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Nucks Misconduct Round Table: The There Is No Justice Edition

May 13, 2023
- Kent Basky

It's time for another Nucks Misconduct Round Table. We gather up the NM scribes, ask a few burning questions, you know the deal. As always, we must remind you that the views of Jimmi and Westy are not necessarily those of NM, nor any other a sane human being. This week, we look at the fallout from the 2023 NHL Draft Lottery, the Canucks hilariously getting in trouble with the NHL, the playoffs and more...

1- What's more surprising: The Chicago Blackhawks winning the Draft Lottery and Connor Bedard, or the Canucks yet again missing out on that first overall pick by one number in the lottery?

Westy - I disagree with the premise of the question. The Canucks didn't miss anything, they can still get the #1 overall pick. Of course, it would cost them 3 1st round picks.....and Petey. In reality, there is no way to please hockey fans and the system they have right now is mathematically sound. It has been pointed out that the drawing of the 14 balls should be done live so the conspiracy theorists will have less to talk about.

I think Chicago has a lot of work to do in free agency to try and have a team that Bedard wants to sign with. Some will point out that the Hawks have 7 more draft picks in the first three rounds of this years draft and 6 more in the first 3 rounds next year to help rebuild this team into a contender in three years. But it will come down to which free agents they can sign to try and build 3 good lines.

The Canucks missing the first pick by one number is the Frankie karma effect. Until he sells the team, the organization is fucked.

jimmi - First of all, what's a premise and am I to vacate it immediately? Neither are more surprising than the other. Both are equally depressing and predictable.

Agree with Westy - the 'lotto' system is mathematically sound and works as designed - delivers the desired results as required by the BoG. The BoG, the sleezebags that keep the NHL's sleazy 50s hockey ethos stinking fresh and fixed.

For the Nucks, guess we have to - as ever - build a contending team the hard way - a team that plays hard all season and harder still in the post season. Is spending another decade in the 20s so bad? Yes, it is. If the Nucks aren't scrambling for a wildcard spot next April and just missing out, we're gonna be pissed.

For the Fawks - the most dishonorable franchise in the National League of Dishonour - have obviously shortened the runway to their next run. Bedard centering Jason Dickinson and Tyler Johnson is the stuff of legend. Legendary groans and gasps.

Kent- I disagree with Westy's disagreement. Big surprise, I know. First of all, the curse is real.

That's the third time in the last decade that the Canucks were one number away from a franchise altering event, and I don't know how else to look at that other than being cursed.

And yes, neither of these things were surprising to me, though honestly, we should have seen the first part coming. When the NHL 'punished' the Chicago Blackhawks for their heinous cover up of the sexual assault of Kyle Beach by former Hawks assistant coach Brad Aldrich, they had an opportunity to show the hockey world that what the organization did was unacceptable. Instead, they gave them what amounts to a finger wag. How else can you view this, as they spent an entire year blatantly tanking, and then get rewarded by being gifted with a player who could quite literally help them rebuild and win a Stanley Cup a few years from now. Yeah, I'm sure they learned their lesson, though. It's so fucking wrong that the Arizona Coyotes were punished harder for a CBA violation (and I want to be clear, they got what they deserved in this case), than a team who at every level from ownership to low-level employees and on-ice talent, hid a crime, and helped the criminal find work with kids, so that he could continue to be a sex predator. If I'm Connor Bedard's parents, I would be losing sleep over any association with a franchise that has this as part of their history, and many of those involved still employed.

Beggsy - Surprising is a funny word to use here, but the roundtable question master is a funny guy.

I won't take the copout route here. The Chicago Blackhawks winning Bedard was more surprising.

I was believing in karma leading up to the lottery. Literally, anybody but Chicago or Arizona winning would have been easier to stomach. Karma, if real, certainly works in funny ways.

As for the Canucks missing out on Bedard by one lotto ball? That's just Canucks fandom, baby.

Markus - It's a trick question -- one was not possible without the other. Thus is being a Canucks fan.

