There was something for everybody in Tuesday night's 3-1 Canucks win over the Colorado Avalanche. For the zealots, who believe in this team no matter what, and continue to hold out hope for a playoff spot, there was a regulation victory -- the sort Vancouver will need more than fourteen of to make the postseason. The win ended Vancouver's losing streak at four games, and, if you're the optimistic sort, technically began a winning streak.
Meanwhile, for Team Tank, there were calamitous injuries.
(Quick sidenote: Team Tank has defined the terms here. It's no good. You're either Team Tank or Anti-Tank, and I don't like the negative connotations of being against anything. I move that the Anti-Tank side reframe the whole debate by calling ourselves "Pro-Dignity" instead. Team Tank doesn't have to accept "Anti-Dignity", of course. It'll just be implied as we continue to hammer this wedge issue. But I digress.)
Both Brandon Sutter and Alex Edler left Tuesday's game with injuries, and when they didn't return for the third period, you had to know it was bad news. After all, the Canucks are desperate right now; if Sutter and Edler, core players both, could have dragged themselves back out for 20 more minutes, they would have. But neither returned. Now we know why: both have been sent home to Vancouver with nasty fractures.
Alex Edler, who took a puck to the calf, has a fibula fracture. (For those who don't know what the fibula is, it's the bone in your leg that dertermins whether or not you can tell a lie. Fibula. So while he recovers, Alex Edler will be painfully honest. Good thing he isn't a defence lawyer!
Neither can he play hockey for the next 2-3 weeks.
The Canucks will likely turn to another Alex in the meantime. My guess is Biega, but honestly, I'm kind of hoping it's Mack. Her ability to liquefy could really help on zone entries. And her game is always razor-sharp, especially in regards to hats.
Then there's Brandon Sutter, who just returned to the lineup following sports hernia surgery. He took a puck to the face, the second-worst place to take a puck (the worst is Boston Pizza), and will miss time with a fractured jaw. That sounds terrible. Unless you're Dan Hamhuis, who's probably this close to going full Condescending Wonka on the whole situation:
Dan Hamhuis to Brandon Sutter, probably: pic.twitter.com/CmkL9wxsFI
— Pass it to Bulis (@passittobulis) February 10, 2016
In Sutter's absence, expect Jared McCann to draw back into the lineup, which one could read as good news for the Canucks' struggling offence, but bad news for their defensive game. Sutter will be especially missed on the penalty-kill.
The Canucks remain vehemently Pro-Dignity, of course, and will to the bitter end. But one has to wonder, after these two injuries, if the hockey gods are Team Tank. And if the bitter end was last night.
Asked about the injuries, a frustrated Jim Benning could only sigh. “We were healthy for a game and half.”
