almost there..... =]

so, we are most of the way through the preseason, and although the roster is beginning to trim down a good amount, there are still questions galore.
so far this preseason, the line-ups have changed every game, and it doesn't seem to have affected the outcomes of the games (6-0-1 in preseason so far, best in league!). however, the quality of play from lots of the newcomers has been very evident, and most of them are gone.
the biggest talk is obviously hodgson and shirokov. hodgson came into camp with a back injury, and although he has played a couple games now, he still isn't at the quality he needs to be at to make the final roster. meanwhile, shirokov has been excellent and everyone is loving him so far. he did hurt his knee last week, but he's now ready to play tonight. this will be very interesting, since there is really only one roster spot open for the two of them (demitra is on long-term IR).
more big talk has been about the defence. with the meltdown in the playoffs and ohlie's departure to tampa, there were many questions about where we were going to find our defencemen. then, in september, there were too many good choices! although the prospects have been sent off, the final roster spots are still to be confirmed. mathieu schneider is on LTIR, so that allows a bit of temporary flexibility.
finally, the other big question: who's backing up luongo? cory schneider and andrew raycroft have been duking it out for the position. although schneider looked to be the answer back in the summer, raycroft has been slightly outperforming him so far this preseason. schneider has one chance left with the upcoming oilers game to show he's ready for the nhl, otherwise he's heading back to the moose.

tonight will be a fun game. nucks play the flamers at the saddledome, then the oilers at rexall tomorrow night. after this, the next game will be next thursday, the highly-anticipated season opener at the saddledome. exciting times ahead!!!

ps. i really want to see rypien fight iginla in one of these two games here, either tonight or the season opener. it would just be epic!!

i am elsewhere as well...

since i am horrible at upkeep of this blog, i might as well say where else i can be found.

- Nucks Misconduct: this is a canucks blog on SB Nation, and i post here extremely often. i go by the name "missy" there.
- Twitter: my username is "canuckpuckbunny" here as well, i update this depending on when i have something to post on nucks misconduct or i come up with something to say. this is close to the frequency as at nucks misconduct, but not quite as much.

well, it's been a while, hasn't it?

yes, i do realize how long it's been since i wrote on here, but i have been both busy and forgetful.

-we beat calgary in that lethal game!!!
-we won the NW!!!
-we faced st.louis in the first round, and wiped them out 4-0
-we faced chicago in the second round, they wiped us out 4-2 :(
-pittsburgh won the stanley cup

off-season news:
-we got jordan schroeder in the first round of the draft, joining prospects
-ohlund left to tampa
-labarbera has left (to phoenix, i believe)
-pyatt has gone to phoenix
-cowan left to buffalo
-sundin doesn't look like he'll be back, even though gillis insists that he will be
-sedins resign pretty much 20 minutes before coming UFA's, signing 5-year contracts
-luongo signs 12-year extension
-samuellson comes in from detroit
-ehrhoff and lukowich come in from san jose
-mathieu schneider comes in from montreal
-raycroft comes in from colorado
-shirokov comes over from russia, joining prospects
-hodgson is too young for AHL but has nothing left to learn in brampton, so he has to try for the canucks roster
-luongo attends canada olympic training camp
-kesler attends us olympic camp
-sedins, samuellson, edler try for swedish olympic team
-wellwood goes to arbitration hearing, gets small raise
-wellwood and bernier have both lost weight over the summer, getting more into shape

upcoming things:
-sept 7-9, prospects training camp
-sept 11-13, veterans training camp
-mon sept 14, preseason opener vs. ny islanders, in Terrace, BC (Kraft Hockeyville)
-sept 14-27, preseason games
-oct 1, regular season opener in calgary

a quick look at highlights for next season's schedule
-oct 1: regular season opens in calgary
-oct 5: first home game, vs columbus
-dec 10-26: longest home streak of season
-jan 30-feb 14: long road trip, GM place being readied for olympics
-feb 14-mar 1: olympics in vancouver, no nhl games in this time (since all the good players will be playing for their countries)
-mar 2-12: road trip picks up where left off, GM place being cleaned up after olympics
-mar 13: first home game since january
-apr 10: last game of year, ironically a home game vs calgary (what a perfect set-up to determine the NW title winner, eh?)

this year will be big, and hopefully i will remember to keep on top of this blog.