Team Tank shows up Canucks

Transcription

1 Team Tank shows up Canucks 14 Feb 2016 The Province Jason Botchford Let s all just hope Steven Stamkos wasn t watching. The Canucks and the Leafs are two teams oft-mentioned as being in on Stamkos. And that s if he ever gets to free agency. It s been argued by many that the Canucks were the better team and may then be more appealing to Stamkos. It did not look like this Saturday. Not for a second. After two periods, the shots were for the Leafs, considered one of the worst teams in the NHL. Let that swim around your head for a moment or two. The Canucks were humiliated in a 5-2 loss in a way they haven t been humiliated all year, considering the level of their opposition, a Toronto team that sure looks like it s trying to tank. Of course, there are reasons. Why did you expect they would look like without Alex Edler and Brandon Sutter? It wasn t all bad. Sven Baertschi scored with Ryan Miller pulled on a goal on which Radim Vrbata got an assist. Daniel Sedin scored. Henrik Sedin did throw a couple of punches. That was about as good as it got for Vancouver, unless you don t like Frankie Corrado because Canucks kept taking runs at him. Celebrating the first team to play in Rogers Arena (then GM Place), the Canucks honoured the squad by wearing their striking sweaters. They looked freakin good, too. Ryan Miller looked sharp. Luca Sbisa looked like he just walked out of the 1994 playoffs. Unfortunately, none of this was represented in the Canucks play. Yannick Weber and Dan Hamhuis struggled as a pairing. Radim Vrbata was mostly awful. A great scoring chance early ended up in James Reimer s gut. Later, he got along the side boards and in front of the net, pathetically losing a battle, which ended with a Leaf goal from Mark Arcobello. What this means The Hockey Night in Canada broadcast was a tough one for Willie Desjardins. The Canucks head coach has come under fire on HNIC before for his deployment decisions. Most notably, the analysts have taken issue with Desjardins when he doesn t go to the Sedins after TV timeouts. Of course, this goes against the coach s mantra which is, Roll four lines.

2 On an online broadcast stream which didn t air commercials, the analysts Jim Hughson and Craig Simpson were caught on mic trying to figure out some of Des jard ins decision-making. Simpson took issue with the amount of ice time Linden Vey was getting, more than Henrik and Daniel. He said: I know the penalties happen but that s where Willie would drive me nuts. In a word TWISTED: Yannick Weber is waived. He clears. There is an injury. He is recalled. And he ends up on the first power-play unit, playing in the lineup ahead of Alex Biega. Weber was in the lineup taking Alex Edler s spot on the power play. WTF: On a Canucks rush, Lee Komarov scooped up Henrik Sedin and held him along the boards. For so long, in fact, that the Canucks captain threw a punch and took a roughing penalty. WILLING: Elliotte Friedman reported Alex Burrows will waive his no-trade clause. The Canucks would love to get his salary off the books, but his cap hit next year is $4.5 million when the cap is expected to go down. Advanced stats 0 This is the number of even-strength shot attempts the Canucks had when Yannick Weber was on the ice in the first two periods. The Leafs, by the way, had 11. This is not good. 6:21 This was Linden Vey s timeon-ice in the first period. Henrik Sedin played 5:38. It wasn t just the penalty kill. Vey had him beat at even strength in terms of playing time, 3:22-to-2: This was Dan Hamhuis s evenstrength shot-attempt differential. People were expecting him to hit a wall after a couple of good games following his broken jaw. He did that. Or maybe it was the two periods he spent playing with Yannick Weber. -11 This was Jake Virtanen s even-strength shot-attempt differential. He has led the team most of the year in Corsi. This was not one of his better games, however. What we learned If there was sorrow on the Canucks after Frankie Corrado was waived and picked up by the Leafs, it wasn t obvious Saturday. Leading to the game, Corrado was talking about wanting to get in a couple of big hits. He also said he d have some trash talk if certain players came after him. Sure enough, things started early when Derek Dorsett got into it with Corrado, calling him an unkind name. Later, it was Alex Burrows, who hasn t been doing much agitating lately. He sure came to life when he and Corrado tangled up in front of the Leafs net. Burrows drove Corrado into the ice and took some shots at his head. Yes, more than one. Canucks by the numbers So far this season, team defined by strong goalies, stumbling defence, promising youngsters 14 Feb 2016 The Province Patrick Johnston To little surprise, there s a strong connection between your goal differential and your record. With the Canucks current record of 131 goals for and 152 goals against, you would expect the team to have managed just 46 points so far this season. Don t worry, you don t need to go check the standings, I ll do that for you: they have 56 points. Credit the 10 extra points on some good luck and a whole lot of strong goaltending.

