking very winnable, it’s time to string together some wins and stretch their lead in the Northwest. In the mean time, and in between time, go *Nucks. Classified Students advertise for free! 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