Ok, I've been distracted and lazy. I still need to finish my Hanukkah posts (even though the holiday was over last week). I barely have the energy to really post this, but since rumors are flying I best address this latest news.

Mathieu has been away from practice and missed tonight's game. The team says he's "away with leave" for personal reasons. No comment beyond that. When asked, coach Alain Vigneault wouldn't give time tables either.

The Province threw some gas on the flames, speculating whether the absence was due to questioning his playing future. He's been a healthy scratch for 9 games this season.

I don't know what's going on, and I hope for the best for him and the Schneider clan.

Labels: news-notes

The NHLPA announced today that five current members will join former Major League Baseball union head, Donald Fehr, in a search committee that will look for a new executive director. The five players are Ryan Getzlaf, Jamie Langenbrunner, Brian Rafalski, Brian Rolston and Mathieu Schneider. Says Fehr:

"These players recognize that this is a critical process, the outcome of which will affect all current and future NHLPA members. I am confident that they will discharge this responsibility in the thoughtful, careful and deliberate manner that the circumstances require."

See full release at the NHLPA website.

Labels: news-notes

The Canucks dropped a game at home to the Ducks tonight. Mathieu was held off the scoresheet, but had a shot and finished the game a +1 after 15:47 of total ice time.

Labels: news-notes

On the old site, I used to do something to celebrate Hanukkah (Channukah, חנוכה). Last year, I revived the tradition by presenting 8 days of Mathieu gifts for the 8 days of the holiday. This year, I thought I'd pick a key part of the holiday (a tradition, a symbol, something of historical significance) to share... and connect it in some way to Mathieu.

So, with that said... I present to you gift number 6:

One of the most recognizable traditions of Hanukkah is the dreidel. The dreidel itself is simply four sided spinning top with a Hebrew letter on each side. Nun, Gimmel, Hay, Shin are the first letters of the phrase "a great miracle happened here" (referring the to the oil lasting 8 days).

Here's how it works. You get a group of people and each take turns. You each start off with an equal pot of loot (change, candy, etc). Everyone puts one piece of their pot into the center (Eventually, more starts ending up there). If you land on נ (Nun), you do nothing on your turn. If you land on ג (Gimmel), you get all of the loot in the center pot. If you land on ה (Hay), you get half of the center pot. If you land on ש (Shin), you have to put half of your pot into the center pot. At the end of a set number of rounds, who ever has the most in his/her personal pot won the game.

You can play with real coins, fruit bits, candy... anything. But one of the best things to play with is gelt, or chocolate coins. (Here comes the stretch....) Mathieu makes a whole lot of gelt. In fact, with his salary this year, he could buy 778,894 bags of gelt (a 5 ounce bag is $1.99 at my local Trader Joe's). Last year, he could have bought three times as many, or 2,889,447 bags!

Here are some break downs:



An aside: For those who are interested, here is a neat "what you need to know about Hanukkah" story from the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune: Spinning Tales: A Hanukkah Primer. And don't laugh at the graphic. That was the first animated gif I ever made, back in 1997 or so (using Claris Works clip art and a semi-legal copy of Photoshop). It was hot stuff at the time. =) And special thanks to Spencer for his advice and Hebrew spellings of things.

Labels: hanukkah

On the old site, I used to do something to celebrate Hanukkah (Channukah, חנוכה). Last year, I revived the tradition by presenting 8 days of Mathieu gifts for the 8 days of the holiday. This year, I thought I'd pick a key part of the holiday (a tradition, a symbol, something of historical significance) to share... and connect it in some way to Mathieu.

So, with that said... I present to you gift number 5:

Latkes may be one of the greatest culinary inventions of all time. Fried potatoes. Proof of God!

Here is my go-to recipe for latkes. They aren't bad, but I still can't make them as good an my neighbor.

