The probably line-up for tonight's game
Raymond Kesler Samuelsson
Glass Wellwood Bernier
Hordichuk Johnson Pope
Bolduc Grabner
Edler Salo
McIver Bieksa
Lukowich Oberg
Rome
Luongo
Schneider
There you have it. One piece on the 4th to be added and that will be a decent look for AV and Gillis at couple of guys playing with some big guns. The guys who need to be on their toes are Raymond, Glass, Pope, Bolduc and Grabner- particularly Grabner.
Grabner has to make himself seen and do something. This has been the knock on him for a bit now- he waits for things to happen rather than getting dirty and making things happen. I may be a bit biased with Grabner in the wrong way. I see him as the type of guy who is new to your men's beer league team. He comes in to the dressing room as a friend of one of the guys on the team- only this guy knows him. He sits down and gets dressed and as he's almost finished he sneezes blowing a big loogey into his hand. He looks down at it, shrugs and wipes it on his pants. You then realize "oh this guy must be a winger".
Grabner is a run and gun winger who if he does not have the puck can basically look like an ad on the boards, but when he is moving with the puck he can really stand out. It's not so much that's he's a liability on the ice defensively like Bertuzzi became but he just doesn't seem to make himself present. I hope tonight we see some changes in his game and his desire to compete. This is going to be a hard team for him to make, but seeing as he has had no time other than pre-season with the team which drafted him, he has to start realizing that he has to do more. The opportunity is there for him but he has to be ready to do what all the other guys on the team are doing.
The line of Raymond Kesler and Bernier is intriguing too. As Mathew Sekeres wrote in today's Globe and Mail, tonight could be a preview of the other lines AV wants to see before making determinations on the top line. Seeing as Raymond has had his best off season for preparation and that there are legitimate challenges to his spot on the roster this is a 'show and tell' game for him. He's been saying (telling) all the right things but now it's time to show.
A similar point could be made for Bernier as above. His off season dedication has been noted by the team and fans and he too has to show a more fleet of foot style and hopefully softer hands but you can't train for those unfortunately. If Bernier has gained some speed and Raymond has gained some strength and Kesler has cellular memory of his learning experience with Sundin and Demitra this could be the line to watch. Bernier will have to work hard to keep up but if he can play the body hard and go to the net and Raymond can stay on his feet and keep possession after he crosses the blue line there might be something here. This is definitely a combo I did not think about coming into the camp.
I think it's a good sign for Brad Lukowich that he is getting another game. He seemed steady in the game against the Islanders and his presence could suggest the coaches and GM are looking for minuses in his game to compare him to others. Pairing him with OBerg is interesting as it would seem that you may want to support the rookie with a player assured to make the team such as Edler, Salo or Bieksa but that is only one way of seeing the combo-certainly not the only way.
With 2 more games soon after this one the real stretch drive for bubble players is coming and these guys are going to have to work hard to make the team. It's too early to predict who might be here come Oct 1 but I'm sure there will be a surprise move that keeps us talking for a bit and it might be in the form of a trade.
Enjoy the game!
One last thing. I want to do a separate hockey pool for Canucks blog readers. It's open for bragging rights and season ticket to HB on me, unless you guys want to up the ante-logistics be damned!
I want to do a keeper league (simplest for me to do) and put it up on officepools.com for all to view. No limit on entries then either.
I am hoping to have a Canucks slant on the picks but I am more interested in getting numbers now. So PM me if you want in.
Pete
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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