I honestly never even let my mind wander to the Canucks getting Bedard. I knew what the end result was and I didn't need the extra heartbreak. Chicago was definitely the worst option out there, between the off-ice behaviour, them just finishing up a dynastic run, and the recent Canucks rivalry. But surprising? No, not especially. At least they're out of division?

2- The Canucks were fined $50k by the NHL for violating the CBA by having on ice sessions with the players after the season ended. Serious, or seriously funny?

Westy - What's funny to me is that the Club is being punished but not the players. The CBA is an agreement between owners and players and for both sides to break the rule but only one side has to pay the fine seems ....funny.

jimmi - The Club must be punished. Early, often and twice on the same day. Oh... no... that's the fans. Nucks fans must be punished early, often and even in the offseason. $50k fine is easily covered by 5 minutes of concession time next October during the longest home losing streak of the season. No worries.

Also... NHL Wheel of Wild Justice gives out a 1 game suspension to Nurse for an 'instigator' infraction. And only gives a 1 game suspension to Petroanglogize for trying to hack off Drysaddle's arm. That's make-up-call justice, I guess. Bush league league... why do we bother?

Kent- I have no problem with the fine, but wasn't Rick Tocchet the coach when Arizona got busted for running training sessions with potential prospects? You'd think he, of all people, might have some insight on why this might not be a good idea. Now, is this as serious as what the Coyotes did? Absolutely not, it's not even in the same realm. This was, at best, ill-advised and a head scratcher at best. Congrats on being so dedicated to getting better next year that you got in trouble with the NHL, I guess?

Beggsy - What a soft league, fining organizations for an agreed upon on-ice session. Gary must have been looking for a cash grab in order to help out his beloved Arizona Coyotes. Or perhaps, his friends in Florida who can't seem to sell out a playoff game.

Markus - Extremely funny. Of course they got fined for practicing too much. If they didn't, they would have been fined for not practicing enough. How does the NHL even keep coming up with shit to punish the Canucks with? You have no choice but to laugh!

3- We're almost halfway through round two of the playoffs. Your thoughts?

Westy - The idea that Boston, Tampa and Toronto could all be out of the playoffs after 2 rounds seems

A Florida - Vegas Stanley Cup is everything Bettman could have dreamed of. A ratings nightmare it would be of course.

jimmi - Is it...

Well... it's fine the sure-thing eastern cabal teams get bounced... but what about the west? Avs getting pushed aside by $850M upstarts?! Hockey dynasties are harder to keep going than I thought.

Pretty sure Gary's dream SCF would be the Kraken (or whoever is the new billion dollar franchise) VS the Yotes. Also... pretty sure Gary is past his Best Before Date.

Kent- Y'all know I love me some playoff chaos, and that first round brought it. This has been an interesting second round, simply because there's not a clear front runner. Carolina might be as close as you can get to one, but I wouldn't count the Devils out just yet. And Florida, who took out the Bruins, missed their chance to sweep the Leafs, and could just as easily be just the 5th team in history to lose after holding a 3-0 series lead. Seattle/Dallas and Edmonton/Vegas will both go the distance. My hope is for an all Canadian final. You get the hilariousness of ESPN trying to get people in the US to give a shit about hockey, and another egg on Gary Bettman's smug face. You also get to see Canadians pick a side and get stupid yelling at each other about a stupid game. I'm stocking up on popcorn just in case. And I'll tell you straight out, I'd be rooting for the Leafs here, in a heartbeat. I lived through all those damn Oilers cups in the 80's and so many nights of getting embarrassed by that team. As if I would ever be happy seeing them raise the mug again.

Beggsy - My thoughts...

1) Between Sergei Bobrovsky and Philipp Grubauer suddenly turning into studs, goaltending is weird.

2) The combination of speed and structure wins. Look no further than the Carolina Hurricanes.

3) Having snarl and bite matters in the playoffs. Look no further than the Panthers, Oilers and Golden Knights.