3 93.62: That s Ryan Miller s even-strength adjusted save percentage. That s 12th in the league. Jacob Markstrom s is 93.55, good for 15th. In a season filled with defensive breakdowns, the Canucks goalies have been a strong point. 44: Luca Sbisa has the 20thworst even strength Corsi among NHL defencemen who have played at least 200 minutes this season. There are 216 defencemen who have played that much. His defensive mates Alex Biega (44.5, 23rd-worst) and Matt Bartkowski (45.2, 31stworst) aren t much ahead of them. If you want to see why the Canucks are still mired in the muck of the Pacific Division, it s the struggles of their defence corps. At 49.9 per cent, Dan Hamhuis is the Canucks team leader and has been a positive player since returning the lineup a week ago vs. Calgary. 53.1: Jake Virtanen s Corsi continues to blow the rest of the team out of the water. It s been an impressive run for the kid. Until Saturday s all-around debacle vs. the Leafs, Virtanen hadn t had a negative shot-attempts game since returning from the World Junior championship. If the team is serious about making the playoffs, they would be wise to keep throwing ice time at The, um, Goat. 5: Canucks prospect Brendan Gaunce scored five seconds into overtime in last Saturday s Utica Comets win over St. John s. The forward (Utica coach Travis Green has played him at all three spots) now has 14 goals on the season. Given he s played just 37 games, that s a quality haul for the second-year pro. Hunter Shinkaruk has been pulling most of the press (and with 19 goals now on the season, he should be), but Gaunce has quietly, assuredly, put together a very strong season. What s the sophomore slump? he asks. Will Gaunce see any more action this season? With the way management is talking about taking their time with him while chasing the playoffs with more experienced players, you have to wonder. Five bold predictions for NHL trade deadline Peering into his crystal ball, our Canucks beat writer takes a look at some moves the team could make or not make before Feb Dan Hamhuis is traded to Pittsburgh Among the many scenarios which could unfold in the next few weeks, this has long been the betting favourite. The Canucks have shown reluctance to trade in-conference and that shouldn t be different here, because even if they do make this deal, they ll be trying to make the playoffs. That leaves the Pittsburgh Penguins as the leading candidate, a team that acquired Hamhuis in a trade before he became an unrestricted free agent, signing in Vancouver. Other possible destinations are the New York Islanders and the Philadelphia Flyers. I still think the Capitals are a good pick. Can they really count on Brooks Orpik? Would the Canucks trade him to Dallas? Let s say this is doubtful. Trading Hamhuis fits in with the Canucks philosophy of removing veterans from the NHL club to make room for young players. Already having two other leftside defencemen in the their Top 6, trading Hamhuis would make room for Andrey Pedan to get into the lineup on a third pairing. Hamhuis turns 34 this year. Does it really make sense for the Canucks to re-sign him? Not if the goal is to get younger, that s for sure. And if he s not coming back, what other choice do the Canucks have? Hamhuis could be the most valuable defenceman on the market, with Dustin Byfuglien re-upped in Winnipeg and with the possibility that the New York Rangers may hold on to Keith Yandle. The question of whether Hamhuis would waive his no-trade clause is interesting. But if the team isn t re-signing him, why wouldn t he?

