Thursday Feb. 5 - Vancouver Canucks vs. San Jose Sharks - 7 p.m. - Sportsnet Pacific, TSN1040
Vancouver Canucks: 28-18-3, 59 points, fourth in Pacific Division
San Jose Sharks: 27-18-7, 61 points, third in Pacific Division
Last night's matchup between the Calgary Flames and San Jose Sharks was a bit of a lose-lose for the Vancouver Canucks. Two (or possibly) three points were going to be awarded to the teams currently closest to Vancouver in the standings.
Calgary's 3-1 win over San Jose is probably a best-case scenario. Though the Flames leapfrogged both the Canucks and Sharks into second place in the Pacific Division, now Calgary and San Jose are both just two points ahead of Vancouver—and the Canucks have games in hand.
If the Canucks can beat the Sharks tonight—another tired team that'll be on the second half of a back-to-back—Vancouver will also have 61 points, which will vault them right back into second place.
Calgary's 8-2-0 in their last 10 games, though. Apparently nobody told them that they were supposed to cool off and miss the playoffs!
I enjoyed going behind the scenes with the Sharks and the Los Angeles Kings in the first episode of "Road to the NHL Stadium Series," which is airing this week on Sportsnet. Perhaps it's because we know these Pacific Division characters better, but the show seemed livelier than the Winter Classic edition that ran with the Capitals and Blackhawks.
My favorite part was watching animal freak Brent Burns and his family playing with wild animals at the zoo in Columbus during All-Star weekend. I was also interested in trying to unravel the locker-room vibe around the captainless San Jose Sharks.
So far, it looks to me like Little Joe Pavelski is being expected to pick up the slack in the leadership department, though the team seems like it still belongs to Big Joe Thornton.
After a couple of tough seasons matching up against the Sharks, the Canucks are 2-0-0 against them so far this year, with both those wins coming on the road. Tonight's game is the first of three against the Sharks at Rogers Arena over the next month. Those results could go a long way towards determining both teams' playoff positions.
Expect to see Antti Niemi in net tonight, after Alex Stalock took the loss in Calgary on Wednesday.
It does look like the forward lines will be the same as they were for the Winnipeg game on Tuesday, with Alex Burrows reunited with the twins and Radim Vrbata skating with Matthias and Bonino.
At this point, Zack Kassian remains the extra forward. There's not much more to say about Kassian's situation, but Iain MacIntyre elicited some pretty frank words from captain Henrik Sedin about Kassian's current situation:
I compare him to Todd Bertuzzi when he was here, the size and the skill. But this is the NHL — it’s not an easy league. You have to be able to play against the best. You have to be able to play in your own end. You can’t turn the puck over in certain areas. It’s not junior. If you make a big mistake, it usually costs you a game.
I feel bad for him because there’s a lot of pressure on him to score and be a certain type of player. But he needs to feel like he can just be good, doesn’t need to be great. Just be good and make plays. But he’s going to have to start over and show everyone that he can play.
He can dangle and make plays. That’s when he’s at his best. But he needs to finish hits when they are there. He needs to make good plays. There’s a lot of different things that go into being a professional every day and being part of this. You have to show up and do the same things over and over. It can’t just be a game here, a game there.
We had the same problem when we were that age. It’s not easy.
Ben Kuzma notes Willie's latest tactic in trying to get through to Kassian—reaching out to his old junior coach from the Windsor Spitfires, Warren Rychel. As Kuzma says, "Desjardins believes getting Kassian to work the right and consistent way here is possible and the coach is committed to that. It could also be because there’s not much of a trade market for the two-goal, wayward winger."
That's where we stand for now.
Other Trade Topics
We've been around the block on the Evander Kane issue on more than one occasion. Kane's healthy scratch on Tuesday—ostensibly for wearing a track suit to a team meeting instead of a proper suit—certainly makes it look like the Jets and their trouble-magnet might be at the end of the road.
Even the Canucks would have a tough time making room for Kane's $5.25 million cap hit over the next three seasons, but the idea of acquiring a big, strong, local player with a nose for the net is certainly tantalizing.
Still, with Benning and Linden's emphasis on character, I'm not sure they'd be willing to risk the potential sideshow that Kane could bring to town. This idea will keep the Twitter and the phone boards lit up for the next while, but I don't think it's happening.
I'm a bit more curious about this Mike Santorelli situation, though. Even NHL.com is referencing Pierre LeBrun's report for ESPN.com, with the New York Rangers also in the mix.
The article makes a good point about Santorelli's profiency on draws, though he's only at 47 percent this year with Toronto. The versatile forward also has good speed, though his toughness factor is virtually non-existent.
Santorelli has 10 goals and 18 points in 52 games with Toronto this year—the exact same stat line he put up in 49 games with Vancouver in 2013-14 before his season was ended by Martin Hanzal. He has been consistent, and has had success despite playing in two very difficult situations over the past two years.
The Canucks don't really need another 'tweener, who could shuffle around the second and third lines. But what if they Leafs were willing to swap him for a similar player from the Vancouver lineup?
Santorelli is an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season. Would you trade Chris Higgins for him? What about Shawn Matthias or Brad Richardson? (I'm assuming Derek Dorsett is untouchable at this point).
Yes, the Canucks could have re-signed Santorelli last summer for free, rather than giving up an asset now. Even now, my guess is that another team will pay more for him as a playoff rental than the Canucks are willing to give up. He wouldn't be the worst acquisition, but surely there are better options out there...
Heads Up
I'll close today on a light note. This feature ran in the arena during the Winnipeg game on Tuesday, highlighting a party game from the Canucks' Dice and Ice charity event last week.
It's great stuff, and offers interesting insight into the characters of some of the players.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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