• 1 pound potatoes, peeled (Yukon gold works well)
  
• 1/4 cup onion, finely chopped onion
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup oil for frying
  

Grate the potatoes. Add grated potatoes to a bowl of ice cold water. Soak potatoes for at least 2 minutes, then drain. Wring out as much water as you can (tip: spread the potatoes AND the onion on a towel, roll up the towel and t.

Put the potato/onion mixture to a bowl and add the egg and salt.Toss until well mixed

Heat 1/4 cup oil in a pan until hot (but not smoking). Add about 2 tablespoons of the to skillet and flatten out gently with the spoon (should be about a 3 inche round) . Cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes each side (until lightly brown). Remove from the pan and drain the extra oil off by placing on a paper towel. Keep warm in the oven (set to low heat, about 250).

Serve with sides of sour cream and applesauce.


As for a Mathieu connection... well, ok, I'm stretching here. A lot. Did you know that Prince Edward Island is known for growing a lot of potatoes?* I didn't until Brad Richard, proud PEI native, revealed such in a radio interview. I also learned from B-Rad that people in Canada refer to PEIers as "spuds" (it is in part 2, at about the 19:45 minute mark).** So... how many times has Mathieu played the most famous hockey playing spud of today?

Four times, with Mathieu having the slight advantage of 2 wins to B-Rad's 1 (and there was a tie in there, when ties could still happen):***

3/8/2004: Tampa Bay @ Detroit, 1-1
12/17/2005: Detroit @ Tampa Bay, 6-3
3/19/2008: Dallas @ Anaheim, 1-2
1/27/2009: Dallas @ Atlanta, 2-0

But B-Rad has 4 wins to Mathieu's 3 in the 2007-2008 playoffs.

*Did you know that despite being TINY (just over 2,000 square miles), PEI produces 30% of the potatoes grown in all of Canada? I looked that up. I didn't learn that from B-Rad. But I would have been most impressed if he had busted out stats like that.

**This post is about Mathieu, but really, that interview is awesome. About 16 minutes on, when they go over his Wikipedia page, is pure gold.

***I originally looked this up last year when they played each other in Atlanta. I only had to add the score from that game, because in the 2 times their teams have played each other since, one or the other has been out of the game.

An aside: For those who are interested, here is a neat "what you need to know about Hanukkah" story from the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune: Spinning Tales: A Hanukkah Primer. And don't laugh at the graphic. That was the first animated gif I ever made, back in 1997 or so (using Claris Works clip art and a semi-legal copy of Photoshop). It was hot stuff at the time. =) And special thanks to Spencer for his advice and Hebrew spellings of things.

Labels: hanukkah

Nothing of note to report in tonight's game. Mathieu played 15:53 of the eventual Canucks win, but was zeros across the board.

Labels: news-notes

On the old site, I used to do something to celebrate Hanukkah (Channukah, חנוכה). Last year, I revived the tradition by presenting 8 days of Mathieu gifts for the 8 days of the holiday. This year, I thought I'd pick a key part of the holiday (a tradition, a symbol, something of historical significance) to share... and connect it in some way to Mathieu.

So, with that said... I present to you gift number 4:

In 168 BCE, the Syrians/Greeks seized the temple in Jerusalem and made it into a temple for Zeus. Emperor Antiochus went a step further and outlawed the practice of Judiasm and forced all Jews to worship the Greek gods instead. Those who did not comply were killed. This didn't go over well, and a when some soliders made a high priest bow before an idol, well, he kind of flipped out and killed a bunch of folks. That priest than went into hiding, built a small army of fellow rebels, and came back to town to push the Syrian/Greeks out of the land and rededicated the temple to their God. Those rebels are best known as "the Maccabees."

The Maccabees are most known by the books in the (Apocryphal) Bible and the Olympic-like games that share their name. Every four years, Jewish athletes from around the world head to Israel for these elites games.

Again, a pretty tenuous relationship, but Mathieu does have a connection to the Maccabi Games. His brother, Jean-Alain, represented Canada (the country in which he was living as he attended college). He and the Canadian team, under the coaching of legendary Jacques Demers, won the gold medal in hockey that year.


