The Crumbling Canucks

Last night, the struggling Vancouver Canucks travelled to Minnesota to go head to head with the Wild. It looked promising for the Canadian team in the first few minutes of the game when Daniel Sedin fired a puck right past Minnesota's Cory Schneider. But Vancouver's lead lasted less than 5 minutes, when during a Minnesota powerplay, Wild defenceman Marek Zidlicky pushed the puck past Roberto Luongo. The remainder of the period saw the Wild score twice more, bringing the scoreboard to 3-1.

And it just got worse for the Canucks. Luongo allowed another 3 goals in the second, all less than 5 minutes apart from each other. And halfway into the second, Rick Rypien created the biggest buzz of the night.
Frustrated after earning himself a 10-minute game misconduct for fighting with Brad Staubitz, Rypien stormed off ice, shoving an official in the process. As he made his way down the tunnel, an overzealous Wild fan leaned over the barrier, clapping and cheering. Rypien would have none of it, and responded by grabbing the fan by the collar of his jersey and roughing him up for a few seconds before a Canucks teammate pulled him away.

Needless to say, Rypien did not return for the remainder of the game.

In a last-ditch effort, Daniel Sedin scored a powerplay goal in the third, to bring the final score to 6-2 Minnesota.

As for Rypien, he is suspended indefinately until his hearing on Friday, Oct. 22. It is speculated that he will receive a minimum 5, maximum 10 game suspension for his actions. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is expected to appear at the hearing.

The Vancouver Canucks have only won 2 of their 6 regular season games so far, and are sitting at 10th in the Western Conference, a far cry from their projected standing of 1st in the West, as predicted by TSN prior to the start of the regular season.

Vancouver Canucks vs Minnesota Wild, Tuesday Oct. 19 2010

Click HERE to see a video of the altercation between Rick Rypien and the Minnesota fan