I had this wild and crazy thought and I am not even a diehard Canucks fan. Please pinch me as I think out loud: Is it realistic to think hockey fans in BC could celebrate an Olympic Men's Hockey gold by Canada in late February and just over three months later complete a dream-filled doubleheader as the Canucks hoist the Stanley Cup ?

Just imagine the euphoria if Vancouver and British Columbia celebrated two hockey championships in one year. All right, I will calm down. After all, I am not convinced my mind is working properly.

 

First, gold is an expectation at the Olympics. The Canadian men boast the deepest roster, home ice advantage and the most pressure (which is not necessarily a bad thing). The odds are definitely in Canada’s favor. Furthermore, while gold is not a given, I believe most Canadians feel that it is almost a “right” for our country to take first place.

 

Therefore, an Olympic gold medal is a distinct possibly. How about the Canucks; can they actually win the Stanley Cup? Yes, some teams are ahead of Vancouver in points, but how many are “really” better than the Canucks?

Let us start with the Western Conference where the only two clubs that appear to be better are San Jose and Chicago, and both have “issues”. In the opening round of the playoffs, the Canucks would play a team such as Phoenix or a Nashville. Then they would need to defeat the Blackhawks and Sharks unless one or both were upset in earlier rounds. 

 

The Blackhawks may have more overall talent but their goaltending is considerably inferior and, oh yes, Chicago is just 1-2 against Vancouver this season. Robert Luongo vs Cristobal Huet! Do I need to say anymore? Certainly, the Sedins do not take a backseat to any of the Hawks fine young snipers. Chicago may have an edge on the blue line but the Canucks just beat Chicago 5-1 Saturday with Vancouver missing three regular defencemen.

 

Ok, so now this takes us to a hypothetical Vancouver-San Jose Western Final and the Sharks well-documented awful playoff record. The Sharks top line (Thornton, Heatley, and Marleau) can match or beat the Sedins & Burrows. San Jose's goalie (Evgeni Nabokov) may be considered in Luongo’s class, but as the rest of the team has not proven himself when the chips are down. San Jose may have better defencemen but as a group, Vancouver can hold its own, particularly ex-Shark Christian Ehrhoff. (By the way, I bet the Sharks wish they had him back or least did not ship him to Vancouver for the cost of popcorn and peanuts). Again beating the Sharks is a definite possibility, especially when one thinks of San Jose’s traditional lack of playoff intensity.

 

 

If the Canucks win the west, they face an Eastern team. Washington, Buffalo, New Jersey or Pittsburgh are contenders. The Capitals are similar to the Hawks in that they boast a great skating club but no proven front line goaltender. The Sabres and Devils both have superb goalies, however, offensively do not have a trio to match the Sedins line. The Penguins do have the goaltending, the firepower, and the experience but lack depth on defence. The worst match-up for Vancouver would be Pittsburgh, but what are the chances of the Penguins repeating to get to a Stanley Cup final for a third straight year? In today’s NHL, seldom does that happen.

 

 

The Canucks play their next 14 games on the road, eight before the Olympics and six after. If they can pick up 14 to 16 points over that stretch, which is reasonable, the team will be in great shape with 10 of its last 15 at home. Roberto Luongo should be well rested since as I suspect he will be Martin Brodeur’s back up at the 2010 Winter Games. Therefore, Vancouver should enter the playoffs firing on all cylinders. 

 

Several polls asked hockey fans in BC if they would rather see the Canadian men win gold at the Olympics or the Canucks win the Stanley Cup. I know my answer would be an Olympic gold, however, as strange as it may seem, perhaps “both” are possible.

 

In late January, with the NHL regular season barely half completed, it is easy to play the game of “what ifs" because often it leads to disappointment. Oh, what the heck; Canuck fans are used to the game. Nevertheless, this year’s tease may be the biggest one yet.

 

According to a Halifax newspaper, a Canadian couple are such Toronto hockey fanatics that they decided to wear Maple Leafs jerseys during their wedding on January 30. Apparently they wanted to wait until the Leafs were formally eliminated from the playoffs. 

No NHL team with at least seven players chosen to various Olympic teams has ever won the Stanley Cup. The Sharks have eight players going to Vancouver this year. Well, I guess that streak is safe. 

Contributor Janice Hough of Palo Alto, California (www.leftcoastsportsbabe.com)

Conan O'Brien, prior to his departure from NBC. 

 

The NBA champion LA Lakers visited Pres. Obama in the White House on Monday.
Obama was supposed to get a signed basketball, but Kobe Bryant refused to give it up.

Comedy writer Jerry Perishohttp://monologuewriter.blogspot.com/
 

 

GM says it no longer gives free loaner cars to Tiger Woods. However, based on his recent driving record they did offer him a job as a crash test dummy.
Comedy writer Jim Barach of WCHS-TV in Charleston, W.Va (http://jokesbyjim.blogspot.com/)

  

 

 

This week, Kobe Bryant entered the 25K club. Is that 25 karats?
Contributor Bill Littlejohn of South Lake Tahoe, California

People are upset that (former St Louis Blue) Mike Danton, a convicted criminal, is allowed to attend St. Mary’s University. A spokesman for the University says they have to allow criminals into the school or they would not fill all the spaces available for new Lawyers.
Contributor Derek Wilken of Calgary (http://smacksport.blogspot.com/)