The Canucks, after two gruesome games last week have come home to raise a banner and hope not to get boo’d off the ice. But have no fear faithful, Coach AV took the time to explain to the Twins what a penalty is and what constitutes a penalty so we should have a better proportion of PP’s to PKs.

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Columbus, coming off of a post-season qualifying year last year. Look to make an even bigger impact on the western side of the standings. Look for them to do just that. R.J. Umberger (oh yeah him), will be set on proving to the Canucks that maybe he was worth that extra 100K (cough.. Burke). Let’s hope that Mitchell and Salo can pick up the slack in their own end and re-bulid their plus/minus-es.

Regardless of how the evening turns out, we have a good team and if we need to fire Vingeault in 10 games so be it. I find it doubtful to think a team of this calibre can go on all year like this.  However, this is Vancouver and they can be more disappointing than Gilbert Brule.

Returning to a more optimistic topic, I got a feelin’ that tonights gonna be a good good night. I think Hank and Dank will piggy back the team to a win. Maybe if we are lucky Shirokov will prove why he should be on the team. Moreover, Luongo had better prove to Mason why the prospect of Steve starting for team Canada is laughable.

After a long offseason, those Vancouver Canucks are starting to look like one piece of ACE. I know from experience if you know what I mean!

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Tonight at 7:30pm all starved hockey fans from around the globe (aka Canada and Minnesota) will be watching the Canucks bludgeon the Islanders to death in front of a bloodthirsty group of underprivileged children. By bludgeon to death I mean score goals, hopefully. We will get a chance to watch Shirokov – in HD - fight for roster spot. Let’s hope he can live up to the 3000 pounds of hype the Vancouver faithful have dropped on his back.

Speaking of pressure, Cory Schneider had better start and finish this game. The Canucks need to get this piece of trade bait perfectly placed on the hook. With at least six good years of Lou ahead of them it’s time to utilize our ginger cash cow. Look for Schneider to play like he wants to start on a different team this year.

Disappointments of the day! No Hodgson, Luongo, Twins, M. Schneider, Erhoff or Samuelsson. It’s basically the Moose and Wellwood out there.

Regardless, I’m definitely fired up for some Canucks action tonight. Face-off at 7:30pm Sportsnet Pacific in Canada, NHL Network in the USA.

The Canucks have  signed Lou for 12 more years at $64 Million. This would keep his salary at 5.33 mil in terms of the Cap a season. I’m not a capologist but, If the extension is considered this year, the Canucks have freed up that 2 million. However that does mean that Luongo will be on the payroll until he’s 42, at approximately 10% cap hit. Regardless, I’m still pretty Steve Nash fired up!

Turns out the NYR have decided to let Nik Zherdev go after a 3.9 Million arbitration award. As a result of New York’s revolving door and cold shoulder, Zherdev is a UFA. I think he would look just dandy in a Canucks Uni.

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Nik is 24, a first round pick and a solid 60 point player. He is not the most consistent, but then again neither are the twins on a game to game basis. The Canucks have currently got aprox 4.4 mil left in cap room; This is plenty of room to sign Zherdev. I know that all you nay sayers will be saying no, hes a liablity, he sucks, bla bla bla. You give him the right atmosphere and discipline and we could be talking a 100pt player. Maybe he could even play with the twins.

Hell, if he really is a problem, we can always waive/trade him.

Let me explain.

Kaberle is exactly what the Canucks NEED on their blueline. However, a quick analysis of the Canucks current assets and the Leafs current needs shows that this proposed trade doesn’t line up.

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So let’s look at this situation.

The Leafs need top 6 forwards, and currently have a huge pool of defencemen and promising young goaltenders.

The Canucks are still potentially in the market for a top 6 forward as well as a puck-moving defenceman. They have, as their trade bait, a few too many bottom 6 forwards and one VERY promising young goaltender.

How does this line up for a trade with the Leafs? It doesn’t. Not at all.

The Canucks could possibly afford to trade back Mason Raymond, Sami Salo, Kevin Bieksa, and Cory Schneider. But Toronto really doesn’t need any of them. Raymond doesn’t fill any hole that currently exists in the Leafs offense. It’s clear that Burke is trying to toughen up the Leafs roster, and Bieksa would be a good fit for Burke’s type of line-up. However, the Leafs have too many defencemen as it is, so I don’t see them taking a defenceman back in a trade. As for goaltending, the Leafs have Toskala and two very promising goalies in Pogge and Swedish phenom Jonas Gustavsson. So adding Schneider to that mix doesn’t make any sense.

