Latest News and Commentary

It is proven: Orcas love eating Sharks

-written by Shane Koka and Omar Rawji

I’m slightly worried that PETA or some animal activists may fill my inbox with hate mail for the subheading above. But wait: it’s not as bad as it sounds!! They’re actually quite evenly matched.

See, at no point on Saturday were the Sharks or “Orcas” up by more than one. The battle was ended by Cody Hodgson’s late goal, which bounced in to give the home team a 4-3 victory, and a 3-0-1 season series record. OK, it is as bad as it sounds, PETA: Orcas love eating Sharks.

1. It’s spawning season for Coho

It wasn’t long ago (try 3 months) that Canuck Nation was wondering if the Cody Hodgson era would ever begin and justify his top ten selection.

Well we can put those concerns on the back burner now. Hodgson is awesome. Why?

1. He has one of the best nicknames in Vancouver sports history (not to mention he wears a fish — don’t bother me with your technicalities — on the front of his jersey)

2. With 2 huge goals against the Sharks, he has 9 points in his last 8 games.

3. He has 29 points on the season, 4th in the NHL rookie scoring race.

4. Consider that Henrik Sedin averaged 35 points in his first three seasons, while Daniel Sedin averaged 32 over that span.

Conclusion: Coho is awesome.

2. Depth charge

A few days ago, we at HTTN were lamenting the fact that the Canucks were 1-6-2 in games the Sedins have been held pointless.

Well, on Saturday they were held pointless… yet the Canucks were able to emerge with 2 points in hand! As some losers would say: “Kudos.” (I think it means good job or something, but it just makes me want to punch the person in the stomach)

How did they manage it? Mostly due to an excellent performance by the supporting cast: The American Express line (another great nickname) was outstanding, looking fast and dangerous throughout the game and accounting for 4 points between them.

And we already talked about Hodgson, though we at HTTN apparently never get tired of him.

You know who else deserves kudos? (I deserve a punch in the stomach for saying kudos again). The top line. After being invisible for nearly 2 weeks, they led the Canucks in shots with 8. (2nd line had 7, 3rd line had 6).

3. Luongo likes to be committed

Against the Sharks, Roberto Luongo made history by registering his 212th win and breaking Kirk McLean’s record. He was also the main reason the Canucks got a point in their game against the LA Kings.

However, he has a problem on shootouts and breakways: committing too early to the shooter. This happened in a big way on Logan Couture’s first goal. Couture faked one way, Luongo bit hard, Couture had an open net to shoot at.

Like OMG, check it out: