Canucks Week 10&11: Tank!

After a winning week, the Canucks go all out China Syndrome and blow out completely. A loss against the struggling Panthers, who were extremely weak entering the game which should've been the easy win for the Canucks, a loss against a mediocre Washington Capitals, although Brayden Holtby is still the Holtbeast and this loss is slightly just, and a shocking 5-2 lead to a 8-6 loss to the Hurricanes may make management rethink, be it tank or no tank. Suddenly, the Canucks show something that is common during their last tank: They can't keep it going. A win against a Lightnings team that is extremely off and a pity point loss to the Jackets makes the Canucks odds at 29th worse, although prior to the Lightnings game, the Canucks had the 29th place locked, for timothy liljegreen.

Also in the news, Olli Juolevi has just been named Captain of Team Finland! This is great and brings me back to my first post, when I talked about how Juolevi was a good pick for the Canucks. Good Luck Olli!

The Epic Price Staredown: The Adressing of the MVP's head

Carey Price, simply put, stands on his head more than half of the time.
His Montréal Canadiens have a solid defensive group, yet gives up a lot of goals. Don't look further than that 10-0 blowout: they let montoya dry. If Price was in net, he easily would've kept the bleeding to a halt. But there are times when the habs can light the lamp, yet still, many games after many games, Price has to make 30 to even 40 shots a game.

But this time, the Sharks managed only 23 shots. Can you really blame the D on this one? I'm certain the Columbus blowout was their fault, and I have no idea about the Patrick Roy game, but this was light. And they did pull him out and not let him dry. It sucks to be Montoya, he's forced to play even when it's a blowout, yet Price receives first class treatment.

And for the smaller people who are habs fans and somehow read my blog, don't worry. All those trade rumours are small jokes played. If anything, montoya should be the one asking for the trade. Price was just having a weak game, and he was expressing his anger of playing bad.

Conspiracies! Canucks Week 8 & 9

You know the drill: Let's get the game review done so we can get some tinfoil hats. So, the Canucks cap off a big shootout win with another high scoring Blast in the Rog, captivating a 5-4 Canucks win. We lose to Anaheim, which shouldn't be expected, then take a big game against the Maple Leafs, one that many fans were hyped for. Afterwards, the Canucks take to New Jersey in an intense match that saw Zajac, I believe, tumble into the boards by a check by Michael Chaput. Later on, Hall injures Larsen, leading to a scrum. Poor Larsen. As the players were going at it, only goaltender Jacob Markstrom and forward Markus Granlund were protecting the Danish defensemen. On Thursday, thanks to some depth players stepping up in Jack Skille and Jayson Megna, the Canucks beat the Lightning in a blowout, captivating the collapse by the Bolts.

Now, time for something that I've been waiting for, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, get your tinfoil on. We're about to investigate a conspiracy theory.
The Vancouver Canucks were once a solid team. And no, I'm not referring to 2k11, I mean recently, the 2015 season. In case you were more hyped by the Lightning's upset of the Rangers, we made the playoffs that season! But, we still got a first round exit. This prompted Jim Benning to go full... china syndrome? On the team. Now, I am about to prove, that the reason why the management core has remained the same is because... the Canucks are tanking on purpose! Dun dun dun! I am about to justify and explain every single move.

Let's Begin with the first questionable choice: Trading away Lack for the 3rd round pick. Well, for one thing, this pick was, I believe the 65th overall pick. That's an early 3rd rounder, as well as what can be considered a late 2nd. Picks like these have a 75% chance of being a good player. With the lack of defensive depth for the Canucks, we overhaul and trade away Lack, being able to draft Brisebois. I'm not hyped for him, but I can see him as our top 6 in the future.

Then, the Canucks choose not to sign Richardson and Matthias. One of the biggest issues with the team was the amount of centres we have. This also supports the tanking conspiracy, as Rich and Matt were both excellent penalty killers. This leaves Henrik, who is set to stay until he chooses to retire, Bo, who has to remain. Bowie Horvat is the key to our post tank, our rebuild. He has to stay if Henrik retires. What's left? Bonino, Vey and Dorsett. Dorsett was signed to a bad deal, mainly to help us tank. We put in a multi million dollar contract for a career 4th liner, who only scores 5 goals a season? This is clearly to reduce our chances of making any big moves until later on in the tank. Sbisa's signing was to see if he can beat the critics. Worst case, he's a top 6 who didn't pan out but is still helping the tank.

Bonino was resigned to make sure we have something. We deal away Bonino and some others for Brandon Sutter, who played as the 3rd line centre for the Pens. Now, this is justifiable. Because Geno Malkin is a centre that, despite having franchise centres, is only a second liner below Crosby, Sutter has second line, heck, small first line potential. I see our acquiring of Sutter as a move for post tank.

Before we continue on, I would like to acknowledge this post came from research off of Yahoo! Sports. Check out their article for more detail.
Moving along, the injury was unexpected and not part of team tank. We close it out by trading Bieksa, an obvious team tank trade for what we got back. To replace him, we sign Matt Bartkowski, supposedly a top 4 defensemen. I've seen Bartkowski as more of a top 6/ minor top 2 to 4 player, to be honest. I believe that he was a team tank accquiring.

The Lack trade was capped off with a signing: Richard Bachman. Bachman will be our number 3, or 4, as he and Joe Cannata seem equal. However, value wise, I see Bachman as being more experienced than Joe, which is why, after a season, Bachman is still on and Cannata is gone. This is what we want: to give Demko a spot on the roster in Utica, so he can play in a few years. Now, this depends on the Miller situation. Also, if you've noticed, a lot of players are going to be released this season. That's not a coincidence.

In the end, I see that Benning has had a pattern. Rushing Virtanen may be bad, but with other players like Ehlers already having the green to play in the Chel, I think Benning wanted to see Virtanen. Let's also note that he was drafted higher than Horvat, yet they both got the same treatment: 1 more year in junior than the pro call up. Bo did play 10 or so games with Utica, but that makes no difference: they both got the treatment, but Horvat was more capable of making the league, I suppose.

After 2016 was capped off the Canucks were en route to a solid pathline: They had the 5th overall pick, and the 3rd pick of each other round. We draft Juolevi, who was a solid pick. Remember, Tkachuk was playing with some very good players, Dvorak and Marner. Juolevi wasn't paired with anyone, yet got 50 points, I believe. The 2nd round pick was traded away, but not to tank, but as a good pick. Getting Gudbranson was a good pick. He has shown he can fight for the game, and even though his point total isn't here, he still has the big frame needed. The 2nd was only a distraction, as the Panthers did trade it away for Kulikov, and fan favorite Tyler Benson was drafted before 33, meaning we shouldn't have panicked about not drafting Benson. Although I still wish we drafted Ty ronning.

Benning knew we weren't guaranteed to succeed. But the tank was well and next season we could tank for a top 10 player. Patrick and Liljegreen are hard to get. We have to place 29th or 30th, or else Vegas will out edge us, and we would drop to 4th best odds. Not too good, but we can still try for luck.
Still, top 10 should be solid. Perhaps benning drafts a less succesful defense to pair with Juolevi, or not. The Canucks have a young defensive core, and it doesn't need to get any younger, to be honest.

The Canucks can proceed with the rebuild, with baby steps. The picking of Loui Eriksson was impressive, for a player of his caliber. Although he started out slow, fix up the core by clearing the free agents and he should have enough tools to help him. Troy Stecher was the surprising addition, but he's proven effective. The defensive core looks well, and I can see Sbisa possibly getting moved in the expansion draft to make room for Juolevi. A move of Subban  can also help. Garteig will fill in as number 3 goaltender, unless miller remains. Then he'd be #4.

The Canucks roster still doesn't look to strong, with the injuries, we've added struggling career 4th liners. But they've lit the lamp. Just look at Skille and Megna last night. They have potential, and hopefully this is more than a theory.

SHOOT TO SCORE! NHL 14 CANUCKS GM MODE S1 G1

Game 1 of the season. Schneider vs Quick. The game takes off with larceny by Schneider, and later on, Bieksa gets in the scruff. I will post the video separately, as Blogger does not let me.
The game then takes off with larceny by Quick. He makes 29 saves for a shutout, and the Canucks lose 2-0. Never ever play the Kings when Quick is in net.
Besides, that, Henrik Sedin, our captain, gets in the scruff twice! He wins the second one, KO'ing  Mike Richards in the rematch of the first fight.

WILL THIS TRADE HAPPEN?!? NHL 14 CANUCKS GM MODE S1 OFF

Since the popularity of my EA Sports NHL posts, I've decided to start a GM Mode of the Canucks. To begin, I won't have great quality for my pictures, as I don't have a capture card. Secondly, I'll be playing these games. Pro difficulty, 6 minutes. I might raise the difficulty if it becomes too easy.
I've decided to start in the draft. After failing to negotiate for a trade with Luongo, we finally nail a disappointing trade. Luongo to the Panthers for Kris Versteeg (You may now rant about the trade) and a 4th rounder that's pretty early, to be honest. Also, I've drafted Bo Horvat with the 24th pick due to nostalgia and coincidences.
We draft a goaltender named Phillipe Cadorette in the 3rd round, and hope to pounce in the 4th. Once again, due to nostalgic reasoning, we daft Cole Cassel 9th overall. A great pick, and worth the trade. I just hope he doesn't go bust. We draft an irrelevant player, Tyler Cox, with our original 4th rounder. I auto drafted the last 3 rounds, as the odds of them booming are unlikely.
I hate to say it, but the Canucks are struggling with money. We need to move players. We trade away Jason Garrison, top 4, for Luca Sbisa. At this point, the simulation would be killing us.
I just hope my playing is good enough. After trading minor players, I hope to have just enough money to sign Chris Tanev. We move Higgins to Calgary for a second, and we may have some money to sign Tanev.
And we do it. Our defence seems ready. And we have Schneider, who is arguably better than Luongo. I guess I can sim ahead to the regular season.
We struggle in the preseason, but if I play well, we can reach our goal of Making the second round of the playoffs.
For the record, this is harder than you think.

Things I want for NHL Games Part 2

Since my Things I want in Future NHL Games post was pretty popular, here's an all-new list with some extra ideas!

First Person Angle?
This sounds crazy, but I've always been thinking. Could we incorporate the first person perspective in NHL Games?
Here's my idea: Left Stick to skate, right stick to move your head. Wherever you're facing is where you'll skate to. To make passing easier, you have to be looking directly at the person you want to pass to. That's still the right trigger, or r2 on playstation. To shoot, I'll make life easier by explaining with the XBOX configures. Y to take a snap shot, or hold it when you don't have the puck and call for it, then let go for a one timer, B to shoot backhand, X to wrist shot, or vice versa. B to take a slapshot, or hold it, and call for the puck, then let go for a big slap shot one timer.
Sounds ridculous, but  could work.

Yearly Rosters!
One of the things that made the 2k NBA games cool is the yearly rosters thing. I'm not 100% sure if they have every year, but they do have rosters for teams in the past. It would be great to be play for historic teams like the 80s Oilers, or my favorite, the 93-94 Canucks.
This isn't something weird like the former. It's something that's easy to do. I think EA Should do this.

Draft Lottery
One of the things that would be cool is a draft lottery. It also makes the games more exciting, especially on franchise mode when your team is in a rebuild.

More Story!!!
I want story in the games! What 2k did well is their story for my career, although what they should do is subtract some talking. In one video I watched, when the player's character passed the ball, the game skipped to a sudden cutscene. Okay, that's too much story. The NHL 14 live the life had extensive story, but not on the ice. You have to let them play the game, not spend all the time thinking of the right response. In the later ones, there is absolutely none. I think this should be optional. Sometimes the interviews can be quite annoying.

Garret Sparks: Punished for Defending?

It would be crazy if you do not know that Garret Sparks has been suspended by the Maple Leafs organization.
The promising Sparks has the potential to be a marquee goalie for the Leafs. But an incident is keeping his career on edge.
After no comment was added when the Leafs suspended him, it was later reported that Sparks was suspended for his off-ice actions.
According to Yahoo, Sparks was part of a Facebook Group, GGS United. The definition of GGS is odd. Goalie Gear Sluts. That's the actual definition.
Sparks was a longtime active member in Goalie Communities, and GGS has been one he's been on for a while. As an administrator for a GGS United community on Facebook, Sparks came to the defense of a disabled user.
A user commented something half sarcastic, but rather rude. After another user told him he needs to calm down, Sparks came in. He put a profane threat to the user, finishing by commenting : God you sound like a 13 year old girl. Afterwards, yet another user tells Sparks not to insult girls. Sparks comes back saying that the individual is whinier than a 13 year old girl.
While these comments sound like something that could get him suspended, let's note that he was standing up for a disabled person. Remember, hockey players are humane. They have emotions, and can burst. Sparks did the right thing, and I hope he knew he was going to get into trouble.
Members of GGS commented that Garret has been active on goaltending community, etc. And how he always talked to all goalies, young and old.
I'm not certain if Toronto Management knew of this issue. It's actually a very downright human thing to stand up for a person, basically taking a wound for them. Garret Sparks, I commend your actions, and believe you got punished for something injust. Like at Jonathan Drouin. He was also suspended, but for not taking part in practices.

The altercation on Facebook that got Sparks suspended.

Things I want in Future NHL Games

Believe it or not, my passion for hockey actually came from an EA Sports game. That's right, I never liked watching hockey much until I got hooked on NHL 09. That same year, I asked my parents for NHL 14 for my birthday. Honestly, those have to be my favorite game. Even though EA Has completely slacked off lately with their games, there's no denying that, at the end of the day, it's still a better designed game than any of the rest.
But even then, I have a few ideas. Here are 5 things that EA Sports should put in their NHL Games

Number 1: Attendance, not Capacity
During the pregame intro for NHL 14, I noticed an odd thing. When they show the arena, they don't show the attendance, but the capacity. What I've noticed is that the seats are almost 99% filled in. I would search for empty seats, and when I find one, I feel a sense of accomplishment.
Even teams that struggle hard always have full arenas. But, in MLB 2k10, a struggling team would have completely empty sections! They also show the Attendance instead of capacity.
It would be cool if you were doing the 0-82 challenge and you did so bad, that only a thousand or so people attend. I definitely want to see more empty seats in teams like the Coyotes or Hurricanes.

Number 2: FIX THE AI
One of the main concerns with the games is the AI when playing the game in general. Some say EA doesn't really care about the game. After all, they earn so much money from Ultimate Team packs in Chel and Madden that they don't need to do anything. They just update the rosters, change some overall ratings, and they're good.
True, they don't fix the AI, but at the same time, they did expand the GM Mode quite well. But yeah, the AI could really use some help.

Number 3: Slapshot?
We all know NHL Slapshot. The game with Wayne Gretzky on the cover. Fact of the Day: In his last season Gretzky scored 61 points. Not a single player on the Maple Leafs hit that mark in 2015-16. Now, moving along, the career mode is pretty cool. You have many choices, but if you want to create your own player, you can go beyond the CHL and play Peewee and Bantam. Fake teams, but much fun. There aren't any offsides or icing, there are only 3 skaters on each side. It isn't a big rink, just a small, outdoors one.
I really want to see Bantam in a future NHL game, at least. You still have the choice of deciding when you want to start your career. Peewee may be a step too far, but it's not too bad, just a younger version of Bantam.

Number 4: Easier Stances
the new goalie stances are amazing, but there isn't any definition of each stance. What I want is the choice to modify it yourself. A high stance or a low stance. Pads closer in or extended out? Glove straight, or angled? Another thing I want is vintage customization. If you want, you can choose vintage goalie stances, and even go as far as having no mask!

Number 5: KHL
I'm sure a lot of fans want this. We have the Czech Extroliga, the Swedish Hockey League, the German DEL, and international markets. So, why isn't there a mother russia league?
I'm not sure myself. Legal dispute? I would be pretty neutral with it, but fans of Pavel Datsyuk and Ilya Kovalchuk would beg for this.

VOTE TRYAMKIN: Canucks Week 6 and 7

I know, I got lazy. But don't blame me. When the Canucks are struggling, it makes you less determined to make posts.
Let's go over the games quick, the Canucks beat the Stars in a comeback in Overtime. Great game, stecher may be the most offensive defenseman the Canucks have ever had. I think, if we were to trade Gaunce, we could trade subban, as stecher is much better than him.
Then there was that unwatchable 7-2 Blowout. Ouch, it was painful all around. I wouldn't say Markstrom got the Patrick Roy treatment, but he almost did.
We take a game against the struggling Coyotes (Good for Team Playoff, not for Team Tank).
Then there was the Blackhawks game. Okay, you have one job. Keep the 3-0 Lead. Do not blow it!
After a long break, the Canucks take a big win against the coyotes. Good job boys!
We go to Dallas, where they comeback to beat us 2-1. A bad icing call led to one of the goals for the Stars. Also, does anyone have any idea the hell Stars fans are cheering?
In the Avs game, we take that one 3-2, in the shootout. I have to say, Granlund has been clutch in sudden death situations. Much better than Shinkaruk.
Now that the games are done, let's talk about miscellaneous stuff.

Firstly, I want to say, the player I'm voting for in the All-star vote is... Nikita Tryamkin!
I'm sorry if you spit out your coffee, but listen why this would be crazier than John Scott.
-Tryamkin doesn't know English, so it would be awkward acknowledging the crowd, especially when they interview him.
- He is pretty good, has a big body like Chara.
- He isn't the best, and it would be like John Scott, definitely not a good player, being voted in.

Just to consider.

Another thing: I've noticed the Canucks are struggling on the Power Play.
Here's how to fix it: Use a volleyball tactic.
In volleyball, they pass it around their side twice before firing it on the other side. We could do that on the Power Play! Pass it twice, then shoot!

Another thing: Team Tank or Team Playoff?
I'd say Tank. The Canucks may be playing in a weak division, but even then, it would be impossible to make the top 3. Then, in the wild card spot, the teams in it are too good.
But if we tank, personally, there really isn't any good player besides Nolan Patrick and Teemo Liljegren. And, even if we make it 3rd best odds, we'd be bumped down to 4th because of Las Vegas, which is why I hope, if we tank, we finish 29th or 30th.

The JT Brown Incident: They're still Human

The 2016-17 nhl season has been crazy. Montréal gets blown out 10 to nothing by the Blue Jackets, the Canucks start out 4 and 0, and then there's the JT Brown game.
The Monday game between the tampa bay lightning and Nashville Predators was crazy as can be. After a blind spot hit by JT Brown on Roman Josi, Preds player Dan Ellis goes after Brown with a blind hit later on in the game. These incidents result in major scruffs, and as Ellis and Brown are both sent to the dressing room, Brown is heckled by fans, resulting in him smashing the phone of a spectator recording him.
As a child, I always thought hockey players couldn't speak or were banned from speaking. That's because we never hear them speak, only the commentators do. This brings up the point. People think hockey players are respectful honorable men, but at the same time, they're still human. Everyone has a breaking point where they just lose control. Even the calmest people will have that point. When it happens, you have to leave them alone.
At the same time, booing on the road is basically the same as cheering at home. Brown should've had more self control, and enjoyed the heckling.
Now, about the phone incident, I believe Brown should personally replace the spectator's phone. It's the most downright human thing he could do.

My Thoughts on the Vegas Golden Knights!

It's official. A few minutes ago, Las Vegas management announced the name of their franchise. The Vegas Golden Knights will be the face of sport in Las Vegas, after months of anticipation.
From the first few comments in the SportsNet live broadcast of the unveiling, some fans weren't too amused. The show itself was awkward after a video error. Some commented that the logo wasn't too exciting.
Despite this, I'm fine with the Vegas Golden Knights. Although teams with the word golden in them have had no success (The California Golden Seals, later the Oakland Seals), I'm not sure if they would scrap the word and make themselves the Las Vegas Knights, as the major junior team has the rights to it. Fun fact, I've made a story on the Knights' booming success. If you want, check it out. The logo isn't too exciting, but it is quite modern. I'm willing to give the 31st franchise in the NHL a chance.

Defence Improv Suggestions: Canucks Week 5

To begin, let's acknowledge that the Canucks ended their 9 game losing streak with a well earned 5-3 win against the Rangers. Markstrom made some difficult stops, Burrows stepped up, and an all around good effort. Congrats to Loui Eriksson for notching his first as a Canuck. I hope for him to net 20 this season.

Afterwards, not much to say about the rest of the week. So let's take a look at how to improve the Canucks Defence.
The Canucks have empathized this many times: We need better defence. But just how can we get better defence?

Here are my thoughts on how it should go.
The first pairing should be Alex Edler and Chris Tanev. An odd pairing, but hear it out. They've been heart & soul Canucks since day 1. Their entire careers thus far have been with the Canucks. It seems to me that these 2 have a chance. They are more seasoned out then the rest of the squad. They also play an all-around game, focusing on both sides of the play.

The second pairing should be Ben Hutton and Erik Gudbranson. Hutton is young, but has already become a fan favorite for his charismatic off-ice antics and Gudbranson is someone we need to succeed, giving up a second round pick that was extremely early, as well as former first round pick Jared McCann, to acquire him. I like Gudbranson's defensive skill, and Hutton is an all-around player as well, so we can see Gudbranson take checks against the puck carrier while Hutton does the same but would take the point shot.

The third pairing is an experimental idea. I have Troy Stecher with Nikita Tryamkin. Why? Because of this. Stecher is all-around, but he may be the most offensive based off the group. Tryamkin is the first or second all-d based, behind Gudbranson maybe. I can see Tryamkin hitting the puck carrier, laying him out cleanly, then passing the puck to Stecher who will start the offensive rush.

The 7th D-Man is Philip Larsen. I don't see him starting because Tryamkin is more hard hitting, and we have many all around players. I believe that Larsen could take over later on perhaps.

You may have noticed I left Sbisa out. That is because that under these conditions, I see Sbisa as our option for the expansion draft. I don't see a buyout happening for sure, but it may happen if Vegas doesn't draft him. Trade negotiations don't hurt either. If these cases don't help, sbisa may be a frequent starter next season, but won't be resigned. He'd be 28 and wouldn't have accomplished anything significant  in the League.

I can see Larsen perhaps improving his game in Utica's  top pairing for the season, while Stecher and Tryamkin rotate time with Sbisa and the bench.

But why this? Mainly because at this rate, Sbisa isn't a fan favorite.
Edler and Tanev are heart & soul players of the Canucks.
Hutton is the basic fan favorite out of the rookies.
Gudbranson we sacrificed too much for and he has skill.
Stecher because of how he stood out during pre-season.
And Tryamkin because of his ridiculous size and he is the odd favorite.
I don't see anyone wear Sbisa jerseys at Canucks games. I've never seen anyone wear a Sbisa jersey.

And it's also clearing cap space. Sbisa is making 3.6 Million, and I'm sure he'll want 4 Million when he signs next time.

Trade Gaunce?

Rather then talk about tonight's game or week 3 (Which I won't), I want to write about a possible trade option: Brendan Gaunce.
I don't really see Gaunce as a Member of our core. Horvat, Virtanen and Baertschi look like an ideal first line, while Sutter is there as a slightly older veteran, along with granlund. Those 5 would be a core player.
Now, Gaunce is young, but it really makes me question why he is on the roster. I believe Gaunce should've been in Utica. He is clearly top 2 or top 4 forward.
It would be interesting to see what player we can get out of Gaunce. We did trade Shinkaruk for Granlund, and I've been liking how Granlund has been playing.
It's a ridiculous gamble, but as of right now, it seems to be paying off. Shinkaruk has been playing down in Stockton. So, why not try again?

Canucks Week 2 Review

After starting out their season in saturday, basically skipping action in week 1, the Canucks start their season with a new attitude. Let's hope that all that West Coast to the Core Marketing worked. Will they prove that they're the exact same product as shown, or will they end up showing that their media is better then the team they follow?

Game 1: Canucks vs. Flames
WE WERE THERE! AND THEY WON!

The Canucks start their season fresh. The did not play in the first 3 days of the season.
Calgary had already played twice, coming off 2 losses from the Oilers.
Starting Goalies were Ryan Miller for the Canucks, and Chad Johnson for Calgary.

Scoring Summary:
1st Period:
Calgary Flames 1-0, Loui Eriksson own goal
2nd Period:
N/A
3rd Period:
TIE GAME: DANIEL SEDIN 1-1, FIRST GOAL OF THE SEASON (ASSISTED BY LOUI ERIKSSON (1) AND HENRIK SEDIN (1)
OT:
N/A
SO:
BRANDON SUTTER SCORES GAME WINNER, CANUCKS WIN 2-1!!!

So, there you have it. The Canucks take this game late in the 3rd period for a surprising comeback. I believe 5 people in the row in front of me left not even halfway threw the 2nd period.
Most people were disappointed with the Eriksson own goal. After all, he was our largest signing this off season, and one of the biggest acquisitions, besides Gudbranson, who was, ironically, the player who attempted to do the classic diving poke check to save the puck from going into the empty net, but failed.
I'm sure most people had left before Daniel scored. The second he scored, it was all good. We knew we were going to grab a point, even of it was just a pity point, but it was okay to start the season off with a point (Not bad at all). Miller played fantastic, and had the own goal not happen, he would've had a shutout. He currently has the best save percentage in the NHL.
And before we head to Game 2 on Sunday, kudos to Johnson.

Game 2: Canucks vs. Hurricanes
THEY DID WHAT?!!!

After a big win, the Canucks took on the Hurricanes with plenty of momentum. Still, the Hurricanes were more rested then the Flames. Fatigue was the reason we defeated Calgary last night.

Scoring Summary:
1st Period:
Carolina 1-0, Victor Rask (2) (Assisted by Lee Stempniak [2])
Carolina 2-0 Teuvo Teravainen
2nd Period:
Carolina 3-0 Justin Faulk
CANUCKS  3-1 BO HORVAT SCORES!
3rd Period:
The Canucks start a rally!
3-2 NOW THANKS TO A GOAL BY MARKUS GRANLUND! ASSISTS BY HANSEN AND SUTTER!!
TIE GAME THANKS TO BEN HUTTON!!! 3-3!!!!
OVERTIME:
CANUCKS SCORE!!!!!!!!! BRANDON SUTTER!!!!!!!!!!! THE HERO!!!!

And the Canucks take this one with 4 unanswered. A rather difficult rally. The Canucks did rally back from a 1 goal deficit, but anyone could. 2 goals could be challenging, but it could happen. Now a 3 goal deficit is challenging as hell. Now, even if they tie it up, then there's the chance Carolina scores in Overtime, although like I said, starting the week off with a point in each game would be great.
But winning it all is better. So I'll take the W as something we worked for. Also, Brandon Sutter has really been stepping it up. He's en-route for a 80 point season if he keeps up his point per game tally.

Game 3: Canucks vs. Blues
The comeback kids!

Following a 2 days rest, and plenty of momentum, the Canucks took on the yet to be defeated St.Louis Blues. Starting goalies, Jake Allen and Jacob Markstrom. A surprising addition to the lineup was goaltender Ryan Hewitt, who was called in relief after Miller felt stiff during warmup. The Canucks weren't able to recall an Utica goalie in time, so Hewitt it is.

Scoring Summary :
1st Period :
N / A
2nd Period :
Vladmir Tarasenko scores to give St. Louis the lead 1-0
3rd Period:
TIE GAME BO HORVAT SCORES!!!!
OT:
TANEV SCORES!!!!!! CANUCKS WIN IT IN OOOOOVERTIME!

Yet another great win for the Canucks. Believe it or not, I called the comeback. That's 3 straight comeback goals from the kids. No need to complaint, we could take a 3-0 start

Game 4: Canucks vs. Buffalo
Even No Comeback's Okay

The Canucks can start the season 4-0-0 with a win against Buffalo!

Scoring Summary:
1st Period:
N/A
2nd Period:
The Danish Beast JANNIK HANSEN!!! 100th Goal! Canucks lead 1-0
3rd Period:
Daniel Sedin scores! His brother Henrik pulls off the great playmaking skill, Canucks 2-0
Buffalo scores goal that was challenged twice, 2-1
CANUCKS WIN IT 2-1!

I'll put it off this way. The Canucks are currently the only team in the NHL to have not suffered a loss, in both regulation and overtime. It's an impressive feat, and this was, liteally, a perfect week.

Things to Note (Though) For Canucks V Flames (Week 1 of Canucks Hockey)

This doesn't count as a true review of week 1 of the nhl but since the Canucks have yet to play a game, and I only review weeks on saturdays, in the afternoon, this is basically it. The first ever weekly review. Woo hoo. Nothing to say.
But, hey, the season starts now for the Canucks. It's time to see if their newest additions this off season will come out for them.
Things to note doe.
-Calgary just came off a shaky loss against the Oilers.
-Elliot was completely humiliated by the McDavid blessed Oilers in both games
-Calgary is really sinking. They're on pace to be the next 15-16 Blue Jackets
-The Flames, as well as elliot, are exhausted. They're playing their 3rd game in 3 days or so. Expect fatigue
-Chances are, the Flames will play their back-up goalie. Not only is elliot playing in single A level, his gaa is ridiculous
- The Canucks will win this game, as they're fresh, active, and yet to play a single game.
Prediction: The Canucks are, if they were a baseball team, a slow, slugging team. They can go yard when there is left room to cover, but in 3 on 3, if tons of space to cover and much strategy needed on line changes, expect the older players to unprevail against this young and speedy flames squad.
Miller, himself, is not the best in 3rd period and later. He had a good amount of overtime losses, and has given up many goals in the 3rd period, pushing the Canucks away from winning. Of course, you can't blame him. The defence was terrible last year. Hopefully, the addition of Gudbranson will help out.
And by the way, I will be at the game. This will be the first time for me.

An Ode to Hockey

30. That's the amount of teams there are.
82. That's the amount of games that they play.
16. That's how many teams will try to go down in history.
8. That's how many chances you get at making it.
87. 8. 88. 19.30.31. Those are the numbers of living legends.
97. 34. Those are the numbers of stars to come.
0.
That's the number of days, until hockey starts.

The Team Europe Underdog Story features a dramatic David vs Goliath match (Live Blog Feed)

I haven't tried doing something, like this, but I'll try.
It comes down to this. The second final stretch. Team Europe, the underdog story of the tournament, taking on sedish powerhouses like the Sedins, Karlsson and King Henrik. If they take out Sweden, they'll face the devil in red themselves, team Canada.
Join me for a live blog feed, I guess that's what it's called, on this dramatic semi final game.

Update: 9:25 The game begins at 10 AM Pacific and 1 PM Eastern

Update 9:30 This blog feed is my gift for 1000 pageviews. Anyway, the pregame is beginning.

Lundqvist, Karlsson, Kopitar and Chara, this is going to be a good matchup!By the way, I am using the cbc feed of the match.

9:33 Ron McLean is here. Just talking about random stuff right now.

They're flashbacking to the pre-tournament game. It's going to be a rematch of the preseason.

The firepower on team Europe is insane. Hossa has near 500 goals.

Draisaitl has 5 goals in the tournament.

110-16-14. That's the Tre Kronos record. I might've slaughtered that name. Kopitar is being interviewed.

9:38 showcasing Filip Forsberg's highlights of the tournament. He's the youngest player of Sweden, at 22 years and 1 month.

9:40 analyzing the Sweden - North America game. Karlsson is being interviewed. They're asking him about Halak. He says he's having a good tournament.

Daniel Alfredsson has become a Canadian Citizen. That's amazing. By the way, the time is in Pacific time.

Almost 9:45 and the interview with Daniel Alfredsson has been going on for a while.

1.95 GAA and .953 save percentage for Lundqvist, as well as a shutout. 

10:03 the game will begin soon.

Team Europe will clearly be the underdog. Henrik Sedin and Kopitar exchanging banners!

The Tre Kronos has their national anthem played.

The game begins. Jaroslav Halak is 2-1 1.98 GAA. Lundqvist .953 save percentage. Game begins! Halak makes a save.

Halak makes a save against Landeskog. Still scoreless.

Team Europe is much better then Team Sweden, according to a comparison.

Seidenberg is penalized.Sweden's first PP.

Power Play is over. Sweden is 0 for 1. First commercial break of the game.

Update: Ralph Kruger is certainly the most interesting man in hockey. As the chairman of the Southampton FC.

Shots are four each after icing.

WTF? Was I the only one who saw a Pizza 73 ad on the boards switch to Samsung? Advertisement changing boards? Now it's changed to Honda civic!

I'm going offline until the end of the first period, this ad switching boards is hurting my head.

The Shots on Goal are ten to five in favor of Sweden.

                                                                  

More on Team Europe by SportsNet

https://youtu.be/SJpMTZdS0Yw

Team Europe's Underdog story

Ladies and gentlemen boys and girls, we may have an underdog story here.
After losing their first 2 games to a loaded north America team, all Europe's done is win win win. They upset the americans on saturday, and pulled off another on a solid Czech Republic team.
But get this. Of all the 8 teams competing, Europe may have THE WORST roster out of them all.
To get a firm understanding, let's take a look at every team's roster, with Europe being the last to be compared.
The first team is Team Canada. Just like Europe, after losing their first game of the tournament ( a preliminary match versus usa), they've won all of the rest. They just came off a rout of the Czech Republicans on Saturday, and they're waiting to take out USA tomorrow. However, on wednseday, they'll have what could possibly the guarantee of Europe's Underdog story, as they'll face off against the team in teal
Canada's roster is LOADED. Best goalie of the tournament, best offence, best defence.
#1 seed for sure.
Next up is Team Czech. They were pretty good during the prelims. After getting squeezed out by Russia, they took their next two games. But now, they're 0-2 and could be seeing the end of the road for them soon. Their roster is pretty stacked. Noticeably their captains. Plekaneck, Hemsky and Voracek, as well as Ondrej Palatine and some other small names on the offence. Their defence isn't that good, besides Andrej Sustr, and it could be the worse of the tournament.
Their goalies are stacked as well. 2 solid nhl starters and 1 backup goalie that's pretty good in neuvirth, who could be considered a starter at some point soon.
Unfortunately, besides that, the Czechs are the 7th seed of the tournament.
Taking a look at finland, they've had a pretty bad prelim, taking the first game, then losing the next 2. They'll play seen tomorrow, and we're routed by the north americans yesterday.
Their roster is mixed. Laine and barkov lead the way, as well as Joonas donskoi, but afterwards, things aren't too good in forward, besides maybe korpikoski and teravainen. Their captains are pretty old, koivu, jokinen and flippula. Their defence is half good half bad. Maatta, Ristolainen, and Vatanen, then the rest are ahl players.
In net, they have bloody Tuukka Rask and Pekka Rinne, Finland might have the most solid Netminders of the tournament.
5th or 6th seed.
Now the young guns, team north america.
They have so many good players, it would take me a good paragraph to name all of them. Just search up their roster, it's pretty stacked.
Defence, they're riding off of ghost bear and jones, with ekblad out of the tournament, a very recent news.
In net they've got stanley cup champion and best goalie of the tournament, Matt murray, starting with John gibson. Connor hellebuyck is in tow as the #3 goalie.
NA squeezes past finland for the 4th seed.
Mother Russia has some good players. Ovechkin, Datsyuk(surprisingly) and Malkin as well as young guns in tarasenko and panarin.
Their defence is, sorry to say it, but it's mediocre.
Their goalies are all nhl starters, as vasilevskiy could be a starter if bishop wasn't in tampa.
Russia is either 2nd or 3rd seed.
Now Sweden. They're okay, I guess, the Sedins are old, but they're still playing well, Loui Eriksson pairs off with them. There are some young guns as well. The forward is impressive. On the D, Karlsson and Hedman, as well as Ekman-Larsson. They've got the best defence in the tournament.
They may have the worst goalies in net though, besides europe. Enroth pretty much got roasted during the prelims lundqvist is running out of water in his fountain of youth, and Markstrom is pretty good, actually.
Tied for 5th or 6th with finland.
The americans have so many good forwards! Kane, Kesler  oshie, pacioretty, the list goes on and on. Their defence is highlighted by big buff, the johnson twins, mcdonagh, and suter. In net they've got, I'm not kidding here, 3 starters. Not just starters, all-star starters.
Damn. US might be 2nd or 3rd seed, tied with russia.
So there you go. Europe has the worst roster out if them all. Besides Kopitar and Chara, their roster is a barren wasteland, especially without Freddie Andersen in net. Halak has gotten the job done so farm but their goalies really scare me. We have a Greiss, who's reached his prime for too early, grubauer, who'll struggle to get into his prime with Holtby in front of him on the depth chart. Really, there might be some small name in there, but afterwards, if you look at it, the evidence is there. Team Europe is the compelling underdog. And they might win it all.

