This is A Special Team*
Welcome to the C4 Canucks hockey podcast.
Narrator 2:Every week, they talk about the Vancouver Canucks with a fair amount of nonsense thrown in.
Narrator 1:Sure. They're never the first with the news nor the best connected and definitely more off the rails than on.
Narrator 2:But they've been talking puck the longest, and that counts for something. Right?
Narrator 1:So strap in for the longest running best mediocre Canucks hockey podcast.
Narrator 2:It's C4 with Chris and Anna.
Chris:Hi, Anna. Hi, Craig.
Anna:Hi, Chris. Hi, Craig. Good.
Chris:So I I've and since our last episode, been looking for a way to have Craig respond. And there is Oh. So when you and I hear Craig join the channel, there is a, you know, now recording
Anna:Craig is a recording robot.
Chris:Right.
Anna:You are new here.
Chris:And so Craig's voice is now recording. He says this, and it's an actual person who's like the original dev of the the robot, but they've made it clear that they don't mind if their voice is used in the context of promoting Craig, but I'm not entirely sure us having Craig say now recording response to us saying hi Mhmm. Makes one sense and two sort of meets what that original dev wanted. But maybe sometime down the road, we'll have Craig respond. It'll just blow people's minds.
Anna:Sure. I mean, I'm okay with the robots talking less. Sorry, Craig.
Chris:Well, but I just want Craig to say hello. That's all. What have been up to, Anna?
Anna:Getting wet.
Chris:It's been that kind of a week.
Anna:It's been that kind of week. If you live in Vancouver, I don't know if you heard, there's a river in the atmosphere, which is not where So, you want rivers to
Chris:nobody or pet bugs, depending on how you refer to them. Former Twitter ex personality, they're on Blue Sky now. Their weather app showed that on Friday, we should expect 22 meters of rain. So, they suggested that we've upgraded from atmospheric river to atmospheric tsunami. I'm sure it's 22 millimeters, but if it was 22 meters, we done well screwed.
Anna:Yeah. It's been a soggy week in Vancouver. The Canucks have not been here for most of it.
Chris:Yep.
Anna:But still they have found a way to be
Chris:Pretty porous play on the on the
Anna:Drippy, soggy, porous, whatever you want to call it.
Chris:Yeah. Canucks haven't been looking good. Cat out of the bag, surprise, surprise. And the funny thing is in in c four discord, we were talking about, hey, are the Canucks good? It's like, no.
Chris:I mean, I am not the fancy stats guy. I do acknowledge they exist. And the fact that Vancouver Canucks had PDO through the roof, which to me means they're lucky AF, well, luck run out, injuries, other absences, which we'll talk about. And, yeah, the Vancouver Canucks, coaching staff felt the best way to win games is to have Evander Kane on the ice far too much. And suffice it say, they've gone that way.
Anna:Yeah. It's yeah. Not That's not worked out for them.
Chris:No. So, yeah. We're gonna get into the week that was and the week that will be. We're also recording this episode before the Sunday night game against the Edmonton Oilers who are in town. We're actually gonna record into it because I was late.
Chris:I was watching the Vancouver Whitecaps at SC in their first playoff match against Dallas. It was a great match. Vancouver won. Record, playoff crowd for the MLS. And it should be noted, there was a comparison between the tickets available for the Vancouver Canucks game against the Montreal Canadien on Saturday night in the Vancouver Whitecaps FC for a Sunday afternoon.
Chris:And there were tickets available for the Canucks, which is just unheard of when the Habs and the Leafs come to town. Like, there are enough Habs fans and Leafs fans that reside here that show up.
Anna:I don't like you would think it's a big game as Canadian team. No. There are twenty twenty one rivals
Chris:Yeah.
Anna:From the North Division days.
Chris:You can get overpriced face value tickets to watch the Canucks lose at the Rogue or better yet, you get good value upper bowl tickets to watch the Whitecaps win. So I mean, hey, I I get it that, you know, Neil would tell me that the choice is clear. It's not Vancouver Whitecaps FC, but Neil knows nothing.
Anna:I mean, one, harsh. Two, yeah. Like, I'm not the biggest MLS guy, but I know I don't wanna be paying for to watch that. Yeah. So
Chris:Whatever it was that was on the ice last night?
Anna:Yeah.
Chris:Yeah. Anyhoo, why don't we dive into Rewind? So you and I were were kinda optimistic. Like the road trip, the Vancouver Canucks had done well on to that point. We recorded on Sunday.
Chris:They had strung together a bunch of wins and we had sort of looked at the proceeding, or the next sort of three, four games where, you know, the Canucks are gonna squeak out at least another win on the road and they'll get a win on at home. I think
Anna:And I I think I said they would win both games On road.
Chris:And those two
Anna:games. Yeah. But either way, you said at least two wins. Right?
Chris:Yeah. Exactly. And we're not getting two wins out of those four games. We don't know how tonight will play out. Mhmm.
Chris:But if it's anything like last night or the two games on the road, not well. So the Vancouver Canucks in Pittsburgh, they had a good first period. It was a really good first period.
Anna:Yeah. Unfortunately, twenty minutes doesn't win hockey games.
