Its Been a while but...

Ok so I understand that it has been a while since i have put some input to the canucks, but i am sure the readers know this that there really hasnt been much to talk about. Canuck wise that is.

Well now i can post a few things, such as my thoughts on the Canucks Pre-season so far.

Firstly, the Canucks rookie games. What can you say? I freaking love Cody Hodgson. He has the talent that we are looking for and frankly, i can see him playing a line with Eric Johnson and Jeff Cowan. He, in my mind is ready for the NHL.

Now. I to be honest after watching the two pre-season games against Edmonton (which we won BTW!) and i have to say, with out the services of "The Great Undecided One" that we are a To 6 West Con. team. I really like where we are with the team, in likes of the sedins, rookies, and new additions. Though it will be interesting to see how well the lines that AV set, match up. Such as the Sedin's and Bernier, and the Demitra pyatt raymond line. Guess we will have to wait and see. 

Yeah so I think the canucks are looking really good.

Ok thats it for the Canucks today. I will post more in the upcomming month.

Keep Rattling the Boards!

~Jessander

What's going on in Canucks-town,,,

So I notice it's been a while since I checked in last. So what's happened lately in Canucks-town?

Well, Curtis Sanford has decided on whose design he will wear on his mask for this season. Typically, there's some controversy over it because most fans believe the design to be unoriginal, and this fan definitely saw better designs in the mid-stages of the competition. Still, whose decision was it other than Sanford's? (Rhetorical question!)

The prospects have been in action TWICE against divisional rivals' prospect teams. Now, you can say I'm not a hardcore fan if you like, but I didn't manage to see either of the games. I swear that's a combination of the time difference and early morning starts at work (life is hard), not because I didn't want to watch.
Game 1 on Monday September 15th against the Flames was an interesting one by all accounts. Vancouver's youths went down 3-6 in the end, but not before valiantly battling back to a 3-3 tie for the end of the 2nd period. Unfortunately they seemed to run out of steam in the 3rd, or their heads didn't accompany them back to the ice after the break. Either way, a disappointing result but an encouraging display of character from the young stars. Of the lot, I'd have to say Michael Grabner showed himself well, potting two markers in the game. He played alongside two of the brightest Canucks prospects, Cody Hodgson and Dan Gendur. Grabner should be one to watch during this season's camp if his apparent growth is anything to go by.
Game 2 was the very next day, this time against Edmonton's offering. This one turned out to be a much more positive outing, with the Canucks running out 5 goals to 3 in their favour in a game that was much better balanced than the previous night's challenge. Grabner sat this one out, as did Julien Ellis, who twisted his ankle against Calgary. The good thing about that was that Cory Schneider got a starting slot. Standout that night was Cody Hodgson, bagging 1+2, which is encouraging from a guy that is widely expected to be a team leader when he eventually does make it to the NHL. Gendur was also on the scoresheet, giving us Canucks fans someone else to think about during training camp.

So, training camp. That highly anticipated part of the season that acts purgatorially between the slow summer months and the pre-season. Essentially the brunch of the hockey 'day', there should be plenty to chew on for Canucks coaches and fans alike, as the 45 hopefuls are put through their paces to determine who will make the final cut.

Looking down the roster for training camp, I noticed a couple of things:
More players on the roster have birthdays in September than any other month (well, it's the same as in June): seven. Salo, Ohlund, Raymond, the Sedins, Cowan, and Juraj Simek, in that order. Coincidentally, Simek is exactly three years younger than myself (not sure if that makes me feel old or young!), and the Twins are the next players with birthdays. Anyway, I digress a little... What are the odds that players with birthdays this month will all make it to the final cut and play at least one pre-season game? Got to be good long odds on that, I'll bet!

Also, the search for a new team captain has begun. Despite the team's attempts at understating the emphasis on the captaincy, it's certain to be in a dark corner of most players' minds, and surely at the front of big V's, who is adamant that there are plenty of potentials to choose from. On top of that, there is evidence that players are thinking about who they'd like to be lined up with on gameday. Demitra fancies Pyatt (must be the eyes!), saying that he prefers playing alongside big, strong guys who drive to the net and open up ice for him. Queue the line speculations!

Surprisingly, the first news story I came across this evening was--wait for it--Roberto Luongo's new 'do'! Yes, get your eyes rolling folks, because Lui's had his hair cut and that indicates something... well, basically that he's cleaned himself up and is ready to make a fresh start in light of the changes in his personal life. At least he's feeling upbeat, and if Roberto's feeling good, the whole team should feed off of that.

As difficult as it is to believe, I'm feeling upbeat about the season myself, which goes against a deeply ingrained tradition to be constantly pessimistic. But I can't help it, because despite the fact that the Sundin offer is STILL on the table, despite Gillis not doing more to fill in some of the holes up front, there is an atmosphere of positivity around the team for the first team in a long time, and that, I suppose, is infectious.

Thoughts...

I wanted to get out a few of my thoughts about goings-on in Canucks World lately.

Currently Canucks.com is running a story about Ryan Kesler returning to Vancouver this week. For me, this is good news, as Kesler is a bright star for the team. He's not the youngest guy on the team, but he's still got plenty of growing room on a team that desperately wants offense and grit up front. In addition to that, he's a future candidate for team captain, which is typical of a talented hard-worker. Last season he set a career high for goals and points, thanks largely to his chemistry with linemate Alex Burrows, who also benefited from the partnership.
In-keeping with the tradition of 'armchair coaching', I would look to keep these two guys together, albeit with Kesler putting in more time on the powerplay, since I'm sure he can further improve on last season's numbers given the opportunity. Basically, this is my official petition to give Kesler a bigger role on the team.

Something I've noticed this year is that almost all of the newly acquired players for the team got started early on their training and workouts. I think that's a good sign that they're taking this opportunity seriously. If guys like Steve Bernier and Kyle Wellwood are looking to make a big impression at camp in less than two weeks, then that's a good indication that the same enthusiasm will carry with them onto the ice and hopefully spread to the rest of the team too.

The biggest problem these guys will face is where, or whether, they will fit in with coach Vigneault's systems. I don't think we're at the stage where we can say Vigneault is infamous for his systems--maybe not even famous--but I can't dismiss the proposition that it was partly the coach's fault for there being no scoring in Vancouver last season. If I'm wrong then I'll be happy to be proven so.

Finally, I'm quite appreciative of the minimal noise about Sundin over the past week or two. I suppose when everyone put their expectations on an August 1st decision--which was unashamedly shattered by both player and agent--they stopped expecting a decision on the whole. I hope that Mike Gillis has moved on too. The offer may still be on the table, but I expect the team to be looking towards prospect camp to fill the holes in the roster thus far. Canucks have some solid players, but there's always room for improvement, so whether the few remaining roster spots are filled through training camp or via a trade or two, they need to be addressed with complete conviction that 08/09 is going to be a better season than 07/08 could ever have been.