An aside: For those who are interested, here is a neat "what you need to know about Hanukkah" story from the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune: Spinning Tales: A Hanukkah Primer. And don't laugh at the graphic. That was the first animated gif I ever made, back in 1997 or so (using Claris Works clip art and a semi-legal copy of Photoshop). It was hot stuff at the time. =) And special thanks to Spencer for his advice and Hebrew spellings of things.

Labels: hanukkah

On the old site, I used to do something to celebrate Hanukkah (Channukah, חנוכה). Last year, I revived the tradition by presenting 8 days of Mathieu gifts for the 8 days of the holiday. This year, I thought I'd pick a key part of the holiday (a tradition, a symbol, something of historical significance) to share... and connect it in some way to Mathieu.

So, with that said... I present to you gift number 3:

Oil is a big deal in Hanukkah. While the holiday is essentially about the survival of the culture and religion, it is represented most prominently by the story of the lamp burning for 8 days when there was really only enough oil for one night. The burning oil is represented by the 8 nights of candles, and even by the frying of the potato latkes.

Oil is kind of a big deal to use today. It runs our cars, boats and planes; it heats our homes; it makes our plastics. There are several "hot spots" of oil production around the world: the Middle East, Venezula, Texas, Alaska, Alberta. Oil is such a big deal in Alberta that they even have a team named, well, the Oilers.

Some Mathieu connections to the Oilers? Well, kind of tenuous. He's never played for the team, but he's played against the team. So far in his NHL career, he has played 25 games in Edmonton, recording 9 points (2 goals and 7 assists) and 18 penalty minutes; he has been a -5.


An aside: For those who are interested, here is a neat "what you need to know about Hanukkah" story from the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune: Spinning Tales: A Hanukkah Primer. And don't laugh at the graphic. That was the first animated gif I ever made, back in 1997 or so (using Claris Works clip art and a semi-legal copy of Photoshop). It was hot stuff at the time. =) And special thanks to Spencer for his advice and Hebrew spellings of things.

Labels: hanukkah

Mathieu wasn't a healthy scratch tonight, and it was a good thing. He had a hand in the game winning goal. That makes up for the silly penalty he took early in the game (that luckily didn't lead to a goal). He ended the game with 15:25 of total ice time, and was even. Game summary: (boarding), 8:57 of 1st; Kesler (Schneider, Raymond), 6:44 of 3rd (PPG).

Labels: news-notes

On the old site, I used to do something to celebrate Hanukkah (Channukah, חנוכה). Last year, I revived the tradition by presenting 8 days of Mathieu gifts for the 8 days of the holiday. This year, I thought I'd pick a key part of the holiday (a tradition, a symbol, something of historical significance) to share... and connect it in some way to Mathieu.

So, with that said... I present to you gift number 2:

The most well-known Hanukkah fact? It's eight days long. Why? So goes the lore, when rededicating the Temple, there was only enough oil to light to the ceremonial candelabrum for one day. And it would have taken 8 days to get more. Miraculously, the small amount of oil lasted that long. That is why candles are lite for eight days. Ta da!

Here are some significant instances of the number 8 for Mathieu:

• It was one of the many jersey numbers he's worn (with the Montreal Canadiens, 1990-1993)
• He scored 8 goals in the 1991-1992 season
• 1997-1998 was his 8th full season in the NHL
• The Atlanta Thrashers was the 8th team of his NHL career
• 2001-2002 was his 8th trip to the NHL playoffs
• His first goal of the 1990-1991 season was the 8th goal of his career
• He had an even 8 penalty minutes in the 2007-2008 playoffs
• We was with Montreal for all or part of 8 seasons
• His eldest daughter just turned 8 years old
  

An aside: For those who are interested, here is a neat "what you need to know about Hanukkah" story from the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune: Spinning Tales: A Hanukkah Primer. And don't laugh at the graphic. That was the first animated gif I ever made, back in 1997 or so (using Claris Works clip art and a semi-legal copy of Photoshop). It was hot stuff at the time. =) And special thanks to Spencer for his advice and Hebrew spellings of things.