4 2 the Canucks don t acquire any first-round draft picks at the deadline Another one of the long-running assumptions is that the Canucks will be chasing young players who can help either now or soon in the NHL, and not premium picks. This has been, mostly, their method of operation under this management tree. The Canucks had an opportunity to deal Shawn Matthias last year, probably for a third-round pick, but chose to keep him for the playoffs instead. If it s Hamhuis, look for the Canucks to target one high-end prospect rather than a first-round pick. 3 The Canucks don t trade Radim Vrbata At this point, a second-round pick is looking pretty good for Vrbata. But is anything less even worth it? Seemingly, Vrbata has fallen out of favour with the current head coach, playing pretty much everywhere but with the Sedins at even strength. There are teams who could use him, and you probably want to start with Montreal. But the Canadiens have already made it clear that they re not interested in rentals, so this would kind of put the Habs out of it. The Florida Panthers are another possible destination, but this is an organization that is trying to contend over a long period of time, and probably won t be in the market for rentals at the deadline. They could use help on the wing, but someone like Vrbata isn t nearly enough to get the Panthers from nice story to real contender. Some have speculated that Vrbata is worth a second-rounder. I m not even sure the Canucks would take that with their pursuit of the playoffs on the line. 4 The Canucks find a taker for Brandon Prust Yes, that s right. When that deadline rolls around at the end of the month, Prust s $2-million cap hit won t appear so onerous, especially if the Canucks eat some of it in a trade. A team will have to worry about just one-quarter of that and nothing further, as Prust is set to be an unrestricted free agent. And he is exactly the type of player who still appeals to old-timey hockey people. Just count up the reasons. He s tough. He can kill penalties. He s experienced. You know who could use someone like that? The Capitals. 5 Chris Higgins won t be going to another team At one point this year, Higgins was supposed to be a big part of this team. Just picture a line with him, Bo Horvat and Jannik Hansen, right? Well, that never happened. Higgins broken foot upended his season. Four or five teams inquired about trading for him, but they all passed in the end. The problem with Higgins is the salary cap isn t going to go much higher than $73 million for next year. This is causing problems for many teams, and helped take the floor out of the Higgins market. Higgins is due $2.5 million next season and even with the Canucks willing to retain a portion of that, there were no takers. Now, conceivably, that could change in a few weeks. But, generally, out of sight, out of mind. And, by that, I mean with Higgins down in the American Hockey League, I think teams will move their priority to players who are, you know, playing in the NHL and playing well. I just don t see teams moving anything to make room for Higgins right now. Hutton the hope for the future? Rookie defenceman has already blasted through his expected ceiling The Province Jeff Paterson

5 It is both sad and true: the Vancouver Canucks have had just one 50-point defenceman in the past 20 years. And at that, Christian Ehrhoff needed a goal on the final night of the regular season to claw his way to the number. Simply put, offence has not oozed from the Canucks blueline at any point in the team s history, and most certainly not these past few years. Alex Edler flirted with 50 a season after Ehrhoff, but came up a point short and has never come close again. And now as Edler closes in on his 30th birthday, it s highly unlikely his game will change. He s a big-minute guy who can play in all situations, but he shows no indications of threatening the 50-point mark ever again. We know he won t get there this year after suffering a cracked fibula in Denver on Tuesday night. Edler s season is now on hold for six weeks leaving him little opportunity to add to his 20 points upon his return. Edler s offensive contributions this season have not been significant, but his absence from the lineup most definitely is. It s a massive blow to a team still clinging to playoff hopes and ultimately one that this hockey club may not be able to overcome. But if any good can emerge from all of this, it s that the Canucks now have a golden opportunity to accelerate Ben Hutton s development. Wednesday in Arizona offered definite promise. Just one night after Edler s injury, the Canucks leaned on Hutton, playing him a careerhigh 23:14 more than five minutes longer than he had played the night before. And like everything else in his first season in the NHL, the 22-year-old rookie handled it easily and looked like he could have shouldered more. So give it to him. Play him. Play him a bunch. Play him in all situations. Let him run the first-unit power play and learn from the Sedins. Maybe he can help them, too. This is a power play that has been sputtering at 12 per cent over the past 20 games. Put the kid on the point and let s see if he can t breathe some new life into things. At even strength, keep him paired with Chris Tanev and give him carte blanche to take chances not recklessly but within reason safe in the knowledge that one of the best defensive defencemen in the league will have his back. Let s get a glimpse at how good Ben Hutton might be when put in positions to succeed. Hutton has been one of the best stories on this team since the first day of training camp with his poise under pressure and his ability to skate the puck out of trouble and lead the transition game. His tape-to-tape stretch pass to Jannik Hansen on the Canucks first goal of the season in Calgary was a sign of things to come. And there s been no looking back. Nor should there. Everything about Hutton should be done with an eye to the future. As the Canucks wrestle with this rebuild on the fly, it s clear now that Hutton will be a big part of the young nucleus that will eventually emerge from the shadows. And with that smile of his that s always on display, Hutton certainly has the makings of one of the new faces of the franchise down the road. So use this opportunity now to groom him to be a power play quarterback and a guy other teams will have to guard against and game plan for. Help Hutton become that rare breed of defencemen who can control play from their position and make those around them better. Hutton has already displayed attributes no one else on the Canucks depth chart possesses. In managed minutes, he has 15 points in his first 47 games in the league, and with Edler out, could very well wind up as the Canucks highest-scoring defenceman this season.

