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Canucks – looking forward to 2011/12 season

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We’re going to start you off with a primer on what the Canucks have in terms of prospects in their organization. Last season was close but staying pat means you’re losing ground on the rest of the competition.

Team Overview

They came within one game of winning the Stanley Cup and have talent and depth throughout their roster. The Canucks also boast a nice blend of youth and experience although there is some work ahead for Gillis and company as six forwards and five defencemen who made considerable contributions this season are now free agents. We should expect Jannik Hansen and Christian Ehrhoff to be re-signed, with Christopher Higgins, Raffi Torres, Jeff Tambellini and Sami Salo as possibles. Unless there is a desire to shake up the roster like the Philadelphia Flyers have done recently, next year’s edition of the team will have a similar lineup and character. Look for them to blend Cody Hodgson, Victor Oreskovich, Chris Tanev, Billy Sweatt, Sergei Shirokov and Ryan Parent into the lineup and possibly bring in a veteran or two depending on which of their own free agents they’re able to ink to new contracts. There will not be much room for any other prospects to crack the lineup barring any unforeseen injuries. Roberto Luongo and Cory Schneider are among the best goaltending tandems in the league and while rumours circulate about one of the other being moved, they will likely both begin next season with the Canucks and we can expect the emerging Schneider will look to get more starts.

Top 10 Prospects

  1. Cody Hodgson, C, 21 Vancouver/Manitoba 1-1-2/17-13-30 ~ still finding his way in the pro ranks, has considerable leadership and skills but may top out as a 3rd line center
  2. Anton Rodin, W, 20 Brynas IF (SEL) 7-19-26 ~ good offensive skills and plays competitively for his size, still a couple of years away from making the Canucks roster
  3. Nicklas Jensen RW, 18 Oshawa (OHL) 29-29-58 ~ highly-skilled potential power-forward with high-end speed and size just needs consistency and strength
  4. David Honzik, G, 17 Victoriaville (QMJHL) 17-12-1 3.54 0.884 ~ big, athletic even-tempered goalie with a quick glove hand, should only get better, could improve puck-handling
  5. Sergei Shirokov, RW, 25 Vancouver/Manitoba 1-0-1/22-36-58 ~ determined player with a nice mix of hands and vision, his speed and size will likely limit him to a third line role in the NHL
  6. Billy Sweatt, LW, 22 Manitoba 19-27-46 ~ impressive straight line speed and defensive awareness are countered by his below average hands and strength, could develop into a decent checking winger
  7. Chris Tanev, D, 21 Vancouver/Manitoba 0-1-1/1-8-9 ~ smooth, two-way defenseman who makes good decisions and plays a safe game, should push for a spot on the 3rd pairing next season
  8. Jordan Schroeder, C, 20 Manitoba 10-18-28 ~ good skater who’s more of a play-maker than a scorer, he needs to take a big step forward next year to get his career back on target.
  9. Patrick McNally, D, 19 Milton Academy, Mass (committed to Harvard ECAC) 22-29-51 ~ potential power-play quarterback who’ll need to make the adjustment to the ECAC next season at Harvard, likely will play all four years of his college eligibility.
  10. Eddie Lack, G, 23 Manitoba 28-21-4 2.26 0.926 ~ ‘the Stork’ is a tall, butterfly style goaltender who showed considerable poise and had great success this past season with Manitoba in the AHL

Organization Strengths/Weaknesses

The Canucks have skilled prospects at varying stages of their development with minor pro, NCAA, CHL and Swedish players in the mix. Overall the group has speed among most of the forward prospects but is a bit short in meeting top six scoring forward projections. On defense there are limited top four prospects other than McNally who’ll be a college freshman this fall. Their goaltending position is covered well with good prospects at all levels. There is a definite Swedish flavour on the Canucks roster although the draft last produced one in 2004 with Alex Edler with many misses since. While the jury is still out on the last few drafts, the reality is the organization has not drafted well since 2004 and have supplemented their prospect pool with some solid free agent signings last year adding Sweatt, Tanev and Lack.

The high expectations for Hodgson may yet be realized as he’s only 21 but there does seem to be a reluctance by Coach Vigneault to have confidence in him which seems to reflect in his play. The CHL player of the year in 2009 has had to overcome a couple of misdiagnosed injuries first with his back and then with his toe plus dealing with a broken orbital bone this past season. Shirokov and Sweatt played well most of the season in the AHL and Schroeder is still young but definitely struggled to have success with the Moose this year. Rodin, Jensen and expected new minor pros Steven Anthony and Kelly Tochkin are still a couple of seasons away from trying to crack the big club forward ranks.