Chris:No, it does not. You know, the you look at how the game sort of played out. Vancouver comes out hot, Connor Garland gets a goal, they're throwing pucks at Artur's, Sealoss nonstop.
Anna:And,
Chris:you know, they're maybe somewhat hard pressed to have allowed one on themselves to go into the intermission tied one one. Like that first period was relatively good road hockey from the Vancouver Canucks. And if that's the way they were going to play the remainder of the way, I would have been okay. Even if they had maybe lost, hey, solid effort sometimes, you just don't get the luck you've possessed as long as you have so far. The problem is the second period just outright sucked.
Anna:It sucks.
Chris:Pittsburgh got their first goal with like just over five minutes remaining in the second period, But it hadn't looked good to that point. And you were thinking like, oh my goodness, if Vancouver gets out of this period down one, they're lucky. Problem is, they did not get out the period down one. No, they got out of the period down three because in the final five and ish and half minutes, the second period, Pittsburgh scored three.
Anna:Yeah. Which in
Chris:fairness, was the epitome of the period.
Anna:Yeah. Totally. It just feels like when it typically for Vancouver, when it doesn't just rain, it pours. Like, as soon as the dam breaks, they all just, yeah, fall apart and don't have that quick recovery that we have previously seen, like, a couple years ago when it's like that bounce back ability. I hate that term because resilience already exists.
Anna:But, yeah, it really feels like they're very easy to fluster.
Chris:Lankinen had himself an okay game. I'm not gonna hang really of the five goals that Pittsburgh scored, more than one on them. Like, when it comes down to it, maybe one of those goals get stopped, but they still lose the way the Vancouver Canucks played. The third period, they woke up, but by then it was lights out. Pittsburgh wasn't going to allow Vancouver to score, three to tie it.
Chris:And, you know, the Vancouver Canucks penchant for taking bad penalties exists in this current era. They scored a fifth one on on the power play and Cielos got himself a win that he described felt really good.
Anna:I'm sure it does. I mean, he's literally a Calder Cup champion, and he's moved to a new city and got himself essentially a Stardust job right now. And he's got a practice rink, so and he gets to be on the goodbye Sydney Crosby train. Like, I think yeah. What more could you want, essentially?
Anna:That game sucks. The face off problems continue. I don't remember if it was after that game or the national game that PD had the quote about, you know, like, the power play sucks because we're not starting off with the park because I keep losing face offs.
Chris:I don't know if it was this game. I think it might have been the Nashville game, was but I
Anna:Nashville game.
Chris:But the thing about like the sort of deployment of the team is Foot seems to be skating the hell out of his one or two centers that are winning face offs. Petey got next to nothing, which Yeah. You know, for Petey haters, they're like, deservedly so, bench the guy. We should never assigned him. But my thought is is when you've paid a player a ton of money and you them to play well, you skate them into the ground to prove that, hey, we gave them every opportunity.
Chris:And if it doesn't work out, doesn't work out, you, you know, as Frank Saravelli has already suggested, buyout candidate.
Anna:Besides a lot of things.
Chris:Yeah. But it did like the ice time has been really confounding. If you, you know, in this game, no Brock Besser. This is the he had missed the final two in a row. We'll talk about that in a bit.
Chris:No Hiddle, who's injured and I mean A
Anna:bloody injury. No
Chris:reports, which isn't good. Yeah. You know, the Vancouver Canucks are are essentially devoid of centers other than Petey and Ratu is the guy. Granted I mean, he does.
Anna:Like, right? Like, we'll get into his virtual game later, but yeah, he
Chris:Not your first line center. Not the kid that should be eaten in minutes.
Anna:Yeah. I mean, PD needs more ice time. It's crazy that we're talking we're talking on the back of a, you know, a mini losing skit at least, we'll call it. And we shouldn't be really still debating this, but apparently, are. And kudos to the I believe in Nashville, it was the reporter who before the game, like, a Nashville reporter asked about PD's eyesight, which I love as a visiting.
Chris:They're asking. Considering Vancouver doesn't have anyone following the team on the road. Other than And only know house radio. Like Which is actually, let me I should rephrase that. House radio doesn't have anyone in the room.
Chris:House radio is reliant on the Canucks
Anna:And like
Chris:to provide them stuff.
Anna:Dan Murphy asks good questions sometimes, but like, he's one guy. And like yeah. As essentially, as you say, he in sports now, like, the cooler is coming from inside the house. And the audacity of Rick Tockett to still be complaining about Vancouver media when he, of many coaches, had, like, the easiest time, like, without a traveling media pack.
Chris:Well, this is this is okay. In the old days, you know, you could complain about Vancouver media because you had six beat reporters constantly with the team asking tough questions. You couldn't escape it. Whereas like if you were at The US team or or really any other team that didn't exist in Canada, significantly less so. Well, now Vancouver, I I if you wanna say this is a bad media market, what like, I honestly don't know what you're comparing it to or talking about.
