Captain Canuck #12

That's great to hear that you're happy with the centres on the team now -- who isn't? All I'm sayin' is that our prospect depth at centre is lower than at wing and D, so yes, Benning would be wise to shore our depth up there. He went all wingers in the last draft, so here's to hoping that he leans toward centres in the next draft.

I think that when the Canucks acquired Miller at the draft, most fans sensed that he was getting at least a reasonable return on that future 1st rounder, but did Benning and Co. really suspect that Miller would be this good? If so, we're not worthy......!

When our D prospects are mentioned, most people seem to only be naming Woo and Rathbone, but Tryamkin still has to be added to the mix here and may still be the strongest D prospect of them all. Also, when it comes to the centres, I agree that the young centres on our roster are very strong. But no team that wants to be a long-term contender can rest on its laurels and just be happy with its current roster players. Benning has to be keeping the prospect cupboard full for long-term success, and at this point in time, centre is the position where our future prospect roster (and no Kanukfanatic, not our current team roster) is the leanest.

What a great Comets-style interpretation of a classic Canucks logo! I bet this will be a big hit at the arena store. It's definitely stands out among all previous Comets jerseys!

I'd refer you to the Utica Comets thread to get an idea of how much more we're in need of young centres in the system than young wingers or D. It's great to have the ones we have on the roster now, but any team that's going to be strong in the long run has to have a balance of good prospects at every position. Right now, we're definitely lacking in centre prospects relative to the other positions. Hopefully Benning focuses on adding a few centres in the higher rounds in the upcoming draft.

Great idea, except that our prospect pipeline is so sparse when it comes to centres, it seems a bit risky to make him a winger.

I think #11

The only way you can describe Baertschi or Eriksson as being engaged, or even just playing well, is if you're looking to find signs of even the smallest things they do positively in a game (i.e, the 'little things'). That was just enough to keep them in the lineup in that past, but now this team has moved well beyond saving lineup spots for players who can't contribute in a bigger, bolder way. Especially if they might be getting in the way of developing some of our promising young prospects!

HI Wolfyre. I'm not sure how helpful most of these posts have been for you, but what I can tell you is that, of the few Skytrain stations in Surrey, Scott Road does have by far the largest parking lot. It's the one that a lot of commuters coming from the Fraser Valley will use to park in for the day when the take the Skytrain downtown. I haven't parked there on a Saturday, but I'm sure there would be lots of open spots on the weekend.

I agree! I'm making post #3, let's see if we can get the number of pages in the Perron thread up into Juolevi or Tryamkin territory! What other interesting comments can others add about him??

And I had a dream the other night that he won the Norris trophy! Now I'm getting really excited to see him back here soon!!

Okay, I'm willing to trust your memory over mine The main point is though, he was seen as a young D with very high potential at the time.

Most people seem to forget that OJ had also just come off being voted the Best Defenceman at the WJHC when the Canucks drafted him. He beat out a lot of other highly-touted young D for that award.

You just said what I was thinking about MacEwan too, but wasn't ready to say out loud yet. I completely agree with what you're saying about big guys who play a small man's game in the NHL. I call it Darren Archibald-itis.

He's a big body, but I didn't think he played a particularly heavy game tonight. I though he looked more like a gentle giant. I hope I'm wrong about him, but I'm questioning if he actually has the mental makeup that a 4th liner his size needs to play the heavy, physical game that he should be playing. If not, I vote for giving Bailey a try. At least until Roussel, Motte and/or Ferland gets back.

I'm more interested in knowing how he's keeping up with Makar. That will be a race to watch through the rest of the season. Although I know Hughes' chances of catching Makar are slim to none, unless Makar gets injured, a la Boeser in his rookie season.

I kinda wanted him back up too, because I thought he'd play like a player possessed, getting another chance at life in the NHL. I saw none of that and now at least I know it's not because he hasn't been given enough chances, he's just not ever going to be anything more than a fringe NHL player. We're much better off keeping 3rd and 4th line players who can at least contribute energy and physicality to the lineup, like MacEwan and Motte (when healthy). It's just time to let Baertschi go.

You see five heads??!

Yeah, whenever you hear a player being described as having "concussion-like symptoms" after being rocked in a game, you know they have a concussion. Same thing if they say they're just having headaches after a hard jolt to the head; that's a concussion.

So what happened...we're still in suspense!

If the Canucks do decide not to sign him, I can't see them letting him go without at least trading his rights.

None. If you'd been paying attention you'd have noticed that for the past couple of seasons Green has nearly always played righties on the right side and lefties on the left, as long as he could find enough of each. When a D has been injured over the past couple of seasons, it's almost always been a D who shoots the same side who has been called up (most recently, Chatfield when Tanev when down, etc.).

I have a strong feeling that it's Jake's hockey sense, or his ability to keep himself from taking shots and turning over pucks in the offensive zone, that keeps Green from playing him in OT.

Sounds like a good idea, but I'm just concerned that Ferland's physical deterrent (i.e., fighting) days might be over.

Yes, but the question is whether Green likes him on the right side. Green is very set on having only RHD play on the right and vice versa. I can't remember any other Canucks coach who was as rigid on this issue.