LOOKING FOR THE REBOUND
Jake Virtanen — who was criticized widely, and perhaps unfairly, for his world junior performance — is back with the Canucks
To ensure the new year is ushered in properly, here’s the first edition for 2016 of the Monday morning musings and meditations on the world of sports.
Don’t know if this will make Jake Virtanen feel any better, but here’s a partial list of players who were criticized when Canada failed to win gold at the world junior hockey championship: Mario Lemieux, Dale Hawerchuk, Steve Yzerman, Rod Brind’Amour, Eric Lindros, Scott Niedermayer, Vinny Lecavalier and Jason Spezza.
At least he’s in some distinguished company.
Virtanen, of course, has been the subject of considerable scrutiny following his performance at the world juniors, but please, a little perspective.
He had a couple of bad games in a short tournament in which his team never gelled. Yes, he has to wear that for a while, but it only becomes an issue if he lets it. He’s 19 years old. He has a long career stretched out in front of him. He can’t be defined by a couple of games.
Speaking of perspective, there remains something troubling about TSN’s coverage of the world juniors and the way the network wraps itself in the Canadian flag in the name of a bigger audience share. That coverage brings a lot of attention to the event. It also brings an uncomfortable level of pressure on teenage hockey players.
Virtanen is feeling that right now, but if he’s also feeling the weight of this country, we need to re-examine our priorities.
Exhibit No. 324 of why shooting the puck over the glass is the stupidest rule in professional sports.
In the quarter-final loss to Finland, Canada surrendered the game-winning goal on a 5-on-3 power play occasioned by a delay-of-game penalty to defenceman Joe Hicketts.
His crime? In clearing the zone on a PK, the puck flipped up and actually cleared the glass at the other end of the ice.
Sorry, how is that play relevant? How does that gain an unfair advantage? I will never understand this rule.
Curious case with Jonathan Drouin and the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Drouin, 20, was the third pick of the 2013 draft and remains a bluechip prospect. But owing to a fractured relationship with Bolts coach Jon Cooper, he requested a trade in November and this weekend was sent to the minors.
This isn’t exactly optimizing Drouin’s asset value, which raises the question: What would you trade for him? Hard to know, but when a talent like this becomes available, you have to find out.
Tyler Seguin, for example, had a whole trunkful of baggage when he was traded from Boston to Dallas. That deal worked out pretty well for the Stars. You can make the same case for Kyle Turris and Ottawa.
After all, there’s a reason those players are drafted as high as they are.
Owing to a fan vote, knuckledragger John Scott has been voted captain of the Pacific Division for the NHL All-Star Game. You know, if this keeps up people will have a hard time taking this event seriously.
Throw out the top four teams in the NHL — hands up if you knew Florida is in that group — and the bottom four and 13 points separate the remaining 22 teams. There are also 13 teams within five points of each other in that morass.
If Gary Bettman’s goal was parity with all those lockouts, you might say he has succeeded.
It’s hard to measure the impact of Seattle’s 36-6 victory over Arizona on Sunday, but at the very least that performance got the attention of the rest of the NFL.
For a variety of reasons, the Hawks have looked disjointed this season, but they have a champion’s pedigree, Russell Wilson and a formidable defence. And when all their parts come together, they still might be the best team in football.
This playoff season, they haven’t exactly chosen the path of least resistance to the Super Bowl and returning to the big game will likely mean winning on the road in, yikes, Green Bay, Arizona and Carolina.
You might not bet on Pete Carroll’s team showing up in Santa Clara, Calif. But you wouldn’t bet against them either.
And finally, in reviewing Vancouver’s sporting landscape of 2015, we’re left with a one-word description. Meh. It wasn’t good. It wasn’t bad. It just didn’t provide any transcendent moments or lasting memories. In other words, meh. The Canucks, for example, made the playoffs, which was good. Then they were unceremoniously ousted in the first round and have been scuffling ever since. The Whitecaps hosted their first-ever MLS playoff game, but with their fan base fully engaged, they were bounced by Portland.
The Lions? Same thing. Playoffs, then one and done.
As for the marquee event of 2015, the Women’s World Cup of soccer offered great promise for the Canadian side, then ended with a 2-1 loss to Great Britain in a quarter-final at B.C. Place.
The good news, one supposes, is the three professional teams are all in similar phases of their development and should be improved in 2016. The more realistic news is they all have a long ways to go.
You hope better days lie ahead for the Canucks, Lions and Whitecaps. You’re just not sure if that’s the case.