Chris:The the media and the market are actually extremely fair, you know. I know there are people and fans that don't like half the opinions and, you know, you and I are Canucks podcasters, or so, you know, everyone knows our opinion is is a 100% correct. 75%
Anna:is fine. Think that sometimes, players and coaches and even management conflate fans and media, and like, also conflate all fans together. But, like, Vancouver, I would say, like, you're lucky that this fan base isn't apathetic, completely apathetic at this point. And, like, we talked about tickets. Maybe that's the way it's going, but.
Anna:Yeah. Like
Chris:But the answer that Foot provides is that, well, it's not that Petey's ice time is down, it's just that he he plays in all these situations and so I have to really balance it out. If the guy is you wanna use the guy as your workhorse, work the horse.
Anna:Yeah. And like, you know, specialty situations, you could argue maybe it's more technical or whatever, but you're playing shorter shifts. Right? Like Mhmm. I just think
Chris:You know, you're you're talking sort of in in the in the context of, like, deployment. Like, let's say PD is not winning face offs. You don't start him in the the defensive zone as much. I get that part.
Anna:Yeah.
Chris:But you then, you know, keep him off the ice for the entirety of the period. Not that that's happened, but it's kinda felt that way. And then PD's not the only one. Deployment has been weird. Like a player who we're gonna harp on him the entire season.
Chris:But if Vanderkain Yeah. Brings zero. Like, I I I don't I I actually asked this, what what does he bring that I'm not seeing?
Anna:Yeah.
Chris:Because everything I was told that he would provide, he hasn't. And he's getting minutes galore, like, makes no sense. Regardless, Vancouver goes into Nashville. Thank goodness for Max Sasson who gives an f. But, you know, Vancouver was tired.
Chris:They were clearly, you know, showing that this is our last game on the road. Can't wait till I'm back home in bed. And Yeah. Other than maybe a second period where they woke up some, Nashville owned this game. Like it was it was very clear Nashville was gonna win.
Chris:Like right from the get go, the power play was more dangerous if you were a Predator player than if you were a Canuck player. Yeah. I think goal early.
Anna:Yeah. It did seem like that was yeah. The only time they were dangerous was on the PK there, which we also kind of saw against Montreal, not that it came to fruition, but there was some short handed chances as well. But, yeah, that it just felt completely lackluster. Yes.
Anna:It's a tough road trip this early on in the season, and it's wacky as hell in terms of all the like, they're back in the South now, like, after they played Dallas earlier, but, you know, we played it, they're back in the South. Does it make sense? Who knows? But, like, yeah, it felt really low on energy that whole game.
Chris:But thank goodness. The team was back at home Saturday against the habs. 04:30 start kinda sucked. This quarter makes it feel like the continuation of a road trip because you're not truly playing your regular time.
Anna:Yeah. Like it feels like it's on the eastern time. Yeah.
Chris:Yeah. It's the way it is anytime Montreal or Toronto swings into town. We've we've accepted it as Canucks fans. And, you know, I I have sort of taken shots at the team so far. I I do need to give them credit that they looked really good, really invested for two ish periods.
Narrator 1:Mhmm.
Chris:And I say ish because there was some investment in the third, but
Anna:But it came in the end. Yeah. When it was already too late, like, how many times did we see that last season where Canucks almost tied that up? Like, it just feels like, okay. You can't stop playing with five minutes left.
Chris:Mhmm.
Anna:Like, the whole point of, like, you're tired still from the road trip. You've got a 04:00 game, so kill it off early, which seemed like Knucks were trying to do. But, like, once again, we kind of lost the run of themselves as my Irish relatives would say. And, yeah, they took some dumb penalties. The PK kind of fell apart.
Anna:And, they made it a little too easy for Montreal to waltz back in.
Chris:You start, Lanken, in in that game if you're coach and start Demko against the Oilers. Like, to me, that was reversed. I would have started Demko for that game and I would have started Lanken in against the Oilers.
Anna:Just because it's a Saturday night game, because it's much
Chris:I feel that like for me, I feel that Demko has clearly shown, he is your number one goaltender, he's the guy you go to to get the win that you need. Like, you've just come off the road in a with a lackluster effort. You need a strong showing. I'm not knocking Lankanan. Like, this game was not a loss because Lankanan was a net.
Chris:But could Damco have stolen that game? And I
Anna:mean, potentially, but that's just writing don't you think that's some like writing off the Edmonton game?
Chris:Oh, yeah. Totally. I expect the Canucks to lose against the Oilers tonight. Like, well, I mean, we're pucks dropping in a moment and if, you know, the Vancouver Canucks win, great, but I'm not expecting it. Now, Edmonton, they stunk last night too.
Chris:So in fairness Yeah. Anything's possible. But, I mean, are you expecting Edmonton to come in? Having, you know, laid an egg? Don't think that's why you're starting Demco against them.
Chris:You're you're starting Demco because you're thinking the Canadians game is the maybe quote unquote easier one.
Anna:Yeah. And that's what he did. And they should have won it. Right? Like, I know Montreal are so fun to watch than, like, the league darlings because they have Lane Hudson and Demodov.
Anna:But, yeah, It's still a winnable game. The Knuck should have won that.
Chris:Anyhow, it doesn't matter, you know, Vancouver's PK couldn't k.
Anna:Jesus.
