Skol Thoughts...

By Marty Sheetz 

In hindsight, its 2020. Why wouldn't the wheels fall off why wouldn't the game go exactly like it did? The 1st half the Vikings were exactly the team they want to be. 

They held a 4-0 team to 0 points and a Pro Bowl quarterback to just 40 yards. Dalvin and the offense imposed its will on the Seahawks D and although we all wish the lead could have been larger the half was all Vikings.

 A 13 point halftime lead is far from insurmountable, however. The Seahawks quickly turned that(and us) over(twice) and the lead was theirs. Most NFL games have momentum shifts but that was a huge one. 21 points in under seven minutes can take the wind out of any teams sails.

 Without Dalvin, the Vikings still fought back into the game using a closer mix of run and pass. They even managed to get Mattison over the 100 yard mark. Unfortunately late in the forth he would come up just a half yard short of a 1st down that would have sealed the game.

 This play has a ton to unpack. Everything from if Cook was in would he have made it, to why didn't Mattison go to the giant hole to the right, to why not kick the field goal making it a eight point game. At worst that would have made necessary a long grueling drive to at best force overtime.

 One thing I have yet to see be brought up is why would Zimmer against the Seahawks not be a little weary of kicking a short field goal? Surely a situation such as this has never hurt the Vikings/us fans before? It's a very difficult loss. Another in a long line of both primetime and Seahawks based woes, respectability. However the season is not loss and the uphill battle begins anew next week.

What Grade Would You give Jim Benning Yesterday?

The Vancouver Canucks made a big splash when they were able to sign goaltender Braeden Holtby with a two-year deal worth $8.6M which works out to be a 4.3 million dollar cap hit. This is a very good move for Vancouver as they are able to save 1.7 million as free agent goaltender, Jacob Markstrom, signed with Calgary for 6 years at $6M each year.

Going forward, the Vancouver Canucks are in a bit of a conundrum. They still hold on to Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes, two very friendly entry level contracts, but that will end next year as they are both due for a big payday. Which leads me to believe the next year will be a rebuilding year for Vancouver as their defense pairings are quite thin as of now. If our young prospects can perform well, the Canucks still might be able to sneak into the playoffs however the approach seems to be building for the future instead of going "all-in" to win the cup. This in my mind is the right thing to do as mortgaging the farm for a one-year cap-run is not a good recipe for success.

Things are at a crossroads and that's ok. What partially ruined our era from 2001 to 2015 was astronomically high Stanley Cup expectations that made our regular seasons somewhat meaningless. This isn't always the best approach as it should always be an accomplishment to make the playoffs.

The positives from yesterday:

We still have our 2021 1st which is huge incase Demko isn't ready for a starting goaltender role and more importantly we still hold a pretty healthy prospect pool despite none of them being a super star caliber.

We need to look at the positives during a pandemic when there are still no fans so why worry about a unorthodox season anyway??? Why can't people understand that????

I give Jim Benning a A- yesterday considering where we are in the process. Let things play out and lets see where we are next spring.

Does it Matter What the Canucks do This offseason?

 The Canucks come into the shortened 2020 offseason with plenty of unusual decisions that face GM Jim Benning. Things look awfully different from when the Canucks took the ice for a season opener 364 days ago. The team proved to be a winner despite fans not having that one great moment that we can look back on and be happy with. I feel bad for all the season ticket holders that were anticipating playoff hockey for the first time since 2015. 

Honestly, I don't care what the Canucks do roster wise until we can have sell outs at Rogers Arena. Life is too short for us to worry about how long until the Canucks win the Stanley Cup. 

Right now, I am so tired of hearing about Boeser trade proposals that it is tempting to laugh at every one of them. I want to see where the chips fall and see what happens when the dust is settled. 

In past years, there has been a flurry of activity on July 1st to kick off the free agent period. I'm not sure that is going to be the same this year but we will have to wait and see. Vancouver is up against the Cap a bit but I will still be interested to see how creative Vancouver gets. 

My goal right now is to deliver a  quality blog post as much as I can. Things are going good for myself, I'm pain free right now and that is taken for granted sometimes. 

What was your Favorite Duck Moment?

 Was it ever hard to do something or admit to your parents that you believed in something different? I remember watching the 2006 Oregon vs Oklahoma game and the vibe I was getting from Autzen Stadium was that it was a pretty awesome place. 

Oregon went on to win that game 34-33 and I felt good for them. I guess I was born a Duck fan that day but I was scared to admit it. I grew up a Washington fan I think I knew where my heart was. 

It took me nine years to admit I was a Duck fan and I was instantly loved on the facebook groups. One day I want to get to Eugene and meet my favorite family. Find a church and give back to the community that accepted me with open arms. 

I thank you guys from the bottom of my heart for loving me like one of your on. This university is special to me. 

My favorite Ducks moment was in 2017 when we opened the scoring against Nebraska on FOX. That was the moment I knew that Oregon was on their way back. We are so close to a Natty I can feel it!!!! And than Covid hit. 

We will get there soon but the wait is terribly frustrating. This was the perfect opportunity for us with Ohio State and Washington at home this year. 

What I love so much about our school is that we always show our school spirit off with wearing our green, yellow and black and our fans always seem happy. 

Thanks for adopting me! 

Why Don't People Do More of This?

 Over the last number of years, I’ve developed a dream and a desire to change the world. When you live alone with no kids or girlfriend to spoil, it is a lot easier to live within the means of what I can afford.

I’ll preface this by saying, I’m not trying to sugarcoat my life in any way because who and where I am in my life now is sadly because I came from a good family. I want to be appreciative of that, but I also think about what an accomplishment it would be if I was given no guidance and managed to become a successful person.

