PUCK ALERT – by Saint Pako

Competition is extremely fierce with the Canucks this pre-season, and it sure is looking like Hodgson won’t make the roster.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the kid, he’s everything a Canucks fan can hope for, but it looks like now isn’t the time, yet. I know, with just 6 pre-season games under the belt for the team, Hodgson still has a maximum of 3 more pre-season games to play, and then 9 more regular season games before his first-year contract kicks in.

It’s really too bad that he just came off an injury, and it may have affected his performance a little. But that little bit has proved to be devastating, especially in the big leagues. The difference between mediocre players versus great players may be just that little in the NHL today.

Let’s be honest here, Hodgson didn’t play poorly, his play was decent, and he did have an empty-netter and that beautiful shoot-out goal. This may have been sufficient if he’s playing in Atlanta, Colorado or even Florida. In Vancouver, however, he needs to be better, better than Wellwood, Pope, Bliznak and Bolduc, if he wants to play center.

If he can adjust to playing on the wing, he still needs to be better than Shirokov, Glass, Parrish or even Hansen. Has he really shown that he is better than them?

With five of the top nine forward positions locked down with Henrik, Daniel, Burrows, Kesler, and Samuelsson, there are only four spots open.

Wellwood has been sensational so far in the pre-season, his soft hands and patience have surely earned him a spot in the roster. Raymond has been consistent, and his change to go to the net more has resulted with better production. He was even named the first star in tonight’s game with a great goal to help shift the momentum and another shoot-out goal.

Bernier has improved significantly as well, he seems to be faster and he had a great game against the Ducks. Hansen, similarily had a great game against the Oilers and his speed will prove to be a great asset for the team. Both players were exceptionally great, and in terms of points, Shirokov and Hodgson had better production.

With two great goals and two assists, Shirokov has the best chance out of the four for a spot. Fans in Vancouver love Shirokov and it’s naive to think that the organization will neglect this when they finalize the roster.

Hansen recently just signed a league-minium two-way contract, so it’s safe to say that unless he performs brilliantly in the remaining games, he will be heading to Manitoba.

So this leaves us with Bernier and Hodgson. I personally believe that Bernier contributes more with his size, toughness and newly revived speed. Hodgson however is still young, so young that if the Canucks decide to cut him, he won’t be eligible to play in the AHL this season. He will have to go back to the juniors for another year.

My prediction is that since Hodgson just came back from an injury, the Canucks won’t risk putting him in at the beginning of the season. Bernier, on the other hand, is in a great shape, and he will get the nod to start the season.

Another sign of this is coach Vigneault’s post-game reaction suggests that he feels Hodgson isn’t playing that well.

On one hand, I guess it’s great to see that even a player with three goals (1 slapshot, 1 empty-netter and 1 OT goal) in the pre-season can’t even make the Canucks’ roster, but on the other hand you have to feel sorry for Cody.

Notice how I didn’t mention Grabner at all, that’s because there’s absolutely no way he will make the team. I guess there’s always hope, Michael, …hope that Gillis will trade you to a weaker team.

Summer is over for the Canucks, as the Pre-season will officially begin one week from today. Next Monday, 14th September marks the first Pre-season game for the Canucks in Terrace, British Columbia. It seems like yesterday that CBC announced the winning of the bid for Terrace to host their first Canucks Pre-season game. Again, congratulations to the Kraft Hockeyville 2009 winner, a town of 12,660 population, now known as the most passionate hockey city in Canada.

Today is also the day two of the Prospect Camp for the Canucks, and I believe we’ve all heard the interviews of Vigneualt, Hodgson and Shirokov. With all these talents, gathered by our most trusted GM, I don’t think I’ve been so excited about the upcoming lineup for the Canucks, ever.

There is still plenty of hockey to be played before we know for sure the official line-up for the Canucks in the 2009-2010 season. In fact, there are nine Pre-season games for the team before we lock down on the official squad, and for most of the prospects, Canucks can play them no more than 10 regular season games before their first year contract kicks in.

I think there is no argument as to which prospect will get the most attention on whether or not he makes the team than Cody Hodgson. Without ever playing a single game for the Canucks, Cody was recently named by The Hockey News as the top Calder candidate for 2009-2010, ahead of Tavares and Hedman. SYP also named Hodgson as the top three prospect of the NHL, just behind Tavares and Hedman.

