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.
Willie's first sign of trouble?
If you found it ridiculous and unacceptable Monday night when the Anaheim Ducks took several liberties with Canuck players and the team -- their tough guys especially -- did nothing, Jim Benning shares your frustration.
"That Anaheim game was the most disappointing loss for me since I’ve been here,” Benning told Iain MacIntyre Wednesday. “We’ve lost games before, but no matter what, we worked hard as a team and we stuck up for one another. I don’t know what happened in that Anaheim game, but … we didn’t work and compete. I just felt that there were instances in that game where last year we (would have) stuck up for one another; when someone was picking on one of our guys … it was a pack mentality and as a team we stuck up for each other. For whatever reason, we didn’t stick up for each other that game. That was really disappointing for me to see that.”
Now maybe I'm reading too much into this, but this strikes me as Willie Desjardins' first sign of trouble. Benning's hardly pointing fingers here -- "for whatever reason," he says -- but he knows it's not a personnel issue. He made team toughness a priority this offseason with the acquisition of Brandon Prust, and yet despite having twice as many tough guys, the team suddenly looks half as tough. I'm having a hard time seeing how blame doesn't fall on the coach.
I'm not suggesting the Canucks fire Desjardins. That would be crazy. Willie's got a 57-38-13 record with a rebuilding team. But it's clear Benning really disliked what he saw in Southern California, and if Desjardins can't squeeze a little more pushback out of this lineup, he might have cause for concern.
Trader Jim working the phones
The lede from MacIntyre's column piqued my interest as well:
Knowing key centre Brandon Sutter would undergo hernia surgery, Vancouver Canucks general manager Jim Benning spent the last few days making trade calls to see which centres might be available around the National Hockey League and what they would cost.
While I highly doubt the Canucks are on the verge of announcing a deal for an impact centre (say, didn't some goof suggest Evgeni Malkin wason the block?), a move for a more defensive-minded centre wouldn't surprise me. Bo Horvat has seen some tough, tough minutes since Sutter's injury. The same could be said for Jared McCann. This much responsibility this soon was never part of their development plan. "We have to develop the next group of core players and we want to be competitive," Benning said at the column's close. But you could argue that the Canucks' current depth chart up the middle isn't doing much for either of those goals, and with Sutter on the mend for another month at least, a move for a veteran third-line pivot to take some of the pressure off the kids (and maybe stick up for a teammate every now and then), wouldn't surprise me in the slightest.
The Crap Mantle returns
You remember the Crap Mantle, that shameful, fictional, regular-season championship belt that passes from loser to loser throughout the NHL campaign. You probably also remember that the Canucks had it only just recently, picking it up on the road like a bad rash and carrying it for three games before finally transferring it to the Chicago Blackhawks.
We warned the Canucks about bringing it back West. Ditch it before getting on the flight home, we said, lest it bounce around the West and wind up back in their possession. They didn't listen, and less than two weeks later, they'll be playing for it again.
According to Crystal, our Crap Mantle tracker, the Blackhawks gave it to the Sharks, who gave it to the Flames, who gave it on Tuesday to the Conference-leading Dallas Stars... who next host the Canucks.
If the Canucks lose Thursday, they'll be the first NHL team this season to have had it twice. Willie's winning record be damned, that's a fireable offence right there.
Burn this hat
It's not often that a hat fills me with unbridled rage. Maybe these tiny fedoras for man-buns. But otherwise, I'm pretty neutral on most hats. Except for this one, via r/Canucks:
Kill it. Kill it with fire. I mean, flat-brim? Get outta here.
