For the first time since the Olympic break, the Vancouver Canucks get a bit of a breather before their next game, Sunday against Buffalo. The team has played at least every second day since getting back on the horse at the end of February. Will a bit of rest energize them, or sap away the commitment and energy they've been showing in recent games?
Dallas lost 4-2 to Philadelphia on Thursday night; it looks like they really are missing injured Kari Lehtonen and running out of gas down the stretch. Phoenix, however, keeps finding ways to win. The Coyotes topped Roberto Luongo and the Florida Panthers by a score of 2-1 on Thursday, but Luongo was boiling mad about getting run over on what turned out to be Antoine Vermette's game-winner—with good reason. You might be able to argue that there was contact from the Florida defenseman, but the interference is pretty egregious. Check out the highlights:
The Stars have now lost three in a row, while the Coyotes have won three straight. They're five points ahead of Vancouver in eighth place, still with two games in hand, though their next game is a tough one: Saturday against Boston.
Despite the Coyotes win, Vancouver's playoff chances remain steady at 2.0 percent, according to SportsClubStats.com.
The Canucks will practice at Rogers Arena at 11:00 this morning, so we'll see if there's anything new on the player-personnel front. Darren Archibald was re-assigned to Utica on Thursday, so that infers that there's no serious damage to Alex Burrows' hand after the slash he took from Shea Weber on Vancouver's first goal Wednesday night.
Ryan Kesler was injured on March 13, with an estimate of two weeks on his sprained knee. If all goes well, he could be back in action in time for the team's road trip next week.
I saw Hunter Shinkaruk in the press box on Wednesday as he's in town continuing his rehabilitation from hip surgery. He's back on the ice and,
according to him, things are going well.
Diaz Waits for a Chance:
I noticed yesterday that, after the New York Rangers picked up Raphael Diaz from the Canucks at the trade deadline, he has yet to play a game for the Blueshirts. I don't think the Canucks miss him—he really was an emergency acquisition during that rash of injuries to the defense—but I feel for the guy. Getting traded twice in such a short period of time, mixing the Olympics in between, and now being stuck on the sidelines. It doesn't exactly boost his prospects for his next contract as an impending unrestricted free agent.
Canuck Prospects Win OHL Awards:
Yesterday, I was working on a story for Bleacher Report that focused on the top 10 prospects coming up in this year's draft—the ones that will likely be just out of Vancouver's reach.
Here's the link if you'd care to check it out.
I bring this up because, during my research, I came across
the list of coaches awards handed out in the OHL at the end of the regular season. It was nice to see some Canuck prospect names in the mix:
Dane Fox was named "most dangerous in the goal area" and "best shot" in the OHL Western Conference while Bo Horvat was named "best on face-offs" and second-best defensive forward. Also, Jordan Subban was named third-best offensive defenseman in the Eastern Conference.
Now that Nick Jensen has us feeling more optimistic about the Canucks' amateur scouting and player development, I'm interested to see how some of the other players in the pipeline will come along. The OHL playoffs are now underway, and Horvat's London Knights will be hosting this year's Memorial Cup.
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