Canucks Exorcise Devils #TSNtitle

(Actual photo of Scott Stevens)

November can mean a lot of things to different people. To Chicago Cubs fans, it means the World Series is over, and they can pretend that next year is finally their year, last year was just a minor inconvienance. To Dallas Cowboys fans, it is just another cruel month of having to watch a coach who has gone 'full retard' on them with no end in sight. To Saskatchewan, it means they don't have much time left to enjoy the one pro sports team they actually have in their province. After the CFL season ends, Saskie's will have to go back to raising their sisters brother's child, who happens to be their uncle (This makes for a surprisingly small family reunion).

But to Roberto Luongo, November means "Go Time", and last night, the first game in November, Luongo once again confused us all by proving that he is a completely different player from October Luongo to November Luongo.

True, New Jersey isn't the best team right now. As highlighted yesterday, they currently have a defensive corps that is ravaged beyond belief, they are missing Zach Parise, they have an aging Brodeur in net, and they have 'The Savior" Ilya Kovalchuk leading the charge, he of the one game healthy scratch and 6 points.

So yes, a shutout against the Devil's isn't the most amazing thing in the world, but getting a shutout in the NHL is always a hard task (Unless it was like that 14 save shutout from last week), and Luongo has the 2nd most shutouts of any active goalie right now, having surpassed Cujo with last nights shutout (Brodeur is of course first). And as we see every year, Luongo seems to make November his bitch, as he usually has a great November and records shutouts left and right. So basically sit back, relax, and enjoy the month, as Luongo will probably be putting on a show for us. Once December hits we can wait for the gong show to start again.

With that being said, last nights game was everything I had hoped it would be. Hitting, scoring, fights, exciting hockey.....none of this was present. The Canucks with 5 days rest facing the Devils on the end of a road trip gave us the pile of crap game we saw last night. If you missed the game, then congratulate yourself, as you didn't miss anything. Here is the only recap you will need:

Luongo shutout. Henrik penalty shot.

That is it. That is the entire game. The only other amusing moment was when Jannik Hansen kicked Brodeur's stick out of his hand (by accident?) and Brodeur stared up at the ref, pleading with him to call something, only to see the ref spurn his advances, as Raffi Torres fired the puck home behind Brodeur.

I will now attempt to do the usual Good, Bad, and Ugly of last nights game. Yes, we all know what I am going to put down for ugly, aren't you so smart.

The Good:

-Henrik scored on a penalty shot with a nice move! Yay! Apparently the media was having bets in the press box of whether Henrik would even get a shot on net, which kind of tells you something about Henrik's shootout prowess. Regardless, at least he didn't leave the puck at center ice like a certain someone once did.

-November Luongo is here! Yay!

-Ballard was back in the lineup and he is a shot blocking monster. I am loving Ballard's play so far, and he is barely back in game shape yet, I expect big things from him

-Burrows is back next game! Yay!

The Bad:

-The Canucks looked slow and lethargic. Still can't seem to find their scoring groove.

-2nd line still looks 'meh'. They haven't clicked yet in any of the games really. Hopefully with Burrows back in the lineup next game we can shake up the roster when need be, and we don't always need to have Sammy on our top 6, as he is as inconsistent as the great Geoff Courtnall once was

-Bieksa has no points in 10 games. For an offensive d-man who is not known for his defence, this is troubling. His trade value certainly isn't rising.

The Ugly:

-The entire game. It was brutal to watch. All my jokes about the Devil's playing boring trapping hockey pretty much occured last night. Not that you can blame a team from playing a road game like that with 5 d-men out, but still, that knowledge it didn't make the game any easier to watch.

-Brodeur. I just wanted to take another shot at him. Where is your gold medal now, playboy?

-Desbiens. How the hell this guy has a job is beyond me. Slow as fuck, can't hit, won't fight, geezus. When you have a guy who makes Darcy Hordichuk look like an elite fourth liner in comparison, you know you have troubles. Yet somehow Tamby is being sent down, and Desbiens is staying in the lineup. I have no idea what kind of pictures Desbiens has of Vigneault (I assume the same ones Rypien has) but seriously, Desbiens has had ZERO positive impact in any game, and has had negative impact in a handful of them. He adds nothing of value to our team. Tanner Glass is barely a serviceable NHL player and he looks ten times better than Desbiens. Just because Desbiens had one good pre-season game against the Ducks and beat out an icing call doesn't mean he should be on the team all year!