September 21, 2011
Is Cody Hodgson Alain Vigneault’s New Whipping Boy?

Ashamedly, we are jumping on the band wagon of Tony Gallagher’s piece in today’s Vancouver Province, which suggests that Coach Vigneault is not exactly making life easy for the prized prospect of the Mike Gills regime.

Based on Hodgson’s line assignment between two fire hydrants in the back half of last night’s split squad double header and reading between the lines of Hodgson’s recent training camp comments really makes you wonder whether Coach Vigneault and General Manager Mike Gillis are on the same page when it comes to his development. 

Down the stretch last season and into the playoffs, the Canucks had multiple opportunities to give Cody some legitimate NHL exposure.  And they chose not to. 

Meanwhile, the Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins had little issue with playing their number one prospect nineteen year old Tyler Seguin ten minutes per night by the close of the Stanley Cup Final.  Twenty year old Hodgson, of course, was stuck in the press box despite injuries that allowed the soon to be jetissoned Jeff Tambellini a spot on the second line in the game that meant everything to this franchise.

The Canucks’ conservative treatment of Hodgson to date is mostly down to his injury trouble though it’s worth noting that he has been healthy for well over a year.  And as a top team, they certainly have the luxury of taking their sweet time with him.  But really, at some point, we must see whether he can play.  And for a crafty skill player like Hodgson that means some quality ice time, not plumbing.

And while the puck has yet to drop on this season, we sure hope that Hodgson isn’t about to become this year’s Mathieu Schneider or Shane O’Brien or Keith Ballard…

12:15pm
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(Notes: 1)
  
Filed under: Cody Hodgson Tony Gallagher The Vancouver Province Alain Vigneault Mike Gillis Boston Bruins Tyler Seguin Jeff Tambellini Mathieu Schneider Shane O'Brien Keith Ballard 
July 8, 2011
Canuck Comings and Goings

There has been plenty going on in Canuckland since our last post, but somehow life has gotten in the way of our valued commentary.  Here is a recap:

Out’s:

Jeff Tambellini - After starting the season on an incredibly high note, he regressed completely and by playoff time was a healthy scratch.  Clearly, on a team of this calibre, his opportunities to play will be limited to third or fourth line duty which is not a good match for his skill set.

Tanner Glass - It was hard to dislike this guy; he gave you everything he had.  The trouble was that wasn’t much - an NHL effort from a guy with borderline AHL skills.  Always a favourite of coach Alain Vigneault, who will be the new teacher’s pet?

Rick Rypien - Have the Canucks ever pampered a player so much who played so little?  At any rate, the love affair is over.  When healthy (physically or mentally, take your pick), he provided speed and incredible toughness, but dependability should count for a whole lot and it seems it finally has.

Raffi Torres - It’s hard to imagine that the Canucks could have expected more of Torres.  Say what you will about his bowling ball antics, he was about the only Canuck that consistently intimidated the opposition.  Apparently, the Canucks were only prepared to do another one year deal with him.  How many more auditions must the guy give?

Christian Ehrhoff - Everyone did the right thing here.  The Canucks offered him fair money in relation to how their defense is currently configured.  And Ehrhoff has found himself on a good young team with $40 million in his pocket.  We’ll miss his power play skills, but not his purse swinging.

Alexandre Bolduc - One of a lengthy cast of characters who played portions of the season on the fourth line, the wonky shouldered francophone provided size but little else.

Guillaume Desbiens - See Alexandre Bolduc, replace “wonky shouldered” with “wonky handed”. 

In’s:

Marco Sturm - For the money, he is a reasonable gamble.  He has the skill set to play on the top two lines, but does nothing to address the ever present issue of size and grit.

Andrew Ebbett - The Canucks become his sixth NHL team in his very brief career.  This move is a head scratcher.  Not only does this acquisition move Cody Hodgson to sixth on the depth chart at centre ice (at least in terms of NHL experience), Ebbett is a tiny skill player.