Labels: hanukkah

On the old site, I used to do something to celebrate Hanukkah (Channukah, חנוכה). Last year, I revived the tradition by presenting 8 days of Mathieu gifts for the 8 days of the holiday. This year, I thought I'd pick a key part of the holiday (a tradition, a symbol, something of historical significance) to share... and connect it in some way to Mathieu.

So, with that said... I present to you gift number 1:


The story of Hanukkah is long. It involves people fighting, temples being destroyed, and the Jewish people, despite being outnumbered, eventually coming away with the victory. After winning the long battle, the Jewish people rededicated their Temple (desecrated during the fight) on the 25th day of the month of Kislev. (that happens to be today, if you didn't figure that out; the Hebrew calendar being lunar based explains why it moves around on "our" calendar every year)

Here are some significant instances of the number 25 for Mathieu:

It was one of the many jersey numbers he's worn (with the NY Rangers, 1998-1999)
Mathieu was traded for the first time when he was 25
His eldest son was born when we has 25
He recorded his first goal as an Atlanta Thrasher on October 25, 2008
He played his first game as a Vancouver Canuck a year later, on October 25, 2009
He had 25 penalty minutes in the 1989-1990 season
25% of his points came from goals in 1991-1992 (he's averaged about 28%)
He scored his 25th goal the 1991-1992 season

An aside: For those who are interested, here is a neat "what you need to know about Hanukkah" story from the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune: Spinning Tales: A Hanukkah Primer. And don't laugh at the graphic. That was the first animated gif I ever made, back in 1997 or so (using Claris Works clip art and a semi-legal copy of Photoshop). It was hot stuff at the time. =) And special thanks to Spencer for his advice and Hebrew spellings of things.

Labels: hanukkah

After being a healthy scratch for the last 4 games, Mathieu returned to the lineup to replace the injured Alex Edler. I was out being social (*shock!*), so I didn't get to see the game. He had no points and no shots in 14:40 total ice time. But he was a +1 in the 4-2 win, and had two trips to the penalty box. Hey, at least he was in the boxscore. Game summary: (hooking), 16:06 of 1st; (delaying the game), 6:36 of 3rd.

Labels: news-notes

We interrupt our slacking with this important announcement...

There is a time in everyone's life when a moment so, um, momentous occurs that the news is broadcast to everyone. You send out announcements with happy pictures. You have your college update the alumni magazine with the news. Everyone on Facebook gets annoyed with you for posting a million updates...

Ladies and gentlemen, I'm about to make such an announcement. Are you ready?


IT SNOWED IN THE BAY AREA!


And I don't mean the usually dusting on the peaks we get every January. I mean, real, significant snowage at near sea-level. And 36 hours later, the hills surrounding the SMC campus still have snow on them! The clouds have moved on, and while it is hovering around 38 degrees here (at almost noon), I think the snow fall is over. And we'll probably have to wait another 30+ years for it to happen again. But we'll have the pictures, videos, and memories. =)



Check out the video one of our students shot (and edited and posted to YouTube within about 12 hours! Mad skills he has):

Labels: off-topic

Something that came up in the After Hours interview with Mathieu was how he deals with changing teams so often. And that was also the focus of an article in Vancouver's Georgia Straight newpaper. After being traded once, it gets easier... so he says. He even finds positives in some of the dark moments:

“Every place I have played has been special in some way, even places other guys might not want to play. Being on Long Island, I was born in New York and I had a lot of friends there, so that was great. Atlanta was great because my brother lived there. It was tough playing hockey there, but being close to my brother, I haven’t lived next to him or near him since we were teenagers. So our kids got to spend time together, which was really unique.”

The hardest part now is moving the kids, which I can definitely appreciate. But they are not alone. A lot of athletes kids experience the same things, not to mention the hundreds of thousands of military kids. They'll probably have some amazing stories to tell their kids some day.