6 Can he get to 50 points some day? He s demonstrated enough good signs already to make you think so. So he must be given every opportunity to reach his potential, and this stretch of games could be his launching pad. Fifty points, by the way, is no guarantee of any kind of team success. But after too many seasons of failed Canucks teams stocked with 20- and 30-point defencemen, Ben Hutton looks like he could be an element this organization has been missing for far too long. And he represents hope for better days ahead. Dazed and confused Inconsistency haunting Canucks, who have yet to win three in a row 15 Feb 2016 The Vancouver Sun BRAD ZIEMER The Columbus Blue Jackets have done it. So have the Edmonton Oilers and Buffalo Sabres. Even the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Vancouver Canucks find themselves in select company as one of only two National Hockey League teams the Winnipeg Jets are the other not to have managed to win three straight games this season. How can you expect to make the playoffs if you can t string together three consecutive wins? The answer is: you really can t. The Canucks blew their latest chance for three straight Ws with perhaps their most disappointing effort of the season on Saturday night, when they lost 5-2 to the last-place Leafs at Rogers Arena. That is why we are where we are, winger Jannik Hansen said after the team practised Sunday at Britannia. There s a reason we haven t secured a playoff spot or are fighting for home ice. It s because we haven t been consistent enough. We have played good hockey, but we have also played bad hockey. That s the tough part of being an average team you are going to have average results. The Canucks played bad hockey on Saturday night versus the Leafs and it couldn t have come at a worse time. They had just returned from winning two road games in Colorado and Arizona, which moved them back into the playoff hunt. It looked like the Canucks might finally have some momentum on their side. But instead they were embarrassed on home ice where they have struggled all season by a Leafs team with a makeshift roster. By the 10-minute mark of the second period, the Leafs had outshot the Canucks Teams like to move on from a loss and look ahead to the next game, but Daniel Sedin said that is much more difficult after a performance like Saturday s. That one stinks, for sure, Sedin said. It is always tough to lose, but you can take a loss if you feel like you put the effort in and have done everything you can to get the win. But when it looks like it did yesterday, that s really disappointing. And it wasn t one or two guys, it was a lot of guys that weren t ready to play if you can t win three in a row, that s a problem. The Canucks have failed to win three straight games in only three previous seasons: , and They missed the playoffs in all three seasons.

7 We are not going to make the playoffs if you bring the effort we did yesterday, Daniel said. That s the bottom line. The Canucks now find themselves in what might best be described as no man s land, stuck halfway between a playoff spot and a crack at a top-five draft pick. They trail the third-place Anaheim Ducks by six points and are five points out of a wild card playoff berth. They are seven points clear of the Leafs, who are 30th overall in the NHL, and six points up on the Oilers, who hold down last place in the West. Saturday s no-show may have been enough to convince general manager Jim Benning to switch into sell mode with the NHL trade deadline now just two weeks away. Head coach Willie Desjardins acknowledged Saturday s loss was one of the most disappointing of the season for his team. It sure changes the mood quick, Desjardins said. You are coming off two wins and we had a stretch where maybe we didn t win those games at home (last week), but we deserved to win them the way we were playing. So we have been playing pretty good and I think things were pretty positive. The guys felt we were playing the right way. (But) Toronto came in and played hard and we didn t seem quite prepared for that. It wasn t a good outing for us. We have to learn from that. We can t just walk away from it. Desjardins will make at least two lineup changes Monday when the Canucks host the Minnesota Wild at Rogers Arena. Rookie winger Alex Friesen, recently called up from Utica, will play his first NHL game. Emerson Etem is expected to be a healthy scratch. Jacob Markstrom is expected to start in goal. WHO S NEXT: MINNESOTA VANCOUVER CANUCKS RECENT RUN The Canucks are coming off one of their most disappointing performances of the season. They were