It’s time for “Stick in Link”, the feature where we just plug in a bunch of stuff written by others! Featuring a smattering of links from around the Smylosphere and beyond every Tuesday and Thursday. Warning: our links are so hyper, they change colour when exposed to heat. (Have something for us to share in the next edition? E-mail us at [email protected] or tweet us @passittobulis. Or tell us some other way. The point is: we'll probably link it if we know about it.)
• Jeremy Davis checks in on the Utica Comets, who recently played a game -- and won it, incredibly -- without their top four centres. Good to know even the Canucks' farm team is having depth chart issues. Speaks to organizational consistency. [Canucks Army]
• It's Christmas, which means someone has written a Canucks-themed parody of Twas the Night Before Christmas. This year, that someone is Justine Galo. [Canucks Corner]
• Henrik Sedin is back in the lineup, and Ryan Miller, who is apparently still cramped up, two days later, is out. [The Canuck Way]
• Henrik is probably still in pain. But it sounds like it hurts him more not to play. “I don’t think about breaks. I want to play games,” Henrik is quoted as saying. It's a pretty badass quote. [Vancouver Sun]
• Thomas Drance and Dan Murphy look at how the Canucks fared in Henrik's absence. [Sportsnet]
• Henrik's return is welcome, since the Canucks' young centres are being asked to do way too much. They played great in his absence, but still. It's too much. [The Province]
• Speaking of the young centres, Bo Horvat seems to be generating some chemistry with Sven Baertschi. Here's hoping that continues. [Vancouver Sun]
• Jake Virtanen will be relied-upon heavily at the World Juniors. It's probably a nice change of pace for Virtanen, who goes from Canucks rookie to Team Canada veteran in this tournament. [TSN]
• Canucks draftee Guillaume Brisebois gets praised by Sylvain Couturier, his General Manager in junior. “I think he will be a really good two-way defenceman,” said Couturier. “He has all the qualities and all the tools to be one of those puck-moving defenceman that jumps up in the play. He will bring more offence than people might expect. He is really proud of his defensive game, which is something he can always rely on. By the time he turns pro he should be around 6-foot-2 or 6-foot-3, 205-pounds. I think he will have the size and skating to be a very good pro player." [Canucks]
• Thatcher Demko will be rich soon enough, but right now, he's broke, so he had to decorate his Christmas tree with cutlery. [Always 90 Four]
• Looking for the perfect Christmas gift for the hockey fan in your life? Wyatt Arndt has some ideas. [Vancity Buzz]
• Finally, if you haven't seen Clay Imoo, Marie Hui and Arielle Tuliao's newest video of Canucks Christmas carols, you should. It's a triumph. Perfectly lame and awkward as anything you'll ever see, it also features cameos by Ben Hutton and Jake Virtanen, who can neither sing nor dance, despite the video calling for them to do both.