If this trade rumour is legitimate, which I very much doubt, I will be very interested to see how this trade is finalized and what players/prospects/draft picks are involved.

If you were going to pick a GM to control and win a trade between Brian Burke and Mike Gillis, who would you pick? Yeah – I would pick Burke hands down, too.

Good luck, Mike.

On Wednesday, the NHL and the Vancouver Canucks released the schedule for the 2009-2010 season.

Normally, I would grouse about too many back-to-back games in cities that are too far apart.
However the Canucks face a very unique scheduling issue this coming season – the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in Vancouver. This year, the Canucks will embark on an unprecedented 14-game road trip, spanning 40 days and a 16 day hiatus for the Olympic games. Essentially this huge road trip is an 8-game road trip, then a 16 day break (for all non-Olympic participants) then another 6-game road trip.

With all that being said, here is my view on the Top 10 most important games of this coming season for the Vancouver Canucks.
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10. Sun 14 Feb – VAN @ MIN
This is the last game before the Olympic break. This is the last game of the first part of the huge road trip (8th of 8). A win here will send the team into a good mind set as they pause for 16 days.

9. Wed 27 Jan – STL @ VAN
Last home game before the start of the epic 14-game road trip. A final win at home before a 40-day break from GM Place will be welcome for both players and fans.

8. Mon 05 Oct – CBJ @ VAN
First home game of the season. It’s always good to start the season at home off the right way with a win. However, it’s low down the list because there are 79 more games after this, and the epic road trip is a far more daunting task.

7. Thu 01 Oct – VAN @ CGY
First regular season game. Just like the first home game, it’s a good omen to start the season with a win. However, just like the first home game, it’s low down the list because there are 81 more games after this, and the epic road trip is a far more daunting task.

6. Thu 08 Apr – VAN @ SJS
Last road game of the season. The implications on the standings could make this a critical game for the Canucks playoff hopes.

5. Wed 10 Mar – VAN @ PHO
Last game of the gargantuan 14-game road trip. It’s also a back-to-back game, as the Canucks play the Avalanche the night before. Sending this road trip off in style would be huge for morale.

4. Sat 10 Apr – CGY @ VAN
Last home game of the regular season and their last game altogether. The implications on the standings with this one game will likely be very meaningful. This will make for a great battle to end the regular season.

3. Tue 02 Mar – VAN @ CBJ
First game back after Olympic break. This is also the start of the second half of the epic road trip, where this is the first of a 6-gm stint on the road. It’s vital for the Canucks to return from the break with a win and start this on the right note. A road win here will get the Canucks in the right mind set to close out this road trip.

2. Sat 13 Mar – OTT @ VAN
Home sweet home! This is the Canucks first home at GM Place in 40 days. It’s also a Saturday night game on CBC so all eyes will be watching the Canucks. They will need to get things on track quickly with a solid win here and give starved crowd what they need – a win!

1. Sat 30 Jan – VAN @ TOR
This is the single most important regular season game for the Vancouver Canucks for many reason. First, it’s the first game of their 14-game road trip. A win here sets this whole mammoth road trip on the right path from the start.
It’s against Toronto which, anyone in Vancouver will tell you, means a LOT to Canucks. We love seeing the Leafs and Leafs fans suffer.
Finally, it’s the prime time game on CBC Hockey Night in Canada where ALL of Canada will be watching this game.
For the Canucks’ psyche, for their morale, for their well-being, a win here could change their entire season. If they start this roadie off right, if they beat the Leafs for all their loyal Vancouver fans, and if they do it all on the national stage, the Canucks could define their season. If they lose, it could define their season for all the wrong reasons.

Can they do it?

Can they win these most important games and change the fate of their whole season?

Boy, I can’t wait to find out!

Go Canucks!

The Vancouver Canucks hosted their 2009 “State of the Franchise” event Thursday evening, bringing in season ticket holders and invited guests to get a look inside the Canucks management team and insight into their thoughts on the state of the club.

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First off, I was lucky enough to be invited by a friend, and the Canucks put out quite a spread for their guests, with food, activities and photo ops with Canucks prospects.
So thanks to my friend Alan and to the Canucks!

We got some key insight on the view from the Canucks management on their three most promising up-and-comers.
Cory Schneider, Michael Grabner and Cody Hodgson appear poised to battle hard for roster spots this coming season. By all accounts, if they battle as hard as expected, they are all likely to have spots on the big league bench, come October.