terrible in Saturday night s 5-2 home-ice loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Terrible doesn t begin to describe the recent play of Vancouver s next opponent. The Minnesota Wild have lost eight straight games and 13 of their last 14 outings. The Wild fired head coach Mike Yeo after Saturday s 4-2 homeice loss to the Boston Bruins. POWER SHUFFLE Yannick Weber is out and rookie Ben Hutton is in as the latest quarterback on the Canucks first power play unit. Hutton joined Sven Baertschi, Linden Vey and Daniel and Henrik Sedin as the latest first unit at Sunday s practice. The Canucks power play has gone zero for nine in the last four games and is one for 20 in the last 11 games. It ranks 27th in the NHL at 16.2 per cent. HEAD TO HEAD This is the third and final meeting of the season with the Wild. The Canucks got two goals from Radim Vrbata in a 3-2 road win on Nov. 25. But the Wild beat the Canucks 6-2 at the Xcel Energy Center on Dec. 15. Jannik Hansen and Daniel Sedin scored the Canuck goals in that game. Last season, the Wild won two of three meetings with the Canucks. NOTABLE Mikko Koivu leads Minnesota with 39 points (11 goals, 28 assists) in 51 career games against the Canucks. Koivu has one goal and five assists in two games versus the Canucks this season. Henrik Sedin has 65 points (12 goals, 53 assists) in 79 games versus Minnesota. The Wild are in their last 10 games against the Canucks. Wild defenceman Ryan Suter is averaging 28:48 of ice time per game, second highest in the NHL. NEW COACH

8 The Wild have named John Torchetti, who was coach of their AHL affiliate in Iowa, their interim head coach. Torchetti ran his first practice on Sunday before the team flew to Vancouver. We are a family and we had a bump in the road and we lost a good soldier and now we ve got to get back on track, he said. Torchetti was also briefly interim head coach of both the Florida Panthers and Los Angeles Kings. Horvat hobbled after blocked shot Centre sits out practice but Desjardins hopeful he ll play against Wild 15 Feb 2016 The Vancouver Sun BRAD ZIEMER The Toronto Maple Leafs may have cost the Vancouver Canucks more than two points in the standings. Centre Bo Horvat injured his left foot or ankle when he blocked a shot during a second-period five-onthree Leafs power play. Horvat finished the game, but was unable to practise on Sunday. He came over and tried and just didn t feel quite right, head coach Willie Desjardins said after the team practised Sunday at Britannia. Desjardins expressed hope that Horvat might be able to go Monday night when the Canucks meet the Minnesota Wild at Rogers Arena, but acknowledged that s far from a guarantee. I don t know, he said. He couldn t go today. That s not a good sign. But it s a good sign that he thought he might be able to go. It s close. Defenceman Dan Hamhuis also missed Sunday s practice. I think it was more of a maintenance day for him, Desjardins said. STAYING PUT: Winger Alex Burrows dismissed a report Saturday night by Hockey Night in Canada s Elliotte Friedman that suggested Burrows was prepared to waive his notrade clause. Burrows, who has another year left on his contract, strongly denied that after Sunday s practice. I learned about it after the game and obviously I think Elliotte had the same game that we had not a very good night, because there is no truth to that, Burrows said. I have never talked to management or coaches about it or teammates. And the last time I talked to my agent was to wish him merry Christmas. I don t know where he comes up with these stories. NO. 9: Winger Alex Friesen will become the ninth player to make his NHL debut for the Canucks this season when Vancouver meets the Wild. He has looked good in practice and we d like to see him in a game, Desjardins said. He s a good skater. He is hard on the puck. We know he is tenacious. I like the looks of him. I think he is going to give us an honest effort. Friesen, 25, was selected 172nd overall in the sixth round of the 2010 draft by the Canucks. He has eight goals and 18 points in 41 games with the AHL s Utica Comets this season. It s exciting, Friesen said. Obviously, since you were a little kid growing up, you have dreamed of that opportunity. It s here, hopefully, and it just starts with a good night s sleep and we ll just take it into tomorrow. Friesen skated on a line with Linden Vey and Radim Vrbata in Sunday s practice. I hope I can bring some energy, be a physical presence out there, he said. I want to keep the game simple early and just get a feel for it. I think there will be a lot of emotions for me out there.

