Black Ice Vancouver

“Out first priority was staying alive, our second was stopping the puck” –Glenn Hall

I hit black ice the other day. Scared the hell out of me. Thought I was gonna die. First you don’t know what is happening. Your car drifts left, then right. Life flashes before your eyes. Light at the end of the tunnel. The bammo, my thread caught pavement again and I was fine. It put everything into perspective for me as I drove to work that morning. Metaphysics, the meaning of life, you name it. Perspective abound!

Then there are those crazy Canucks. One minute there are on top of the NHL standings. The next they are dawdling in mediocracy. Losing four straight (three of the four in the shootout). So they moved forward with loser points, but they were drifting, much like my experience hitting black ice.

This past week in Canucks land has seen a lot of sober reflection of this team. Will they have the secondary scoring in the playoffs? Are they a one line team? When is the injury bug going to hit? All of these questions hit solid ground last night during the Canucks drubbing of the Dallas Stars.

They didn’t just play better. They were better. And that is what great teams do. They look good winning. They hit. They fought. They scored. It was the best game of the year by far. It reminded me that there are no weak links on this team. Just weak execution. It put all the prognosticator from the begininning of the year back on track.

And what happens when they lose another game?

Well it will put the naysayers and bandwagoneers back on track too. What can I say in the age of parity?

–Joseph F. Delamar