Among the aspiring Canucks blue-liners in the AHL Tanev appears to have the most upside and acquitted himself well when pressed into duty with Vancouver as an injury replacement. Among the rest of their AHL prospects Lee Sweatt is really more of a journeyman type, Kevin Connauton is a one-dimensional offensive defenseman albeit with a howitzer shot and Yann Sauve who appears to have recovered from getting hit while crossing Burrard Street but has limited offensive upside. Although the NHL roster should be set on defense for next season, Gillis and company will need to look to inject some more young talent in their pipeline moving forward.

The goaltending position has Lack in the AHL, Joe Cannata entering his senior season in Hockey East with Merrimack and recently added Honzik from the QMJHL. Luongo and Schneider will allow these players to develop at an organic pace and keep this as a position of strength for the organization.

2011 Draft Recap

The Canucks had their full complement of picks this year and received Minnesota’s third-round pick (71st overall) and a fourth-round pick (101st overall) in exchange for their second-round pick (60th overall) on a draft day trade. Size was the common element with their first three picks already 6’2 or taller and all over 200 pounds and others who will grow yet. Four picks were made from ranks of the CHL including two European players, three from Sweden and one from U.S. high school in Minnesota. Of the players chosen, five are forwards, two defensemen and one is a goalie. None will be expected to fight for a roster spot in training camp this fall.

Round 1 (29th overall) Nicklas Jensen RW, Denmark 6’2 202 OHL Oshawa Generals 29-29-58 ~ projected power forward with skills and speed had good first year in NA and produced well in the playoffs

Round 3 (71st overall) David Honzik, G, Czech Republic 6’3 209 QMJHL Victoriaville Tigres 17-12-1 3.54 0.884 ~ butterfly style goalie responded positively to having a goaltender coach and capped year with good playoff showing

Round 3 (90th overall) Alexandre Grenier, C Canada 6’5 200 QMJHL Halifax Mooseheads 9-15-24 ~ classic late bloomer has size, toughness and skill, had an excellent playoff run with Quebec Remparts, likely will play an overage season in the Q with Halifax

Round 4 (101st overall) Joseph Labate, C USA 6’4 190 Minnesota HS Academy of Holy Angels (committed to the University of Wisconsin WCHA) 29-23-52 ~ big, rangy scoring center needs to fill out and will have a good opportunity to test his skills at the NCAA level

Round 4 (120th overall) Ludwig Blomstrand, LW Sweden 6’1 198 Sweden J20 SuperElit Djurgårdens IF 3-4-7 ~ hard-worker with good size and skating, plays physically

Round 5 (150th overall) Frank Corrado, D Canada 6’0 190 OHL Sudbury Wolves 4-26-30 ~ smooth-skating, puck-moving defenseman gaining poise, has power-play quarterback potential

Round 6 (180th overall) Pathrik Westerholm, RW Sweden 6’0 187 HockeyAllsvenskan (Div II) Malmö Redhawks 8-13-21 ~ skilled offensive player, adept playmaking skills and good shot, remains to be seen if he can produce without his twin brother Ponthus

Round 7 (210st overall) Henrik Tommernes, D Sweden 6’1 176 SEL Vastra Frolunda 3-17-20 ~ mobile puck-moving defenseman with good skating and hockey sense who improved immensely this past season, passed over in previous three drafts

The next piece will be coming soon to a screen near you.

2010-2011 Stanley Cup Final

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Looks like Lost in Skates lost the handle on the conference finals this year. Not only did we not pick the correct winners, we were also wrong about which series was going to be the most interesting. Way back in the first round we said that Tim Thomas couldn’t win the cup all on his own, but he’s 12 out of 16 wins from doing just that! The Boston/Tampa Bay series was a real battle and  turned out to be much more entertaining, by far, than the Canucks/Sharks penalty riddled, special teams, affair.  Who knew?

 

Stanley Cup

Vancouver Canucks vs Boston Bruins

 

You get the sense that the referees, by this stage, are going to be swallowing their whistles. No way the NHL or any fan is going to want to see what happened between Vancouver and San Jose in the last round. If the whistles are put away, then that would help Boston a lot.  The Bruins have an inept power play and are not quite as good at killing penalties as the Canucks have been. Otherwise, if Vancouver’s speed draws power play opportunities in any significant number, Boston won’t survive.