9 LISTLESS CANUCKS HAVE NO ANSWERS Vancouver outworked by a team aiming for the league basement 14 Feb 2016 The Province Saturday evening, the Vancouver Canucks faced the lead horse in the Auston Matthews sweepstakes and it was an intimidating sight. The Toronto Maple Leafs first line consisted of, ahem, Peter Holland, Leo Komarov and Michael Grabner. Their lineup featured two double-digit goal scorers. They were already the worst team in the league and they ve taken steps see the Dion Phaneuf trade to get even lousier. If the Canucks were looking for a measuring stick to see how far they have to fall to get into the Rotten for Auston game, it was provided by the Leafs. And somehow, someway, the Canucks dropped a 5-2 decision to Mike Babcock s mighty men which means from this point on, anything is possible for the Canucks. And by anything, you know what we mean. There are now six teams between the locals and last overall but there was a weight to this loss which transcended such trivial concerns. The Leafs are an NHL team in name only. They ve trained their sights on the NHL basement and it s quite likely they ll get there. But the Canucks not only lost to this motley crew, they did so in convincing fashion. True the final score was inflated by a pair of empty-netters but 5-2 was also an accurate reflection of the game. The Leafs outshot the Canucks 38-18, including over the first two periods, and were the faster, hungrier team on the night. Right, Henrik Sedin? We did everything wrong in a game we had to win, the captain said, neatly summing up the affair. The pity was this deplorable effort took place on the night Henrik became the franchise leader in games played. Henrik also marked his milestone by throwing what s believed to be his first angry punch in 1,141 regular-season games. The target was Leo Komarov, who manhandled the captain about 100 feet from the puck and it seemed to spark the Canucks. Then, early in the third, an aimless wrister bounced off Matt Bartkowski s back and right to Brendan Leipsic who scored his first NHL goal in his first NHL game, giving the Leafs a 3-1 lead. It s why we haven t been able to put a winning streak together, Henrik said. We win two (on the road) then we come up with this. They came at us really hard and we had no answer for that. As for the long view, this loss will likely have implications for the rest of the season and, maybe, beyond. The Canucks almost certainly become sellers at the trade deadline and a Top 5 pick in this summer s draft is again within reach. There might have been some doubts about that before Saturday night. There s shouldn t be doubts anymore.

10 Burrows denies no-trade report NHL: Report Vancouver Canuck veteran willing to waive clause is off the mark 15 Feb 2016 The Province BEN KUZMA As one noted hockey philosopher often said: It is what it is. Todd Bertuzzi repeatedly used that phrase to defuse questions about his playing status or even his future NHL career. Alex Burrows didn t go there Sunday, but he did toss cold water on a hot report that suggested the Vancouver Canucks winger may be willing to waive his no-trade clause if approached by management. With the Feb. 29 trade deadline nearing, and the franchise in a retool-on-the-fly mode, the fact Burrows is 34 and has a year left on his contract at a $4.5-million US salary-cap hit made the Saturday report by Hockey Night in Canada insider Elliotte Friedman thoughtprovoking. He later said Burrows had denied the report and the winger was adamant Sunday that there was nothing to it. I learned about it after the (Saturday) game, said Burrows. Obviously, I think Elliotte had the same game as we had not a very good night because there s no truth to that. I ve never talked to management or coaches about it or to teammates. Last time I talked to my agent was to wish him Merry Christmas. The (trade) deadline is in two weeks and you might try to get a rumour out there and see what happens. Sometimes the media has it right and sometimes wrong. It s not wrong to speculate what the Canucks may or may not do at the deadline. General manager Jim Benning maintains he s in a wait-and-see mode, but in parting with unrestricted free-agents Dan Hamhuis and Radim Vrbata, he can continue to shape the franchise s future. Hamhuis has a full notrade clause, but if the Canucks aren t going to re-sign him and at age 33 with a rejuvenated game, he s going to get a free-agent raise and not a pay cut on his expiring $4.25-million cap hit then they need to convince the veteran defenceman that he d help a Stanley Cup contender and also increase his offseason value. As for Burrows, he s often a third or fourth-line player, who s good on the penalty kill and good at mentoring the kids. That might not be enough in the big picture and with just seven goals in 53 games, his future here isn t a lock. What if Benning approaches him to waive his NTC at the deadline? Then you ve got to talk to my agent and I ve got to talk to my wife because we love it here, stressed Burrows. I ve always wanted to stay here, even if the team is in a rebuild mode because I want to be a part of it. When I signed my contract, I wanted to be here forever and that hasn t changed. I want to be impactful and successful, and you want to be a good teammate and help the young guys grow. I like to believe I can help in that way. Friesen makes NHL debut Whether Bo Horvat will or won t play Monday after blocking a shot Saturday and missing practice Sunday, it won t affect the plans for forward Alex Friesen. The centre skated on the left side with Linden Vey and Radim Vrbata on Sunday and the club is anxious to get a look at a 25-year-old, sixthround draft pick who has more than paid his minorleague dues. This is something I ve wanted since I was a little kid dreaming of that opportunity, said the 5-foot- 10, 186-pound Friesen, who has eight goals and 10 assists with the Utica Comets this season. I hope to bring some energy and be a physical presence and I want to keep the game simple early and just play hard. There are going to be a lot of emotions out there for me, but I m excited.