However, a back-injury sustained during practise has kept Hodgson off the ice for a while, and despite being approved to join the prospect camp, Cody is only allowed to do skating drills but NO CONTACT. Whether this affect his chance of cracking the team this year remains to be seen. It will be a terrible blow to Hodgson’s ego as well as the marketing department of the Canucks if he indeed doesn’t make the team.

We all know that the only logical opening for prospects in the current Canucks roster is probably just the third-line. Since AV usually keeps his fourth-line to blue-collar work, the Johnson-Rypien-Hordichuk lineup is pretty much what I expect to see comes October.

But we already have tons of player fighting for third-line opening. If we assume for a moment that Demtira is healthy enough to play, the Sedins + Burrows + Kesler + Demitra + Samuelsson will fill up the top six nicely. Then we will see Bernier, Hansen, Wellwood, Raymond fighting for the three spots. Since, Hodgson is still under recovery, I don’t think AV will rush him, we do have plenty of healthy bodies already! Then, who else should we keep an eye on at the end of the Prospect Camp?

Micheal Grabner, coming off a great season and playoffs with the Moose is very very close to making the team. He is oozing with confidence, and I don’t think the Canucks can afford to keep him off the roster for any longer, without hurting anyone’s feelings. If the team can’t use him, they might-as-well trade him now.

I think there’s a dark horse in Sergei Shirokov, who gave up quite a lot to be here at the camp, and trying to making the team. He sure has some natural offensive skills, often seen from the Red Army’s graduates. If he doesn’t make the squad, will he be content to spend one season in Manitoba??

The camp will end tomorrow noon, and the team will travel to Edmonton for two night games with the Flames and Oilers Prospects. By then, we should know more about which player has the better chance of making the team.

But in any case, whether or not there are any third-line vacancies will depend of the health status of Demitra or any upcoming trades by Gillis. So I guess we won’t know until the puck is drop on 1st October.

Roberto, come say it with me, His name is Jordan Schroeder “STRAY-Der”, “STRAY-Der”.

That’s right, after last year’s steal of the draft by Canucks with Cody Hodgson at 10th overall, the Canucks were granted another gift in this year’s NHL Entry Draft at the Bell Center in Montreal.

One need to simply look at Canucks GM Mike Gillis’ facial expression before and during the announcement of the pick by Captain Roberto Luongo, to understand how surprised the Canucks were that the talented Minnesota-native was still available at the 22nd pick.

Even in his interview with TSN immediately after the pick, Gillis was genuinely surprised and happy to pick the 2nd best US player of this draft.

In fact, 12 North American Players ranked under Schroeder (ranked 5th) in the Final Central Scouting were drafted much earlier than Jordan:

Nazim Kadri (Ranked 15th) picked at 7th by Maple Leafs
Scott Glennie (Ranked 7th) picked at  8th by Stars
Jared Cowen (Ranked 9th) picked at 9th by Senators
Ryan Ellis (Ranked 16th) picked at 11th by Predators
Calvin De Haan (Ranked 25th) picked at 12th by Islanders
Zack Kassian (Ranked 10th) picked at 13th by Sabres
Dmitry Kulikov (Ranked 11th) picked at 14th by Panthers
Peter Holland (Ranked 19th) picked at 15th by Ducks
Nick Leddy (Ranked 24th) picked at 16th by Wild
Louis Leblanc (Ranked 13th) picked at 18th by Canadiens
Chris Kreider (Ranked 14th) picked at 19th by  Rangers
John Moore (Ranked 6th) picked at 21th by Blue Jackets

Of course, many have stated that the reason why Schroeder was passed over for other players is his size. At 5’8″ and 175lbs, Schroeder will become the smallest skater in the entire Canucks system, including all active roster players and prospects. The only other player in the Canucks system smaller than Schroeder is Goaltender Lukas Mensator at 5’8″ 167lbs.

However, as both Bob McKenzie and Pierre Mcguire pointed out, whatever Schroeder lacks in size, he makes up with grit and point-production. Which is the main reason why Jordan was ranked as the top five N-American players and 14th overall in International Scouting. So, maybe he is a Gillis’ type of player afterall.

Having said this, Jordan 19, will most likely go back to Minnesota for another year of two before he is really NHL-ready. But then again, with the Sedins contract still uncertain, maybe we WILL see him on the ice sooner than later. Who knows, he still very young, maybe he still have some room to grow in terms of height and weight?!