Chris:I mean, it was that's what it was. I mean, two out of three, and to be honest, they were lucky not to move, scored on the or been scored on on the the other penalty. Face off dot continued to be an issue. Petey had himself a much better game. Surprisingly, got a few more minutes, not much more.
Anna:It's slightly more.
Chris:You look
Anna:at I mean, he did a a lot with not a ton, and I thought he had his first multiple again in a while and he looked dangerous in a way that we haven't seen properly.
Chris:Quinn Hughes looked good. I don't recall him taking a awkward hit. Yeah. Maybe he's playing the night.
Anna:Maybe he's just down with a case of sads.
Chris:Gosh. Maybe. But, yeah. I mean, Vancouver loses four three against the haves. They made it interesting late.
Chris:Connor Garland scoring, was it four minutes left? Right? Was it an empty net goal or not an empty goal, but a six on five goal? Uh-huh. Because they yeah.
Chris:They pulled like ten minutes left. Went full cumin.
Anna:Anyway. Yeah. Yeah. I love that by the way. Like, study show.
Chris:Go full cumin?
Anna:Yeah. Take risks.
Chris:I think Tortz is the other coach that you could probably pin a early, you know, goalie pull on on a regular, but definitely Mike Keenan like, I wanna say I watched a game during the Keenan era where he pulled the goaltender with like nine minutes left, just for a shift to wake his team up. Something like that.
Anna:Give a a little shot to the system.
Chris:I mean, I could be I could be dreaming this, but the fact that there is this shred of possibility that could have been the case
Anna:Yeah. No. A 100%.
Chris:Yeah. But yeah. Going into tonight's game, no Quinn Hughes. He is injured to what
Anna:extent
Chris:And
Anna:then the region. He has broken I mean, at least I don't know.
Chris:God, don't say that. Can I expect to suggest that these are possibilities? So don't even don't even, you know, joke about that.
Anna:Sorry.
Chris:What do you think is gonna happen tonight? Do you do you genuinely believe Vancouver beats Edmonton? Having seen what you've seen so far?
Anna:No. No. I said no at this time last week and I repeat that.
Chris:Well, regardless, you know, Vancouver is not doing us any favors. They're not looking so hot. The general vibe around the team right now ain't that good. We're seeing a lot of people refer to foot as Team Wootauket.
Anna:Yeah.
Chris:Which, you know, I I I guess I understand as to why. The problem is like the Vancouver Canucks, if they were losing, but they were looking at like an exciting hockey team, I think people would wouldn't be happy of the losses, but would it be more accepting of, hey, it's a process. They're gonna turn this around. But when you're doing everything you can not to lose and still finding a way to do so, who who's gonna buy into that? Like, I genuinely wonder if this stretch continues, how long it'll take before jerseys are hurting in the ice, sell the team chance, or
Anna:Also, I mean
Chris:You know, full throat, it's just
Anna:The PK was good under Tuckett, so
Chris:Yeah. True. But if there's one thing that's been consistent, then, too many men on the ice penalties, because heaven forbid this
Anna:love that.
Chris:This bench able to ever figure out how to count the number of players on the ice.
Anna:Yeah. We need to give them some counting lessons.
Chris:Yep. So we talked about Brock Bester missing some games due to personal time and when that was announced, there was no details whatsoever and people were were genuinely concerned. Obviously, Brock has been through a lot Yeah. In his his young career, you know, having lost his father and and what have you. And he shared himself that his his dog Cooley passed away.
Chris:Now, I, you know, having been a pet owner, my life is it you know, you lose a pet, it is there's a little piece of you that, you know, disappears. It is it is heartbreaking. And if this is the reason that the Vancouver Canucks allowed for him to take personal leave, I want to applaud the organization
Anna:Yeah.
Chris:For acknowledging and recognizing the, you know, genuine stress that that one goes through. I I know there are some out there that are like, wait, he he did he skipped out on hockey because his dog died? One, grow a heart. Two Yeah. Show a little empathy.
Chris:But three, I feel that recognizing, you know, a a mental injury, a mental illness is equally as important as a physical illness, a physical injury. And that is a heck of a thing for someone to experience and go through.
Anna:Yeah. And I looked at he was open about it, showing that vulnerability. Honestly, I, like, just can't listen to people like that. There's so much toxic masculinity tied up into hockey fandom. I mean, some of these fans would rather players never, like, attend the birth of their own child or, like, ever have anything to do with their families.
Anna:Like, at the end of the day, it's a game. He's not performing heart surgery. Like, he's not saving someone's life. He's playing a game of hockey. And, yeah, if it was a playoff game, he probably would have stayed in the game, and maybe he would have been worse for it.
Anna:But it's a game, like, eight games into the season. Like, everyone needs to get a grip. So
Chris:as we look ahead at the week, Vancouver, Edmonton, still zero zero puck has just dropped in that game. You and I are both gonna suggest that that is an l. New York Rangers are in town. First of all, do JT and PD just have to square up at Center ice, start of the game just to get it over with?
Anna:I kind of almost wanna instead see there was a tweet back when the JTPD stuff was at its height where it was said, they can heal this divided province by just sharing a kiss at Sunrise. So I'm fine with either.