See the whole article at Straight.com

Labels: news-notes

So yeah, I haven't summarized the epic interview yet. And I haven't updated anything in awhile. I'm lame, I suck.

I can say there hasn't been much to update anyway since Mathieu has been a healthy scratch the last 3 games. According to the Vancouver Sun, he will sit out the 4th straight tonight. Hrmph.

Labels: news-notes

Vancouver got a huge win over Edmonton tonight, throttling the Oilers 7-3. Mathieu had no points, but was a +1 after logging 18:53 total ice time (a season high, I believe; but I'd have to go back and look that up and, frankly, I've had an epicly awesome evening and my wits are not exactly with me right now).

Ok, it was mentioned above as an aside, but why was this evening so epic? Sidney Crosby had 5 points and a hat trick (yes, I'm a semi-closeted Sidney Crosby fan; don't hold it against me. The kid is freakin' amazing... and totally adorable), and B-Rad continued his tear to the top of the scoring charts knocking in 2 more points tonight against his old team and BFF Vincent Lecavalier. (My guys B-Rad and VINNY!! in the same game again was enough to knock me over today).

Also... Mathieu was the guest on the 30 minute long interview show After Hours, following Hockey Night in Canada. Thanks to my fabulous subscription to Center Ice (which has already paid for itself by making me happier than a duck in the rain), I was able to watch the whole thing and it was AMAZING!


My face hurts from smiling so much. The interview was great enough to warrant it's own post, which will come tomorrow. But I'm pooped and can barely string a sentence together. There is an Unofficial Mathieu Schneider Homepage connection to the After Hours interview, so stay tuned to find out what it is...


P.S. Happy birthday Shannon Schneider! =) Among the many golden nuggets in the After Hours interview, Mathieu mentioned today is his lovely wife's birthday. She threw him an epic 40th birthday party, and he gets to play on hers. At least she got a shout out on national television (international, really, since I was watching it in the States)

Labels: B-Rad, news-notes, SID-NAY CROS-BAAAAAAAY, VINNY

This doesn't have much to do with Mathieu, but it is a kind of an interesting moment in the history of the Unofficial Mathieu Schneider Homepage, so I thought I'd mention it:

Geocities is gone.

Back in the day (i.e., the 90's), Geocities was an awesome service. It was basically a free web host. All you needed was some basic HTML skills and you could have a web page. That is how the Unofficial Mathieu Schneider Homepage came to be.

Over the years new technologies came and traditional static "web pages" gave way to other ways of publishing and sharing information online. The Unofficial Mathieu Schneider Homepage stuck around in that static environment for a long time, mainly because I was too busy to change anything.

Last year, I got tired of paying $5 a month (what I had paid since Yahoo! bought Geocities) and decided to finally get with the times and move the content over to a blog. It was not only free, but the format works much better for what this site has become. I've been very happy with the move. Hopefully it works for the readers of the site. (I know, I go off on a lot more random tangents now; I'm not sure if that has to do with the format or the fact that I'm finally done with school and have more time-- too much time?-- on my hands)

Anyway, looks like I made the right move at the right time. Earlier this year I got a notification that Geocities was no longer going to be supported. At first, it was just that no more editing access was going to be available, but it broaden and all pages would be shutdown. Gone. Poof.

So, on October 26, http://www.geocities.com/schtimpy27 disappeared forever. The longtime home of this page, and a place that was responsible for the opportunity to make some of the greatest friends and have some of the greatest experiences of my life, no longer exists.


But while it chokes me up, it is just a place. Not even a real place, at that! All the content has been moved over here, and the increased interaction made possible by the new format has made even more connections possible.

Good bye www.geocities.com/schtimpy27 (also known as www.geocities.com/Colosseum/6813)
It's been fun, it's been real.

Labels: off-topic

Not too much report in this game. Mathieu played 16:06, had 1 shot, 1 penalty, and finished a -1 in the Canucks win over the LA Kings. Game summary: interference (15:19 of 2nd).

