in his natural habitat.

Today on Canucks in Wonderland, I spy with my little eye, Mason Raymond in his natural habitat.

Mason Raymond and Tanner Glass (Photos: Adrienne C./UBC)

Yes, I know, it’s not a very good picture. But today, spotted practicing up at UBC was in fact none other than Mason Raymond, Tanner Glass (who has recently signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins), Daniel Sedin (minus Henrik)  and some various others.

All those practicing today were not wearing the jerseys of their respective teams, but jerseys that said NHLPA on the front and #theplayers on the back. Of course, the main reason for that is simply that there is still a lockout going on.

Others who were also up at UBC this morning, included Cory Schneider, Maxim Lapierre, Chris Higgins and Willie Mitchell of the LA Kings.

Let it also be known that I miss hockey.

Huh.

The Canucks thank the fans. (Photo: Jeff Vinnick/NHLI via Getty Images)

Welcome to the Stanley Cup Playoffs 2012.

Welcome to the place where dreams are made, dreams are broken and where we the fans will see history go down.

Welcome to Finding Stanley Round 1; Game 5 of the Western Conference Quarter Finals; in which the Vancouver Canucks (1^st in the Conference) go up against the Los Angeles Kings (8^th in the Conference).

Now let’s get started!

Lining Up – Fun Facts

• Tonight’s lineup saw Alex Dragon Slayer split up from his usual linemates, the twins. The Sedins would instead play with David Booth, thus meaning the very famous AMEX line was split up for tonight’s game as well. The second line, which would usually consist of Chris Higgins, Ryan Kesler and David Booth, instead saw Ryan Kesler centering Maxim Lapierre and Alex Burrows. The third and fourth lines would consist of Chris Higgins, Samuel Pahlsson and Jannik Hansen and Mason Raymond – Manny Malhotra and Dale Weise respectively.
• Our D-pairings tonight would remain the same, except for between the pipes. Cory Schneider would be the goalie out on the ice tonight.
• Tonight’s game also saw the return of the Green Men; who were seated in their usual spot next to the opponent’s penalty box!!
• Please note that this is also Sami Salo’s 100th playoff game! Congratulations Sami and may you come back to play with us next year!

The Fun Facts of the First, Second, Third and Overtime

• Tonight’s First Period saw 1 goal, 4 penalties, 14 shots on net, a Green Men sighting,  some De-Schneids, a fantastic singing of the Anthems and the Power of Towels.
• Let me just say, it is ALWAYS nice to hear Mark Donnolly sing Canada’s National Anthem for us during the playoffs and to see those white towels waving in the air at Rogers Arena. yes.
• And thus the first goal of the game goes to Canucks Captain Henrik Sedin! This is his second goal and 5^th point of the series!
• The Second Period on the other hand, did not see much, but for 2 penalties, 20 shots on net, several good scoring chances and plenty of players being De-Schneided.
• Said scoring chances were provided by both twins and Vancouver’s resident Danish Ninja: Jannik Hansen!
• The Third Period once again saw shouts of #WINDATURD from Canucks Journalist Derek Jory and Canucks fans. It also saw 1 goal, 1 penalty, a post, and more De-Schneiding.
• Said goal was scored by Brad Richardson of the LA Kings, thus making the score 1-1.
• I would also like to take the opportunity to thank the Posts on either side of Cory Schneider for helping us tonight. I appreciate it and I salute you!
• And then came Overtime. In which Playoff Overtimes consist of 20 minutes and not the 5 minutes in regular season and this one ended and ended too quickly.
• And thus the Game Winning Goal went to Jarret Stoll and the LA Kings.
• Congratulations LA.

And thus the LA Kings take game 5 and win the series against the Vancouver Canucks 4 to 1. Congratulations on your advancement to the Second Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs!!! You played well and I commend you for that!

To the Vancouver Canucks: Thank you. Thank you for everything. You played well, we’ll see you next year and we hope that next year’s run for Lord Stanley is long and successful!!

Welcome to the Stanley Cup Playoffs 2012.

Welcome to the place where dreams are made, dreams are broken and where we the fans will see history go down.

Good Luck everybody.

Have fun.

And may the odds ever be in your favour.

Celebration! (Photo: Jeff Vinnick/NHLI via Getty Images)

Dear Hockey Gods.

Hello.

I am here on behalf of my team the Vancouver Canucks and I am here to ask and ask politely for you to give us our game back (namely our offense and our defense and last but not least, dear Daniel Sedin.).

Thanks.

Now let’s get to the game.

Lining Up – Fun Facts

• With the loss of Byron Bitz, Coach Vigneault went ahead and made some more changes to the lineups last night. This time around, Jannik Hansen would play on the first line in place of Mason Raymond. Mason Raymond would in turn play on the third line alongside Samuel Pahlsson and Maxim Lapierre.
• Also, the Amex line was reunited (Ryan Kesler, David Booth, Chris Higgins), much to the delight of fans.
• And also to the delight of fans; the regular D-partners of Kevin Bieksa and Dan Hamhuis and Alex Edler and Sami Salo were re-united. The final D-pairing also saw Keith Ballard back to the line-up. He would play alongside Chris Tanev. Welcome back Keith Ballard!

The Fun Facts of the First, the Second and the Third Period

• In which Rogers Arena is filled with chants of ‘Go Canucks Go’ when the puck hasn’t even dropped yet.
• But anyways: the First Period consisted of 1 goal, 3 penalties, 21 shots on net, some LUUing and a Green Men sighting.
• LUUUUU- You get the point.
• Speaking of points, there was only 1(2) points in the first period of Game 2 and that was Kings Captain Dustin Brown’s shorthanded goal with assistance from teammate Mr. Kopitar.
• The Second Period on the other hand, consisted of 2 goals, 2 penalties, more LUUUing and 21 shots on net.
• Jannik Hansen and Dustin Brown would exchange another set of goals, that unfortunately put LA in the lead yet again with a score of 2-1.
• And the Third and Final Period consisted of more LUUUUUUs, 3 goals, 10 penalties (ugh) and 32 shots on net.
• The Nucks and the Kings also had a bit of a scrum with a good 7 minutes left in the period. Vancouver’s resident Dane nearly got himself into a fight and for that received a double minor and a 10 minute misconduct.
• LA would then score 2 more goals, in which Vancouver responded to with 1, courtesy of Samuel Pahlsson.

The LA Kings would go on to win the game and now lead the series 2-0.

Game 3 will take place in LA, tomorrow at 7:30 pm, Pacific Standard Time and I will see you all then!

Canucks forward Byron Bitz had a conference call with the NHL’s head disciplinarian Brandan Shanahan earlier today considering his boarding major on Kyle Clifford of the LA Kings.

It was announced that Bitz would be suspended for 2 games for said hit.

According to Brandan Shanahan:

  “…Bitz hits Clifford from behind using his right shoulder to drive hard into Clifford’s shoulder and head, causing his head to impact violently and forcefully with the glass…”

“…it is on Bitz to avoid this check completely or at the very least minimize its impact.  Instead; having approached Clifford from quite a distance, Bitz follows through on his check, hitting Clifford on the shoulder and head with significant force, causing an injury. It is important to note that Clifford did not play again in the game and was diagnosed by the team doctor as having suffered an injury…”

For the full video explaining why Byron Bitz has been suspended, click here.