My plan for the 2016-17 season! Plus: Thoughts on USA vs Team Europe

I'm excited for the World Cup of Hockey, as most fans are. But what I'm really looking forward to is the 2016-17 National Hockey League Centennial Season. 100 years ago, the NHL was established! I feel blessed that I could watch this special season.
So, as for my plans for the season, I will have coverage of all 82 Vancouver Canucks games. Every Saturday, around 3:00 PM Pacific Time (6 PM Eastern) I will post a weekly review and thoughts on that week of Canucks hockey. Note that any afternoon games must be completed before the blog post is posted, or else that game will be delayed for the following week's post.
For an example, I'll use the team USA Vs. Team Europe game.
Boxscore Stats:
The final score was 3-0 Team Europe. Shots were 35-17 in favor of the Americans. Both teams were 0/4 on the Power Play.
Goalie Stats:
The starting goalies of the game were Jonathan Quick (Member of the LA Kings) and Jaroslav Halak (Member of the NY Islanders).
The winning goalie was Halak, the first star of the game, making 35 saves on the same number of shots. Quick took the loss with a disappointing .824  save percentage.
Scoring Summary:
First Period of Play:
1-0 Team Europe
Marian Gaborik (1)
Assisted by Frans Nielsen (1) and Mats Zuccarello (1)
Scored 04:19 in Period
Second Period of Play:
2-0 Team Europe
Leon Draisaitl (1)
Assisted by Nino Niederreiter (1) and Tobias Reider (1)
Scored 4:02 in Period
3-0 Team Europe
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare (1)
Assisted by the danish beast, Jannik Hansen (1) and Christian Erhoff (1)
Scored 18:3w2 in Period
Third Period of Play:
N/A
My Thoughts:
Team USA's Defence was excellent, keeping the Europeans down to a mere 17 shots. Their powerful offence really let the rubber fly, taking 35 shots on Halak. But despite that, what stood out was a solid European squad, with the offence lighting up Quick, evidently a top 10 goalie in the NHL. Quick could've played much better, as he looked more like a Major Junior goalie out there then someone who led his NHL team to 2 Stanley Cups. Halak really gave the elite American forwards a bad time, and he was the GOAT of the game.
GOAT and goat
I'm not sure if I'll do this everytime, but hey, why not? The goats of the game are, ironically, the masked men themselves. Halak deserved all credit on stopping what could be a top 3 roster in this tournament, leaving them scoreless. He is the GOAT. Quick, on the other hand, disappointed the americans, leaving them with a bad taste in their mouth to start out the tournament. He was the goat.

Team Europe takes the first game of the world cup, 3-0 against the Americans.

The Top Ten Canucks Players (Current)

Let's go ahead now. Also, this is also a collab with Hockey King and Hockey Classroom. The latter is going to make this post into a video, with help from Hockey King.
#10: Alex Edler
You can't hide that Edler was one of your favorite players during the cup run. While he has declined along with the team, there was a time when he was on top of the world, so to say.
#9: Jacob Markstrom
Markstrom turns 26 this year, and while he had a high GAA of 2.73 , he played well last season compared to the previous 2014-15 season. He might improve in the following seasons.
#8: Markus Granlund
Granlund was just here to fill in the space, but he played ok to be a bit higher then  Markstrom and Edler.
#7: Jake Virtanen
Virtanen will prove himself. Give him the next 3 to 4 seasons and he'll be having a fair amount of points. I think he could get at least 20 to 30 points this season.
#6: Ben Hutton
Often considered the only good player in the roster last year besides the Sedins and a few odd ones out, Hutton was voted as the best defenceman of 2015-16. He plays a solid 2 way, but prefers to play a solid defensive game.
#5: Bo Horvat and Sven Baertschi
They showed great chemistry last season, with 40 point campaigns each. I believe that they should stick together and could make a solid second line pairing for centre and left winger.
#4: Erik Gudbranson
I don't like Gudbranson that much, but this is the price we have to pay for good defence. Gudbranson focuses well on defence, but doesn't have the same offence as the so called "elite" defencemen Erik Karlsson has.
#3: Jannik Hansen
If Jannik Hansen were given a nickname, he would be the Danish Beast. He showed he was worthy when he scored a hat trick at the start of the  season 2 years ago, getting paired with the Sedins at the start of 2014-15. But last season, he literally deserved the name Danish Beast. He spent most of the season as the first line right winger with the Sedins. This year, he is most likely going to be on the second one with Baertschi and Horvat.
#2: Loui Eriksson
60 points in a season is enough to say the Canucks got a good deal. The Swedish forward is GUARANTEED to replace Vrbata as the first line right winger with the Sedins.
#1: The Sedin twins
There's chemistry between players, and then there's chemistry between brothers. And then there's the chemistry between the Sedins.
Daniel had a beast of a season, being the leading scorer on the team. Henrik didn't do anything lower then not bad. They were solid and were one of the only good players last year.

Shout out to Hockey King

With nothing going on in the NHL, I thought I would give a few shutouts to some people. Hockey King makes some well edited montages/highlights and clips. His most viewed video, a highlight compliation of PK Subban, had 3000 views.
https://youtu.be/jFqyWmFl3nw

Shout out to a fellow hockey fan

Hockey Classroom makes some nice, simple hockey videos. They're not over the top, trying to be funny people and they don't act like plagarists. A good channel and you could possibly use their videos for sources.
https://youtu.be/L6TQNhL9AMo

Vrbata Signed

It has been confirmed. Radim Vrbata is making a return to the desert with the Coyotes.
Vrbata, 35, previously played for the Vancouver Canucks. He played with the Canucks for 2 seasons, scoring a great 63 points in 2015, but had a mediocre campaign in 2016.
With the Canucks, Vrbata had a cap hit of about 10 million dollars in 2 years, according to CapFriendly. His new contract is a simple 1 year contract worth 1 million, with a signing bonus,
This is an interesting but not bad acquirement by the young Arizona manager. Vrbata spent a good deal of time in the desert, and he could mentor younger players, notably Anthony Duclair, Max Domi and the 2016 draft class. However, Vrbata's play is slipping, and he is very well not in his prime.

It has been done: Juolevi signed

Last Friday, the Canucks have signed their 1st round draft pick Olli Juolevi to his 3 year entry level contract, however it may take a while for him to make the roster, as the Canucks already have enough defencemen.

Canucks Quiz: How well do YOU know your team? (Part 1 of 30)

This will be a series that I will be doing, where I ask you 10 questions about your favorite hockey team. We'll begin with the Canucks, because, well, this is a blog mainly about the Canucks, but is also about hockey in general.
This is a multiple choice test as well. Choose between A, B, or C. The Answer Key is at the bottom, as well as the rating metre.
Let's Begin.
Here's an easy one to start off with.

1: Mascot
Who is the mascot of the Canucks?
A: Trevor Linden

B: Johnny Canuck

C: Fin the Whale

2: Statistics
Who is the franchise leader in points?
A: Henrik Sedin

B: Markus Naslund

C: Daniel Sedin

3: The ice rink

What arena did the Canucks play in during their inaugural season?   

A: GM Place

B: Rogers Arena

C: Pacific Coliseum

4: Captain

Who was the first captain in Canucks history?

A: Orland Curtenbach 

B: Stan Smyl

C: Pat Quinn

5: Coaches

Who was,answer according to order, the first coach and current coach of the Canucks?

A: John Scott's father and Johnny Tortorella

B: Hal Laycoe and Willie Desjardins

C: Willie Desjardins and Hal Laycoe

6: Captain Obvious

Who is the current captain?

A: Markus Naslund

B: Henrik Sedin

C: Daniel Sedin

7: Netminder

Which goalie was a captain for the Canucks?

A: Kirk Mclean

B: Roberto Luongo

C: Dan Cloutier 

8: Lord Stanley's Cup

What years did the Canucks make the Stanley Cup final?

A: 1969 1987 2000

B: 1994 1999 2003

C: 1982 1994 2011

9: True Colours

What are the current colours for the Canucks?