Chris:Oh, man. Okay. First of all, JT Miller is in his return to Vancouver. There's going to be a a thank you JT moment. We're gonna hear the JT Miller chant again.
Chris:I mean, that is a given. I have no issues with that type of response. JT Miller, when he was a Vancouver Canuck, while there were games where he didn't give enough f's, there were others where he gave them all. And, you know, to his credit, he played hockey hard when he chose to play hockey hard. That said, I view PD as a Canuck as a better future than JT as a Canuck.
Chris:I mean And
Anna:Whatever you think of the two of them, he's in his JT's in his studies, like
Chris:Yeah. Studies on. I I I want Vancouver to win this game 12 to one. I truly do. Yeah.
Chris:I want Eddy to score 13 goals and have one taken away from him just because.
Anna:Yes.
Chris:I'm saying that because that's what I want. I'm not confident that Vancouver gets the dub.
Anna:I'm I'm picking a win
Chris:because Okay.
Anna:It's too painful
Chris:I
Anna:to consider the possibility. It's not.
Chris:Yeah. I so this is the like, I just JT's gonna
Anna:you though.
Chris:Like JT JT is gonna show up. He is gonna be amped for this game. Like, this isn't the type of game where he doesn't show up. He he's gonna put the Rangers on his back. He's gonna do everything that he can, short of goaltend and defend maybe.
Anna:Back check. Yeah. I mean, New York Rangers currently losing full one to the Calgary Fights.
Chris:Don't matter. It's they're not they don't Petey's not dressing for the flame stunt. Asterisk though, is Hughes in the lineup?
Anna:Yeah. Asterisk, he has to be in the lineup.
Chris:Okay. So, you said a w, I've said an l, then we're on the road again. Vancouver heads off to Saint Louis to take on the Blues on the thirtieth, in a game where the goaltender we love to hate is likely going to start. And then they continue on the road into Minneapolis to take on the Minnesota Wild Saturday, 4PM puck drop. So, Blues, Wild.
Anna:They can't also, what the hell? Why are playing the blues on the road again? I'm bored of seeing Jordan Bennington's stupid face.
Chris:I took him in my hockey pool. I hated it.
Anna:But you did it.
Chris:I did it.
Anna:I mean, fancy hockey is always that thing of trying to take on problematic players, and it's a struggle sometimes.
Chris:Mhmm.
Anna:Oh, yeah. I'm getting run the hell over in my of my couples this week. Same. But the other
Chris:one It did help that I drafted Barkov who's out for the season. So
Anna:Oh, wow. You drafted early, I guess. Or you No. Had too much
Chris:So Barkhoff, he was one of my late picks. And at the time, we had a one minute timer and the website was not loading for me. So it became of who's available. I see he's injured, but you know, I don't see the LTIR because it's preseason. Yeah.
Chris:So I took him thinking, oh, I have him on the bench to start. But, yeah. Anyhow, I dropped him, but that there goes one of my drops for the the year. Mhmm. So Saint Louis, win or loss?
Anna:Win.
Chris:Okay. And the Wild, win or loss?
Anna:Loss.
Chris:Okay. Well, I'm giving a win over the Wild a loss against the Blues. But that gives over four games, one dub. You I
Anna:said to you because I'm so positive.
Chris:Are the most positive podcaster. Anyhow, we'll see. I mean, it's only a matter of time until the Vancouver Connects prove us right or prove us wrong. So we'll know next week when you and I get back together. We'll take ourselves a short break.
Chris:You're listening to the c four Canucks hockey podcast brought to you by Anna and Chris.
Narrator 1:Take hitting out of the game. You can't hit anymore, so don't do it.
Narrator 3:The unsportsmanlike conduct, I wanna get an explanation on. No kidding.
Narrator 3:Because how
Narrator 3:do you get suspended for unsportsmanlike conduct?
Narrator 1:Plus interference. There's no interference there. He had to puck. Now Madison never ever did that before. Now why did he do it in that?
Narrator 1:Because he was mad. Well, you're early favorite for the Calder trophy. That's for sure. Elias Patterson. You might even say you're early favorite for the hard trophy.
Narrator 3:Just to get back to your question, Elias is gonna play plenty. He didn't play. He's gonna get a lot of power play time, and, yeah, I'm concerned about our offense. We lost 200 players, and we've gotta find a way to score.
Chris:We didn't talk about it in Rewind, but Vancouver Canucks, they hit the they hit the market. They they made a splash and they traded for a Reichel.
Anna:Yeah. I texted my roommate when it happened. I said there's another German coming to town because he is German and he's a big Mueller fan. So
Chris:Did he know who Lucas Reichel is?
Anna:No. He doesn't know who Leon Draisaitl is. So
Chris:Okay. That's what I'm talking Yeah. Okay. Before we get to the Rykel acquisition, which is Canucks centric, we're gonna go off the rails and talk about how when the Oilers came to town last, Mueller was at that game and he and Dry Settle exchanged jerseys. The number of Canucks fans that lost their mind that Thomas Muller was supporting the Edmonton Oilers, and therefore the Whitecaps are a horrible team, it it it defines why so many Canucks fans can be called troglodytes because they're they're German superstars in their own right.
