Lenny Jones

Tonight is going to be a tough night. Might be the last time we see him in a Canucks jersey. The Dragon Slayer will be missed.

Hammer, in the games he has played, has been flying around the ice like it's Junior and he is playing for the Cougars. The Prince George Dan Hamhuis would be deadly.

There is no chance in hell he goes back to Calgary and this is my theory why: Both the Hitmen and the Flames are under the same ownership. I know this is very subjective and I don't have a lot of credibility behind me, but I rented a car to the Hitmen's GM this summer and he used the Flames corporate rate and stated he works for the Flames. I don't know if he just said that to use their corporate account or if he actually identifies as a part of their organisation somehow. Regardless, Wouldn't that be perfect if you, as an NHL team, could tamper with the development of a rival prospect without repercussions? It's a far reaching conspiracy, but it's possible that Benning will have Virtanen with the team this year just to avoid any possible mishandling of Jake's development. It would take too many resources and be a PR nightmare if Benning or Linden accuse Calgary of tampering. the other part of my theory is that, in my opinion, he is NHL ready.

Can we shift the talk back to Brock Boeser? Does anyone know if NDU will have streams of their games? How do I go about watching Boeser this season? I was rooting for Jim to pick him in the first round and we did. I think we have a special player, and if he can push himself to achieve, he might just end up being a 1st line type player. I want to watch his play without the puck, which is hard with almost only highlights out there.

I think if he makes it, the bottom six will look like: Higgins - Horvat - Virtanen Prust - Vey - Hansen Or more likely Higgins - Vey - Hansen Prust - Horvat - Virtanen Where Dorsett can slot in For Prust, Virtanen or even one of Higgins/Hansen depending on what the situation is. It's more likely that Kenins needs to be involved in the lineup if anybody starts to push Hansen or Higgins into the press box. I feel like I would really want to pair Virtanen up with a prospect centre and a vet left-winger. I would expect a few combinations before the regular season starts. This bottom 6 is going to be tough for Willie and his staff to piece together if guys like Grenier and Gaunce are also playing their way onto the team. I feel like they might be mid-season injury add-ins that stick like Kenins. I fully expect a trade either before or during the season with intention to give someone a chance. Hell I have not heard a lot about Shinkaruk, who knows what he might do after a summer's training. It's too bad we can't be as excited about defence quite yet.

Of course that is your opinion, but I think that it says a lot more about this kid than you think. It's not just about "qualifications of a captain" or the lack-there-of, but more about why he is more qualified than the rest of the players. It's a players-vote captaincy which means his teammates think he is best suited to represent the leadership in the locker room. These 19-20 year olds picked this 17 year old as there leader. I think that says a lot about character, which is more important in my opinion than yours. the maturity at his age is the greatest asset here, I believe. I don't see how foot-speed and size could be a negative. Maybe I am interpreting what you have written wrong, but both those qualities are an asset. The fact that he is relied upon as their top defensive player, and thus goes up against the Ehlers of the QMJHL on a nightly basis, means that even on a bottom-feeder team he is in the best position to develop his defensive game. Looking at him from a developmental standpoint, if he is already being relied on to lead the team and be the backbone on defence, he will be given the best opportunity to continue to develop into the best defensive player he can be. I think your comment is a knock on his offensive ability but to have a prospect with the potential to step into the pros with an already well-defined defensive game, he has the luxury of being able to focus most of his development in the pros on offence. Part of what makes a top 2 guy is the ability to log heavy minutes against the top players in the league. He is already doing this at 17. I think this is the best chance you can get in the 3rd round. Think about McCann. He focused on his defensive game during his draft year. People questioned his offensive game. His draft +1 was a very successful one offensively. When he goes pro he will have spent a few years playing as a 1st line centre while being relied on defensively. Since McCann could already play a strong two-way game, he just needed to focus on his offence. Brisebois might not have the same kind of shot McCann has, but he does a great job of finding lanes to get the puck to the net. I want to take a moment to address the trading up thing. Trying to predict how easy it could have been to move up in the draft is very difficult. It's very possible Vancouver felt like what was offered to move up cost too much. I think it should not factor into debating who we picked with our draft pick. Again, this is just my opinion, but I think the potential in this kid could be high, we just haven't seen his offensive side yet. Could be very exciting.