A: Red Orange Black Yellow

B: Red and White

C: Blue Green White

Answer Key ( Yes there is a question 10)

1: B or C 2: A 3: C 4: A 5: C 6: B 7: B 8: C 9: C 10: ALL OF THE ABOVE

If you got 8 to 10 of these questions right, you're a true Canucks fan who grew up with the team and will support them, win or lose, playoff or tank.

If you got 5 to 7 of these questions right, you know your stuff. You don't know the down to right advanced trivia, but you know your primary lore well.

If you got 4 to 6 of these questions right, maybe you're not too sure about any trivia facts outside of the turn of the century, but that's okay. As long as you support your team then that's fine.

If you got 2 to 3 of these questions right, you're either not a fan or you're just an angry old fan of a rival team.

If you got 1 of these questions right, presumably number 10,then you just hopped on for this...

10: CHOWDERHEADS 

Who the hell is this chowderhead?

A: JIM BENNING 

B: JIM BENNINGPIE 

C : SOME BRAIN DEAD IDIOT 

       

  

Five things that will suck for the Canucks in 2016-17

5: Wild Card RAGE.
If the Canucks finish only a few points out of the playoffs, then fans will be mad, Not only are they not in a solid tank position, but they also missed the playoffs. Finishing 10th to 14th worst is the worst position to be in for a team. But at least they've improved on their previous atrocity of a season, so that's not too bad.

4: Not living up the hype
If not even 1 of the 5 things on my 5 things to look forward to list actually happens in real life, then it's simply a terrible season. Eriksson and Gudbranson have to prove they're up to the hype and the veterans have to accomplish. Meanwhile, the rookies are going to step up their game. That means Horvat needs another 40 point going on 50 campaign, Baertschi needs at least 40 as well, Virtanen needs to play rough but contribute to the team by getting at least 20 to 30 points in his sophomore year. The Danish Beast Jannik Hansen and Philip Larsen also need to accomplish and make their country proud.

3: Mediocrity everywhere.
Fans don't want to end up going back home bored and disappointed that the Canucks lost 10 nil against the Calgary Flames. They don't want to see Shinkaruk and Vey both score hat tricks in the same game. They don't want to see Ryan Miller giving up centre ice goals every game.
Canucks need to make the fans happy. A good home record is needed. As long as they have at least 20 home wins, that's fine. So long as Rogers Arena is filled nicely, then yes.

2: INJURIES.
Ouch. No one wants to see their favorite players go down. Hopefully the Canucks have less then 10 injuries on the season.

1: JIM BENNING!
Ah, Jim Benning, you make us laugh. You assembled a fine 2014-15 roster and drafted smart. Heck, we made the playoffs and did fine. But you had to go ahead and trade away not just fan favorites, but sign god damn retards and send the best players on the Canucks into free agency. Bieksa for a cheap second and a seventh? Bonino, a huge factor in the Pittsburgh Penguins run, for god damn FUCKING BRANDON SUTTER THAT PIECE OF SHIT! Then you resign him to how much god damn money?! Then he goes down with injury twice?! He's good as fucking gone if I were GM!
Case in point, hopefully someone takes Benning hostage and holds him there until the end of the season. We don't want to see him trade away anyone else.

Zibanejad and Brassard Trade

The Ottawa Senators have made a trade in mid August, a rare time for this to occur, and note that this is a trade or 2 elite players. Mika Zibanejad has been traded to the New York Rangers in exchange for Derick Brassard, a hometown player.
It is very tough deciding which team won in this trade. Both players had 50 point seasons in 2015-16. Zibanejad had 51 while Brassard had 58. Both played almost all of the games in the season, with Zibanejad missing 1 and Brassard missing 2. However, Brassard takes off in the +/- category with a +12 versus Zibanejad's -2.
As far as discipline goes, the 23 year old Zibanejad wins. He had 18 PIMS versus 28 year old Brassard's 30.
They were both 6th overall picks in their draft year, Brassard in 2006 and Zibanejad in 2011.
So, which team won? New York receives a disciplined, young skater with plenty of talent. Zibanejad is entering his prime much more early then most players do, as they enter around 25 or 26. However, Zibanejad is still young, and needs a solid team to operate in, as per his +/-.
Brassard is a passionate player who is still in their prime. He grew up in Hull, Québec and was most likely a fan of Ottawa and Montréal, like most players growing up in Hull. He is still more disciplined then most players in the league, can easily produce, and like Zibanejad , they operate well with a solid team. Both players are extremely healthy and are unlikely to be injured.

Breaking the Salary Cap for NHL 14 and Destroying the Canadian Economy (As well as the American)

This blog post was completely random and was just me breaking the boundaries of the game. Also, I have planned my next 2 posts as Five things to not look forward to in Vancouver for the Canucks and What If Cory Schneider never got traded. Bonus Points for whoever can guess who the player is at the very left.

Five things to look forward to for Canucks Fans

With the 2016-17 Season being the Centennial Season of the NHL and the Canucks' 45th Season in the NHL, this is a list of things the Canucks and us fellow fans will look forward to.

5: Tanking for Nolan
Many fans are still admiring the flashy young prospect their team acquired during the first round of the draft. Others have moved on and are looking forward to the season, some looking forward to the next draft and draft lottery. If things don't turn out well, the Canucks could find themselves somewhere at either the bottom of the barrel (Top 5 chances), a Mediocre but slight improvement (Top 10 chances) or just unlucky with the wild card (Top 14 Chances). Of course, that's not what we're going to look forward to at all.

4: Return to the Playoffs
The Canucks were so close to lifting Lord Stanley's grace in 2010-11. But after the blowout game against the Bruins, things were never the same for the Canucks. They would get blown out in the first round of the playoffs everytime they made it in. It gets annoying. But as long as it's better then missing the playoffs by the wild card slot, then we'll accept it.
Hopefully, with boosts from new players like Gudbranson and Eriksson, as well as more experienced sophomore Virtanen and Hutton, as well as another 40 to 50 point season from Horvat, and veterans playing like their prime, then maybe we might see a good cup run. I mean, it would be amazing if we made the playoffs, but if we made it into the second round and held off until Game 7, then that would be a year to remember for Canucks fans.

3: DEMKO=SCHNEIDER
Perhaps had goaltender Cory Schneider not been injured, the Canucks may have had a chance to win the Stanley Cup in 2011. So far, Schneider has become a possible Vezina candidate in 2 or 3 years. He is well in his prime, and can become something extraordinary and will lead the New Jersey Devils into becoming the Dark Horse of the NHL next season.
I plan on doing a simulation on NHL 14 to see how the 2013-14 season would've turned out had Schneider stayed in Vancouver, so when that happens, I will post.
Fortunately, Canucks fans have another American goalie from Boston College to look forward to. Thatcher Demko, a second round draft pick by the Canucks, has the potential to end up like Schneider. He could have been drafted around the same place as Schneider, but because of an injury, he was picked in the early 2nd round. Now, let's note that only 10 picks seperated the 2 goalies. As far as I'm concerned, Demko is going to prove he deserved to be drafted 10 picks earlier. We'll see how well he does in AHL's Utica Comets as Richard Bachman's potential back-up, and we might see him become a starter if Bachman goes down to injury, meaning we'll see some Garteig as well (He may end up joining the ECHL's Alaska Aces though).

2: Welcome to Vancouver
In 2016-17, we'll see forward Loui Eriksson and defencemen Erik Gudbranson join the team. Gudbranson was a former top 5 draft pick in 2011 for the Florida Panthers, and Eriksson previously played for the Boston Bruins.
Loui Eriksson was probably the most exciting moment during free agency for the Canucks. He is an elite player who can fit into the role of first line centre.

