If you haven’t noticed, the Vancouver Canucks have a glut of centermen both now and for the future. They sent young guns Dmitry Zhukenov and Joseph Labate down to Chicoutimi and Utica respectively, but for some reason there’s still a gazillion centers – okay, 11. 11 centers – vying for the jobs down the middle on the big club. Out of those 11, three of those are Henrik Sedin, Bo Horvat, and Brandon Sutter, who will presumably take the top three spots. Another spot can be removed for Brendan Gaun
It’s been a pretty interesting pre-season so far for the Vancouver Canucks. So who’s done what? Well, the Canucks have scored one goal in two games against the San Jose Sharks. Goaltenders Jacob Markstrom and Richard Bachman have looked stellar in their game in Colwood, BC, while verteran Ryan Miller and prospect (is he still a prospect?) Joe Cannata were decent but let in a pair each in Game #2 at Rogers. It’s expected that Bachman and Cannata will be sent down to the Utica Comets. As for the
There’s been a lot of questioning of Jim Benning’s decisions lately. First with the Eddie Lack trade, then with the Kevin Bieksa non-trade to San Jose, then the Zack Kassian trade, and then most recently with the Bonino trade (which I addressed in my last post). Benning’s been beginning to clean house, no doubt about it. Here is the Canucks’ lineup, from last year to this year: The first line and the top two defensive pairings would be the exact same, the second line would be faster and
As most Canucks fans know by now, Jim Benning has shipped Nick Bonino, Adam Clendening, and a 2nd round pick to Pittsburgh for Brandon Sutter and a conditional 3rd round pick. To say this was an unexpected move would be an understatement. Some might look at the preliminary facts and grumble, saying “Oh, Benning doesn’t know what he’s doing”. And yes, Nick Bonino provided more offense than Brandon Sutter did last season. But what Benning is doing here is restructuring his lineup. Bo Horvat ha
Original article can be found here. Let me forewarn, er, myself – this is kind of a taboo topic to be on. However, it’s one we’ll need to end up coming to eventually. I choose to let go of what Mark Messier did. Granted, 99.99% of my memories happen during or after the West Coast Express era. And granted, most if not all Canucks fans would like to see him in a position constantly in the position he’s in here. And granted, again, his signing resulted in the trading of fan-favourites Trevor Lind
A lot of people seem to be disappointed with this year's draft. Why?
We'll start off with the players picked in the draft using picks the Canucks traded:
Rasmus Andersson, D (CGY)
Deven Sideroff, F (ANA)
Jack Sadek, D (MIN)
Rasmus Andersson, a Barrie Colts defenseman who performed extremely well and captured the hearts of many a Canucks fan, was the return Calgary got in the Sven Bärtschi trade.
Deven Sideroff is a speedy right winger who had a few Canucks fans intrigued, but most want
With less than 10 days to go before 30 new players graduate into pro hockey, here is my final mock draft projecting where I think the top young guns may go. As I did with my last mock draft, I'll include honourable mentions for the Top 10.
1. Edmonton Oilers - Connor McDavid, C 2. Buffalo Sabres - Jack Eichel, C 3. Arizona Coyotes - Mikko Rantanen, R 4. Toronto Maple Leafs - Dylan Strome, C 5. Carolina Hurricanes - Noah Hanifin, D 6. New Jersey Devils - Mitch Marner, C
The last few drafts have been extremely generous to the Canucks' prospect pool. While Bo Horvat (#9, 2013) has already graduated to the big club, names like Alexandre Grenier (#90, 2011), Brendan Gaunce (#26, 2012), Ben Hutton (#147), Hunter Shinkaruk (#24, 2013), Cole Cassels (#85), Jordan Subban (#115), Jake Virtanen (#6, 2014), Jared McCann (#24), Thatcher Demko (#36), and others are looking to push for spots in the coming years, and have started to show promise already.