Anna:Yeah. I I did say that, but that's a joke. I was like, that's shady. But I'm pretty sure he also wore a Canucks jersey, didn't he did he not?
Chris:Yes. Yes.
Anna:So yeah. Whatever. Like, it's really fun when, like, there is that cross sport participation, but, like, of course, you gotta bring Dreiseitel and Mueller together.
Chris:Oh, no. No. And I like, when I saw it, I'm like, makes sense. Not even a doubt in my mind that Mueller and Dreiseitel would meet exchange jerseys. Because again, like, who when you say, you know, German superstar Yeah.
Chris:Hockey player
Anna:Can we say much
Chris:different levels.
Anna:Much worse postgame photo ops have occurred.
Chris:Yes. Very Yeah. We we haven't referred to the fact that the Vancouver Canucks have not won a game since one of those, but Yeah. Yeah. No.
Chris:I'm
Anna:Yeah. Yes. Retracting my statement last week where I said about the Canucks is the only Canucks dumb enough to do that.
Chris:No. Because he's dumb. And he's
Anna:There are other dumb people.
Chris:Yeah. Or dumb enough to be caught in a photo showing that they're taking a photo with. Yeah. Because I think team
Anna:like k. Backgrounds.
Chris:Hockey are not the smartest bunch. Are some smart hockey players but it's well accepted that there's a lot who are not.
Anna:Yeah. And there's lots of people that would be saying keep politics out of sport, you know, when pride games come What's political?
Chris:They they play the
Narrator 3:darn anthems at the start of the game.
Anna:I'd represent. It's just like, they have a land acknowledgment followed by national anthems. That isn't political. Like, come on.
Chris:Well, see, the the response that people will give you to that, oh, they don't do the land acknowledgment because it's political. The anthem is political.
Anna:Yeah. It's a political choice. Like, yeah. It's crazy to me. Like, it's still crazy to me that anthems get played.
Anna:It's weird.
Chris:Ugh. Anyhow, we'll be we we this is
Narrator 3:not half full half empty. It's supposed
Chris:to be about.
Anna:I'm sorry.
Chris:Supposed to be about Lucas Rykiel
Anna:Oh, yes.
Chris:Being acquired from Chicago, for a fourth round pick, which when it comes to picks, fourth round picks are the ones you're not too concerned about. Even if the team as as they are, you know, I I I've got no qualms with it. You know, Rykel comes to Vancouver having not quite met expectations in Chicago. The kids got some speed, as I can't remember who it was that said it on I think it was was it Blue Sky or Twitter? How fast Rykiel was going this weekend?
Chris:And then someone responded, yeah. And that was just him trying to get out of Chicago.
Anna:Yeah. So
Chris:and it's good to have players who have already played with future Vancouver, cannot Connor Bedard.
Anna:Yeah. He'll be used to playing with him. Yeah. Like, I think it's a low risk acquisition rate. Like, it's yeah.
Anna:It's not smart to get your hopes up given he couldn't yeah. Like, he wasn't getting into a weak Chicago team, but, like, maybe a new environment will change. Do think
Chris:that's kind
Anna:belief in him as a center, which he wasn't really doing in Chicago.
Chris:Can't have too many centers in Vancouver.
Anna:Yeah. Well, I mean, when they're dropping like flies yeah. But he's not gonna face off, so we still yeah. Is it too late to have Manny Malhotra just join the team for a little bit?
Chris:I I know you can't bring Manny up. He's your head coach in Abbotsford, but the guy knows face offs.
Anna:He literally he's taught that like before he was Canucks coach. Came in as a consultant to teach people how to take face offs.
Chris:And there's and, you know, I was actually watching a conversation where someone had suggested this, and they're like, why? Like, there's a reason why he's in the a, he's not good enough to be the NHL coach. Well, first of all, wrong. Second of all, there is a reason why Aturatu is doing as well as he is on the dot because the guy's being taught by the master. Yeah.
Chris:And, you know, like, there's a whole lot of things that you could go and, you know, throw at, you know, Manny Meltzer as a coach. I mean, maybe, I don't know. But face offs and being able to teach that is not one of them. And again, I'm not suggesting he comes up here and leaves his job, becomes the, you know, coach for face offs. None of that.
Chris:I prefer him to be the replacement for Foot when Foot and his group is shown the door. Yeah. But I also want the team to be rebuilt and
Anna:Yeah. There's lots of things we want.
Chris:Mhmm. Oh. Yeah. But does does Reikle, you know, solve the power play problems?
Anna:That's a hard phrase to say, fast.
Chris:Does he kill penalties?
Anna:We'll see.
Chris:I mean, questions here.
Anna:I don't think he's the key to connect special teams problems. Like, that's not gonna magically solve things. Well But yeah.
Chris:If there's one thing that
Anna:It's a low risk.
Chris:Yeah. If there's one thing that I've harped about over the last couple of seasons when it comes to the power play, is the Vancouver Canucks are slow. When they are successful, they're fast. You just watch them move the puck around. Now, it's like everything is around the perimeter, PD, Quinn, Quinn, PD and teams have figured out that, okay, we just have to let them play pass because that's that's who's playing pass.
