Vancouver?

Two things:
1. In my quest to do absolutely nothing for the next two weeks I'm off from work, I laid on the couch on this rainy Sunday seeing how many episodes of The Wire I can watch in a row... and promptly fell asleep for several hours. Now, it is midnight and I'm wide awake and, um, wired.

2. I finally got my Google News Feeds working like I want them, so I'm starting to get news I would otherwise probably not have seen.

So, being awake and bored coupled with the new feeds, I can report this nugget from Vancouver hot off the presses:

...The Canucks’ back end is very good, but elite NHL teams generally have a proven offensive defenceman that can quarterback a powerplay... Finding a player of that ilk that is also attainable is like trying to find a parking spot at a mall right now; if you’ve got one, you’re not letting it go. The rare exception is when a team is toiling near the bottom of the standings and has an expensive defenceman headed for free agency.

That player does exist in Atlanta, and one has to wonder if Mike Gillis has contacted the Thrashers to inquire about Mathieu Schneider’s availability. Though he has been plagued by injuries for the past couple of seasons, Schneider consistently produces points and is excellent on the powerplay... (from Scott Rintoul at metronews.ca)

See the article for the rest of the case Rintoul makes, which he admits is at this point just "spit-balling," but the idea that Mathieu will be moved again before the season is over is not at all a longshot. In fact, in some circles, it is considered a given. Why? 1) Atlanta isn't going anywhere, and they know that, 2) Atlanta simply needed him to meet the salary floor (which won't be an issue for much longer), 3) and if they really "wanted" him for what they knew would be long-term, they could have had him for free via waivers but traded for him instead (players picked up on waivers can not be traded in the same year; but traded players can).

Musings about where Mathieu will finish the season abound, but this one actually isn't a terrible idea (other than another family uprooting) for most of the reasons Rintoul mentions.

What would Mathieu get?

• It would give him a shot at a winner


• He'd be back in the Western Conference, where he has much more experience with the different teams, players, and styles of play, not to mention the bulk of his success (short of that Stanley Cup in Montreal). Plus, he'd be back on "my" coast. Always a plus in my book.


• He'd get to play with another Schneider, which hasn't happen in the NHL, I know of at least, and I doubt at an other time in his playing days. But seeing that Corey Schneider (no relation, and no resemblance whatsoever) is a goalie, I'd doubt they'd have to do the initial thing on the jerseys.
  

Besides, when asked "which city do you look forward to most" a few years ago, Mathieu said Vancouver: "It's a great team and a great rivalry that's developed over the last few years here. It's a beautiful city, great place to spend some time. Great sushi, as well."* Not to mention fantastic shopping for the fashion maven he is.


Some intriguing side notes:

• Mathieu apparently outed the notariously private, and new Canuck, Mats Sundin as a new father early this season, an "allegation" that was denied by Sundin's agent who said Mathieu "made a mistake."


• Vancouver's #1 goalie, and captain (hur?), Roberto Loungo, was selected in the draft using the first round pick that the New York Islanders received in their trade of Mathieu to Toronto.


• Vancouver GM Mike Gillis is one of Mathieu's former agents. Oooooo, that would be interesting.

(What is sad is that I remembered those all off the top of my head, yet I keep forgetting to pick up new kitchen sponges when I'm at the store.)

*that quote is from a Detroit Free Press article that is no longer available in their online archives that I can find; it was saved for posterity on the old Unofficial Mathieu Schneider Homepage, scroll to November 10, 2005)