Here are some important stats of Jordan Schroeder:

Born: September 29, 1990 in Burnsville, Minnesota
Height: 5-8
Weight: 175 pounds
Position: Center/Right Wing
Shoots: Right
Last Team: Golden Gophers of U.Minnesota

Ranking:
Mid-term Central Scouting: 4th among N.Americans
Final Central Scouting: 5th among N.Americans

International Scouting Services: 14th Overall
The Hockey News: 9th Overall
Red Line Report: 11th Overall
TSN: 15th Overall
McKeen’s Hockey: 13th Overall

Scouts Reports:

Jack Barzee, NHL Central Scouting

“He’s a dynamic player, a leader and a type of player that has developed into a complete offensive and defensive threat every time he is on the ice. He has a rocket of a wrist shot and he can beat you by putting the puck in the net, going around a defender, or freezing the goaltender and passing it off to one of his wingers. The concern is going to be his overall size, like there was with Scott Gomez, with Brian Gionta and with Patrick Kane, but at the same age he is probably a little thicker and a little bit more compact than they were. He’s a great hockey player.”

Kyle Woodlief, Red Line Report

“Schroeder is a very imaginative playmaker who may be small in stature, but is a mature, take-charge guy who runs the PP and distributes the puck beautifully. Can also wire a sneaky snap shot that he should use more often. He’s very advanced and should be in the NHL in a year after dominating college hockey as a freshman and being the best performer on the U.S. World Junior squad.”

The Hockey News

“Schroeder is an offensive machine. He’s short and stocky, but his size doesn’t affect him as it would other players because he has such a strong core.”

International Scouting Services

“Jordan is a very dynamic player with high-level skills. An agile and speedy playmaker, Schroeder’s perimeter quickness gets opponents defenses into a panic. His game changing scoring abilities put him in the top ten of the talent pool in this year’s draft class.”

So Schroeder has an average ranking of 12th overall across the five most prominent scouting services, which is extremely good for a 22nd pick. It seems like the luck is changing for the Canucks with Gillis as our GM.

With the Entry Draft now over, let’s focus on signing our UFAs, and let’s hope that our ties with Minnesota, in terms of News doesn’t just end with Schroeder for the coming weeks.

So have you checked out your house yet, Marian?

It’s official, the Islanders have won the NHL Entry-draft Lottery for the 09-10 season.

I find it silly that people are even discussing about who New York should draft this coming June.

Junior-Sensation Sniper-Centerman John Tavares of the London Knights or the 6’6″, 227 lbs Defenseman Victor Hedman of MoDo Sweden? The best North American prospect vs the best European prospect, the super-talented goal-scorer vs the giantly-built physical defenseman, they ask.

Really??????!!!!!!

Well, the people who are suggesting that the Islanders should repeat what they have done during the 1973 entry draft, by picking up a defenseman with their 1st overall pick, are obviously not fans or employees of the struggling hockey club. (They are most likely Lightning fans!!! Just imagine Tavares and Stamkos on the same team!!!)

The argument is that Stanley Cup champions are built around defensemen, and the fact that the Islanders-Dynasty Era of the early 80′s was a direct result of defensiveman Denis Potvin’s strong performance.

It’s a valid argument, I suppose, if the primary objective of the organization is to win a cup eventually, maybe in a few years, when the team is able to gather more talents up-front and in-net.

However, this is not what the Islanders need right now. Their main problem is attendance, or better yet, profit.

The Islanders have been in the bottom 10 teams in terms of attendance for the last seven consecutive years. With an average of 13,500 paid attendance and even fewer people actually attending these games, the team is facing great challenges in terms of revenue. Although, the number of attendance maybe directly related to the seat capacity of the ancient Nassau Veterans Memorial Colisuem, which is where the Islanders play hosts. The NVMC was built 37 years ago, and is now the third oldest amongst all NHL arenas; it is also the smallest stadium amongst all NHL venues.

With these facts in mind and upon the request of the Nassau County, Islanders owner Charles Wang proposed a plan to build a 60-story multifunctional tower mimicking a lighthouse, which they coinced the term “Lighthouse Project”. The “Lighthouse” will have stadiums, housing, athletic facilities, hotel, restaurants…etc, and will be the future home of the Islanders. However, the Nassau County wasn’t able to come to any kind of agreement with Wang & Co, and the entire project dragged-on for almost 3 years. Wang, frustrated, was planning on relocating the New York team to Kansas just this February.