Chris:They don't have anyone on the bumper that is a true threat. They could have Brock there.
Anna:They could.
Chris:But no, it's not apparently how you score goals.
Anna:Just to be clear, Bricel has seven power play points in his career, so
Chris:Yeah. Well, I mean
Anna:I don't think he's the key to unlocking that.
Chris:Well, I'm not suggesting he comes in on the the first unit. And he'll be looking against the unit time.
Anna:Yeah. And beggars can't be choosers at this point. We don't have any like, our team is falling apart with injuries.
Chris:Yeah. I mean, Lekka Amaki is out. Canucks no longer get goals from him on the second unit power play should the second unit ever get an opportunity to get on the ice. Hoaglander, obviously, not being available so far this season due to injury. Equally problematic because I think he would have found himself slotted in, not necessarily onto the first unit, but I believe he would have been the guy who's on your second unit that you then maybe move into the first to try to shake things up a little bit.
Chris:And Philip, it'll be note.
Anna:Doesn't help.
Chris:Like, Does how about not help.
Anna:As a good hound for the pot, you know, like, if you lose the pot or not power play, he will get it back for you. So I think he's good in a small amount of time. So I think he would have done well with the second unit, but again Anyhoo. Here we go.
Chris:I just looked at the score. Still zero zero, so I mean, things can happen. Edmonton's out shooting Vancouver, and that's likely due to the fact that Connor Garland, Notorious Goon, roughed up Andrew Manjiappani.
Anna:Oh, yeah.
Chris:Oh, man. Anything else you wanna talk about Vancouver Canucks wise before we call it a night so we can go watch the game?
Anna:Well, maybe let's just do a very quick minute to f word. If anyone seen the news out of Washington, Mitch Love has been suspended for the season due to investigations into domestic violence.
Chris:So Oh, joy.
Anna:Pretty sure perhaps dodged a bullet with that one.
Chris:Mhmm.
Anna:Yeah. So once again, another triumph for hockey culture. But at least there were consequences to his actions for now. Not
Chris:related to Mitch, but the NBA is currently dealing with some fallout related to gambling.
Anna:Yes.
Chris:And I genuinely wonder how long that will take before the NHL is dealing with something similar. This is not like, and I are not fans of the proliferation and integration of, you know, sports gambling within the Yeah. Context of the NHL. But the NHL has had past experiences with players, coaches. I
Anna:mean, Pinto, talk it.
Chris:Being yeah. Being involved in in in sports gambling and to see the NBA in a situation that they're experiencing Mhmm. You know, hit the fan, one must consider the NHL with their loosey goosey approach would be equally ripe for such problems to exist. We're not saying they do. I mean, we we have no proof, but
Anna:But yeah.
Chris:It's not hard
Anna:to It's everywhere. Literally everywhere in sports broadcasting, in every single major sport, certainly true in The UK as well. And it's becoming a problem, and I don't see like, we talked about this before. Hockey players aren't always smart. Like, being around a lot of money doesn't mean you're not susceptible.
Anna:You're more susceptible to, like, these sort of things. But yeah. I can recommend I probably talked about this before, but the book might bite might bite, which is a memoir from a gambling addict in The UK, but kind of shows how kind of aggressive the industry is. I can't think of a better word, but like really will go after you if you are a problem gagbler. And yeah.
Anna:I wouldn't believe all the stories about safeguards and stuff.
Chris:One final, and this was actually something I had meant to bring up earlier, Whitecaps SC related, but surprisingly, Canucks related. The Vancouver Whitecaps SC have started their playoff campaign. And you saw other professional franchises around the market and semi professional franchises around the market say, hey, you know, we're behind you, Vancouver. This is sort of a thing that happens, you know, they sort of sports teams support each other. See, the Vancouver Rise, BC Lions, the Vancouver Bandits basketball team, which is a thing.
Chris:Who else? There was two others and I the Danes sort of family right now. Do you think the Vancouver Canucks said good luck Whitecaps?
Anna:Mhmm. They didn't, like that's beneath them probably Exactly.
Chris:In their opinion. In their opinion. Was gonna say like, the funny thing is is when the Vancouver Canucks were off of market, they knew it and they didn't have to, that's when they would always have been supportive of everyone around. Because in their mind and their that's their, you know, social team, it's generating good PR. I think the kids call it, they're generating aura.
Anna:Yeah. I mean, to me, in a week where you've had all those losses plus two players photographed with Mhmm. A, like, pretty problematic political person, I would be going out my way to either distance myself from that photo or distract with fun nice thing of saying good luck whitecaps, but
Chris:Oh, yeah. I mean, there's
Anna:That's just me.
Chris:And I and that's this is the this is the thing is that, you know, the Canucks, as you had pointed out, feel that that's below them. They they still think, and this is sort of organizationally, they think that they are the only team in the market.
Anna:Yeah. The only share
Chris:in town. Going back to what just occurred this weekend with the Habs in town. A team that has its own fan base that's gonna acquire seats to have face value still available at puck drop should be sending alarms up Yeah. Into the sales team and the executive team, and I don't think it is.
