SPORTS Canucks Corner: Stephanie Smith, OP Sports Editor Well, the Canucks finished off that Eastern Conference road trip gathering up 7 of 8 possible points. This was a great accomplishment for a team who struggled early on. They slaughtered the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-1, they mutilated the Montreal Canadiens 4-0, they slipped by the Ottawa Senators 2-1, and they lost in a shootout to the red-hot Buffalo Sabres 4-3. Not only that but they came back to the west with the fighting spirit. They lost to LA, but beat the Sharks in glorious fashion 3-1. And yes, they may have lost the next game to Columbus, but the Feb. ruary 1st game against Edmonton was worth it. Welcome back Markus Naslund. Welcome back. The most encouraging aspect of these games has been the scoring. Look at it. In their last 8 games the Canucks are averaging just under 4 goals per game. This is a far cry from the team who sat at the bottom of the NHL in that statistic for months on end. It’s huge, and the goal scorers were varied. The Canucks are finally getting scoring from all sides. As of Feb. 1, Morrison and Naslund as of Feb. 1 have 10 points in the games since the All-Star break. Taylor Pyatt, Jan Bulis, Rory Fitzpatrick, Josh Green, Lucas Krajicek, Ryan Kesler, Mattias - Ohlund, Daniel Sedin, Trevor Linden, Sami Salo and even Marc Chouinard have goals. The Canucks finally get some scoring from someone whose last name isn’t Sedin or Naslund. The best part about these last few games has been the special teams. Against Toronto, 5 of the 6 goals scored by Vancouver were scored on the power play. In Montreal, they scored a power play goal, same in Ottawa. In Buffalo all the goals scored by the Canucks were scored by their special teams. They scored two power play goals, and one incredibly beautiful short handed goal. Vancouver has the best penalty kill in the NHL. Since December 30, 2006 the Canucks have only allowed 3 power play goals against in 74 times shorthanded. It’s almost unbelievable! Remember at the beginning of the year when I said that it would take a bit of time befo the Canucks really clicked? That fans would have to endure a stretch of time where failure w| an every day occurrence? That about half way through the season they would really pick it u and play to their ability? That they would make the playoffs? So far I’ve been right on. The playoffs thing will have to wait, of course, until the end of the season. I can’t say yet what happen, I can only say what I think will happen. At the very least the Canucks have been playing some damn fine hockey, and have been wonderful to watch. No more cowering under the covers whimpering at the horrendous sco and bad plays. No more getting drunk to ease the pain of yet another Canuck loss. Now all tj drinking is done in celebration, and that changes everything. Hopefully they can keep this up! kick some ass, and ready to embark on they journey to the Stanley Cup playoffs. Bigger Concerns Than VoteForRo ry.com for NHL Nick Frost—The Gateway (University of Alberta) Since November, the eyes of media and fans alike have been pegged squarely on Vancouver Canucks journeyman-defense- man Rory Fitzpatrick. Now, people weren’t paying attention to see Fitzpatrick notch one point in 29 games, but to find out if a write-in campaign sparked by Internet-phenomenon VoteForRory.com would be successful in electing Fitzpatrick as one of the starting defensemen at the NHL’s All-Star Game. As fans and interweb junkies began tirelessly stuffing ballot boxes, many names close to the game, including Don Cherry, Wayne Gretzky and Kelly Hrudey, spoke out firmly against the idea, calling it a joke and stating that it would de-legitimize the All-Star Game. If named as a starter, they argued Fitzpatrick should gra- ciously step aside and let someone more deserving take his spot. Last Tuesday, it was revealed that Fitzpatrick finished just off the mark in third place; 23,000 votes behind Nicklas Lidstrom: The hockey world was sleeping a little easier, knowing that the All-Star Game, being played in Dallas, Tex., this year, would- n't end up being a joke. That is, until four days later, when the NHL announced the rest of the Eastern and Western Conference rosters. The announcement, favouring players who aren’t exactly having all-star-like seasons—Rick Nash, Yanic Perreault, and Henrik Zetterberg—and excluding more-deserving names like Alexander Frolov, Paul Kariya and good ol’ Daniel and/or Henrik Sedin, had many raising eyebrows. It seems like every time the All-Star Game comes around, the NHL wants to be the ones to pull one over on us. The idea of watching this joke of an all-star battle every year has slowly been deflating in the minds of the average hockey fan. While the game has never had a ton of success, it has still had its flashes of brilliance over the years: the Wales lighting up the Campbell Conference 16-6 in 1993, the Als (Iafrate and MacInnis) constantly breaking the speed of sound with their 20 THE OTHER PRESS FEBRUARY 1 2007 slapshots, Owen Nolan calling his own goal on Dominik Hasek in 1997. And this means there’s still hope for the game. All that’s needed are a few changes. First off, don’t give the fans the power to vote for the starters until the full roster has been named. If people are allowed to choose from any and everybody, the door is just being left wide- open for obstruction—whether it’s from web-surfers endlessly voting for an AHL-calibre defenseman, or the tech-heads in Silicon Valley running up vote counts for the San Jose Sharks. Second, get rid of this every-team-must-have-a-representa- tive crap and start making rosters with all stars. What’s the point of having a game involving the best players in your league if you're going to restrict yourself on the basis that even the lowly Columbus Blue Jackets need someone to parade around at the skills competition? I mean, if it happens to work out that all teams have someone, fine. However naming guys like Petr Buzek (2000), Espen Knutsen (2002) and Tom Poti (2003) just doesn’t cut it. These guys have nothing to do with the word “star.” Finally, let’s start seeing some of these games played again in markets where hockey is popular. I realize that every team should have a shot at hosting the game in order to be fair. However, for the last few years, though, it’s been cities like Dallas, Phoenix, Atlanta and Miami. Let’s see an original-six team host the game, or at least, an original-12 team. Just put the game somewhere where it will mean something. Sure, the All-Star Game will never create any major grandeur, but if the league wants to bring some legitimacy back to a game that had it up until about 10 years ago, they should think about making some meaningful changes. Until they do, there will be a lack of memorable moments, and not just because I'll have to drink to enjoy it.