Vancouver Canucks

The trade deadline is creeping up on us and, as always, rumors are a plenty. 

The Vancouver Canucks are once again looking like a dangerous Stanley Cup threat. They have, however, been criticized for lacking grit; something that they'll be looking to disprove in the coming weeks.  

After two hard-fought games against the Western Conference's elite—the Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings—it is clear that there is little separating the top teams in the NHL's West.  

This year’s version of the Vancouver Canucks again looks poised to make the long run to the Stanley Cup Finals.  And when one looks at how similar the 2011-12 version of the Canucks is to last year’s team that lost in Game 7 of the Finals to the Boston Bruins, it only makes sense that the Canucks are considered favourites in the NHL’s Western Conference.

The NHL All-Star break is upon us. It is another checkpoint in the season that is ideal to gaze into our collective crystal balls and predict how the season will turn out.

This is particularly challenging in the Western Conference, where the top six teams are within two games of one another. Adding to the difficulty, four of those teams are in the Central Division.

Translation: A single point could separate someone from a division title and a sixth seed.

Last year, the Vancouver Canucks were one win away from their first Stanley Cup. The Boston Bruins, however, would not allow it and won Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals handily by a score of 4-0.

The Canucks were great up until they had finished their two-game home stand that started the series. After taking a 2-0 series lead, it was time to go to Boston.

Last year, Daniel Sedin won the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer for the 2010-2011 season.

In the 2009-2010 season, his elder (by six minutes) twin brother Henrik won the Art Ross.

The back-to-back Art Ross trophies by teammates marked the first time this has happened in almost 20 years.

The NHL is a joke. 

At least when it comes to the NHL head office, conflicts of interest and disciplinary matters. 

In Saturday's game between the Vancouver Canucks and Boston Bruins, Milan Lucic was assessed a game misconduct for leaving the bench to join a brawl. 

Rarely do highly anticipated NHL regular season games exceed the hype, but on Saturday the Vancouver Canucks and Boston Bruins waged war in a classic regular season battle.

The Vancouver Canucks marched into Boston to play the Bruins for the first time since Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals, and came out with the two points in a 4-3 victory. 

But it was a costly victory, as two Canucks did not complete the game due to injury. 

The Vancouver Canucks and Boston Bruins reprised their epic seven-game series from last spring.

Only two points were on the line, not the Stanley Cup, but you could tell the bad blood still carried over to this 4-3 Vancouver victory.