I tried my best to find positives through the dark clouds with this team, I really did. I can't keep doing this, because I don't believe there's anything positive. This team is awful, and it's not going to get better.

Vancouver Canucks (7-8-0) vs. Nashville Predators (7-6-0)

Rogers Arena, Vancouver, BC

7:00 pm PST; 10:00 pm EST

TV: Sportsnet Pacific, CITY

Radio: Sportsnet 650

Just blow it up already. It's so clear that this team is not even close to what it takes, and instead of insulting the fan base as you have for almost two bloody decades, just pull the trigger and do a proper rebuild. I can't take another year of this trying to be convinced they're close, and if things go right they'll be fine. This is the Vancouver Canucks. Things NEVER go right.

It would be easy to say that the injuries have been the reason for the Canucks play this season, and sure, that's definitely a factor. The problem is they haven't gotten any better as they've gotten healthier. Even the goaltending has been letting them down, but when you look at this team: They can't convert chances, they are not the defensively responsible team we were told they would be, the power play is not good enough, and the penalty kill is a liability. Even with the players that are out returning to the lineup, are they the difference makers that can right this sinking ship? Hardly.

And so, that brings us to the same problem we've had for years now. An owner unwilling to do the painful, yet necessary rebuild. He got fleeced by Jim Benning telling him this team was close, and could be fixed. So convinced of this, they ran Trevor Linden out, because Trev knew this team needed to be torn down to the basement and rebuilt. That was over a decade ago, and instead, we got to see the Canucks waste the remaining years of the Sedins, trade away the best goaltender the franchise has ever had, and continue to be just lousy enough to never get good enough odds to win a draft lottery.

I'm tired, man. All I want is a competitive team that is entertaining to watch, and gives us some hope that the fourth time might be the one. Instead, we get Tyler Myers playing crazy minutes, we get Evander Kane, and we get more wasted seasons. We're gonna lose Quinn Hughes. I am almost certain of it now, and if you thought things were bad already, just wait until the first genuine superstar defenceman this team has ever had leaves. DPetey and Willander are going to be good, they've already shown us that, but neither of these guys is a Quinn Hughes replacement. And so that means at least one of them, along with some other prospects and roster guys would need to be done in order to make any kind of meaningful change to show Hughes it's worth it to stay. But with every loss, that's getting harder and harder to believe.

And to make things worse, the Canucks might have to play Kevin Lankinen in a back to back, because of the totally not injured Thatcher Demko, as they host the Colorado Avalanche tomorrow night. See below for the details on just how bad it is, but tonight's backup is going to be Jiri Patera, and last night, the EBUG played the 3rd period for Abbotsford. Absolutely, completely boned.

LINEUPS

The usual... nhl dot com. Blame them if it's wrong.

Blue Jackets projected lineup

Miles Wood -- Sean Monahan -- Kent Johnson

Dmitri Voronkov -- Adam Fantilli -- Kirill Marchenko

Cole Sillinger -- Charlie Coyle -- Mathieu Olivier

Boone Jenner -- Luca Del Bel Belluz -- Yegor Chinakhov

Zach Werenski -- Denton Mateychuk

Ivan Provorov -- Damon Severson

Jake Christiansen -- Dante Fabbro

Elvis Merzlikins

Jet Greaves

Scratched: Dysin Mayo, Zach Aston-Reese, Isac Lundestrom

Injured: Erik Gudbranson (hip)

Canucks projected lineup

Evander Kane -- Elias Pettersson -- Conor Garland

Jake DeBrusk -- Lukas Reichel -- Drew O'Connor

Brock Boeser -- Aatu Raty -- Kiefer Sherwood

Arshdeep Bains -- Max Sasson -- Linus Karlsson

Quinn Hughes -- Filip Hronek

Marcus Pettersson -- Tyler Myers

Elias Nils Pettersson -- Tom Willander

Kevin Lankinen

Jiri Patera

Scratched: P.O. Joseph, Mackenzie MacEachern

Injured: Thatcher Demko (maintenance), Victor Mancini (undisclosed), Filip Chytil (concussion protocol), Jonathan Lekkerimaki (upper body), Teddy Blueger (lower body), Nils Hoglander (lower body), Derek Forbort (undisclosed)

Hoo boy. Not sure even with his slump to start the season that Evander Kane's earned the right to continue to get the top line assignment with Elias Pettersson, because he hasn't shown any ability to be the kind of setup man Petey needs. Let's hope Garland can get on track there. Also, Boeser down to the third line, on the left side? Yeesh. Gonna be holding my breath anytime anyone comes near Lankinen tonight. The Jackets are coming off a 5-1 shellacking at the hands of the lowly Calgary Flames, so you know they're gonna be fired up.

GAME DAY CHATTER

So maybe he's good to go for tomorrow? If not, it's gonna be a long, ugly night.

GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN

Things are stupid, so let's get stupid. From Australia, here's HEAD IN A JAR, with a track about the idiocy of 'alpha' males, called 'Do The Hunka-Chunka'. You're welcome.

Enjoy the game, or not. Fuck fascism! Go Lions Go! Go Canucks Go!