October 27, 2009: First goal!

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).

October 25, 2009: First game as a Canuck is in the books

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

(from canucks.nhl.com)

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.

Number 27

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.

He's back!

The Canucks confirmed that Mathieu will be in the line-up tonight.

Yee!!

Set to go

Mathieu is good to go and ready to return. As reported the other day, he is simply waiting to be activated, and that can only be as early as October 25.

Says Mathieu:

"I feel great right now, I think I've been ready for about a week. I just feel 100 per cent. I'm excited and ready to get going. I've had enough practising. It gets monotonous. I've had that Oct. 25 circled for quite a while." (From The Province)

He has been traveling with the team all along, which has helped adjust to the new team. Apparently, he even has claimed a seat on the plane as his.

An added bonus: It looks like Canucks fans are as anxious for Mathieu to join the team as he is. Some nice comments from Nucks Misconduct.


EDIT: Just now from The Sporting News' writer Craig Custance's Twitter feed: "Just chatted with Mathieu Schneider - asked if he was playing Saturday. He said, 'I think so.'" (http://twitter.com/CraigCustance/status/5059762743)

Off-topic (sort-off): bum shoulders and wonky groins

I'm gonna need more favorite players. 'Cause when both of mine are out due to injury, I'm all out of sorts. I mean, today I didn't sneak out of work early and dangerously speed home to sit in front of the TV to watch a game.¹ I actually took a nice walk on one of my favorite trails and made a real dinner that didn't involve taking something from the freeze and putting it in the microwave.

Oh wait... neither the Canucks nor the Stars were playing today anyway? Ok, nevermind.

¹Not that I would ever really do either of those things

Back at the end of the month

Here is something I didn't know. Mathieu CAN'T play right now. Even if he could. What do I mean? Check it:

"Veteran defender Mathieu Schneider is also nearing a return from summer shoulder surgery. But because the team placed him on long-term injury in order to get salary cap relief at the start of the season, he isn't eligible to play for the first 10 games or 24 days of the season." (from NBCsports)

10 games / 24 days is almost up, so we should be seeing Mathieu play his first game as a Vancouver Canuck very soon.

Off-topic: B-Eauty from B-Rad

Mathieu is still out and while he should be returning soon, I haven't heard a date.

But hockey is happening, and what a season it has been so far. Great excitement!

And then this absolute beauty from B-Rad against a Mathieu-less Canucks...



That was for his team leading 6th point in four games. Woo hoo! I yelped out-loud. I think I scared my neighbors.

Practicing with the team

The regular season opened last week, and as expected Mathieu stayed on the shelf. No timetable for his return has been made public, but he is practicing with the team.

And better late than never, here is an article from The Vancouver Sun about what Mathieu will do for the Vancouver power play: Veteran will beef up the power play. In it, it speaks not only of his own talent on the man advantage, but also how he's been helping younger defenseman learn.

And then there was one... PART 2

A few days ago Mathieu become the one player from the 1993 Stanley Cup winning team to remain playing in the NHL.

And now there is only one active player older than him.

With Theoren Fleury ending his "comeback" to officially retire with the Calgary Flames and Brendan Shanahan "stepping away" from the New Jersey Devils, Mathieu is currently the second oldest player with an NHL contract. Mark Recchi, who signed a one year deal with the Boston Bruins this summer, is the oldest, with a year a few months on Mathieu.

Curtis Joseph and Chris Chelios were the only others older than Mathieu last year who haven't officially retired, but neither have current contracts to the play in the NHL this year. That could change, and Shanahan may very well catch on somewhere else. But for now, Mathieu is #2.

And then there was one...

I've been trying for a few days to say something about Patrice Brisebois retiring. I know he was not the most popular player in Montreal and many people were happy to see him retire. For me, it was sad. I liked Patrice, as I mentioned back in March when he played his 1,000th game. I always thought that, considering the situation he was in, he handled himself very well. I won't go to far into praising him, as I'm not privy to a lot of what goes on in Montreal. The language barrier is one thing, also the fact and fiction rolls so seamlessly there that I never know what to believe anyway. But at least publicly, he seemed for the most part to carry himself well. He was took a lot of criticism and outright disrespect aimed towards him and still remained to be positive and appreciative. He was booed every time he touched the puck, but he still said how much he loved Montreal and how much of an honor it was to play for his home team. He was lucky and he knew it. And despite exaggerated and unfair vitriol directed to him by "fans" and the media, he came back to Montreal. In a world where Sergei Kostitsyn demands a trade because he was demoted to the minors and Dany Heatley demands a trade because his "role" was reduced (and then turns a trade down because it wasn't where he wanted to go), Patrice Brisebois... well, Kostitsyn and Heatley may have been born with more talent, but they aren't fit enough men to hold Treesy's¹ game worn underwear.

I wish Patrice all the luck and good fortune in the world in whatever lies ahead for him next. He's hoping to devote more time to auto racing and maybe working in hockey in another capacity. He'll have more time to spend with his lovely wife, Michèle, and their daughters, Alexandra-Caroline and Patricia-Rose. My lose is their gain. I'll miss him, but he's on his way to a new chapter. And as they say... one chapter ends and another begins, and often that chapter is better than the previous.


Another thing about his retirement that hit me kind of hard: Mathieu is now the last member of the 1993 Stanley Cup winning team still playing in the NHL. That pulls at the heart strings a bit. Wow. Wow.


¹ When Mathieu retires, I'll reveal my nickname for him. It remains just between my friends and I until then.