Anna:The price of tickets, the price of merchandise, the price of concessions, Like, is Canucks acting like they're not only the only show in town, but they're a great great effing show, which is not really the case.
Chris:No. And I, you know, I I would tell you, if you were to ask me, you know, what's the best, you know, sports ticket, I'd tell you White Caps Sassy, there's some bias there. But I could also describe to you everything that the BC Lions are doing to in not only ingratiate themselves with the market, but look for ways to ensure that what they're providing is good value. I could tell you everything that the Vancouver Canadians continue to do to say, hey, we're some pretty darn good value at Vancouver Rides. Like, these are all teams that know they need to.
Chris:Right. But they're also very supportive of each other and their efforts. They collaborate and it's hard to suggest that the Vancouver Canucks are doing that and it's only a matter of time until the Vancouver Canucks are in a position where holy smokes. And the scary part for me is that the Vancouver Canucks, like the whole cellular team, if the Aqualini sell, I don't know if there's an owner in the market that'd be willing to pony up the money that the Aqualinis will want.
Anna:Yeah. Yeah.
Chris:That's a bigger problem. It's a whole lot of other
Anna:Oh my god. We could talk about this Yeah. Right. I just yeah. So I know on that just I was at dinner last night and explained to people that the Bosas are a family, not just a grocery store or a construction company.
Anna:And I was like, yeah. Vancouver, at least on the property side, is run by, like, five Italian families.
Chris:Yeah. The Bosas, the Gallardis, the Aqualini, I mean, the Beatty's to some extent. Something like
Anna:that. And then yeah. They're all fighting with each other. The Bosas are fighting with each other. The Aqualini's are fighting with each other.
Anna:It is very soap opera.
Chris:So here we are, end of an episode. We'll be back again next week. We are on our weekly sked. It's the regular season. We get to celebrate the fact that the Vancouver Canucks continue to disappoint us week over week.
Chris:Anna, what final words of wisdom do you have for us this week?
Anna:I had one and now I've completely forgotten it. So I would say, know, bring a rain jacket.
Chris:That's good advice. I have a joke that was told to me, by one of the girls I coach, today.
Anna:I would love to hear it.
Chris:Why did the old man fall into the well?
Anna:He don't know.
Chris:Because he doesn't see well. And I'm sitting here and I'm like, that's some top tier dad joke material right there.
Anna:Yeah. Starting early.
Chris:Mhmm. Like that I mean, that eight year old dropping some some foundational stand up and I I'm all for it. I I I would I approve of that type of humor from the bench with my daughter's soccer team.
Anna:Offer us related joke. What's a mansplainer's favorite water feature?
Chris:Well, actually.
Anna:Yeah. Though the fact that you actually guessed the punch line was very mansplainer for you.
Chris:Well, actually, it was. Yeah. No. I mean, in fairness, the setup of that joke into this the one previous Yeah. Yeah.
Chris:It gave me the answer, and then I was conflicted. Do I just say what? Knowing that I think I know the answer to, or do I say it? And I chose violence.
Anna:Yeah. Sometimes silence is okay.
Chris:Yeah. I have not learned that lesson, may never. So if you reach this point of the show and you're like, hey, I wanna listen to more because y'all are just top notch superstars. Well, in the SmileSphere, we certainly are. But you can go to c4podcast.com and that's gonna go and show you our entire back catalog ish.
Chris:There are some lost episodes that we lost in the transition, but, you know, that's water under the bridge. You
Narrator 3:can find us on all
Chris:the social media platforms. We're at the c four podcast on x, the real c four podcast on threads. We are c4podcast.com on blue sky because consistency sure ain't our thing. You can find Anna and I in all the different places too, though we're much more consistent. I'm LightForce.
Chris:She's a 4603. If you wish to support us, and we love those that do, couple different ways to go about it. One, you know, tell people about us. Promote our episodes. Converse in c four Discord, discord.a0/c4podcast if you're not a member of Gate sixteen yet.
Chris:But if you wanna throw a few bucks our way, we'd be very appreciative. To throw a few bucks our way, either on a regular recurring basis or as a one off, you just need to go to c4podcast.com, click the buy us a pint link or support the show link. Otherwise, you can go to buymeacoffee.com/c4podcast. Buy me a coffee, otherwise known as
Anna:Buy me a pint.
Chris:And, yeah, you can support us as a one off as much as you, you know, feel it was worthwhile or alternatively support us on a monthly basis at $5 a month or for an entire year at 50. And those who do support us will eventually get new episodes of C four Off the Rails. There are a bunch sort of in a can. I just gotta produce them. Work has been crazy.
Chris:Life has been crazy. So I've yet to find the time to produce. At some point, I will. And then the entire back catalog of those episodes and there's some pretty good ones. You get to learn all sorts of stuff.
Chris:And watch me ask questions of Anna that not only put her on the spot, but cause her worry for a period of time.
Anna:Yes. That's one way to put it.
Chris:So on behalf of Anna, e four zero three, myself, Chris at LightForce and our robot Craig, we out.
Creators and Guests