Mark Mancari - From the Buffalo system, he provides size and a shot.  Along with Ebbett, likely to spend the year on the farm team.

Steven Pinizzotto - An agitating winger who at age 27 has yet to play his first NHL game, the advance press is that he provides a Brad Marchand like pestiness though we say don’t believe the hype.

Alexander Sulzer - A German defender who has played roughly a full season at the NHL level, Sulzer is being added to provide depth to the defense.

Matt Climie - A goaltending prospect from the Coyotes system, we’ll bet that he never plays an NHL game with the Canucks.

After these moves, the Canucks’ talent and toughness have been depleted and with little left in the over priced free agent market, any improvements will have to occur via trade.

10:31am
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(Notes: 8)
  
Filed under: Vancouver Canucks Jeff Tambellini Tanner Glass Rick Rypien Raffi Torres Christian Ehrhoff Alexandre Bolduc Guillaume Desbiens Marco Sturm Andrew Ebbett Mark Mancari Steven Pinizzotto Alexander Sulzer Matt Climie 
June 19, 2011
Canucks’ Nine Men Out {Poll Question}

With the Canucks’ longest season ever finally over, the off season will seem incredibly brief.  And for Mike Gillis and staff, there is literally no time to pause; they must get down to business now.  On July 1, nine of the Canucks will become unrestricted free agents, meaning they are able to sign with any other team.  You would think that given this season’s success, the team will want to retain a good number of them.

So for a moment, pretend you are Mike Gills; throwing aside any salary cap considerations, who would you retain?  You may make more than one selection.

7:12pm
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(Notes: 2)
  
Filed under: Vancouver Canucks Rick Rypien Tanner Glass Kevin Bieksa Andrew Alberts Christian Ehrhoff Jeff Tambellini Sami Salo Raffi Torres Chris Higgins 
December 27, 2010
Tamby = MVP

Clearly, Jeff Tambellini is not the Canucks’ best player.  Nor has he been their most consistent player.  But with only one regulation loss in the 20 games he has played this season, he is seemingly their most valuable player.  Without him in the line-up, the Canucks have sagged to a 5-7-2 record. 

And in recent games, he’s been so much more than just a good luck charm.  His last two goals have been not only timely, but indicative of a player with elite sniping skill - we’re talking water-bottle-popping, upstairs-where-mommy-keeps-the-playgirl type stuff.

With respect to Tambellini (and Dan Hamhuis), you have to credit Canucks’ General Manager Mike Gillis for revisiting a strategy that was so successful in years past - that is bringing in local boys who will take a hometown salary discount AND elevate their play. 

The success of the Pat Quinn years was predicated on this simple strategy with the likes of Cliff Ronning, Greg Adams and Geoff Courtnall being key contributors to the most successful era in Canuck history.

And before that, the Canucks, when their obsession with anyone Swedish first began, scored with bringing Darcy Rota (who was in the building for Tamby’s clutch zinger last night - it was “Darcy Rota Night” after all) and later Jeff’s father, Steve Tambellini.

If Gillis is as keenly aware of Canuck history as he seems to be, he’ll continue with this practice and not make the same mistake that Quinn did - letting BC boys get away when they could still contribute.

The biggest challenge in keeping Tambellini around will be in finding the cap space to do so.  We’re guessing a two-way $500K contract won’t suffice next season.  Nor should it.

10:02am
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(Notes: 4)
  
Filed under: Vancouver Canucks Jeff Tambellini Steve Tambellini Cliff Ronning Geoff Courtnall Greg Adams Darcy Rota Mike Gillis 
December 23, 2010
Against Wings, Canucks Elevate Game While Luongo Collapses

In perhaps the most entertaining game of the season to date, the Canucks traded blows with the Wings before succumbing in overtime to another Roberto Luongo softie.

