It's a quiet start to the day in Canuck-ville. Once again, the team is practicing at the Pacific Coliseum, but the first group doesn't hit the ice till 11:30, followed by the second group at 1:15.
Later today, the Canucks Autism Network is hosting its inaugural
Reveal Gala—an intimate affair for 500 guests at Rogers Arena, hosted by George Stroumboulopoulos and featuring Olympic gold medallist and Amazing Race host Jon Montgomery as auctioneer.
Trevor Linden will also be in attendance, along with select Canucks players.
Speaking of players, this was the most interesting nugget I found about line combinations from Wednesday's practice sessions:
I suspect Ronalds Kenins' audition with the Sedins has come and gone, but I like this Grenier idea. He's a big boy who looked dangerous on offense at the Kraft Hockeyville game—and who had a solid playoff with the Utica Comets last spring.
I keep reminding myself not to put too much stock in preseason results, but this team needs to flip the scoring switch sooner rather than later. Maybe Grenier can help make that happen in a top-six role.
Vancouver's next games are back-to-backs against the Flames—in Calgary on Friday, then here at Rogers Arena on Saturday night.
The Province brought out a new "Rate the Players" feature after this week's games, which is yielding some interesting food for thought.
Though their level of feedback is pretty low, with only a couple of hundred voters weighing in for Monday's game and even less on Tuesday,
Erik Rolfsen points out in today's Morning Skate column that along with the team's traditional whipping boys Sbisa, Vey and Miller, Sven Baertschi and Brandon Sutter also aren't getting a whole lot of love at the moment.
From my angle, Baertschi didn't do a whole lot in Victoria on Monday. He needs to generate offense to be effective. I thought Sutter's first game was decent—he can be valuable in lots of ways that won't necessarily show up on the scoresheet.
As soon as I say that, I can see the argument for why a player like Sutter should be centring the third line, not the second.
We keep hearing that the organization doesn't want to put too much pressure on Bo Horvat to feel that he needs to score. If he's now playing with Burrows and Vrbata, that sounds to me like they're ready to see if he can provide the team's much-needed offensive spark this weekend.
In other news,
Ben Kuzma updates us on Willie Desjardins' health in today's
Province.
Willie's hoping that he can fly to Calgary on Friday, but admits that the doctors will have the final say on the matter.
Willie also offered this explanation for Jordan Subban's early cut, citing a need to get him established for his first year with the Utica Comets:
“Lyon changes it,” Desjardins said of the shorter evaluation time for AHL-bound players. “It’s such an athletic family that surprises you a lot with how competitive they are. We felt there was a need to get him (Subban) going to where he could establish himself.
“But you can never count him out. There are many good genes, and passion will carry you a long way.”
Kuzma also mentions that Willie has been pleased with what he has seen so far from Jared McCann and defenseman Ben Hutton, "suggesting the puck-moving ability of the collegiate blue-liner and a low panic threshold are quickly advancing his career."
Hutton's a left-shot defenseman—and one of the few members of the Canucks blue line who has some offensive flair. I wonder if he's going to be in the mix to make the team at the end of preseason, or if the Canucks will assign him to Utica after this weekend's games so that he, too, can participate in the Comets' training camp in France.
A couple of other quick stories to wrap up today:
Click here for Brad Ziemer's story on Linden Vey in the
Vancouver Sun.
Vey talks a lot about working to get his confidence back after losing the ability to succeed with his down-low game last seaon. He says he's up from 187 pounds last season to 200 this year after an intense summer of strength training, and Ziemer reports that he won nine of 15 faceoffs in his fourth-line outing on Tuesday—a big improvement from his numbers last season.
Click here to check out Tuesday's faceoff comparisons. Even in a fourth-line role, Vey did all right against established NHLers like Logan Couture and Tomas Hertl, but went just 1-for-3 against Ben Smith.
Cole Cassels also had a good night in the circle, winning 55 percent of his draws. Jared McCann was weaker—3-for-9 for 33 percent—and Henrik Sedin went just 5-for 18. He even lost a faceoff to Brent Burns?!?
Finally,
click here for Ben Kuzma's story on Brendan Gaunce from
The Province.
We learn that Gaunce is pursuing higher education during his time away from the rink, and that "I’m coming in here with the mentality of wanting to make the team, regardless if someone gets hurt."
Gaunce has earned the tag of most-improved player after his 2014-15 season in Utica and appears to have the inside track on replacing the injured Chris Higgins on Vancouver's third line.
"I think he took a different approach in how hard he had to work,” said Desjardins. “He’s a good skater, real smart and a good person, so he had a lot, and other parts of his game, too. He seems like a more complete player and better than he was last year.”
Gaunce will also endear himself to Canucks fans with his physical playing style. He sounds very comfortable with his switch to the wing.
"If you play physical, especially early, you’ll get a lot more room out there, and for me to be able to go up and down the wall and winning puck battles shows the stronger attributes of my game."
I liked what I saw from Gaunce in Monday's Kraft Hockeyville game. He's still just 21, but the way things are going, the 2012 first-rounder might turn out to be the next young gun to earn a full-time spot in Vancouver.
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