Earlier in the week, I put together a primer on Sunday's 3-on-3 NHL All-Star Game for Bleacher Report. Click here to take a look.
The piece breaks down the rosters for each division, looks at the matchups and attempts to predict the tournament results. I picked the Metropolitan Division to win based, in large part, on the strength of the Washington Capitals players in the lineup and their familiarity with Metro coach Barry Trotz. Since then, Alex Ovechkin has pulled out but has been replaced by his teammate Evgeny Kuznetsov, who is currently fifth in the NHL scoring race with 49 points—seven more than Ovechkin. So I'll stand by my pick—especially when Braden Holtby and Nicklas Backstrom are also factored in.
I'm still not sure how John Scott will impact the Pacific Division's chances of reaching the tournament final. Even without Jonathan Toews, the Central Division looks strong with Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, Vladimir Tarasenko and Patrick Kane up front as well as a powerful defense, but their goaltending is probably the most vulnerable of the four divisions.
At first, I thought Scott would be a horrible anchor for the Pacific to carry but so far, he's the star of the weekend.
If you haven't checked it out yet, his Players' Tribune piece is a must-read, covering the evolution of his NHL career and the events that have surrounded his All-Star selection.
One point Scott touches on in his essay—his fellow players have been unwavering in their support since the All-Star furore began. He has two old teammates in Joe Pavelski and Brent Burns on Team Pacific. I'm not surprised they're saying they'll do what they can to help him succeed.
John Scott says Pavelski and Burns told him, 'Go to the net. Keep your stick on the ice. We'll find you. We'll get you a couple.' #Sportsnet
Saturday's skills competition will still be an East-vs-West affair. Click here to check out the details of how the Western Conference players will be deployed.
Daniel Sedin's presence will be minimal. He's listed as a mini-net passer in the Skills Challenge Relay and a member of the first round of the Shootout, where all players will be participating.
It's good to hear him say the team is "getting healthy." Hopefully Henrik will be ready to get back into action as well as Dan Hamhuis when games resume next week.
Captain Scott has penciled himself in for the Hardest Shot competition, as well as being part of the Shootout.
Over in the Eastern Conference, All-Star goalies Roberto Luongo and Cory Schneider are spending some time renewing acquaintances.
Cory Schneider and Roberto Luongo had breakfast this morning. Schneider happy things are going well for both #Canucks
One could also argue that the Canucks' wild goaltending adventure over the past few years has also ended up benefitting Jacob Markstrom. I'll keep campaigning for more ice time for Markstrom down the stretch—especially with this stat in play:
Nice job Willie Dejardins for playing your favorite over the guy winning hockey games. Last 5: Miller 1-3-1; Markstrom 4-0-1 #Canucks
Jim Benning did not talk goaltending when he guested between periods during Thursday's Top Prospects game. He did admit to having his eye on defencemen, but went on to say that the team would be focused on drafting the best player available when their turn comes in June.
Canucks GM Jim Benning says he's got his eye on "4 or 5 d-men" in CHL top prospects game.
Benning muddies the water when he talks about how he felt his teams were able to draft competitively in the 20s in Buffalo and Boston, but then says his scouting department has determined that there are about 15 good players available in this year's draft before the dropoff kicks in.
Nice performance from Ty Ronning on Thursday, scoring the opening goal of the game.
Ty Ronning, the Vancouver Giant, opens the scoring in his own building! 1-0 Team Cherry #BMOTPhttps://t.co/0S8cxuYer8
Ronning's Team Cherry ultimately fell 3-2 to Team Orr thanks to three-point performances from centre Pascal Laberge (ranked No. 31) and left wing Pierre-Luc Dubois (No. 7). Laberge was named player of the game.
Finally, to wrap up today, I got up in the middle of the night to watch Milos Raonic's five-set loss to Andy Murray so you didn't have to.
It was a tightly fought contest most of the way, with Raonic holding a slight edge for a good chunk of the match. He was ahead two sets to one and leading 2-1 in the fourth when he took a medical timeout, which was the turning point. Clearly bothered by a right leg issue, Raonic stoically pressed on till the bitter end but his body simply wouldn't allow him to keep up with Murray, who chipped away for the win by going 11-4 in the last 15 games of the match.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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