But aside from the game, it is Thanksgiving here in the States. In honor of the holiday, here is a rewind of Mathieu talking about the day at his house:

"I actually do cook the turkey every year. My wife's busy baby-sitting all the kids. It's never a sit-down dinner, though -- it's just kind of chaos once the turkey gets on the table." Do all of the turkeys he cooks turn out great? Well... "It's kind of hit-and-miss, to tell you the truth. I've had a couple good ones and a couple real bad ones, just very dry. It's an art, obviously. I think if I had some more time, I could really, really improve my cooking skills." Overall, though, "it's fun, I enjoy it and everything that goes along with it, the whole day." (originally from a Helene St. James piece in the Detroit Free Press, November 24, 2005)

Labels: news-notes

Hockey fans are great people. Last season, the fabulous Mélina sent me the Canadiens magazine that featured Mathieu. And a few weeks ago, the amazing Kevin sent me several copies of the Canucks Gameday poster of Mathieu.

How cool is that!? Thanks Kevin! You're a gentleman and a scholar.

Labels: news-notes

We interrupt our normally scheduled Mathieu devotion for some unbridled B-Rad love.

By now, you know my Brad Richards story. B-Rad moved into second favorite player and "backup guy" status in about 2000, when Enrico Ciccone retired and Mathieu struggled to regain his awesomeness. I was an "undercover" B-Rad fan until I started posting a few things here and there last year. Of course, last year was tough, as he went through what Mathieu went through those years that I started following him.

But like Mathieu, I knew he'd bounce back. He has too much natural talent and too much work ethic to have seasons like he had just had.

Ta da! I willing admit that as a pretty dedicated fan of his play, even I never imagined just how right I would be. CHECK IT OUT!!

Yup... that's a screen capture from NHL.com of the leagues scoring leaders as of November 25, 2009. And yes, that is B-Rad at slot number #4, just three points behind the 3 guys tied for the lead.

He's going at a 1.36 points per game clip. He's scored in 17 of the 22 games he's played (he missed two with a lingering groin strain), and 9 of those games have been multiple point games (including a 4 point game against New Jersey).

At this pace, he'd have about 111 points on the season (his career best is 91).

He'll slow down I'm sure, but I'm enjoying the heck out of this while it lasts. And who know, I underestimated his revival... maybe I underestimate his ability to remain this hot for 60 more games.

Labels: B-Rad, off-topic

McKeen's Hockey had a Q&A with top prospect Mac Bennett (drafted by the Canadiens in June and currently playing with Cedar Rapids Rough Riders of the USHL). Asked which NHL player he looks up to, he says:

"Growing up, Mathieu Schneider. We were family friends. My dad actually coached him when he was in Rhode Island. He was my idol growing up. I wanted to be him. He's old now, but he's still able to play. To be able to keep himself in the shape that he's in, it's amazing."

Mathieu totally has my permission to slap the kid for the "he's old now" comment.

(And yes, I feel shame for that lame headline.)

Labels: news-notes

A bit of catch up now that I'm back from my fabulous hiatus to Washington, D.C.:

November 20, 2009
Vancouver topped Colorado 5-2, and Mathieu had an assist on the 5th goal. He finished the game a +2 with 16:09 of total ice time. Game summary: Samuelsson (Schneider), 13:34 of 3rd.

November 22, 2009
In a 1-0 lose to Chicago, Mathieu finished the game even afetr 15:47 of ice-time.

Labels: news-notes

All right kids, you are kickin' it solo for a few days. I'm off to Washington D.C. for a few days, soaking up my nation's historical and political scene. Here I could make some joke about Mathieu playing pick up games with George Washington or something, but I'll save the old jokes for the media.

Fates willing, I'll be back Monday night ready to recap exciting Mathieu action. Or, at least I'll be back, but I'll probably be too jet lagged and lazy to do anything more than lay on my couch and drool.

