Sunday February 28 - Vancouver Canucks vs. San Jose Sharks - 4 p.m. - Sportsnet, TSN1040
Vancouver Canucks: 60 GP, 24-24-12, 60 pts, fourth in Pacific Division
San Jose Sharks: 60 GP, 32-22-6, 70 pts, third in Pacific Division
Here's a brain-bender for you. The Vancouver Canucks sit 10 points behind the San Jose Sharks as they play the first of five games over the next month against the Sharks this afternoon. If the Canucks won all five of those games outright, they'd make up the entire deficit in the standings and put themselves right back in the playoff picture.
But that's not going to happen, right? Firstly, Vancouver is headed into today's game on a two-game winning streak—and this is a team that hasn't won three in a row all year. Secondly, the Sharks have given Vancouver plenty of trouble at Rogers Arena in recent years. In 2014-15, the teams split the season series but the Canucks won twice in San Jose while the Sharks picked up late-season 5-1 and 6-2 victories in Vancouver.
A week or so ago, the Sharks were on the verge of making a push to move even higher up the Pacific Division standings, just four points behind the leaders from Los Angeles. But the Kings have won their last four games and the Anaheim Ducks have won seven straight, leaving the Sharks eight points out of top spot after dropping a 3-1 decision to Buffalo on Friday.
Will San Jose's bid to become Maple Leafs West help them as they hope at playoff time? We'll see new additions Nick Spaling and Roman Polak in the lineup tonight, but James Reimer and Jeremy Morin won't be joining the team in time for this game.
You know who's hot for the Sharks? Jumbo Joe Thornton, who's tied for the team scoring lead and tied for 10th in the NHL with 56 points at age 36. Thornton has picked up at least a point in 22 of 26 games since Christmas.
Brent Burns is not far behind. His 51 points rank third among all NHL defencemen and he's the first member of that group to hit the 20-goal mark.
As for the Canucks, it's expected that Radim Vrbata will miss his second game with that lower-body injury he suffered last Sunday.
Vrbata was at the rink on Saturday and should be be well enough to practice on Monday. Will that be here or in another city?
This word comes from St. Louis and infers what I suspected earlier in the week—Vrbata may have deliberately chosen some teams that would have no interest in acquiring him in order to whittle down the trading options for Jim Benning:
As for our other big trade chip:
We heard this from Hamhuis on Saturday.
Even the Canucks' Twitter feed is acknowledging that a trade is possible.
Hamhuis may not love the idea with his whole heart, but clearly he is open to making a move.
The Dallas scouts have been circling the Canucks for a couple of weeks, and the Stars have yet to make a move, so that door remains open, though I don't think it's Dallas-or-bust. Some other teams, including Boston, are likely still in the mix.
One other player personnel move to note today:
This move is not cut and dry, either. Today's the last day that teams can put players on waivers for purposes of adding them to their AHL rosters for the minor-league playoffs. Also, if Cracknell has already been waived, that could improve his attractiveness as a trade chip for another team, who could assign him to their AHL team.
And finally, just because he's being waived, it doesn't mean he has to be reassigned immediately. He can still play with the Canucks, and is expected to do so tonight.
Jacob Markstrom missed practice with the flu on Saturday. Here's how the rest of the lines shook down:
Today's game is another piece of the #20in20 event, this time celebrating Canucks' defencemen of days gone by. It'll be good to see Sami Salo and Ed Jovanovski on hand for the opening puck drop.
Don't forget—game time's at 4 p.m. today, part of Sportsnet's Hometown Hockey broadcast—this week, from Victoria, B.C.
And one final note—in case you missed it,
Iain MacIntyre of the
Vancouver Sun delivered the quote that many of you have waited months to hear from Jim Benning yesterday.
"It looks like we’re not going to make the playoffs this year."
I'll be liveblogging the trade deadline on Bleacher Report on Monday morning, so you can find me there if you'd care to join me for the goings-on around the league.
Once the dust has settled, I'll get the next edition of this blog up as soon as I can. Hopefully we'll have lots to talk about!
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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