Markus - It's honestly kind of fun not having the usual characters going on runs, with the Penguins, Bruins, Lightning, and Avs all being either eliminated or missing altogether. It's nice to have some fresh faces, whether that's the Panthers continuing their miraculous run, the Canes chugging along, or the Oilers finally capitalizing on McDavid and Draisaitl. As long as it's not the Leafs, it's kinda fun.

4- There has once again been discussion of bringing a guy like Milan Lucic in next season to add some toughness to the Canucks lineup. Are you for or against this (and what the hell is wrong with you if you say 'for')?

Westy - If Kyle Burroughs will fight anyone, do we need Lucic? Ignore the times he loses. Lucic is not the answer, to any question that involves winning. Forget about the fighting part....how about adding people who are defensively responsible.

jimmi - Sure... bring in a tough guy, obviously not Looch because he's old, slow, not that tough and a douche from that former-douchebag-rival team. But sure... bring in a young fast tough guy - only if he can play 59 minutes, deliver 5 pts and a knockout every game.

The horrible, horrible lesson I'm learning - all over again - is playoff hockey is a team game. I know, some say, hockey is always a team game. But often in the regular season, we are enthralled by the McFancy players and fancier stats.

It really does seem that one either builds a team for regular season glory or for relentless, mistake-free, puck-hounding gritty ugly winning Cup hockey.

At least the Nucks have opted for neither of these paths. We can be grateful the Nucks have devoted their hundreds of millions on management and players towards mastering the middle path. Neither too good or too bad. Buddha hockey at its most middling.

Kent- I said it before and I will say it again: This is a deal-breaker for me. I don't care how effective he can be as a fourth liner, and would like sign a very team-friendly deal. Some things cannot be forgiven, and considering his comments just a few months ago re: Chara's insane allegations about the Canucks 'practicing' raising the Cup in 2011, he can fuck all the way off. And if this organization has so little self-respect and integrity that they can give him a pass, and not see that this is Messier 2.0, they can fuck off too. I will not cheer for a Canucks team that has Milan Lucic in the lineup. End of story.

Beggsy - I could get over the 2011 bit if Lucic could still play, but he can't. If there was an award for slowest NHL skater this season, he probably would have won.

Markus - I am pro bringing in sandpaper that can play. Play being the key word there, as Milan Lucic cannot. Just get some cheap tweeter like they did with Dakota Joshua, or bring in an actual star in the Tkachuk vein. None of this Benning-style $4 million, mid-tier grit, please and thank you.

5- With the IIHF Men's World Championships about to get underway in Latvia and Finland: Do you watch events like this? Do they matter to you as a hockey fan?

Westy - No and No. But I am a fickle Canucks fan and I get frustrated watching Myers play for Canada as well. I would be happy just watching pros in the Olympics or the World Cup of hockey.

jimmi - Thanks for the heads up, Kent. Will check it out. I like leftovers, cold pizza especially. Leftover hockey might be tasty as well. [--- long pause ---] It's on TSN. That's a little too leftover for me.

At least I can definitely predict that the Russians won't get gold. Or silver. Or bronze. At least I'll get that prediction correct.

Kent- Full disclosure: I put this question in just because I knew it would annoy Westy. Me? I've always liked watching the Worlds. Maybe it's because the Canucks have been so consistently awful that there's always guys on the squad they send over. Maybe it's a throwback to 1972, and there's just something about watching Team Canada, any Team Canada, going for gold. And yes, I know Milan Lucic is on this year's squad, but I can cheer for them in spite of that because it's not the same situation. Tyler Myers and Ethan Bear are representing the Canucks, and say what you want about Myers, but I have respect for anyone who answers the call to rep this country on the world stage. I do notice that a certain former captain isn't there. And I refuse to believe they didn't reach out to him after the Isles got turfed. So yes, I will be watching. Go Canada Go.

Beggsy - I'll be sure to tune into the 40-minute mark of Sportscentre to catch the highlights, right after highlights of the World Lawn Bowling Championships.

Markus - The world championships have started? Huh. Ok.

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