The one problem wit
1. Edmonton Oilers - Connor McDavid, C McDavid is the obvious choice here, as he has absolutely destroyed the OHL and has garnered more hype than any other prospect over the last 10 years. Really not too much to say here. HM: Jack Eichel 2. Buffalo Sabres - Jack Eichel, C Again, Eichel is another obvious choice. Almost the McDavid of the NCAA, the BU centerman has a passionate fanbase and even a college linemate waiting for him in upstate New York. HM: Dylan Strome 3. Arizona Coyotes - Mitch M
Schedule: Game 1: Chicago @ Tampa Bay | June 3, 2015 Game 2: Chicago @ Tampa Bay | June 6, 2015 Game 3: Tampa Bay @ Chicago | June 8, 2015 Game 4: Tampa Bay @ Chicago | June 10, 2015 Game 5*: Chicago @ Tampa Bay | June 13, 2015 Game 6*: Tampa Bay @ Chicago | June 15, 2015 Game 7*: Chicago @ Tampa Bay | June 17, 2015 *- May not be necessary Journey to the Finals: Tampa Bay Lightning: The Lightning have dispatched the Detroit Red Wings (7 games), Mo
I think this goes without saying for any mock draft, but if there's any trades during the draft, th just goes out the window. I tried to fit the player with the need, but I'd love to hear your guys' feedback!
1. Edmonton Oilers - Connor McDavid, C
2. Buffalo Sabres - Jack Eichel, C
3. Arizona Coyotes - Mitch Marner, C
4. Toronto Maple Leafs - Dylan Strome, C
5. Carolina Hurricanes - Noah Hanifin, D
6. New Jersey Devils - Lawson Crouse, LW
7. Philadelphia Flyers - Pavel Zacha, C
8. Col
Game 1: CGY 2-1
Game 2: VAN 4-1
Game 3: CGY 4-2
Game 4: CGY 3-1
Game 5: VAN 2-1
Game 6: CGY 7-4
Canucks' Three Stars of the Series
1. Bo Horvat (1-2-3, +1)
2. Daniel Sedin (2-1-3, +1)
3. Alexander Edler (0-3-3, +3)
Bo Horvat led the Canucks' charge in this year's first round exit against the Calgary Flames, scoring the first goal as well as quietly creating chances. Bo was noticeably Vancouver's best (and most consistently good) player.
Daniel Sedin lead the Vancouver
Sorry, this won't be as exciting or punny as my power rankings, it'll just be the picks straight up. Edmonton getting 1st overall really took it out of me.
1. Edmonton Oilers - Connor McDavid, C
2. Buffalo Sabres - Jack Eichel, C
3. Arizona Coyotes - Mitch Marner, C
4. Toronto Maple Leafs - Dylan Strome, C
5. Carolina Hurricanes - Noah Hanifin, D
6. New Jersey Devils - Lawson Crouse, LW
7. Philadelphia Flyers - Matthew Barzal, C
8. Columbus Blue Jackets - Ivan Provorov, D
9. San Jose
As of April 12.
1. New York Rangers
PR Pts: 76.3 | Avg Rank: 6th
The Rangers got their game back as a Christmas gift and have been performing amazingly ever since.
2. Tampa Bay Lightning
PR Pts: 58.8 | Avg Rank: 1st
The Lightning have been the best team all year, and they look to thunder into the playoffs against the Red Wings.
3. St. Louis Blues
PR Pts: 51.6 | Avg Rank: 4th
No one's singing the Blues in St. Louis. In fact, they'll be watching them later this week.
This year's playoffs, according to one writer from theScore, are going to be a gong show. And he's not wrong. With teams in the playoffs this year that weren't last year, such as Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, Nashville, Washington, Ottawa, and the New York Islanders, it really is quite open as to who could take the Stanley Cup this year.
Now, while there might be a little bit of bias, There's a lot of bias toward my pick, as I think this could be Vancouver's year to win it all. Yes, I am a C
As of April 4.
1. New York Rangers
PR Pts: 61.8 | Avg Rank: 6th
At this time, a comparable would likely be the 2011-12 Canucks.
2. Chicago Blackhawks
PR Pts: 60.2 | Avg Rank: 3rd
Hossa seems to be getting along fine without his Kane.
3. Washington Capitals
PR Pts: 56.0 | Avg Rank: 12th
50! 50! 50!
4. Minnesota Wild
PR Pts: 51.8 | Avg Rank: 11th
The Wild have certainly lived up to their name these past few weeks. Dubnyk has been a pleasant surprise.
5. Tam
Hi all, I just wanted to take the time to introduce you to my style of Power Rankings. It's not perfect, but it does work out pretty well except in some instances.
The formula for Power Rank Points (or PR Pts. as I have it in my spreadsheet) is this:
(ROW+Goal Differential)*Last 10 Win %.
For the teams that have 0 or less PR Pts., it becomes somewhat skewed (such as when Edmonton and Buffalo had a 0 W% for a while this season), so I have to either evaluate it myself to rank the subpar