That is what I want VM Help to be about. I want to create an organization that helps people with disadvantages and barriers to get where they want to be.

We live in a world where people that that have challenges not only face challenges in finding work but also in every day life. We need a system in play that can help anyone with anything they are trying to achieve.

I graduated high school in British Columbia, Canada in 2011. From ’12-’15, I was in University. Then from ’15-’17, I spent large parts of the time unemployed. When you’re unemployed you have to make sacrifices and view it as an opportunity to reflect on where you want to live.

People say things like “don’t move when your unemployed”, but for me at the time, moving away to a new city would have brought a new perspective leading to one of two things that could have happened:

1.   I might have found things really hard and might have came back within a year.

2.   I would have grown as a person overcoming obstacles and would have gained boatloads of self esteem.

What happened?

Well I stayed in the Vancouver area, eventually got more hours at work and kept on taking my parents advice until I started to try and branch out. That’s when I landed by fluke in Maple Ridge!

My point is, I don’t think there should be a rule book on how to live your life. We just need to be as loving and as caring as possible.

From a financial point of view, if you have $45,000 and are unemployed, moving away is not as risky. Maybe you move away and set up your life again and you spend maybe $7,000 to do so. As long as the fresh start is what you needed, whatever amount you spent will slingshot you much further.

Money is temporary but our happiness will be what drives to leave a lasting legacy in this world. Not every path works for everyone.

Find your path and don’t let people judge you.

Gregory von Matt

Where Does Vancouver Sit in the Sports City Standings?

 I've had a couple of week to ponder about the Vancouver Canucks emotional exit from the unusual 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs. I thought it was going to be an easy pill to swallow from a very positive season but it has been very challenging. 

I'm definitely still in pain right now. Part of it is Covid, but part of it is a huge whole in my chest that doesn't go away until the Vancouver Canucks play again. 

It wouldn't be like this if Vancouver had a NFL team or MLB team. Their seasons would be just beginning and still be going on respectively. 

Thinking of what it would be like to have all four major league teams is interesting but in reality it will likely never happen. 

I have tried to put together a mathematical equation that compares sport success with their respective city. This is how the math works:

Expansion Franchise Awarded: 20 points 

Division Championship: 15 points 

Playoff series win: 25 points  

playoff appearance : 10 points 

Conference Championship: 50 points  

League Championship: 100 points 

Team relocates: -40 points 

Picking first overall: 5 points   

I want to do the math for every team and city but it might take me awhile. My hypothesis is that Vancouver Canucks are in the middle of the pack in if you compare the teams by themselves and Vancouver if I compare it to other cities would be average as well. 

To get comparable numbers, if you have four pro teams in your city you have to divide by four to get a accurate number. With two teams divide by two and with three you would divide by three. 

There are 58 cities or boroughs that own a sports franchise in the four professional sports. I will update you when I finish the math. 

It's just ONE Game

It wasn't the best outing for the Canucks last night as they couldn't muster up the chances when it mattered the most and the end result was Vancouver dropping Game 1 of a playoff series for the fourth series in a row dating back to 2012. 

This series will be very hard to point any fingers because of the situation that we are in but I would love to see us win at least one game. We are on the right track regardless and it will be refreshing to never hear the rebuild word with the Canucks until 2032 at the earliest. 

Just remember, Crosby lost his first playoff series in 2007. We need to learn from our mistakes and then we will be fine. Honestly, I wouldn't lose sleep with this team until we are selling out Rogers Arena again. Last night was a time to be thankful that we were able to resume the NHL season. 

Secondly, one game is too small of a sample size to make any knee jerking reactions to how the team needs to play better. The only thing I will say is that if we draw a few more penalties, I think it will be easier to shift the momentum.  At 2-0 last night it felt like 4-0. 

The other thing to remember is we lose our first round pick if we lose this series and I think we need that 1st this year considering we gave away our 2nd in the Toffoli trade. 

The scary part about the series is I think the first goal of the game might win every game this series. It will be much easier to make opinions about this series if we lose a game after scoring first. It will be very interesting to see how Minnesota responds after they go behind. 

Lastly, Markus Naslund is one of the best Canucks of all time and didn't win a playoff series for Vancouver untl he was 30 and didn't play in a playoff series until he was 29. (He was hurt in the 2001 playoffs). Bo Horvat is 25. 3-5 years ahead of Naslund. 

When you compare the two, Naslund has a bit better numbers but it isn't by much. 

2014–15	Vancouver Canucks	NHL	68	13	12	25	16	6	1	3	4	2
2015–16	Vancouver Canucks	NHL	82	16	24	40	18	—	—	—	—	—
2016–17	Vancouver Canucks	NHL	81	20	32	52	27	—	—	—	—	—
2017–18	Vancouver Canucks	NHL	64	22	22	44	10	—	—	—	—	—
2018–19	Vancouver Canucks	NHL	82	27	34	61	33	—	—	—	—	—
2019–20	Vancouver Canucks	NHL	69	22	31	53	21

1995-96	Vancouver Canucks	NHL	10	3	0	3	6	1	2	3	8
1996–97	Vancouver Canucks	NHL	78	21	20	41	30	—	—	—	—	—
1997–98	Vancouver Canucks	NHL	76	14	20	34	56	—	—	—	—	—
1998–99	Vancouver Canucks	NHL	80	36	30	66	74	—	—	—	—	—
1999–00	Vancouver Canucks	NHL	82	27	38	65	64	—	—	—	—	—
2000–01	Vancouver Canucks	NHL	72	41	34	75	58