1: We Love Hockey, We Love The Canucks
What we're most going to look forward to is without a doubt the fact that there's going to be Hockey to watch in Vancouver. Hockey is Canada's sport. Vancouver loves Hockey. We love Crosby, we love Gretzky, we even love Ovechkin. The point is, the reason people watch the Canucks play, be it on TV or live, is because we love the sport and we love our city and our team. The Canucks is Vancouver's Team. It's our most oldest sports franchise, and as far as I'm concerned, it's our most beloved franchise. So let's enjoy another good old season of Canucks hockey.

The OHL: Why are the London Knights always the best team?

Let's not lie here, this is a question any fan of junior hockey should be asking. The London Knights seem to be on top of the world. That is, if the world consisted of junior hockey teams. They are presumably the most prestigious major junior hockey team, and arguably the 2nd most successful franchise in the Ontario Hockey League, just behind the classic Toronto Marlboros, currently the mediocre at best Guelph Storm. So therefore, the London Knights are the most successful active franchise in not just the OHL, but the entire CHL.
But how?
How could one franchise garner so much success and keep the pace? This is a question many people who understand junior hockey would ask. You see, a team in the CHL holds many prospects. If they have a roster full of prospects that are projected to be drafted in the first round, then they would be in the top of the world, just like the London Knights. However, when time comes for the draft, their players get drafted, then next season play for the  NHL team. Let's duly note that overages would also become professional either waiting for some team to sign him, or they're playing in some weaker junior league for overagers. Then, that major junior team will have some players who are draft eligible this season and some new freshmen, as well as 1 or 2 players drafted last year but then didn't make the NHL roster. So we have some overagers in their third year of major junior. Let's note that they could be in their fourth if they have a late December birthday or received special Exceptional Player status and could play in the OHL a year earlier. This rule only happens in the OHL, and players like McDavid and Tavares received this honorable status.
So there you have it. The team went from having players who will forge hall of fame careers to a small group of freshmen, some overagers who are in their last year of Major Junior and only a little residue of the previous talent on last year's roster. They go from OHL, potentially CHL champions, to missing the playoffs as a whole.
Remember the Guelph Storm that we mentioned early on as the current form of the Toronto Marlboros. Well, they were actually once the OHL champions in 2013-14. They finished with 108 points, the top record in the entire league. Even though they failed to take home the Memorial Cup, you have to admit it was a pretty good run, considering they had 84 points in the previous season. Scott Kosmachuk, the team's leading scorer, had 100 points and finished 3rd in regular season points. In the playoffs, the top 4 leading scorers were all Storm players. The leading scorer in the playoffs was Kerby Rychel, with 32 points. That was 9 points short of how many points the Sarnia Sting had during the regular season, 41! Amazing right? Kosmachuk is currently trying to find the same clutch he had in that miracle season with Guelph, currently playing for the Winnipeg Jets franchise.

Rychel, a Blue Jackets draftee, is currently a prospect for the Toronto Maple Leafs, just like many young prospects who were OHL alumni. 

Moving along, the following season, Kosmachuk and Rychel left to become professional players, making their debuts in the levels of the American Hockey League. The Storm was left with nothing very relevant from their previous season, and despite making the playoffs and winning a solid series against the Owen Sound Attack, they were swept in the second round by the Greyhounds. And so, the collapse happened.

The previous season, the Guelph Storm finished DEAD LAST in the OHL. DEAD.Last. This sums it up. In the span of not even 3 seasons, a team can go from champions to dead last.

So, how could the Knights still stay so stable in the league and hardly finish dead last? The Canadian Hockey League consists of the 3 leagues. 1 in the Western Canada to form the WHL, 1 in Central Canada (Ontario)to form the OHL and one in the East, or the Maritimes, to form the QMJHL. Teams playing in these leagues are not expected to stay in prime shape, as the idea for these teams is to develop players into high quality players, capable of making it into the NHL, not to keep them and form a dynasty.

The London Knights are the equivalent of the Chicago Blackhawks of the current 2010s. They've won 3 OHL titles in less then a decade, a feat only teams such as the Marlboros could accomplish. Ironically, Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane was a London Knight alumni, as well as John Tavares (Tavares was more of an alumni of Oshawa, however, he played for London in his draft year).

In a span of 2 to 3 seasons, a major junior team's roster can change drastically. The 2011-13 Roster of the Knights that won 2 consecutive OHL titles had current NHL powerhouse prospects, such as Domi, Horvat (A fellow Canuck), Griffith and Maata. The team saw the departure of Maata and Griffith in 2013-14 and Horvat in 2014-15, as well as Domi in 2015-16.
So, with the big names in their dynasty gone, the London Knights didn't get swept early in the playoffs, or miss it entirely or even go dead last! They won another championship, and they took home the big prize of the Memorial Cup! They had powerhouse names like Matthew Tkachuk, Marner, Christian Dvorak, and another fellow Canuck Olli Juolevi. All of them were top 5 picks in NHL drafts.
When their entire former roster was drained out, they came back with an even stronger roster? How could this happen? Well, that's a tough question. But the evidence is enough to convince you.  The London Knights are truly the greatest amateur franchise of the decade.

Olli Juolevi Highlights

For those who can't wait for Juolevi to make his Canucks debut, here's a nice highlight montage of Olli Juolevi playing for the London Knights. Credit goes to the original uploader of the video.
https://youtu.be/KEl31Cc5mXg

Grenier and Pedan

On Tuesday, the Canucks re-signed forwards Alex Grenier and Andrey Pedan, adding to the pool of depth in the Canucks AHL team of Utica.
Grenier, 24, was 2 points shy of the 50 point mark with the Comets. He was the leading scorer on the team. He also played in 6 games for the Canucks, where he was scoreless, and had a -4 in +/-. The contract is a 1 year deal worth 600k, according to Cap Friendly.
Pedan, 21, was a New York Islanders prospect who was acquired by the Canucks in 2014-15. He was drafted in the 3rd round in 2011 by the Isles Last season (2015-16) he played in 13 games with the Canucks, going scoreless, as well as a -3. In Utica, he dominated. With a +17 +/- and 21 points in 45 games, those were impressive numbers by this young man from Russia.
Overall, these resignings help the Canucks out. Pedan is a crafty playmaker, who also lead Utica in Assists. Pedan is an underrated player who is a good contributor as well as a solid 2-way grinder. They will certainly help the Utica squad that made it to the Calder Cup Finals in 2014-15.

Michael Carcone: My thoughts

Canucks have signed 20-year old Michael Carcone to a 3-year entry level deal today.
Carcone played in the QMJHL (for the) Drummond Voltigeurs. He posted insane numbers in 2015-16. He had 89 points in 66 games, only missing a total of 2. He had a +/- of 1, and a total PIMS of 80.
The previous season, Carcone played 50 games and amassed 41 points. He had a +/- of 5 as well.
Carcone is a clear stud, and it makes sense why Vancouver decided to take him to the next level. We'll se how he does in preseason, as well as AHL's Utica Comets. However, Carcone does need to work on his discipline. He needs to lower his PIMS by at least half.

Why Olli Juolevi won't make the team for 2016-17

Olli Juolevi has a slim chance of making the roster this year.
The Canucks currently have 7 defencemen, including Erik Gudbranson. Even if there was only 6, Juolevi wouldn't have much time. It seems like another season in London is guaranteed.
The only way of Juolevi making the roster is if Nikita Tryamkin and Alex Biega are sent down to the AHL Utica.
With that in mind, let's note that Juolevi hasn't signed a contract yet, therefore sealing the deal that he will return to OHL London Knights.