Earlier today, Chicago Blackhawks forward Dave Bolland talked some trash on Chicago radio, making fun of the Sedins by calling them sisters. Vancouver Canucks fans were, predictably, outraged at yet another public figure making fun of the Sedins. Honestly, it’s nothing particularly new.

Hilariously enough, the ‘Sedin Sisters’ name has a long history. One that originated in Vancouver. By both the media and the fans. See, these days, it’s very much the vogue thing to adore the Sedins and view them as being pretty freaking awesome. Unfortunately, there was a rather loud vocal contingent of Canucks fans who were very keen on jettisoning the ’soft’ and ‘weak’ ‘Sisters.’Heck, even Mike Gillis wasn’t a fan when he first became GM of the Canucks.

Even as recently as 2009, there were serious thoughts being bandied around about not re-signing Henrik and Daniel. Insane thoughts, like signing Marion Gaborik and Marion Hossa, both players well known for their tenacity, were being seriously proposed by some…enthusiastic fans.

So if Canucks fans want to get enraged about other folks calling the Sedins ‘Sisters’, they really have no one to blame but themselves. It was a nickname foisted upon them by both the fans and the media and it’s stuck ever since.

It is known that he was found dead, early Wednesday afternoon. Beyond that, things are unclear. Speculation has abounded regarding Belak’s cause of death, misinformation that unfortunately found the ears of his family before the proper authorities could do so. There are rumours going around that Belak committed suicide or that his death was related to misusing narcotics. Regardless, Belak’s death is tragic and is yet another instance of a young man dying way before his time.

There is going to be a lot of talk in the next few days regarding enforcers, the state of fighting in the NHL and what the NHL, the NHLPA and the respective teams should be doing to assist players. Again, I feel that this is an important discussion and is something that needs to be addressed and, time permitting, I will attempt to share my thoughts on that specific issue if I have the opportunity to do so.

That said, the ‘enforcer problem’ is a symptom of a bigger issue in the NHL. Bruce Arthur for the National Post notes that there aren’t 40 goal scorers or puck moving defencemen dying with regularity. While it’s hard to dispute that, I would argue that there are issues affecting non-enforcers in the NHL, it’s just that their behaviour and how they handle it has manifested in different ways.

The problems with fighting in the NHL and the toll it takes on enforcers has long been an ongoing problem and only now that there have been a rapid succession of deaths are people willing to discuss it. I’d suggest reading the aforementioned linked article, on former enforcer Brantt Myhres, another player who had substance abuse issues but also sought help and got it. The following quotation was rather eye opening for me:

Myhres said his stomach was churning before that Oilers game. He knew he’d have to fight Laraque, who, ironically, is also represented by Winter.

“I was in bed, sick in the afternoon.

I didn’t even eat a pre-game meal. I knew I was over the edge,” said Myhres, who started fighting in junior, in Portland in the early ’90s.

I’m probably going to come across as a grumpy, curmudgeonly old man who is hopelessly out of touch with reality here, but I think it needs to be said.

Nothing is really said about Patrick Kane’s drunken exploits which resulted in him assaulting a cab driver. Rather, Patrick Kane’s drunken escapades are, at best, laughed off or seen as ‘boys being boys.’ Ditto for whatever was going on with the Philadelphia Flyers and their locker room. Flyers GM Paul Holmgren was concerned enough with certain members of the team not taking care of themselves before games that he spoke out about it. Whether this had to do with the departure of team captain Mike Richards or Jeff Carter has been left up for debate, but again, these are rather high profile players whose off-ice behaviour has been a topic of criticism and, at least in Kane’s case, legal problems.

There’s been rumours (and I stress that word, rumours) regarding what exactly was going on with  Ottawa Senators Ray Emery and Wade Redden.  Grant Fuhr was an admitted cocaine user. Kevin Stevens was arrested in 2000 for possession of cocaine and had stated that he had been involved in the NHL’s substance abuse program prior to his arrest. Ken Daneyko was nominated for and won the Masterton Trophy for his efforts in dealing with his alcoholism.

Theo Fleury, perhaps the most widely known NHLer who had substance abuse problems had a long road to his recovery and Bryan Fogarty’s alcoholism claimed his life.

This isn’t meant to simply be finger pointing at other players, rather, it is to try and give insight into the larger NHL culture. All the players mentioned were the furthest thing from being goons and yet either had or were rumoured to have problems with substance abuse. I am sure there are many more that I am forgetting about at the moment, a fact which is more than a little disturbing.

What all of this indicates to me is that there is a larger problem within the NHL regarding substance abuse in general. I refuse to believe that Boogaard’s drug problems stemmed solely from his being an enforcer. Being a part of professional sports culture, which for some includes lots of partying, draws you that much closer to substance abuse and makes rationalizing such behaviour that much easier. If Patrick Kane can get a slap on the wrist and a writeup on DeadSpin for his antics, it’s probably okay for me, some 6′4 player making the league minimum to pop some Percocets or have a couple of beers after the game.

If NHL teams would rather ship players out for excessive partying than actually deal with the problems, how can they be expected to confront serious mental health problems or things like the ‘enforcer problem’? How do players, who are already on the fringe of the NHL as it is, feel comfortable speaking up and asking for help…particularly when they can be readily dumped into the AHL and be promptly forgotten about?

I’m not saying that the NHL or any team in particular is this callous. Keep in mind, the Vancouver Canucks organization stood behind Rypien 100% and gave him all the help he needed. The NHLPA also has their Substance Abuse and Behavioural Health program, along with, I’d imagine, other resources for players. But for vulnerable people, impressions can go a long way and can discourage folks from speaking up. As I wrote in a piece for Canucks Army, this is a sports culture where players are routinely praised for toughing things out and playing through serious injuries. What do you expect the response to be with personal issues like drug or alcohol abuse or mental health problems?

I liken it to the Sopranos, particularly the first season. Tony Soprano is incredibly anxious about seeing a therapist. For the old school Mafia crowd, it’s seen as a sign of weakness and Tony goes to great lengths to hide it from everyone he knows, simply because of the perceived attitudes folks have towards mental health. When Tony eventually sits down his crew and has the big revelation, they really don’t care or have idle curiosity (Christopher’s ‘Is it like marriage counselling?’) Unfortunately, Tony was so worked up about the perceived response that he kept it a huge secret. (Granted, there were a few extenuating factors, like the ultra-traditional Uncle Junior having a huge problem with his seeing a shrink or Tony’s mother using it as an excuse to try and get him killed, but my point is that the general mindset Tony has isn’t exactly an uncommon one for folks going through therapy…and most folks seeking therapy aren’t New Jersey mob bosses.)