The teams exchanged leads constantly through the night and after Jeff Tambellini put them ahead late on a remarkable shot (from another Ryan Kesler feed), it looked like they would win this battle of Western Conference heavyweights.

Indeed, while Ryan Kesler has been the Canucks most consistent player this season, one could make the argument that Tambellini has been their most valuable.  After all, the Canucks record in games he’s played was an amazing 14-1-2 heading into last night’s action.  Somewhere on Long Island, the fans are lamenting another “one that got away”.  Except, there are no fans left…

Anyway, after surrendering a tying goal from behind the red line in the early moments of the third period, Luongo had the opportunity to bail out his mates in overtime.  But on a failed clear he whiffed on a short side slapper from Henrik Zetterberg.

It’s easy to dismiss this loss on the basis that the Canucks generally played well and proved again to be a resilient bunch.  And it’s only a mid-season loss.  And in the context of a “losing the battle, but winning the war” mentality, the Red Wings suffered the loss of Pavel Datsyuk to injury. 

But Vancouver suffered arguably worse.   The big game readiness of the star keeper was tested again.  And as every passing “big” game indicates, Luongo is having more in common with Dan Cloutier than Patrick Roy.

This is a problem that cannot be understated or deferred with a ”wait and see” attitude.  Clutch game confidence is not something that magically happens, but builds over time.  On that basis, there’s lots of work to do…

10:44am
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Filed under: Vancouver Canucks Roberto Luongo Ryan Kelser Jeff Tambellini 
November 2, 2010
The Curse of the Sedins

Of course, we mean this in a mostly tongue in cheek fashion, but with Jeff Tambellini’s demotion today to Winnipeg despite scoring twice in his limited time with the Sedins you have to wonder.

The first winger to achieve decent chemistry back when the twins were just fuzzy faced boys was Trent Klatt.  After said success, Klatt had a personal chauffeur, Brian Burke, drive him to the airport as he chased more money and respect in LA only to have his career end one year later. 

After Klatt, came Magnus Arvedson.  Coming from Ottawa as a two way winger capable of 15 to 20 goals per season, Arvedson was supposed to be a perfect fit to join his Swedish brethren, but it never worked and he (while ending his NHL career that season) was replaced quickly by Jason King.  King came from nowhere (we mean Newfoundland) and after scoring early and often with the Sedins was back in the AHL before the season was over and has since played a grand total of 4 NHL games. 

And, of course, no one can forget everyone’s favourite Sedin brother, Anson Carter, who racked up an incredible season only to think that he was solely responsible for it chasing better money out of town and in less than one season was out of the NHL. 

After Carter, the winger to get the most Sedin ice time was one Markus Naslund.  During his mostly two years with twins he racked up paltry goal and assist totals compared to what he had done in the previous 5 seasons.  And, of course, the supposed Canuck icon left town shortly thereafer for one final mediocre season in New York.

The next chosen child was Steve Bernier, who arrived in town as a still highly prized prospect.  The big man with the right hand shot that would so easily pull an “Anson Carter” did not.  In fact, the experiment was short lived.  And after 2 seasons here, mostly as a third liner, he was shipped to hockey purgatory in Florida.

And you might remember Sergei Shirokov, last season’s training camp darling who began the season as the designated right hand power play shooter with the Sedins.  6 games and no points later, he, too, was off to Winnipeg and hasn’t been seen since.

But what about Alex Burrows?  With the Sedins at his side, he’s evolved from grinding winger to sniping sister right?  Yes, but after being an ironman since his arrival here 5 seasons ago he has now had to battle through a shoulder problem, making his return tonight while Tambellini makes his way to the Moose.

Let’s hope that Burrows is the exception to what has been a mostly miserable rule.

5:14pm
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(Notes: 3)
  
Filed under: vancouver canucks the Sedins Jeff Tambellini Trent Klatt Brian Burke Magnus Arvedson Jason King Anson Carter Markus Naslund Steve Bernier Sergei Shirokov