The praise was spewing like a geyser for Hodgson in particular. The management team made no secret that they think the world of him and they seem to expect big things from him. They did temper their enthusiasm somewhat by expressing that Hodgson won’t make the team until he’s ready. It was clear to me that Gillis and the rest feel he’s going to be ready this fall.

Gillis also stated that the Canucks are still in the market for another defenseman for their line-up. We’ll see if that happens via trade or free agent acquisition, but he did openly address the hole in the Canucks roster at the back end.

The biggest highlight of the event came when discussing the process of arbitration. Barry McDonald, the evening’s moderator, asked Gillis if a relationship with a player can become fractured if he loses an arbitration hearing. Gillis replied (and I’m paraphrasing) “The only thing fractured in a meeting with Kyle would be if we brought a scale.”, which resulted in an equal amount of gasps and laughter from the crowd. Gillis was quick to reply to that by saying that Wellwood has a great sense of humour and that he likes him a lot.
Kudos to Mike for being ballsy enough to say that in front of your most faithful patrons, but I’m sure he wouldn’t have said that if he thought Wellwood would be offended by that.

If nothing else, the evening proved that he has a very good relationship with his players, and a wicked sense of humour.

I look forward to seeing who the Canucks target for their defensive pickup, and how the top 3 prospects fare when the fall comes.

We’ll see how things round into shape in the next two months. Sorry, Kyle, that wasn’t directed at you.

Go Canucks!

- Cam Davie

Well, Mike Gillis certainly thinks so.

The Canucks GM stated on TSN earlier this week that Cory Schneider will be in the long-term plans of the Vancouver Canucks.

With the Canucks on the verge of signing captain Roberto Luongo to an extension, it’s hard to see where Schneider will fit. Schneider himself has alluded to the fact that he feels ready to make the leap to the NHL, and that he has nothing more to learn at the AHL level.

I agree with him.

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If Gillis is being truthful and Schneider is in the Canucks plans, then he absolutely has to play on the team this year. He also should be playing a minimum of 20 games this year. He has to get his NHL legs, and he can’t do that in 15 games or less.

But I still don’t see how he can be in the team’s long-term plans as long as Luongo is here. Schneider will be a #1 goalie in this league quickly, and he will not be satisfied riding the pine for 60 games a season, watching Luongo.

So I find Gillis’s comments somewhat baffling, given the indications and the rumours that Captain Lou is here for a while.

My hope is that they showcase Schneider this year in 15 games before the trading deadline, and trade him then, or trade him next summer and get some assets back, either roster players or high draft picks. He needs some time in the spotlight to grow his value. I just hope he gets that opportunity to do that this season.

The other youngsters quickly making noise are Michael Grabner and Cody Hodgson. After Hodgson’s whirlwind season in the OHL, and Grabner’s tremendous improvement with Manitoba last year, they both seemed poised to make the team this year.

But are they just Gillis’s fallback plan if he fails in free agency?

So far, the dip in the free agent pool has left few ripples for the Canucks, with Mikael Samuelsson as the Canucks only noticeable signing.
Mike Gillis stated last year that the Canucks needed to get younger, faster and grittier. To date, Gillis has successfully signed only aging free agents. His acquisitions so far have been Demitra, Sundin and Samuelsson, and he’s now rumoured to be targeting 40-year-old veteran (and former Gillis client) Mathieu Schneider. It seems to me that Gillis is flatly ignoring his own mission statement and is simply signing older players to fill holes.

To that end, it appears to me that Grabner and Hodgson are his contigency plan this year. If he can’t sign the younger free agents he wants, he’ll just slot in Grabner and Hodgson. While I have no problem with that if they’re both ready this September, it would be a terrible mistake if they’re not ready and Gillis is once again just filling roster holes.

It’s time for Gillis to act like like a big-league GM and round out this roster the right way – the way he said he would – with youth, speed and grit.

Go Canucks!

- Cam Davie

Are they trade winds a-blowin’? It would certainly appear that way.

But the question is… Who are the Canucks trading?

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With the acquisition of Andrew Raycroft yesterday, the Canucks seem poised to make a trade involving a goaltender. Likely that trade would involve Cory Schneider, the Canucks first round pick from 2004, who is on the brink of his NHL breakthrough. The problem with Cory Schneider is that he needs NHL minutes. And when you have an All-Star goalie in Roberto Luongo already between the pipes, Schneider is just not going to see much ice time.

So it does seem likely that the Canucks would trade Schneider, rather than keeping him in the AHL for another year. He took the Moose to the finals last year, and won Goalie of the Year honours. He doesn’t really have much left to accomplish.