If both the Nassau County and Wang & Co aren’t able to come to an agreement in finding a new home for the Islanders, the team might be the first team to be relocated in the last 12 years. (Hartford to Carolina, 1997)

If you remember, the Pittsburgh Penguins had similar problems during the post-lockout season in 2005, when the organization faced huge monetary loss after years of under-attendance. The Penguins’ home arena is the Mellon Arena, and is the oldest active stadium in the entire NHL. With a maximum capacity of 16,940, the Penguins organization weren’t making any profit from the limited attendance, and reduced advertising incomes.

The organization were forced to consider relocation, but all problems went away the magical moment the Penguins got the first overall draft-pick for the 05-06 entry draft. Agreements were immediately made to keep the team in Pittsburgh for at least the next 30 years, simply because everyone knows that the first overall pick for the upcoming draft was a Canadian kid called Sidney.

History seems to be repeating this year, as the team in most need of a franchise player, someone who can bring the fans back into the stadium, has been awarded the first overall pick. This time, it’s a Canadian kid called John.

People have been comparing John Tavares and Sidney Crosby with Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky. Some disagree, and argue that Tavares is, at best, equal to the potential of a Jason Spezza. But in terms of significance to their hockey club, and their ability to save a franchise, I think few can disagree that at this very moment, John Tavares is Islander’s Sidney Crosby.

There’s an interesting post by Eklund on http://hockeybuzz.com today with regarding to Tavares. Eklund suggested that with Burke at the Helm of the Maple Leafs, he might be considering trading up to get the first pick overall for Tavares, like he did in Hartford for Pronger (1st – 6th overall, 2nd, 3rd + Markov for the 2nd overall pick) or like he did to get both the Sedins in Vancouver.

However my opinion is that this will not happen, as there’s an unspoken rule in NHL GM’s guidebook, YOU DON’T TRADE AWAY YOUR 1ST OVERALL PICK. Unless it’s a very very deep draft with the top two players very close in their abilities and potential, THEN, if you have the first overall pick, you may consider trading it away for the second overall pick + XXXX + XXXX, if not….

But then again, stranger things have happened in the NHL.

I think most will agree that the Islanders will probably finish last this season, and they most likely will have the 1st overall pick, but if they don’t, let’s take a look which other four teams might have a chance to win the lottery. (As of today)

Phoenix Coyotes 8.1%
Colorado Avalanche 10.7%
Atlanta Thrashers 14.2%
Tampa Bay Lightning 18.8%

Which one of these team, the Islanders included, are willing to give up John Tavares??? A player who just broke the all-time scoring record of the OHL, a player expected to be better than Stamkos, or maybe Crosby. Imagine Gretzky and the Coyotes have Tavares in the line-up, the club’s survival will be ensured in Phoenix, just like what Crosby did for Pittsburgh.

What about the Avalanche?? They’ve sanked to their all-time franchise low (Nordiques’ era not included) this season, and they surely feel they should be rewarded with a player they can build their franchise around.

Thrashers…seriously, I don’t know what they are doing with their franchise, after all these years, and all the top picks, it seems like Kovalchuk is all they got.

But how about Stamkos and Tavares on the same team!!!!??? The Dynamic Duo will be the next Ovechkin/Semin, Crosby/Malkin!!! The Lightning won’t give that up even if you give them every picks for the next 2 seasons!!!!

The same can be said to the Islanders, Charles Wang will have GM Snow’s head on a platter if he even mentions about trading away their 1st overall pick. The Islanders have been in rebuilding mode for God knows how long, and with the exception of Rookie Kyle Okposo, the team lacks a superstar attraction to fill the seats at NVMC.

The Leafs now sits at the 7th spot in terms of draft lottery, and if they are able to sink fast enough, they may be able to land a 4th or 5th spot, which gives them some hope to draft Tavares. Their chance will still be very slim though.

But even if the Islanders are willing to accept a trade with the Leafs, ie. 1st, 2nd, 3rd + Kaberle for the 1st overall pick, will Burke pull the trigger???

For PR sake, maybe~~ But I don’t think he needs to. The Leafs have no problem filling their seats, even when the team is playing like they do now. They don’t “NEED” Tavares. Players like Hedman, Duchene or Kane can’t compare to Tavares in terms of natural-skills and public-attraction, but they are nonetheless excellent players. Keeping a Hedman or a Duchene and a second may prove to be more benefitial in the long run; not to mention keeping Kaberle for other another trade.

