The Nashville Predators are heading home to host the All-Star Game after a win in Calgary on Wednesday night, giving them a sweep of their four-game Canadian road trip. The Colorado Avalanche also won in regulation, so the Central Division is back in firm control of the Western Conference Wild Card spots.
Nashville has 57 points, Colorado has 56, so they're in. Minnesota is one point back at 55, and Anaheim and Vancouver are looking up with 51 points each—two behind Arizona for third place in the Pacific.
With no games for the next five days, the Canucks will spend the All-Star Break ranked 23rd overall but in good company with Canada's other teams. Montreal and Ottawa are just one point ahead with 52 points, while Winnipeg has 47, Calgary has 45 and Edmonton and Toronto bring up the rear with 43.
Canada's teams do need an exchange rate multiplier to get themselves back into the mix!
Last year at this time, Vancouver was 15th overall with 55 points in 45 games. The Canucks will have a tougher hill to climb this season if they hope to get back into the playoff mix.
There is no trade freeze during All-Star Weekend. I wouldn't be surprised to see some roster shuffling begin around the league over the next few days.
But first—let's put the spotlight on the CHL Top Prospects Game, which is taking place at the Pacific Coliseum tonight.
Game time is at 6:00, with coverage on Sportsnet. Tickets are still available and range in price from $24.65 to $55.50 including fees—good value if you're interested in seeing the stars of this year's draft class live.
Click here to purchase.
Here's a snapshot of Team Cherry:
And this is Team Orr:
Canucks fans will want to keep an eye on defenceman Jakob Chychrun of the Sarnia Sting—ranked second by NHL Central Scouting and suiting up for Team Cherry. Though he didn't make the cut for Team Canada at World Juniors, he remains highly ranked and could be a logical choice for the Canucks if they decide to draft by need and take a blueliner in the first round this year.
Jakob is the son of Jeff Chychrun, who played 262 games on defence in the NHL for Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh and Edmonton between 1986 and 1994.
Chychrun led all players in off-ice fitness testing and was second in the on-ice component on Wednesday:
Legacy players are a strong theme in this year's draft class. Other familiar last names include Matthew (son of Keith) Tkachuk, who's ranked first and tied Auston Matthews for the scoring lead on Team USA at World Juniors with 11 points, and Alexander (son of Michael and brother of William) Nylander, who led the Swedes at World Juniors with four goals and eight points and is ranked third by Central Scouting.
Ty Ronning is another second-generation player. The local boy and son for former Canuck Cliff Ronning joins Team Cherry as an injury replacement for the Vancouver Giants, where he leads his team with 26 goals. Ronning is ranked 82nd by Central Scouting but when you consider the odds his father overcame to carve out a 1,137-game NHL career, I'd bet that his boy has some steely determination in his veins.
Also like his dad, Ty doesn't have great NHL size. He's listed at 5'9" and 165 pounds—but he should be a fan favourite at the Coliseum tonight.
The game will be a welcome filler before we roll into the All-Star Game action over the weekend.
One other important sports note before I sign off today—Milos Raonic is now the first Canadian man ever to reach the semifinal of the Australian Open. He has played the best tennis of his career so far in this tournament, including disposing of No. 4 seed Stan Wawrinka in a five-set thriller in the fourth round.
Raonic faces second seed and four-time Australian Open finalist Andy Murray tonight for a chance to face five-time Australian Open champ Novak Djokovic in the final.
The match is scheduled to start at the very unfriendly hour of 12:30 a.m. Pacific Time. I'm liveblogging it for Bleacher Report so I'll have a chance to see if Raonic can book his first-ever appearance in a Grand Slam final.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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