now we're coming back...

tues feb 10 - 6-4 win over st. louis
thurs feb 12 - 4-3 win over phoenix
fri feb 13 - 2-1 loss to dallas

we're definitely back on a roll now. good timing too, because the west is still intense:

1.	* San Jose	53	83
2.	* Detroit	56	81
3.	* Calgary	56	71
4.	Chicago	54	70
5.	Dallas	55	61
6.	Columbus	56	61
7.	Anaheim	57	61
8.	Edmonton	55	60
9.	Vancouver	55	60
10.	Minnesota	55	59
11.	Nashville	56	57
12.	Los Angeles	54	56
13.	Phoenix	57	55
14.	St. Louis	55	53
15.	Colorado	56	51

the 10-point difference is still there between 5th and 15th, but 5th through 10th is now only 2 points apart. there is a one-win difference between 5th and 10th. if the playoffs started today, edmonton would barely keep vancouver out of the playoffs (same points and games) with 60 points each. 5th to 7th is all at 61 points, and 10th is at 59. it is still intense.

upcoming games:
hell week: the canadian gauntlet (literally)
tonight vs montreal 7:00 pm
tues feb 17 @ calgary, 6:00 pm
thurs feb 19 @ ottawa, 4:30 pm
sat feb 21 @ toronto, 4:00 pm
tues feb 24 @ montreal, 4:30 pm

holy smokes!!! we're actually winning again!!!!!!!!!

tues. feb 3: 4-3 win over carolina. finally broke the losing streak. listened to game on radio, and the nucks played amazingly. got standing ovations after 1st and 2nd period at GM Place. amazing game. despite the powerplay for carolina with 3 minutes left to go in a 3-3 game, kesler slides the puck to burrows, who goes on a breakaway for a shorthanded goal. amazing night!!!!
sat. feb 10th: a game i should have listened to in amazement, but was doing over things: 7-3 win over chicago!!! saw the data though: 2-0 nucks 3 minutes into the game, 6-0 for some time in the 2nd period!!

now that we're winning again, we're jumping quickly in the standings. in my last post, nucks were 11th. now, with 2 wins, they're in 7th. last post, i already said it was a very close race, with 6th to 10th at the same number of points. well, here's today's standings:

1.	* San Jose	50	79
2.	* Detroit	52	75
3.	* Calgary	52	64
4.	Chicago	51	66
5.	Anaheim	56	59
6.	Dallas	51	57
7.	Vancouver	52	56
8.	Minnesota	51	55
9.	Edmonton	52	55
10.	Columbus	53	55
11.	Los Angeles	51	53
12.	Nashville	52	53
13.	Phoenix	54	53
14.	Colorado	53	51
15.	St. Louis	52	50

now, if you look closely, there is a scary sight: only a 9 point difference between 5th and 15th. yes, that's right, the west is now even more intense. if the nucks want to stay in the playoffs (i can't believe i'm already mentioning them, it's only february!!), they better keep pace with the rest of the conference, because as we saw in past weeks, they aren't waiting for us to catch up to them.

next games:
tues. feb 10th @ st. louis, 5:30 pm
thurs. feb 12th @ phoenix, 6:00 pm
fri. feb 13th @ dallas, 5:30 pm
feb. 15th-24th: canadian gauntlet (montreal, calgary, ottawa, toronto, montreal)

still free falling, or on slow comeback??

prefer to think the latter.
28th - 5-3 loss to nashville. had 3-1 lead for a while, then it fell. tried to tie it 4-4 at the end, but they scored instead. very disappointing.
31st - 4-3 overtime loss to minnesota. managed to tie up 3-3 with 15 seconds left. now that was hockey!! unfortunately, danny-boy got another overtime penalty, and the wild scored.

canucks need to get back to work. they've been playing horribly lately, even with luie back. record for january was 2-5-5. disgusting!!! currently on track to break franchise's record for longest losing streak.

standings are getting intense. 5 teams tied for 6th place, and vancouver's right below in 11th.

1.	* San Jose	48	77
2.	* Detroit	49	69
3.	* Calgary	48	64
4.	Chicago	48	62
5.	Anaheim	52	55
6.	Dallas	48	53
7.	Minnesota	49	53
8.	Edmonton	49	53
9.	Columbus	50	53
10.	Phoenix	51	53
11.	Vancouver	50	52
12.	Los Angeles	48	47
13.	Nashville	49	47
14.	Colorado	50	47
15.	St. Louis	48	44

this is obviously bad. nucks need to start winning if they really want to be in the playoffs. this is what critics were predicting in september, and although we were proving them wrong in november, the tide has turned and now we're proving them right. let's prove them wrong again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

next games:
tues. feb 3 vs carolina 7:00pm
sat. feb 7 vs chicago 7:00 pm
tues. feb 10 @ st. louis 5:30 pm
thurs. feb 12 @ phoenix 6:00 pm
fri. feb 13 @ dallas 5:30 pm
15th - 24th: hell week, canadian gauntlet (montreal, calgary, ottawa, toronto, montreal)

obviously, nucks don't have many games this week, so this will screw them over in the standings. they better make use of these points before i lose faith...