The Vancouver Canucks organization will enjoy another couple of weeks of meaningful hockey now that the Utica Comets have moved on to the Western Conference Final of the AHL playoffs after a 1-0 defeat of the Oklahoma City Barons in Game 7 on Wednesday.
Jacob Markstrom recorded 35 shots for his first shutout of the playoffs, pushing his record to 7-5 with a 1.85 goals-against average and .930 save percentage. Markstrom also has not yet recorded back-to-back losses at any point in the postseason.
Offensively, the hero was Alexandre Grenier, who scored his fourth goal of the playoffs midway through the third period, set up by Travis Ehrhardt and Alex Biega.
Grenier made a power move right down Main Street to score—nice to see. The 23-year-old is the Comets' leading scorer through the first two rounds, with 10 points in 12 games.
So, what else do we know about Grenier? He's a big body, for one thing, listed at 6'4" and 210 pounds on the Comets website. The Canucks drafted him in the third round, 90th overall, in 2011—the same draft year as Nick Jensen (29th) and Frank Corrado (150th).
Grenier finished the regular season tied for second in team scoring with 43 points and was fourth on the team with 71 penalty minutes.
Grenier currently sits eighth overall in the AHL playoff scoring race. The Comets will get a first-hand view of the Calder Cup scoring leader, Teemu Pulkkinen, when they face off against the Grand Rapids Griffins in Round 3 starting on Sunday.
Strong playoff performances in the minors can definitely lead to big things at the NHL level. If you go back two years to check out the leading scorers from 2013
here, you'll see a list of now-familiar names including Ondrej Palat and Tyler Johnson of the Tampa Bay Lightning and a swarm of present-day Red Wings: Tomas Tatar, Luke Glendening, Landon Ferraro, Riley Sheahan and Tomas Jurco.
Markstrom has been the backbone of the Comets all season long. I'd call Grenier the breakout star of the playoffs so far—and I would think that a Game 7 game-winning-goal should give him more confidence than ever going forward.
Also from Utica:
YoungStars Tournament to Hit Pentiction
Yesterday, I mentioned that the YoungStars tournament would return to Penticton again this year. Today, the announcement was officially made, confirming that the Winnipeg Jets, Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers—most likely including Connor McDavid—would be joining the Canucks in the Okanagan to start the season.
That tournament should mark the next round in the rivalry between McDavid and the Canucks' Cole Cassels. With lots of good young talent on all four teams, the tournament could be a real treat this year!
Pursuing Joel Ward?
Back at the NHL level, there's talk today that right wing Joel Ward of the Washington Capitals could be interested in signing with the Canucks as a free agent.
I like Ward's game but at age 34, he'd make an old team older. And where would he play? Vancouver already has Radim Vrbata, Alex Burrows and—presumably—Zack Kassian holding down spots on the right side. I'd be way more interested in seeing a player like Grenier get a real chance with the big club to see if he can contribute at the NHL level.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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