So the question is… who needs a goalie? And who has a puck moving defenseman that could be sent to Vancouver in return?

Up until yesterday, there was a lot of chatter about a possible trade to the Leafs for Kaberle. However, the Leafs have Toskala and Pogge and just this morning signed Swedish goalie phenom Jonas Gustavsson. So the Leafs are flush with goalies now. It seems pretty unlikely that they would be dance partners at this party.

So let’s look first at how needs a goalie. The teams that I see as needing young goaltending are:

Chicago
Colorado
Los Angeles
New Jersey
New York Rangers
Pittsburgh
San Jose

So now that we have a list of potential dance partners, who would Vancouver want in return? A better question is: Who could Vancouver get in return:

Chicago – Seabrook, Keith
Colorado – JM Liles
Los Angeles – Doughty, J. Johnson (RFA), Preissing
New Jersey – Oduya
New York Rangers – no players of interest
Pittsburgh – Orpik, Letang
San Jose – Vlasic, Ehrhoff

If it was a straight-up deal, Brent Seabrook, Johnny Oduya, Kristopher Letang and Marc-Eduoard Vlasic would be my four main targets. They all have reasonable cap numbers, and most (except for Letang) offers their current team much needed cap relief in exchange for Schneider.

The other possibility is to create a package.

Two possible packages are Schneider + Mason Raymond or Schneider + either Bieksa or Salo.
If the Canucks are offering either of these packages, most of these players/team are possible partners. In return, the Canucks would probably ask for one of the players listed above, and an upcoming draft pick or two. I don’t think that the Kings are going to trade Doughty. He’s the future of their defense core. The same is true with the Blackhawks and Duncun Keith. I think he’s just too valuable to them right now. NY Rangers don’t really have any defenseman who I think the Canucks would be willing to take back.

Given cap constraints and up-and-coming players on their current rosters, I believe that the two most suitable trade partners would be Chicago or San Jose. Both teams really need to solidify their current backup goalie situations, both have aging goaltenders, and both have cap constraints that could be eased with trading a more expensive puck-moving defenseman.

The other target is Colorado. They have clearly stated that they are rebuilding. They traded Ryan Smyth to begin this process and are looking to younger and start this process now. They have very shaky goaltending, and have had for a couple of seasons now. Getting a young goalie in now would certainly help that process, and Jon-Michael Liles would be a great fit in Vancouver.

It’s going to be a tense summer if you’re a Canucks fan, playing the waiting game.

Go Canucks!

- Cam Davie

So what do the Canucks do now?

Do they sign a couple of free agents? Are they going to offer up a big trade? Do they re-sign Mats Sundin? Are they counting on Cody Hodgson making the team? What do they at backup goalie?

Does Mike Gillis have some master plan for filling out the rest of this team?

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As far as free agency is concerned, there are definitely some defensemen that I would target, if I was Gillis.

Marc-Andre Bergeron, Martin Skoula, Dennis Seidenberg and Christian Backman would all fill specific needs for the Canucks. They’re all solid puck-moving defensemen and available at a very reasonable price (with the possible exception of Backman).

As for trades, there is a LOT of buzz that the Canucks and Leafs are on the verge of making a trade, which would send Kaberle out west. Reports differ on what the Canucks would send to Hogtown, but most rumours involve Cory Schneider. I offer Schneider and Raymond for Kaberle. This trade serves the need of both teams, but only if the rumours of the Luongo contract extension are true.

As for Sundin, I think he still serves a specific need for the Canucks, especially on the powerplay. However, recent contracts to aging veterans have to send a signal to Sundin that he is not going to command the money he got last year. Mark Recchi signed for 1 year at $1 million and arguably had a better season than Sundin. Mats has to understand that his value has dropped dramatically. If Gillis can sign Sundin for $2.5 million or less, I would take him. Otherwise, there are other free agents available for that price that can offer as much input as Sundin.

Yes, Cody Hodgson will play for the Canucks next season. Done.

Finally, at backup goalie, this is largely dependent on the trade rumours. If Schneider is going to be traded, then the Canucks will have to go out and scoop up a free agent backup. Marc Denis would be the main target on this, if it was up to me.
If he isn’t traded, then Cory Schneider will be the Canucks backup goalie next season. I have no doubt about that.

The next move that Mike Gillis makes will either renew my faith in him, or crush it entirely.

Your move, Mike.

Go Canucks!

- Cam Davie

UPDATE!

As soon as I published this story, Canucks announced the signing of Mikael Samuelsson. Ok – my faith is being restored. This is a really solid signing for the Canucks.