11 Friesen is the ninth player in the organization to make his NHL debut this season. The list includes winger Hunter Shinkaruk, who hit the 20-goal plateau Saturday, but has played just one game for the Canucks. When you see guys getting opportunities it motivates you more, said Friesen. The AHL definitely helps you get ready for the NHL I don t know if it does mentally but it s a tough game in the AHL. Linden pours oil on choppy waters RUMOUR MILL: Canucks president denies team owner is interfering and has no problem with coach Ed Willes 15 Feb 2016 The Province In light of a fairly eventful weekend for the Vancouver Canucks, we offer a special all-crisis edition of Monday morning musings and meditations on the world of sports. A couple of days ago, the Canucks were coming off two straight road wins and sat just two points out of the playoffs. True, no one was mistaking them for the 58 Canadiens, but most fans were satisfied with the performance and direction of the team this season. Then came one almighty soiling of the sheets against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night and, suddenly, there is chaos and anarchy in the streets. In no particular order, there is said to be: a philosophical disconnect between ownership and the GM; a head coach who s been exposed as an incompetent boob; and, personnel decisions that defy reason. And, respected veteran Alex Burrows suddenly says he s willing to waive his no-trade clause. You have to admit, that s a lot of bad stuff to come out of one loss, but it also raises the question: Are any of these issues rooted in reality, or are they simply the product of some overactive imaginations? We ll leave the Burrows issue to Ben Kuzma elsewhere in this section (see page 43). But let s take the others one at a time. On Saturday night, Elliotte Friedman reported on Hockey Night that Jim Benning favoured a massive rebuild of the Canucks while ownership is pressuring him to make the playoffs. If this report is true, it has the potential to create irreparable damage to the organization. Ownership wants one thing. Senior management wants another. This is a fight Benning can t win and, given Francesco Aquilini s track record, there s an element of believability to this story. But there s also something about it that doesn t add up. If Benning is encountering resistance from the Aquilinis in his master plan, it doesn t show on the lineup sheet. This season the Canucks have identified six young players who will help form the core of the team for the next five or six seasons. There s another layer of prospects developing in Utica. Maybe it s not happening fast enough to suit some people, but when Jacob Markstrom s playing and Brandon Sutter is healthy, the Canucks have 10 new regulars in the lineup and, excluding Sutter, Matt Bartkowski (with 185 regular-season games) is the most experienced player in that group. Aquilini is a victim of his own reputation here and he s brought a lot of that on himself. The Canucks archives are full of bizarre stories in which he advocated trading away the team s future for Brad Richards or invoked a moratorium on signing Swedish players.

