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The Canucks' North Division gets tougher as Habs & Senators make more moves |
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I appreciate the fact that Jim Benning got the Vancouver Canucks' ducks in a row very methodically in preparation for this tough-to-target 2020-21 season.
But I have to admit, I've been sweating a little bit as I watch other teams from the North Division continue to upgrade, with the opening of training camp now less than a week away.
During the playoffs in Edmonton, I found that I was able to appreciate Corey Perry's game a lot more when he wasn't agitating against the Canucks. I suspect I'll be back to hating him again this year, now that he's once again in Vancouver's division. On Monday, Perry signed for $750,000 with Montreal for the upcoming season.
Now 35, Perry had only five goals during the regular season last year. But he matched that in the playoffs, and his last goal was the double-OT game winner that kept the Stars alive in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final.
Just before Christmas, the Habs also added winger Michael Frolik at $750,000 — a 32-year-old that Canucks fans have seen plenty over the last few years, when he was a member of the Calgary Flames.
With other new additions Josh Anderson and Tyler Toffoli, and hot rookie defenseman Alexander Romanov, the Habs should be a lot more dangerous offensively this year. They're one of the teams that the Canucks are expected to be battling for a playoff spot; I think the road to the postseason just got a little tougher for Vancouver.
Also, are we still *sure* that Ottawa is a lock for last place? Pierre Dorion spent the weekend weaponizing his cap space to get deeper down the middle — picking up a veteran centre in Derek Stepan from Arizona on Saturday, then adding agitating pivot Cedric Paquette from Tampa Bay on Sunday.
Oh yeah — on Sunday, Dorion also signed third-overall pick Tim Stuetzle to his entry-level contract. After breaking his hand in training during the fall, the skillful German hadn't played a game until World Juniors. But even with his squad undermanned due to Covid-19, he has demonstrated his soft hands and a tenacious motor during Germany's first two games.
With a full roster at last, the Germans will try to snag a win on Monday evening against a Slovak squad that could be pretty fatigued after battling Canada hard before falling 3-1 on Sunday.
Stuetzle's tournament will be over on Wednesday if Germany doesn't win one of its last two games — against the Slovaks or the Swiss. As soon as his national team responsibilities are complete, it'll be on to Ottawa's training camp. Dorion has said that Stuetzle is expected to play for the Senators this season.
Canucks fans won't have to wait long to see the new-look Habs or Sens. Vancouver plays three games in four nights against Montreal from Jan. 20-23, then three-in-four against Ottawa from Jan. 25-28.
Also, a couple of items of note from the Oilers over the last few days: Edmonton announced that Oscar Klefbom will miss the entire season, and signed depth defenseman Slater Koekkoek. Their prospect Philip Broberg was named player of the game in Sweden's tournament-opening win over the Czechs at World Juniors, but Ken Holland has already announced that the plan is for Broberg to go back and finish out his season in Sweden after the tournament concludes.
Sweden is back in action on just a two-game slate on Monday, facing Austria.
Canucks prospect Arvid Costmar had a solid game against the Czechs on Saturday, especially considering he would have been on the bubble to crack the roster if not for Sweden's Covid situation tearing through their depth down the middle. Costmar opened the scoring for Sweden with a nice tap-in goal, and finished the game with 15:03 of ice time, with three shots on goal. His ice-time dropped a bit as the game went on, after Sweden grew its lead and coach Joel Ronnmark was able to rotate more of his lineup.
Through the game, Costmar played some key defensive minutes, including on the penalty kill. He also took the second-most faceoffs for Sweden, finishing with a 9-8 record on the dot.
Sweden's road will get considerably tougher from here. They'll finish out the round-robin with back-to-back games against Russia on Wednesday, and Team USA on Thursday.
The Russians, of course, will be looking to bounce back after they were shut out 2-0 by a determined Czech squad on Sunday.
This is a bit of a case of deja vu all over again. Last year, Russia opened its tournament with a 4-3 loss to the Czechs — and also lost 3-1 to USA in the round-robin before getting into gear in the medal round with wins over Switzerland and Sweden before their loss to Canada in the gold-medal game.
But there's always a team on the other side of the ice, and the Czechs played a great game on Sunday. They started off in a strong defensive posture, building frustration among the Russians, and capitalized on a couple of quick breaks for their goals.
Once again, Vasily Podkolzin led all Russian forwards in ice time, with 17:49. Though he was held off the scoresheet, he had three shots on goal and I thought he was quite noticeable.
He made a sweet pass in the first period that didn't quite convert.
In the third, with the Russians pressing, Podkolzin drew one penalty in the corner and had his busiest period, logging 6:31 and putting two shots on net.
With the 'C' on his chest and a huge role on the team, I'd hoped that Podkolzin could break out at this tournament and calm the concerns of the doubters. I've liked a lot of what I've seen from him, and it's early yet. Perhaps the next game, against Austria on Tuesday, will crack open the offensive floodgates?
Let's end here, with this tasty display from warmup.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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