Labels: news-notes

Distracted by an unshakable case of the blahs, I missed parts of a really amazing game from Mathieu. I did tune in to the CBC broadcast via Center Ice just in time to catch the announcer dude proclaim that this was "the 40 years young" defenseman's "best game as a Canuck." He made sure he was on the game summary a lot, by picking up two penalties and registering a goal and an assist. He came away a +2 after 15:22 of total ice time in the Canuck's 8-2 bludgeoning of the Avalanche in Colorado. I'm staying up late now to catch the replay (after I catch the replay of the stunning Penguins win after tying the game with a second left in the third period).

Game summary: (hooking), 3:16 of 2nd; (slashing), 18:27 of 2nd; Schneider (Samuelsson, Burrows), 8:22 of 2nd; Glass (Schneider, Bieksa), 19:45 of 3rd.

Labels: news-notes

Mathieu wasn't scratched for tonight's game, but I didn't get to see it because I was in San Jose watching B-Rad. w00t! But B-Rad didn't do anything of note, and similarly, neither did Mathieu. He had 3 shots in 13:26 of ice time in the Canucks' 3-1 lose in Detroit.

Labels: news-notes

Well, I was going to not be lazy, then Mathieu was scratched for the last two games, so I got lazy again.

Anyway, yeah, Mathieu was a healthy scratch the last two games. He missed out on 2-1 lose in Dallas Friday night to my guy B-Rad (and the rest of the Stars), and a 6-1 drubbing by the Blues in St. Louis last night.

Labels: news-notes

I'd like to say something like I had the Swine Flu or was off in Europe on some fabulous vacation or away on career-making business, but really, I've just been super lazy. I could go back and fill in posts for all the stuff I missed, but again, I'm lazy. So here is everything you need to know about Mathieu in the last week or so:

1. He played forward in a game. Seriously. I'm not lying. Alain Vingeault is apparently high, and moved a 21 year veteran defenseman to a fourth line forward position. The team lost 7-2 in Anaheim, and Mathieu was a -3. (Vancouver Sun)

2. He was a healthy scratch for the game in LA. From what I can figure in my memory bank, that would be one of the first times in his career. It was said it was a rest day after coming back into the line-up and immediately facing 4 games in 6 nights. (USA Today)

3. Other than that, he's been pretty quiet. In the four games he's played, he's averaged just over 14 minutes a game. He's had no points, and been a pretty ugly -5. Ouch.

I'll be better about posting. PROMISE! (or not)

Labels: news-notes

Not a great result for Vancouver, but Mathieu got his first goal as a Canuck in the 5-4 lose to Detroit. It was also his career power play goal #100. He finished the game as a -1, and had 2 shots on goal in 17:52 of ice time. He also had a wicked shot that was brilliantly stopped by goalie Jimmy Howard with just seconds to go in the game.

Says Mathieu of the game:



(how awesome is it that he can conduct a coherent interview while ON the exercise bike? Most of the time I'm in the gym I'm trying to simply not die)

Game summary: Schneider (H.Sedin, Bieksa), 5:05 of 3rd (PP).

Labels: news-notes

My face is sore. I've seriously been smiling for the last 2.5 hours. Mathieu is back.

He was without a point, and not any official shots on goals (he had some blasts, but they were wide of the net). Overall, he logged 14:51 of ice-time (2:18 of it on the power play) in the 2-0 Canucks win over Edmonton in Vancouver.

I flipped on the live feed of the post-game press coverage on the Canucks website just as Mathieu was being interviewed... while still riding the exercise bike to cool down. I wasn't prepared to take notes, so I only got one quote:

"Everything felt good out there"

Yeah, not a huge grab, but hey, it was cool to see him post-game.

Labels: news-notes

And "schtimpy27" once again validly reflects Mathieu. He's wearing #27 with the Vancouver Canucks. So far in the game, he looks good. In the intermission interview he said he feels good and that we won't see anything fancy from him for a few days until he gets more settled. But he's taken a few big shots and was able to get back into defensive position on a broken PP opportunity that turned into a 3-2 short handed chance.

Labels: news-notes