The Patrick Kanes of the world slide by while folks that are lower on the NHL’s pecking order get the hairy eyeball. It’s not fair and is hypocritical when talking about the underlying problems in the NHL. It’s also ignoring the other suicides in recent years, folks like Tom Cavanagh, Trevor Ettinger, Roman Lysahenko or Terence Tootoo (whose suicide came off of a DUI arrest.) Cavanagh died earlier in this year and was dealing with schizophrenia, an illness he was incredibly tight lipped about. The latter three, Ettinger, Lysahenko and Tootoo all committed suicide within one calendar year of each other, with Ettinger and Lysahenko dying within weeks of each other.

The NHL will probably examine the ‘enforcer issue’ and try and make sense of an antiquated part of the game. However, the NHL  has to look at how it deals with mental health and changing attitudes about mental health in the locker room. They also have to look at how they handle all of their players, not just the easily expendable.

Specifically, Alain Vigneault’s treatment of Keith Ballard. I could go back even further and trace this into his attitudes about Brendan Morrison, but that ship has sailed, fought in a few wars, been decommissioned and is now used as an artificial reef somewhere off the coast of Australia. A digression.

A lot of talk is being made about Aaron Rome’s hit on Nathan Horton. While I don’t want to get into that, as it’s going to be discussed ad nauseum over the next couple of days, I will say that I hope that Horton is okay and makes a full recovery. Bruins fans have already had their hearts torn from their chests with Marc Savard’s concussion woes and it wouldn’t do to see another talented player get sidelined. Imagine losing Ryan Kesler and Daniel Sedin to injuries. Yeah.

Anyway, I found Alain Vigneault’s decision to put Andrew Alberts into the lineup to be an intriguing one, mostly because I really didn’t get why a sometimes effective, bottom pairing defenseman was getting put into the Stanley Cup Finals over Keith Ballard, a guy who has shown he’s capable of being a second pairing defenseman. I guess Vigneault was getting cute and figured what’s the worst that could happen? Andrew Alberts could log significant minutes if needed…right?

Well, with your top blueliner, Dan Hamhuis, out potentially for the entire series and another defenseman getting ejected tonight Canucks fans got the answer to those questions. Respectively, 8-1 and no, absolutely not.

Alberts was on the ice for 4 goals against, 2 even strength, bringing his +/- to -5, tied with Henrik for second worst on the team. (Christian Ehrhoff, who hasn’t had the best playoffs this season, has the worst at -10.) He looked slow and ponderous out there, with shades of his whistle chasing behaviour rearing it’s ugly head in front of Luongo’s net.

This makes me wonder: why is Keith Ballard not seeing any icetime? Ballard has been on the ice for 2 even strength goals against in 9 playoff games. The Canucks are 7-2 with Ballard in the lineup. He’s played more hockey than Alberts has, both in the regular and post-season. Heck, Alberts hasn’t seen regular icetime since February.

Ballard has provided huge hipchecks, including an awesome one on Jamie McGinn in the Sharks series. He’s a guy who can log more icetime than Alberts and, in a situation like tonight where Rick Bowness was forced to shuffle his lineup because of Rome being ejected, could have handled those minutes, even if Vigneault is loathe to give him any playing time.

Vigneault’s fascination with grinders and guys with size has been one of the things that has annoyed me immensely since he’s been the Canucks bench boss. I don’t know if Alberts being 6′5 and Ballard being 5′11 is one of the factors in Vigneault’s decision making process, but frankly I wouldn’t be surprised if that were the case.

Unfortunately, this is the Stanley Cup Finals. This isn’t a regular season game where a single loss can be shrugged off and adjustments can be made. Everything matters. One win can swing the momentum back in favour of your opponent and you can’t take chances in putting questionable players into your lineup when there are better options available to you. It’s not as though Ballard has been injured or is off rescuing kittens from burning buildings in Madrid. He’s right there on the team, has shown he can contribute and be a positive addition.

So the question is, why doesn’t he play? Your guess is as good as mine. It could be size. It could a personality clash with him and Alain Vigneault. But, barring a serious injury of some kind (and there has been nothing to indicate that such is the case) Ballard should be playing, especially with Ehrhoff looking like a mess and Dan Hamhuis being out of the lineup.

Instead, Vigneault opts to go with Andrew Alberts and Aaron Rome. Potentially burning bridges with Ballard. Maybe eroding some confidence.

And now, with the Canucks getting a thorough jolly rogering from the Bruins, Vigneault may just have to turn to a player he has alienated for no discernible reason or purpose and expect him to provide a high level of play in most important set of hockey games in Vancouver Canucks history. This, while leaving his star goaltender to languish out on the ice for the entirety of those 60 minutes, leaving two huge question marks/messes on the Canucks hands going into Game 4.

The word that comes to mind, when thinking of Rome and Vigneault? Stupid.

Let’s hope it’s not too late.

The Canucks are in the Stanley Cup Finals?!

Yes, we’re all perched on the precipice of what could be Vancouver’s Greatest Hockey Moment. Less than 24 hours from puck drop and I’m still having problems processing it. This entire season that I’ve watched, sometimes in pubs and bars with friends, sometimes after long shifts at 4 in the morning thanks to the wonders of PVR, other times with the folks I know through Twitter, has been utterly surreal.

A second consecutive Art Ross title for the franchise.

A Jennings trophy shared between (arguably) the best goaltending duo in the league.

A President’s Trophy, the franchise’s first.

A Hart trophy nomination.

A Vezina trophy nomination.

A Jack Adams trophy nomination.

A Selke trophy nomination.

An absolutely amazing team, an absolutely amazing season, with the potential to bag the most coveted of hockey trophies: the Stanley Cup.

I guess now would be a good as time as any to make a return to blogging!

100 games, with as many as 7 left to go for this season, all on the 40th anniversary of this club’s founding.

There’s been talk, lately, of ‘Canada’s Team.’ Despite throwing that term around jokingly on Twitter and to razz a few Flames fans, it’s not really something I’ve given a lot of thought.

On the one hand, yeah, given that the nation has shared in the return of NHL hockey to Winnipeg and there’s some sort of national pride behind the sport of hockey, you’d think that the Canucks could get in on that. If you go off what Ipsos-Reid has to say, support is running pretty high for the Canucks. Good on ya.

On the other hand, does it really matter? Since when has assimilation ever been a desired Canadian trait? There’s no need to press gang everyone from Alberta to Ontario onto the Canucks bandwagon. If they want to come along for the ride, great. If the folks in Manitoba want to fret over the  Winnipeg NHL Team, more power to them.

But this sense of entitlement? I don’t get where ANYONE is coming from on this. Who gives a good goddamned if Toronto is or isn’t cheering for the Canucks. Last I checked, there was a great deal of moral outrage when this musical abomination was forced upon us.

The presumption that any NHL club could dare to speak for the rest of Canada (particularly the widely loathed Toronto Maple Leafs) ticked off lots of Vancouver faithful.

So why, then, is it okay to embrace this silly melting pot style behaviour and try and inflict it upon the rest of Canada?

I’m not from Vancouver, heck, not even from British Columbia, but one of the things that has always struck me, an outsider, about Vancouver is how inclusive and varied the whole city is. To me, that sense of multiculturalism, that there’s Hockey Night in Punjabi, that the team’s captain is a Swede, one of the most important players on the team is an American and that there are Finns, Germans and people from just about every region of Canada is something that is uniquely Vancouver and should be celebrated as part of the hockey culture. (Except for Keith Ballard, cause man, AV seems to hate that guy…)

I could be out to lunch with this, I’ll freely admit. I’m an Albertan who spent a lot of his time in Ontario, so I might just have a distorted view of how things ‘really’ are in Vancity. But bottom line? Who cares if the Canucks aren’t accepted as being ‘Canada’s Team’? They’re Vancouver’s Team, a team which is uniquely Canadian.

The Canucks front office has been largely keeping mum on the severity of his injury, although rumours that Malhotra ‘lost an eye’ have been debunked. Current word going around now is that Malhotra’s injury has caused such severe swelling around the eye that determining just how serious the damage is indeterminable for now.

The injury is horrific and I believe most hockey fans wish nothing but a full recovery for Malhotra.

That said, there has been a lot of hand wringing going on amongst Canucks fans once news broke on Malhotra’s season being done.

Irreplaceable and indispensable are two words that have been thrown around describing the Canucks third line centre, with, if Twitter Monday afternoon was any indication, his absence from the team being a serious crimp on the Canucks Stanley Cup chances.

Honestly, it’s hard not to see why so many fans are upset about Malhotra’s absence from the team. Manny is first in road faceoff percentage, second in the entire league in overall faceoff percentage, third in shorthanded faceoffs won and logs the most PK time for the Canucks number one ranked penalty kill. He is a huge part of why the Canucks have the absolute best penalty kill in the league. Obviously losing Malhotra is going to hurt.

I’m also of the mindset that having strong centre depth is important for any team that has aspirations of going deep into the playoffs. The Blackhawks last year had Toews, Sharp and Madden. The Penguins the year before had Crosby, Malkin and Staal. Detroit had Datsyuk, Flippula and Hudler. Anaheim had Getzlaf, Pahlsson and Andy McDonald. Carolina had Brind’Amour, Staal, Weight, Stillman and Cullen.

In the past two years, the Canucks have had Kyle Wellwood, Ryan Johnson, Mats Sundin and Pavol Demitra as the guys behind/alongside Kesler and Henrik Sedin. All of them have had varying problems (Wellwood was considered too small/soft for a bottom six role, Johnson was hot garbage despite being touted as an amazing PK/FO guy and was injury plagued on top of that, Demitra was also injury ridden and was showing signs of aging. Sundin was also slowing down and also missed half the season so wasn’t in top form) and weren’t seen as ideal pieces.

Manny Malhotra was seen as being an almost ideal fit for the Canucks. I recall, at the time of his signing way back last summer, that there were a lot of shrill cries of Manny being overpaid and not worth his contract. I think, over the course of the season, he’s demonstrated why that particular line of thinking is complete bunk, and now he’s universally mourned.

That said, are things as horrible for the Canucks as the doomsday prophets would lead you to believe? I’d say no, for several reasons.

First off, the Canucks bottom six is a lot more robust than it has been in previous years. I sort of alluded to this before, but the makeup of the Canucks bottom six last year consisted of guys like Darcy Hordichuk, Rick Rypien, Ryan Johnson, Kyle Wellwood and Steve Bernier. Arguably the best player of the bunch would be Bernier, and he’s been regulated to a healthy scratch/fourth liner in Florida, of all places. Hordichuk barely passes for a hockey player and didn’t see much playoff action at all when he was a Canuck, while Rypien’s style of game isn’t well suited for his 5′11 frame.

Now? The Canucks have a bottom six consisting of guys like Tanner Glass, Chris Higgins, Maxim Lapierre, Raffi Torres, Jannik Hansen and Jeff Tambellini, with guys like Victor Oreskovich, Cody Hodgson and Alex Bolduc waiting in the wings. It’s a lot better looking crop of forwards who can all contribute in varying degrees. And, for the record, I will admit to being surprised at just how far Hansen has come this year. All of these guys, with the possible exception of Bolduc, could slot in on the third or fourth lines and contribute in a meaningful way. The overall skillset of the Canucks bottom six has improved year over year and makes losing a guy like Malhotra far easier.

Not to mention that the Canucks overall forward depth is incredibly strong, what with having eight 25+ goal scorers on the team and two of the best centres in the NHL in Kesler and Henrik Sedin. Kesler, who is being seen as Selke favourite this year, can help take on some of the defensive burden Malhotra’s absence will provide, while Lapierre finds himself in an almost ideal position to succeed: head coach Alain Vigneault has coached him before and is amicable towards him. Between the two of them, it should be hoped for that they can make up for no more Manny.

The path to hoist Lord Stanley isn’t an easy one and the loss of Malhotra isn’t an easy loss for the Canucks to take.

Gutcheck time.

What was going on, though, was the implementation of advertising overlays on the glass behind both goalies nets, something which only TV viewers at home could see. BCIT and some vacuum cleaner company were the two that I remembered, but they were switching around rather frequently.

Unfortunately, the fan response to the advertisements was rather predictable. Most folks didn’t like the advertisements and felt that they had no place. The complaint that we were veering towards the ‘Europeanization’ of hockey, where players are so bedecked with advertising trappings that they more resemble NASCAR drivers than anything, was bandied about, while a lot of folks chalked up the decision for this new advertising scheme as being pure unadulterated greed on behalf of the Canucks organization.

While I am not a huge fan of advertising and have complained about things like McDonald’s being the ‘official’ restaurant of the Olympics (as though Olympians would continually seek out and eat McDick’s) in the past and am not trying to say ‘advertising is good’ I will say that advertising is, rather, a necessary evil when it comes to things like professional sports. For example, one of the biggest hurdles stopping NHL (re)-development in the city of Winnipeg is the lack of corporate sponsors. Corporate sponsors are the ones who buy up those box seats and sink in money for season tickets, as well as arranging advertising and sponsorship in other areas. The owner of the Calgary Roughnecks recently had to post a rather humbling open letter because he was unable to pay the members of his team on time, partially due to a lack of corporate/local government support. While the NLL is a far cry from the NHL, there are historical precedents for Canadian NHL teams being in trouble. Which brings me to my first point…

- Sports teams need to plan ahead. The Oilers were on the verge of relocation to Houston before a coalition of local businesses stepped in to save the Oilers. The Flames were also in serious danger of being moved, as were the Canucks, all in the dark ages of the 90s. While yes, the Canucks and almost all Canadian franchises are doing very well for themselves financially, all the Loonie has to do is drop back down to being worth .60 and things start looking really bleak. Being able to pad the warchests helps to guard against potential future problems or financial hiccups, while experimenting with different methods of advertising opens up new revenue streams before they may be required. Having a warchest is handy, too because,

- Running a professional sports team is expensive. I’m not just talking about the salaries of the athletes. You’re looking at the training staff, the facilities, amenities and other bells and whistles that are available to the team. A lot of ink has been devoted to the strides Mike Gillis has made in transforming the Canucks front office. There were the sleep specialists that were brought in, dietary consultants for guys like Kyle Wellwood, renovations to the team’s locker room, having a team psychologist on the payroll (Len Zaichkowsky), having a ‘capologist’ with Lawrence Gilman, among many other things. Stuff like that adds up and, if you want to continue providing such things and becoming a ‘world class’ organization, on top of paying for player salaries and spending damn near close to the cap every year to boot, costs money. It also allows the Canucks to bury players in the minors, like what the New York Rangers did with Wade Redden and his $6.5M contract.

Last year, the Canucks ended up putting Mathieu Schneider’s $3.5M contract in the minors until they managed to work out a trade with the Coyotes. Brad Lukowich also spent part of the year in the AHL, despite having a $1.5M cap hit. I’m not saying the Canucks should be constantly burying players in the minors (that’s a sign of bad management), it is nice to be able to afford to take the financial hit and have that particular option available. It also opens up the opportunity for Jason Krog (remember him?) deals to be signed. For those unawares, Krog, who has pretty much become a career AHLer, was signed to a deal that paid him quite a bit while in the AHL, with the Canucks footing a significant chunk of the bill. The deal was primarily done to give the Moose some sorely needed scoring depth, rather than help out the ‘main’ club. All that money has to come from somewhere and hey, advertising is one method of generating revenue. Which brings me to my third point…

- The ‘Europeanization’ of Hockey. Ignoring that this disturbingly sounds like something Don Cherry would say about visors, I really don’t think that there’s a lot to worry about here. While advertisements on hockey jerseys are garish and ugly and European jerseys are almost all uniformly (pun intended!) ugly, I don’t see it being an issue here in North America. The biggest reason for me is that merchandise sales are one of the big money movers for NHL teams (or, heck, most professional leagues in North America.) Start throwing McDonald’s logos or Budweiser logos on jerseys and you will have a very angry fan backlash, which will more than likely translate into less jersey sales. Another way to look at it is, would the money lost from slapping ads on jerseys be offset by the money gained from a corporate ad jersey sponsorship? Doubtful. (On the other hand, the money gained from overlay ads on televised games offsets the lost revenue that would come from people turning off the game and boycotting Sportsnet.)

The second reason is that European hockey leagues and the NHL are operating in completely different stratospheres and, subsequently, completely different operating budgets. Leagues such as the SEL simply cannot throw millions of dollars at a single player because they do not have the money available to do so. Why? Because they are making less money. Yet, despite making less money, these teams are having to deal with the same day to day operating costs that their NHL brethren do. Thus, different ways of trying to make money are explored and, as a result, ugly jerseys.

Additionally, if the motivations for doing so are ‘pure greed’, then why haven’t the NFL, MLB or NBA gone down this dark road and started slapping on corporate ads on their jerseys? I’d say that it most likely is tied into fan outrage and fear of the terrible backlash they might face were such an idea were implemented.

While having more advertising creep into telecasts isn’t my ideal, perfect world of How Hockey Should Be Enjoyed, it is something that needs to be done in a multimillion dollar league where the goal is to be the very best. As the menu on McDonald’s states, smiles are free…and smiles won’t get you the Stanley Cup, no matter how many there are.

Since the regular NHL season is pretty darn close and there’s a lot of hype surrounding the Canucks, I thought I’d take the spotlight off them and focus it on the rest of the Northwest Division. First up is a team that probably has had more hype and attention this offseason than any other team that is not the Toronto Maple Leafs: the Edmonton Oilers.

I thought it’d be fun to take a not-serious approach to things, and try and get all the other NW Division teams written up as well. We’ll see how it goes through the next couple of days.  Keep in mind this is all in fun and is not meant to be a serious take on the Oilers, so calm down before sending me an angry e-mail.

The Oilers have long been a franchise living in the shadows of the past, fans fondly looking back at glory days that happened decades ago, alumni from those glory days doing a poor job of running things.  Historically, they’ve been plagued with problems of all kinds (ownership, management, coaching, players, free agency, etc.) with a brief glimpse of hope mixed in (the 05/06 trip to the Finals), it’s easy to see why Oilers fans are looking for something, ANYTHING that would renew their hope in their struggling franchise.

Enter the ‘youth model’ of the new look Oilers. Armed with some solid draft picks, including the #1 overall pick from this year’s entry draft, the Oilers are looking to rebound from a horrible 09/10 season and are looking to have a strong 10/11 season.

FORWARDS

Taylor Hall

The anointed one. A highly touted draft pick who is excited to be playing in Edmonton and will probably be making the opening day roster at age 18. Like most talented prospects drafted by the Oilers, expect Hall to bolt for greener pastures at the earliest opportunity and/or have his development completely ruined by a schizophrenic franchise that has no real idea on how to properly manage and develop talent. Added bonus: Hall is rumored to have attitude issues and is seen as being a bit of an asshole. Kind of reminds me of another ‘franchise’ player who used to play for the Oil…

Shawn Horcoff

Hero. Champion. Superstar. Words fail to describe the agent who represents for this piddling, middle of the road hockey player, who managed to earn him a sweetheart of a deal that saw him getting paid $7M this season and $6.5M this season. Horcoff is the oldest forward on the Oilers roster and is a living, breathing reminder for Sam Gagner and Andrew Cogliano of what they will probably be turning into in the next six or seven years. Hyped up as being one of the amazing talents on the Oilers roster up until he actually received his monstrous contract, Horcoff is the perfect embodiment of what the Oilers franchise stands for these days: average talent with a superstar pricetag.

Gilbert Brule

With former Oilers executive Scott Howson jumping ship to Columbus and Kevin Lowe being moved from the GM position, it was important that the Oilers stay focused on their mission statement, which is taking promising young talent and bungling it in as horrific a fashion as possible. Gilbert Brule presents an interesting case study for the Oilers, as he was a promising young talent who was rushed into the NHL and handled by a just-as-incompetent GM in Columbus in the form of Doug MacLean. Always keen on finding new ways of ruining good things, the Oilers snapped up Brule when the opportunity presented itself, and are busy trying to sort him out. In typical Oiler fashion though, they managed to screw even that up: the former Vancouver Giant actually had a solid season last year under coach Pat Quinn.

Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson

Real deal did you hear he might be the real deal he’s the real deal REAL DEAL scored a hat trick against the TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING real deal. Real deal real deal real deal.

Dustin Penner

Another leftover from the Kevin Lowe regime, Dustin Penner was yet another in a long list of promising talent that failed to live up to expectations playing for the Oilers. Will forever be known as ‘that dude who Kevin Lowe and Brian Burke had a year long slapfight over.’ Like Brule, Penner was another player who went on to have a decent season under Pat Quinn and looked to be rebounding back into the player he was while with the Ducks. Naturally, the Oilers reaction to seeing two players who were struggling start to round into form was to can the head coach and bring in the brother-in-law of another member of the Oilers franchise.

Ales Hemsky

At age 27, Hemsky is just entering his prime and is ready to make his debut within the NHL. Oilers fans look forward to seeing a decent return on Hemsky, who was brought in as part of a trade that saw a then-young Bill Guerin leave the Oilers development system, who then went on to win the Cup in Pittsburgh.

Sam Gagner

Captain material, is pretty darn good at hockey. One of the Oilers ‘young guns’, Gagner’s not quite the level of talent to be in high demand and get shipped out a la Arnott or Weight, so he’ll probably stick around with the club until the team decides to take him out behind the woodshed and execute him, a la former captains Ryan Smyth and Ethan Moreau.

Jordan Eberle

Oilers fans are incredibly excited about this youngster. Per a preseason broadcast on Sunday, they were impressed with Eberle’s ability to ‘outshine’ a young prospect who had just recently returned from a 14 month long back injury. Other notable feats for Jordan Eberle include being able to totally deke out this 9 year olds playing ball hockey on his street, winning NHL 11 games against people with no thumbs and being able to dress himself.

Andrew Cogliano

Back when the Oilers were truly horrid, Cogliano was held up as being a prime example of the ‘dynamic youth’ that they have at their disposal and how he and Gagner were going to become unstoppable. Last year’s finish showed just how unstoppable ‘Cogs’ was: there were no depths too low for the Oilers to go and he and Gagner led the way.

Ryan Jones

Picked up off of waivers by the Oilers last year, Jones is a hard worker who plays with a lot of hustle. Not very adept in either end of the rink, he looks to make a mark on the Oilers third line. Or, if former head coach Craig MacTavish ever makes a comeback, on the Oilers top line alongside Ethan Moreau and Fernando Pisani. What do you mean they’re no longer on the team?

Colin Fraser

Colin Fraser is roughly the 1,000,000th player to have been accquired by the Oilers post-lockout where the adjective ‘tenacious forechecker’ has been used to describe their latest accquisition. Hard working and a great third liner, guys like Colin Fraser are a welcome deviation from what has been the traditional Oilers pickup: useless bottom six slug. And hey, Cup ring! I’m sure the babby Oilers will benefit from Fraser’s 3 games played in the playoffs.

Zach Stortini

The NHL’s friendliest goon, Stortini isn’t afraid to hug anyone and everyone. Although ‘being able to punch and fight’ is part of his job description, Stortini finds that it is bad manners to actually engage in fisticuffs, behavior which he finds boorish and ‘unbecoming of a gentleman.’ Signed for one more year with the Oilers, Stortini will find a wealth of opportunities once his current contract is up, including re-upping with the Oilers and continuing his tenure as part of the Oilers Ineffectual Empire, getting signed to a bloated contract by Glen Sather or starring up season 3 of CBC’s Battle of the Blades.

Jean-Francois Jacques

A few years ago, the Oilers put out a DVD promoting what a wonderful city they were in an attempt to try and attract free agents. They got JF Jacques. The Oilers PR department considered it an ‘enormous success.’

DEFENCEMEN

Sheldon Souray

Is not welcome at the Oilers training camp. Hates the Oilers, think their management has no clue and cannot wait to be traded. Was put on waivers and had no one claim him. Is not expected to suit up for the Oilers at all this season.

Guy Incognito

Really loves the Edmonton Oilers and has always felt this way. Thinks management does a great job and understands that misunderstandings sometimes happen. Is totally not that Sheldon Souray dude, who, by the way, is a total dick.

Tom Gilbert

Is a pretty swell guy and actually a pretty decent defenseman. Set a franchise record in March 2008 when he surpassed Paul Coffey and Marc Andre Bergeron’s record for most goals scored by a rookie defenseman against Predators goalie Dan Ellis. ( #DanEllisProblems ) That goal, Gilbert’s 10th of the season, also set an NHL record, as it was the first time a single player was responsible for more than 50% of a teams Goals For.

Ryan Whitney

Oilers fans were delighted, nay, estatic to hear that management had swung a trade for a Pittsburgh Penguins player. As details began to emerge, the excitement ratcheted skywards. Former 1st round pick of the Pens? Has a no trade clause that he waived? Olympian? WHO COULD THIS MYSTERY MAN BE? Ryan Whitney? Oh. Ohhhhhh.

Jim Vandermeer

Per Wikipedia, Jim’s wife Stefanie resides in Scottsdale, Arizona with her three plugs, Jim, Dexter and Jackson.

Kurtis Foster

Winner of the 2003-04 Yanick Dupre award, Foster is looking to repeat that performance this year, which is why he signed a one-way, two year deal with the Edmonton Oilers this offseason. Could actually be called the ‘centerpiece’ in a trade, as the other player packaged alongside him was Jeff Cowan.

Ladislav Smid

One of the most highly valued and coveted players on the Oilers roster by GM Steve Tambellini, Smid was reluctantly included in the begging, pleading, cajoling and complete and utter loss of respectability and dignity that was the Edmonton Oilers offseason 2 years ago. A high-octane performer, Smid would be in the running for the Calder this season alongside teammates Jordan Eberle, Taylor Hall and Magnus Svensson-Paarjavi were it not for the fact that he has already played 253 games. And has scored 4 goals and 34 points in those 253 games.

Jason Strudwick

Is not cool.

GOALIES

Nikolai Khabibulin

Has been enjoying working with new Oilers head coach Joe Arpaio. When asked about how he feels about the new coach, Khabibulin stated that while he is a bit of a slavedriver, he finds Arpaio’s methods more sensible than his predecessor Pat Quinn. Per Oilers goaltending criteria, Khabibulin fits one of two molds they like to have their goalies possess: being older than dirt and having a past due date of a couple of seasons ago. Thankfully, unlike the Oilers last geriatic goalie, Dwayne Roloson, Khabibulin doesn’t require the use of a walker to remain upright and doesn’t fall down when the slightest breeze happens to touch him, rather, he has difficultly standing given he’s typically sauced.

Jeff Deslauriers

Fits the Oilers second set of criteria in what they look for in a goaltender, which is being a youngster who is hopelessly outclassed and unsuited for the role. Expect to see mediocre goaltending for the majority of the season until the Oilers have been mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, then prepare yourself to see some amazing netminding at the hands of this talented youngster.

Devan Dubnyk

Understudy to JDD. Part of GM Steve Tambellini’s plan to apply the magic of Voltron to the Oilers goaltending situation. Problem: Voltron, much like the Oilers, were last relevant in the 80s.

Martin Gerber

Understudy to Khabibulin, Gerber should be ready for the Oilers starting position in another 4 years when he is 39 years young. Signed in a moment of confusion when Tambellini said he wanted ‘that old Senators goalie.’ He had meant Dominik Hasek.

Pretty typical as far as Internet slapfights go, although notable due to the fact that this was yet another instance of ‘bloggers’ getting another strike of credibility as the mainstream media continues to lavish attention on the greasy, unwashed blogger masses.

The whole debacle speaks to a larger issue going on with bloggers and those of the mainstream media, though, and that’s the increased notability bloggers have been enjoying as of late. This isn’t a particularly new phenomenon: guys like Greg Wyshnyski over at Yahoo’s Puck Daddy have been making a living off of being a hockey blogger, while folks like James Mirtle and Leafs comedy site Down Goes Brown have both been able to take their success with their blogs and parlayed them into fulltime employment.

Some NHL teams have been very blogger friendly. The Washington Capitals have been giving bloggers full accreditation for a couple of seasons now, while the Vancouver Canucks will be giving accreditation to bloggers at this year’s training camp. (Of course it should be said that, as mentioned in the linked article, other teams, like the New York Rangers and Edmonton Oilers, have been making it a point to distance themselves from bloggers.)

Then, Bruce Dowbiggin of the Globe and Mail decided to weigh in with some thoughts regarding the role bloggers should play in the hockey world. I said on Twitter that it was probably one of the stupidest things I had read regarding this whole debate and I stand by it. That said, Dowbiggin does raise some solid points regarding bloggers: they’re typically faceless, anonymous fans and can get away with spreading a whole bunch of rumours and misinformation that would get a reputable journalist fired. They can also get away with spouting a lot of vitriol and hate that wouldn’t necessarily fly if you were a journalist actually facing these folks all the time.

Fair points, to an extent (and I’ll explain in a moment), but where Dowbiggin goes completely off the rails is when he suggests that bloggers should pony up a $10,000 bond in order to have the privilege to blog. I find this ridiculous for a number of reasons, most notable is why should the blogger be held responsbile for being granted press box or locker room access? In my mind, it is the team’s responsiblity to make sure they aren’t giving out media accreditation to mouthbreathers and it is the team who should bear any sort of responsibility should a blogger that they have invited acts or blogs appropriately. Last I checked, you can’t just get a Blogspot account and then be able to eat all the free popcorn, as there is a bit of a screening process going on here.

Secondly, Dowbiggin is being more than a little dishonest with his representation of both bloggers and mainstream media types. Dowbiggin is worried about how bloggers can spread rumour unchecked. Frankly, I think the mainstream media is doing a fine job all by itself in that regard. Canucks fans would remember a couple of offseasons ago the rumour that was broken by Jason Botchford about how Marion Gaborik had bought a house in Vancouver, suggesting that he may be signing in Vancouver. Gaborik, of course, ended up in New York and the real estate story was later debunked by Pavol Demitra, of all people.

There’s also the old journalist standby of ‘unnamed sources’ or ‘a source close to the issue’ or ‘an official who wished to remain anonymous…’ While I understand how sourcing works within the field of journalism, journalists sometimes act on bad information or take partial information and speculate endlessly on things. Not a whole lot different than what Dowbiggin accuses bloggers of doing. While the immediate response may be ‘well, that only happens every now and again’ I would disagree. Off the top of my head, there’s the aformentioned Gaborik real estate venture, Toronto Sun columnist Steve Simmons suggesting that Mats Sundin had a career ending injury, Toronto Star columnist Damien Cox suggesting that Martin Brodeur was upset at Luongo replacing him during the Winter Olympics (and then later admitting on Toronto radio that he had not, in fact, spoken with Brodeur over the issue.) If we want to include broadcasters, there was Ron MacLean’s embarrassing impression of Carnac the Magnificent during Augergate last season.  So, what’s good for the goose should be good for the gander: pony up your $10,000 and stop hiding behind the papers that employ you.

Secondly, the claims of bogus research are also frustrating. Dowbiggin himself should know that even professionals like himself sometimes cut corners on stories and don’t bother fact-checking. In fact in 2009, Dowbiggin himself made claims in one of his columns and was taken to task for his lack of research by Damien Cox. Embarassing that such a professional would make such a gaffe like that, correct?

Of course, this also ignores the work many bloggers do in serious statistical and critical research regarding hockey, which goes well above and beyond what some sports writers do for their job. It’s not meant as a slam: news media doesn’t lend itself to exhaustive research or ridiculously in-depth analysis. But to paint all bloggers with the same brush is unfair to the people who are doing serious work.

Finally, I fail to see how media accreditation would stop the flow of nonsense and rumourmongering that exists on the Internet and with ‘bloggers.’ Even if they are self-described ‘insiders’ like the Twitter account NHLSourcesSay (and have a comically bad track record for plagarizing or being horribly wrong on a number of things like NHLSourcesSay.) This sort of garbage would be going on regardless of media accreditation and I’d argue that smart use of accreditation by NHL clubs could actually do bloggers a world of good, as it’d encourage better behavior amongst bloggers while discouraging bad behavior.

Which leads me to another point. There is one very valid criticism to be had over this cozying up between bloggers and hockey teams. Newspapers are, to put it nicely, in trouble. Every year there are more layoffs and cutbacks being made to newspapers. The Washington Times decided to do away with its sports section entirely (perhaps you see why the Capitals are friendly with bloggers now?), while there have been over 2000 layoffs in the newspaper industry in the United States in 2010 thus far. Things haven’t been much better in Canada, with the Halifax Daily News folding in 2008 and layoffs being a regular occurrence in the past 2 years. With newspapers reeling and other forms of media (since we’re talking sports, television and radio being the biggest) being ill-equipped to handle any sort of investigative work, there’s a huge potential vacuum opening up for well-researched, critical material.

While there won’t be any lack for information and data, it’s the ‘critical’ aspect of things that makes me worry. Bloggers have shown a knack for being able to roll up their sleeves and do some research. But sports teams haven’t yet shown that they’re prepared to deal with bloggers who may be critical of the team that they’re cheering for. It’s hard to imagine, for example, the Calgary Flames being behind a blogger calling for Darryl Sutter to be fired and giving him media accreditation. Heck, the Vancouver Canucks have had a history of complaining about the coverage they’re received, even going so far as to try and get columnist Tony Gallagher sacked way back in 1991. More recently, team owner Francesco Aquillini called up the newsrooms of both the Vancouver Province and the Vancouver Sun to complain about stories written about Dave Nonis’ firing. It paints a troubling picture of bloggers more or less being forced to wave the pom-poms and not speak out against the team’s interests.

After all, unlike Tony Gallagher, bloggers would not have the support of a major media outlet and would be left out in the cold over any potential disputes. This could lead to very one-sided coverage in local markets, not necessarily something that suits fans, teams or writers (be they of the blog or MSM variety.) While current MSM journalists provide that critical viewpoint right now, you have to wonder if they’ll always be able to provide that service going forward, given the state that print journalism is in right now. Some teams are starting to create their own media departments (see: the Leafs TV channel or Kristin Reid and Canucks TV.) Could bloggers become an integrated part of that? Is that necessarily a good thing?

While I think bloggers have been getting a bum rap lately, there are serious questions about new media and the role it plays that aren’t being asked. Let’s try to focus on that, rather than trying to create a ‘No Homers Club’

For those unaware, Mason Raymond’s arbitration ruling is set to be handed down later today. This is important for a number of reasons: first, there is a lot of anxiety over exactly how much Raymond will end up with in his arbitration award. Atlanta Thrashers forward Clarke MacArthur ended up with a $2.4M award last week, a rather substantial contract for someone who only notched 16 goals and 35 points last season. The Thrashers chose to walk away from the ruling, something which Mike Gillis could do if he were so inclined. So, whether or not Raymond stays with the club and how much he’d cost were he to stay will be known today.

I personally expect that Gillis will accept whatever the arbitrator hands out, barring a completely insane ruling (which I don’t think will happen.)

The other reason as to why today is so important is that Mason’s ruling will let Gillis know exactly how much money he has left to spend. The Canucks have been in a sort of a holding pattern ever since July 1st when they picked up Dan Hamhuis and Manny Malhotra. It’s been expected that Kevin Bieksa will be moved before training camp, Sami Salo’s recent injury notwithstanding. Raymond’s arbitration award will likely be the domino that sets into place the rest of whatever moves Mike Gillis will be making this offseason.

Will the Canucks see more free agent signing(s) to round out the bottom six? Will Bieksa simply bring back picks and/or prospects in any prospective deals or will there be something more substantial on the table? Very unclear until Raymond’s arbitration award is handed out.

As for the decision itself. I know some folks are concerned over how much exactly Raymond is going to get. There were comments made by Raymond’s agent, JP Barry, on the Team 1040 last week that supposedly has Raymond looking in the neighborhood of $3.5-$4.0M. Taking the MacArthur decision into consideration and it’s understandable how the Canucks could be footing the bill to a rather heavy caphit.

But I don’t think that’s going to be the case, for a couple of reasons. The first is that Rick Dudley, the GM of the Atlanta Thrashers, apparently didn’t make much of a case at MacArthur’s arbitration hearing. Depending on what rumors you listen to, Dudley wasn’t even present at the actual hearing itself. So, it’s hard to render a fair decision when one side doesn’t take the time to lay out a decent argument against giving a ton of money to a player. Gillis has made it very clear that he thinks very highly of Mason Raymond (see his post-Ballard trade comments at the draft if you don’t believe me) and will be coming out swinging for his hearing.

The second reason is that the criteria for what is and isn’t allowed as ‘evidence’ for arbitration hearings is very particular and limited. Since the Thrashers walked away from the arbitration award, JP Barry can’t point to his contract and say ‘Raymond deserves a similar award.’ All the anxiety over MacArthur’s contract being a factor can go away, in other words.

And, okay, fine. Let’s assume that MacArthur’s ruling shows that the arbitrators this offseason are going to be siding with the players rather than the GMs. Hold on, let me put on my tinfoil hat. Okay, that’s better. Even assuming that, this brings me to my third point: Clarke MacArthur made $1.4M last season. While the cap hit of $2.4M doesn’t seem to match up too well with MacArthur’s own performance, MacArthur was only seeing a $1.0M raise over his last contract, or a 70% increase.

Looking at Mason Raymond, he made $800,000 last season. In order to get the $3.5-$4.0M contract JP Barry is hoping for, we’d have to see Raymond get a 400-500% increase in salary which, even in the world of professional sports, seems a little too optimistic in my mind.

Take a look at Kyle Wellwood, the only other player who went to arbitration who is comparable to Raymond. Wellwood had several seasons of being a 40 point player and had his best season as a goal scorer in 08/09 with the Canucks. He went to arbitration and only saw a $200,000 raise. Again, I’d argue that Mike Gillis will have been prepared and made a solid case for what he thinks Raymond should get.

Which brings me to my last point. There is a solid case that can be made against Raymond getting that dreaded $3.5-$4.0M contract. He’s young and unproven at being a consistent NHL contributor. Yes, he did put together an impressive season this year: 25 goals and 53 points and yes, he has improved every year he has been with the Canucks.

But consider this: of those 25 goals, only 8 were scored in the last 41 games of the season, and he only went on to score 3 goals in 12 playoff games. Consistency is the one major issue with Raymond. If you look at his point totals from 07/08, his rookie year, to 08/09, there is an increase in games played from 49 to 72, but only a 2 goal difference in points totals.

Keep in mind: I’m not bagging on Raymond here, I’m simply pointing out that he isn’t quite yet deserving of that big money contract. I imagine that he’ll end up with an award between $2.75-$3.0M. A rather substantial pay raise, but it’s one I think he’s deserving of given the gains he has made and the potential he shows.

We’ll see.

So Mike Gillis and the Vancouver Canucks opted to make a deal with the Florida Panthers. Unlike the Indiana Jones franchise, it seems that making yet another trip to the well has paid off for the Canucks, as they obtained defenseman Keith Ballard and forward prospect Victor Oreskovich in exchange for Steve Bernier, Michael Grabner and the Canucks 1st round pick in this year’s draft.

Many folks are screaming bloody murder over the deal, believing that the Canucks were ripped off or overpaid. I will admit that I was initially one of those folks, although I will attribute that to my being a fan of Grabner and being a little irrational when hearing that the Austrian had been traded. Having given it some more thought, though, I actually really like the deal. Broken down, it makes a lot of sense and isn’t as bad as one would think.

Let’s take a look, shall we?

Assets Coming In

With Willie Mitchell sitting on the injured reserve this past season and with no real immediate help in the Canucks farm system available, it was clear that the Canucks were desperately needing to upgrade their backend if they were wanting to continue being the Stanley Cup contenders that their fans want them to be. Even if Willie Mitchell is no longer feeling post-concussion symptoms, and I’m skeptical as to how close to 100% Mitchell is given the timing of his announcement, the Canucks still needed to upgrade the backend in the worst way.

Enter Ballard. Although he isn’t a gigantic Norris candidate that can also put up points (and really, who outside of Chara, Pronger and perhaps Myers would qualify?), he is a physical, fast skating forward who is more than capable in his own end. His skillset alone should be making fans happy as he is almost exactly what folks were hoping and praying Gillis would pick up at the trade deadline. Throw in the fact that he is signed for another five years and has a cap hit of $4.2M and fans should be rejoicing that Gillis picked him up.

What’s that? You mean that his cap hit is not an albatross hanging from his neck? I’d argue yes. While he does become the Canucks highest paid defenseman, it’s not by a significant amount and it’s not something that should be held against him. Regardless, even if the Canucks plan was to sign a free agent defenseman July 1st, they’d be paying at minimum $4.2M or more for a contract. For reference, the top UFA defensemen this offseason are Sergei Gonchar (who is reportedly looking for a deal north of $5M/year), Dan Hamhuis (who has been rumored to be seeking a deal in the $4.5M range),  Paul Martin (who was making $4.5M this past season) and Anton Volchenkov (who will more than likely be receiving a deal that pays him $5M+/year.) No matter how you slice it, the Canucks were going to have to pony up some cash to upgrade the blueline.

Interestingly, Ballard’s contract has a limited no-trade clause. Starting last July, he had to list 7 teams which he would accept a deal to. Assuming he didn’t further waive his NTC, that means he liked the Canucks enough to include them on his list last off-season, which is a good sign, as hopefully he’ll enjoy playing here.

Unfortunately, I don’t know a whole lot about Victor Oreskovich beyond the fact that his name is more annoying to spell than mine. I do know that his addition to the Canucks roster DOUBLES the total number of people named Victor that are on the Canucks payroll. Oreskovich joins Victor de Bonis, who is the team’s Chief Operating Officer. I guess you could say that Oreskovich’s impact is immediate, as he’s already given the Canucks a pair of ‘vic’-tories.

That was horrible and I apologize. More seriously, Oreskovich is a big man who likes to hit. Depending on how you look at it, he’s either an upgrade on perennial AHLer Pierre Cedric Labrie, who was moved at this year’s trade deadline, or a downgrade on Steve Bernier. Depends on what part of his skillset you want to obsess over. I’m unsure where he’ll end up, but Gillis did state in his presser after the first round that ‘our third line can’t be constituted with guys who are goal scoring players’ translated that means the Canucks bottom six will be more rough and tumble and less finesse and flash this year, which means he’ll probably be getting a shot.

Also, both players have connections to Vancouver: Ballard played under Canucks assistant coach Rick Bowness in Phoenix and Oreskovich is familiar with Dave Gagner, Director of Player Development for the Canucks.

Assets Going Out

Steve Bernier, despite my defending him over the course of the past season, wasn’t meeting expectations and his $2.5M contract made him a liability. While I don’t think he was as bad/inept as people were making him out to be (he did play most of the season injured or WAS injured) he had slipped down into the bottom six and was underperforming relative to what he was making. Not a good combination and I think most people are happy to see him gone.

Michael Grabner, on the other hand, has captured the attention of most Canucks fans. Unfortunately, there really wasn’t a lot of room on the roster for Grabner: with the Sedins, Kesler, Samuelsson and Burrows all occupying fulltime spots in the top six and with Mike Gillis intending to get Mason Raymond signed to a deal, there wasn’t any room to slot Grabner in, especially if you go with Gillis’ comments about not wanting goal scorers on the third line. Factor in players such as Cody Hodgson and Jordan Schroeder, both of whom have higher potential than Grabner, and it’s clear that Grabner got lost in the shuffle. Unfortunate, but he’ll be getting a very real chance to shine down in Florida, which is probably the best possible situation for him.

Finally, there’s the 25th selection who ended up being Quinton Howden. I know it’s incredibly rash to render judgment on a player who just got drafted, but based off of what Bob McKenzie and Pierre McGuire were saying, Howden looks like he’s going to be a bit of a project and will take some time to develop. That’s of no benefit to the Canucks, who are clearly in ‘win now’ mode. I do appreciate that the Gillis made some aspect of the deal conditional contingent on whether or not certain players were available.