For the Bruins to win it’s going to have to be the Zedeno Chara/Tim Thomas show all the time. These two are the story where limiting scoring chances in the defensive zone is concerned. Also, the B’s have shown decent fore checking, smash and crash pressure down low, which will have to continue period in, period out.  If they can do it they’ll have to stymie Vancouver’s (break out) speed and the ‘Nucks creativity in the attacking zone. Boston has been blocking a helluva lot of shots, and that may be the key to being able to prevail once again.

Vancouver, the President’s trophy winners, have been the best team all year and  have to be considered the favourite in the final. They stack up just fine against the Bruins in every and any category you care to pick.  The thing that is problematic for the Canucks is playing against relatively tight, defense-first minded teams. Boston is that. (Look how much fun Vancouver had with the Predators.) The glaring difference maker in the final though, we believe, is going to be the depth that Vancouver can boast at every position as compared to the Bruins. And Manny Malholtra might even return you say? If they have him (at 100%) just to take draws and get off the ice that would be enough to seal the deal. Vancouver looks too well rounded, too explosive offensively not to win their first Cup. It’s possible the bruisin’ Bruins could smash and crash their way to victory, but doubtful. Take ‘Nucks in 5.

 

 

Nhl Playoffs 2010-11 (Round 2)

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First round is in the books for 2010-11 playoffs. Mostly things went without a major upset; two fifth seed teams won out over two 4th place teams, but there wasn’t much daylight between the Ducks/Preds, or the Bolts/Penguins (especially with Pittsburgh missing so many key guys). But how about Tampa Bay, nonetheless? Who’d have thought they’d have the edge in goal with Roloson playing just as he did for the Oilers back in the 2006 Cup run? The Lightning are a complete team with a great coach (and GM) and i think they’ll take the Capitals in this second round.

LA Kings put up a good fight and showed they were a better team than at first glance. Positives for them to build on.  San Jose and Detroit took care of biz more or less as predicted: the wings proving to be even more formidable than thought.  The Bruins did not look all that convincing in prevailing over Montreal. Thomas is mighty good, but can’t win the cup for them all on his own.  Philly looks just now to be coming together as a team and should go by the Bruins without much trouble. And finally the Canucks at last exorcised their big nemesis the Blackhawks. The jolt or wake up call that that series provided (basically telling them that from President’s trophy to the Stanley Cup ain’t no smooth ride) is really just what Vancouver needed.  They left their season hang in the balance on one goal, but were fortunate to prevail. They really are the better team this year.

 

East

 

Washington vs Tampa Bay

 

Can the Bolts maintain their stellar defensive play (against a decent defensive team in Washington) while still getting the offense they clearly possess? I think so. If Roloson doesn’t tire, the Lightning are a balanced team and might, in fact, hold the edge in coaching– and Boudreau ain’t no slouch behind the Caps bench. Take TB in 6.

 

Philly vs Boston

 

As mentioned above, the Bruins didn’t look that impressive in dispensing the Habs and Philly did look a lot better by the end of their series than at the beginning. With Pronger back…I think the Bruins are cooked in 5 games.

 

West

 

Canucks vs Predators

Vancouver and Nashville play tight, low scoring, wear-em-down type games and I’m not sure that if the Predators had’ve been the Canucks’ first round opponent that they wouldn’t have won. But the lift (lesson?) of getting by Chicago I think will help Vancouver immensely. Pekka Rinne: fantastic goalie. Luongo and Sneider: better, certainly with the team playing in front of them. The music stops in the ‘Music City’ this round. ‘Nucks in 5

 

San Jose vs Detroit

 

This is going to be the best of all the second round match ups. The perennially solid and well coached Redwings are capable once again of getting to the cup. They have all the pieces, are getting key players back and have pretty good (under rated) goal tending. They play so methodically and with such determination (sense of entitlement?) that it’s hard to see them failing…

The Sharks however seem superior in their explosive, opportunistic offence and creativity. San Jose has, like Vancouver, some playoff bogeymen to exorcise themselves. They seem a bit more intense this year. And they have a lot of scoring threats.  If Niemi has it together, the Sharks will take hockeytown in 6.