12 Canucks president Trevor Linden was asked on Sunday if ownership meddles in the affairs of the hockey department. From the day I started, the Aquilini family has been completely supportive of the plan we ve conveyed to them, Linden said. I think our actions this year indicate that we re trying to get younger and faster and we re going to continue down that path. Ownership has absolutely been supportive of that. Linden, it should be noted, was more than aware of Francesco Aquilini s reputation when he took the president s job and assurances were made he d have autonomy to run the hockey department. Is he protecting his boss? Maybe. But I can report there was genuine emotion in Linden s voice when he addressed the meddling question. I ve also known Linden since he was 14 and I know two things about him: He s not that good an actor and he s never lied to me. That doesn t make an airtight case for Aquilini, but I ll defer to Linden on this one. Linden was asked about Willie Desjardins work this season. I have absolutely no problem with the job Willie s done, he said. That might put him in the minority in this city. Saturday night in the online stream, the Hockey Night broadcast team roundly criticized Desjardins for some of his decisions. Most of them are well known to Canucks fans his inexplicable loyalty to Linden Vey, his use of the Sedins but they reached a broader audience on Saturday night. This story is also gaining some momentum and that s dangerous territory for a coach. There are just too many nights when you re left wondering about Desjardins decisions: who dressed, who didn t dress, who played with whom and how much they played. On Saturday, Yannick Weber was given the start on the Canucks blueline and he was deplorable. Alex Biega has been a gamer this season, he signs a new two-year deal and he s scratched in three of four games while the faithful are left scratching their heads. Desjardins was asked on Sunday if he s starting to feel any pressure. I think you always feel pressure, he said. You know you need to win and that s something that s always there. It never changes. For me, I don t think I got the most out of our guys (on Saturday night) but I think I ve got a lot out of our guys a lot of other nights. He was also asked if the Canucks are a playoff team. Time will tell, he said. Time will tell about a lot of things. The decision to call up Weber underscores an ongoing frustration for Canucks supporters. Down in Utica, Hunter Shinkaruk, Brendan Gaunce and Andrey Pedan are all having strong seasons. Pedan, at 22, is the oldest of the trio. If the Canucks really are all in for the rebuild, why have those three played a combined six NHL games this year? Says Linden: I think they re all having good seasons, but we want Hunter on the power play, we want Brendan in a feature role and we want Andrey playing 25 minutes a game. We think that s the best thing for them. It probably is, but there s still something about the optics here.

13 Watching Radim Vrbata is getting painful. Emerson Etem was handed a regular spot and he has one goal and one assist in 13 games. Linden Vey? Sheesh. Pedan, meanwhile, might be green, but he s a legitimate heavyweight and going back to the Calgary game on Feb. 6, teams are targeting the Sedins. It could be the trade deadline will free up some playing time for the Utica Three. Then again, this year s trade deadline will be worth watching for a lot of reasons. Torchetti makes NHL return, coaches Wild vs. Canucks Minnesota defenseman Jared Spurgeon may return to the lineup Dan Myers NHL.com February 14th, 2016 WILD ( ) at CANUCKS ( ) TV: 10 p.m. ET; FS-N, FS-WI, SNP, NHL.TV Season series: The Minnesota Wild and Vancouver Canucks split two games at Xcel Energy Center this season. Vancouver forward Radim Vrbata scored two goals in a 3-2 win on Nov. 25. Minnesota forwardmikko Koivu had a goal and three assists in a 6-2 win on Dec. 15. Wild team scope: Interim coach John Torchetti will make his debut after Mike Yeo was relieved of his duties following a 4-2 loss to the Boston Bruins on Saturday. Minnesota has 27 regular season games remaining and Torchetti wants to take advantage of this opportunity. "I met with the players today, it was a good talk," Torchetti said. "I'm very excited about getting to work with them, moving forward and looking forward to [Monday] night's game." Defenseman Jared Spurgeon took part in pre-game warmups on Saturday and practiced on Sunday and could return to the lineup after missing the past three games with a deep bruise. Forward Thomas Vanek, who scored against Boston, didn't practice Sunday but is expected to be in the lineup. Goaltender Devan Dubnyk, who has lost nine straight games dating back to Jan. 9, is expected to start. Canucks team scope: Forward Bo Horvat and defenseman Dan Hamhuis are questionable; Horvat missed practice Sunday with a foot injury after blocking a shot in a 5-2 loss against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday and Hamhuis is a game-time decision after not practicing. Coach Willie Desjardins said he expects forward Alex Friesen to make his NHL debut after being recalled from Utica of the American Hockey League on Saturday. "He's looked good in practice and we'd like to see him in a game," Desjardins told the Canucks website. "It's always nice to see young players that have worked hard and are excited about a chance." Goaltender Jacob Markstrom will start. He has won his past four starts dating back to Jan. 11, allowing two goals or fewer in all four games.