Well, it’s been an interesting week or so in Canuck-land. Caught the Hurricanes game recently, and in typical fashion, like the Tampa Bay Lightning before them, it just doesn’t seem like the same team that won the Cup last June.

That said, it was more enjoyable for me to watch a team I’d never seen play live before, as one can only take so much of the Wild or Coyotes again and again (no offence to fans of said teams).

The homers appear to have a little sumpin’, sumpin’ goin’ on lately… actually turning the red light on with more frequency. Where are we, Amsterdam? It appears that B-Mo (numero 7) has woken up from an extended nap, and some of the others are playing with some real zip. It has been a challenge, us getting ripped off by ref’s and goals called back a lot this year.

Now we just want our captain, Mr. 19, leader of the pack, to find his groove. I said to the Timster that the bobblehead near the TV is getting dusty (you see, I give it a good bobble every time Nazzy scores, if I am around). But any inference that I am a bad housekeeper is pure conjecture…

For those fans in Canada that can watch Hockey Night in Canada it was refreshing to see Kelly Hrudey had our trainer and our equipment manager on as guests this Saturday, rather than a player or twin set. We got a teeny bit of insight into what goes on behind the scenes. No “dirt” though – darn it!

A surprise (was it really) phone call from former coach and G.M. Pat Quinn was sweet. They really liked him during his reign. They didn’t seem too high on Keenan and the lack of mention of the tyrannical “infant terrible” Crawford, a very long-term coach, was noticeable in its absence. I can’t imagine either of these guys uttering a bad word, but their faces would have told it all. My fave part was when Scott Oake made a crack about Mike Burnstein’s early 80s picture with the mullet hairdo. Glass houses, Scott – get thee to a barber, pronto!

If you’ve been living under a rock, or perhaps got locked in an ice rink that’s set for demolition, then you may not know about the Vote for Rory campaign that is (fruitlessly, I’m afraid) trying to get this poor dude voted into the NHL All Star Game, which is taking place in Dallas, TX on Jan. 24. Rory Fitzpatrick (age 31) has just returned to action with the Canucks and is doing okay in his limited role as sixth defender. But with his career totals of nine goals and 18 assists in over nine seasons, it isn’t likely that he’d even get an unsung hero award under any normal circumstances. (We don’t even really know him, like, at all, here in Van).

I’m all for the “Vote for Pedro” idealism of this vote-stacking method of drawing attention to the so-called unfairness of the All-Star process, but let’s face it, the fact he’s up against Nik Lidstrom (Red Wings) and Scott Neidermeyer / Chris Pronger of Anaheim, all very popular guys and outstanding players to boot, poor Rory is not going to stand a chance. And Pedro in the movie Napoleon Dynamite – at least he could bake and decorate a fantastic cake for the girl of his dreams. Can Rory bake a cake to die for? I don’t know, but I’ll bet he can get you into the VIP line at the Roxy nightclub.

Okay, we’ve got some exciting things coming up early in the new year. I will be reporting in from my “tedious” duties of tending to tan lines while attending a sports bar or two in Waikiki with Timster. I’ll let you know how the fan base is over there as we sip our pina coladas. I know, it’s rough – but hey, I had to pay for this trip all on my own!

As well, in mid-January’s column I will talk a little about a certain thing called envy… and how we’re green about a certain team that quacks like a duck and is good on the puck! How do they do it?

‘Til then… score, score baby.