Jensen - Horvat - Kassian Virtanen - McCann - Fox Gaunce - Cassels - Vey (something tells me Shinkaruk might be on the move)

I think Gillis is a fall guy if we talk about the torts hiring. My biggest concern is how much of the PR stuff was just not being able to combat the media? It's their job to think up the perfect question to stir up controversy. I think anyone less than Gilman will be a bad choice for GM, but we'll have to wait and see. I hope that AQ is dedicated enough for a winning team that he hasn't made this move just to give fans a reason to come to the games next year.

The fans got upset and AQ appeased them. Look at our possession numbers, our injuries and our slumps. Look at all the great moves Gillis did with no cap room over the summer. I am among a minority that sees the Schneider and Luongo trades as separate events, both with a ton of reason that the moves make sense from a management's perspective and a ton why it wasn't from a PR perspective. For these reasons, I don;t think Gillis is to blame for this season's crappy play. HOWEVER the main reason I think AQ was too hasty is because Gillis with cap room took our team from a non-contender to a game 7 team. We have cap room now and a coach who has taken a team of rookies to the Cup before. I think Gillis deserved the summer these past two seasons of no cap room were building up to. Now we have a new GM coming in (god knows how soon) and they will have to figure out what to do in such a short among of time prior to the draft. I guess Gilman will be GM because it would be retarded to pick someone else and hope they can just key into what needs to be done. I think the timing was also wrong.

Don't the scouts largely dictate who to draft? I didn't know GMS flew over seas to check out 17-20 year olds play hockey.

Such a stupid, knee-jerk move. I hope Gilman is ready...

I think the guys we have are the right ones, and that cap space is what Gillis is frothing at the mouth for. He can sign a nice FA with the cash. Booth buyout and we got Kesler a winger.

in tampa I saw him get slashed in the faceoff circle... maybe it's that.

Do you even hockey?

that would be useless... We are following the Detroit model of developing our prospects... we clean house and we have to follow the Edmonton model of put them in the line up asap.... look how well that s going for them.

BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

Every team wins the cup like this. I remember a lot of cup winners saying there is an element of luck, you need everything to go your way at the right time.

It will be one of those ones like hank a few years back where he is just putting on the breaks and it bounces of his skate, and they call it a non-goal even though tape was sent to all 30 teams explaining that the play should be deemed a goal.

Edler is useless

Shinkaruk Reinhart Kassian Horvat Schroeder Jensen. I think Schroeder will surprise people once he gets top 6 minutes.

all you "lets tank" people... I like to see you try and get the players to tank. As a fan, maybe you want that to happen, but in the Canucks organisation, focusing on tanking the season means you lose your job. Nobody wants to lose their job.

Did anybody read the Canucks army article? They seem to think BoHo won't be around for another 3-4 seasons and will top out at round 40 points being a 3rd line center. If you take any weight into what they say, We shouldn't be expecting him to be the next Kesler...

Look out Deb. I fully expect the Media will turn this fickle fan base against Kesler like they did Luongo.

You do realize since he's been here it's been the Media vs the Canucks? You understand that it was initially the MEDIA and the FANS that treated Luongo like crap, forcing Gillis to explore the options of moving an unpopular asset? Of COURSE he would be a dick to those people, they keep turning fans against his players and his organisation. The man has an extremely tough job because of these dicks. I'm surprised he hasn't fully lost his shart and full out yelled at them for everything. Has anyone noticed the significant increase of Canucks brand media dictating post-game pressers and media scrums? In depth interviews... etc? They are silently trying to create their own media product to combat the forces in their own city working against them.

You can see it and hear it too, he doesn't look like he is talking out of his butt when he says those things. And it's more legit as a DAD to want your kids to grow up where they are born. It's legit when he says he loves playing here. It's legit when the whole team celebrates on twitter when he isn't traded. Kesler doesn't WANT a trade, he would welcome one close to home, but would prefer to stay here for the time being. IF he says he wants to be here, they why is our fan base upset he wasn't moved? I had a heart attack when I read that fake tweet he was traded.