So, no, I don’t think the team with the 1st overall pick will trade that away, but it is an interesting subject. Meanwhile, there’s still hope in Toronto if they can squeeze into the bottom 5 slots. So, stop winning games Leafs!!!! Go Leafs Go!!!

PROSPECT REPORT #1

I’ve decided to add a new section to my blog, mainly focusing on Canucks Prospects.

However, I won’t go with the usual suspects in Cody Hodgson or Michael Grabner, instead the first Prospect Report will be on Canucks 2007 first-round pick, Patrick White.

At the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, the Canucks hold the 25th selection in the first round. Players like Patrick Kane (1st overall), James van Riemsdyk (2), Kyle Turris (3), Sam Gagner (6), Angelo Esposito (20), Mikael Backlund (24) were all selected by their respective teams.  At the 25th selection, players like David Perron, Brendan Smith and Nick Petrecki were still available, but Canucks chose to select a player from the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers, with the name of Patrick White.

A lof of people were surprised by this, as it seems unanimous that David Perron was a much better and safer choice. But…this is still 2009. Although David Perron is already playing his second season with the St. Louis Blues, earning 13G, 14A in 62 games last year, and 9G, 29A so far this season, meanwhile Mr. White is still playing at the WCHA level with the Minnesota Golden Gophers, it’s still way too early to tell; and we’ve seen a lot of late-bloomers with tremendous NHL careers.

But who is Patrick White?? Canucks 06 first-rounder – Micheal Grabner and 08 first-rounder Cody Hodgson are household names in Vancouver, and perhaps in a lot of other hockey towns as well, but Patrick White???!!!

Maybe some insights by Canucks Fanz Columnist Farhan Devji’s article can help us know him better? Farhan quoted various scouts prior to the 2007 draft said the following:

“…White is one of the more complete players in the draft, with no glaring weaknesses…”

“I hate to cross compare stats but Sam Gagner had 11 goals in 40 some games in the USHL last year. This year White had 8 goals in 12 games…”

“[White]…is hard to knock off of the puck. Great shot. Loves to fish out pucks down low and take them out from and bury it. Possible 2 way sniper.”

“…with the game on the line there wasn’t anybody as clutch as him.”

“The best stick handler in ther draft beside Pat Kane.”

Best stick-handler besides Patrick Kane??? Really???!!!!!! REALLY????

Well, we don’t know about that, but of course these comments were made in 2007, so… anyways, let get to know a bit more about Mr. White.

Patrick was born Jan 20, 1989, and grew up in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. White joined his high school hockey team in Grand Rapids and wasn’t noticable during his first season. But he would quickly improve his play and by his third season with the school team, White was already leading his team in scoring with 52 points in 30 games. He earned the Associated Press All-State Honorable mention, and also helped his team to finish runner-up at the State High School Boys Hockey Tournament.

Then during his senior year White repeated his success with 49 points in 30 games and was named the Associated Press Player of the Year.

In 2007, Patrick White was ranked 23rd overall among North American skaters, and was subsquently drafted in the first round by the Canucks.

As a first-rounder, Patrick returned to Minnesota and joined the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers for the 07-08 season. But due to the depth of the team, White played limited minutes and only gathered 10 points in 45 games. He did however led the team in terms of plus-minus at a rating of +9.

Entering the 2008-09 season, White again returned to the Golden Gophers for his sophomore season. However, despite the exit of experience players like Kyle Okposo to the NHL, White wasn’t able to secure more ice-time or improved his point production as a third-line center.

Despite having two somewhat disappointing seasons with the Gophers, Patrick has been improving his play of late, shown by his overtime game-winning goal during the 2009 Dodge Holiday Classic against the Northeastern University. White scored two goals in this two-game tournament.

During this past Saturday, the Gophers played their last game of the season, and it was also the teams last chance at clinching home ice-advantage for the conference playoffs. In a 2-0 win over Michigan Tech, Patrick secure the win in the second period with a slap-shot which was redirected by Tony Lucia.

Doesn’t sound too exciting right? Well yes and no. History showed that Patrick is a slow starter, and he needs his time to build confidence before he can excel. I think the up-coming playoffs for the Gophers will be a good test for White to showed that his is capable of stepping up to the next level. But with the depth in the Canucks/Moose organization, there really isn’t any need to rush Patrick into dropping out of college to join the team.

If you ask me today, I honestly don’t think Patrick White will be the next Patrick Kane. I would probably compare him to the Kesler of 2006 at best. But still, he has the potential to improve himself, and if he doesn’t, well we still have Michael and Cody.