NHL Playoffs 2010-2011 (Round 1)

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Well, that time again. Lost in Skates comes out of hybernation for the ‘real’ hockey season. Herewith the first round match-up predictions and Cup final choices.

 

Eastern conference

Washington (1) vs NY Rangers (8)

By all accounts this one could shape up to be a quick series with a much improved Caps team, defensively, taking care of business over an injury riddled also-ran blueshirts squad that can only hope for ‘king’ Lundqvist’ to steal a game–but only one at best. Caps in 5.

 

Philly (2) vs Buffalo sabres (7)

There has to be an upset (or two) in the post season, right? That’s why we watch. Philly, a preseason cup favorite and still so pegged by many, are also dealing with some injuries (Pronger) and still have question marks in goal. Nevermind the sabres’ inconsistent season; they’ve been hot down the stretch and Lindy Ruff is a great coach. And to top it off they have that most prized of commodities the elite goalie, in Ryan Miller. Sabres in 7

 

Boston (3) vs Montreal (4)

Shouldn’t be a lack of intensity to this match up. Boston finally has a pretty well rounded team with strong defense, impressive goal tending and an ability to score some goals. And they have size. If they play their game (ie, don’t get chasing the darting little guys in red, white and blue around and lay on the big bodies) then there isn’t much even a Halak-like performance from Carey Price can do to stop the B’s. Bruins in 6.

 

Pitts (4 vs Tampa Bay (5)

This series will be tight and will go the distance, I think, to 7 games. Am tempted to take theBolts with all their fire power, but Bylsma is by now a well seasoned coach, has configured his team to carry on with the loss of some key guys (Malkin, Crosby…) and will have his team ready to grind it out playoff style. Plus the pens have the edge in goal, which is always crucial at this time of year. Pittsburg in 7

 

 

Western conference

 

Vancouver (1) vs Chicago (8)

It really is poetic justice that the road to the cup, for the Canucks, should go through Chicago. Not that it’s going to be easy for Vancouver. But if they do win it all, it’ll be all the sweeter for having slayed the Blackhawk dragon en route.  Chicago has simply lost too many of it’s decisively gritty players, and Vancouver has stocked up well in all departments, especially defense, for this series to go the way it has the last two seasons. There will probably be more jitters early for Vancouver than the Hawks, but finally the Canucks will prevail. Vancouver in 6.

San Jose (2) vs Los Angeles (7)

Along with the Washington/Rangers series, this will be a short one. The Sharks are pretty solid looking and with Niemi in goal are set for a pretty good run this year. Maybe because the spot light has been off them a bit this year, but they have quietly gone about their business: they are a physical club, a scoring club and, again, have the goal tending. LA unfortunately hasn’t got the fire power to match (especially with Kopitar out) and can’t have their goalie stop everything. Sharks in 5.

 

Detroit (3) vs Phoenix (6)

Experience is again the huge intangible in this series, even though the two teams met last year. Detroit is too well coached and has too much experience together and in the playoffs to not get the job done. Phoenix will give them fits, especially if Bryzgalov is solid. The desert dogs have some wiley vets themselves to be sure: Whitney, Jovo, Fiddler, Vrbata, Doan.  Belanger is a good pick up, and Yandle can score…so it won’t be a cake walk. Wings in 6

 

Anaheim (4) vs Nashville (5)

This series, along with the Flyers/Sabres one, is ripe for an upset. If you can call the Preds winning an upset since both teams finished with the same number of points. You’d figure Nashville would be due to win their first playoff series; they’ve been in the post season a number of times. And if they do, it’s going to be largely because of goal tending–again. Pekka Rinne is a superb net minder. Add that to a team that plays to win 2-1 almost everytime they hit the ice and you’ve got one defensively tough opponent.  Nashville’s coach Barry Trotz fashions his teams  on a playoff-style-of-play template year after year, so why wouldn’t they finally see some successs? I’m tempted to pick the Preds, but I’ll still have to go with the Ducks, mostly because of their size, but also because they have 6 guys who pose a major scoring threat. Anaheim also has a decent veteran back end, if, albeit, some question marks in goal. Still, Ducks in 6.

 

Cup final prediction:

Sorry Vancouver fans, but that President’s trophy is probably going to be too much of a jinx. Something tells me that San Jose will finally reach the promised land and win in the final against….what?….Buffalo!  Hey why not? Don’t you think something unusual has to happen? Sharks over Sabres in 6.



 

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