Vancouver Canucks

[ridinryan44]

Which of the following is the best bet for PP time?

Salo, Hamhuis, Ballard?

All are available on the wire and I need to quickly fill my last D. I keep hearing conflicting reports about Salo being on the top unit. He is my pick, unless you think otherwise.

Thanks so much!

Salo will be the first guy there out of those three.. if not first than running the second.

[ridinryan44]

Vancouver will play a more veteran-laden team on Wednesday night. Luongo will start and the Sedin's, Hamhuis and Samuelsson will all play. Manny Malhotra will also appear in his first game.

Injuries to Pinizzotto (shoulder DTD), Rome (broken finger - 4 weeks) have these two out for the near future. Nolan Baumgartner has a broken foot and is out for 4 weeks.

Ryan Kesler was skating with the team at practice for the first time since his injury.

Both Nicklas Jensen and Jordan Schroeder remain with the team, as does Hodgson.

[loco man]

Salo will be the first guy there out of those three.. if not first than running the second.

An article from 5 days ago quoted the assistant coach who runs the PP saying that Sammy-Edler is gonna be the top unit, with Bieksa-Hamhuis on the second. Said that Salo is "in the mix."

I'll try to dig it up.

Damn, was just about to grab Salo too. Now, not so sure

EDIT: here's the link:

http://www.theprovince.com/sports/Ca...006/story.html

[ridinryan44]

An article from 5 days ago quoted the assistant coach who runs the PP saying that Sammy-Edler is gonna be the top unit, with Bieksa-Hamhuis on the second. Said that Salo is "in the mix."

I'll try to dig it up.

Damn, was just about to grab Salo too. Now, not so sure

EDIT: here's the link:

http://www.theprovince.com/sports/Ca...006/story.html

Hmm.. interesting. I appreciate the link a lot! I hate Samuelsson being on the point... there was nothing positive about him being there last year. I'd way rather see Samuelsson coming off the half-boards on the second unit. I didn't see it working like that last year so I don't see it lasting that way for too long, but who knows, they did leave Sammy there for longer than I expected last year...

[ridinryan44]

Yann Sauve has been recalled. He`s looked much better in camp than in past years and with the injury to Rome it looks as though Vancouver wants to give him some more experience.

[Gripnrip13]

How has Hodgson looked? And what is his long term upside compared to Strome or Couturier? Have him in one of my leagues where we have no farm but a large bench and wonder if either of those 2 would be a better replacement for him.Thanks.

[ridinryan44]

How has Hodgson looked? And what is his long term upside compared to Strome or Couturier? Have him in one of my leagues where we have no farm but a large bench and wonder if either of those 2 would be a better replacement for him.Thanks.

Hodgson has looked fantastic, but no, he does not have the upside that Strome does. Couturier maybe, but I see Hodgson as a 60-70 point guy in his prime. Tons of real life value and he could go higher, but his all-around game is stellar. Yes, I'd rather own either of those two than Hodgson.

[ridinryan44]

It was bound to happen sooner rather than later, but it sure was nice to see Nicklas Jensen last as long as he did. Vancouver's first round pick this year had a fantastic camp and will return to his OHL team, the Oshawa Generals, where he looks to improve on last year's rookie numbers that came close to PPG.

Assigned to the Wolves:

Mike Duco
Eddie Lack
Yann Sauve
Jordan Schroeder


All four of these players had impressive camps. Sauve was much improved from years past.

[ridinryan44]

Anders Eriksson and Todd Fedoruk have both been released as well.

Lineups:

Sedin-Sedin-Burrows
Sturm-Hodgson-Samuelsson
Higgins-Malhotra-Hansen
Volpattti-Lapierre-Oreskovich

Should be the starting FW group.

My guess on D:

Hamhuis-Bieksa
Salo-Edler
Ballard-Tanev (Alberts 6th man although it could be a rotation of these three)

IR - Kesler, Rome

[ridinryan44]

Cody Hodgson was fantastic last night against Edmonton. He's showing everybody exactly what it is that makes him a special player. His hockey smarts are up there with the best of them and his puck protection and control is great. He will be a huge addition to the second PP unit. Vancouver should see a repeat at the top of the PP% rate this year. Hodgson had a great tip off a Dan Hamhuis shot to score on the PP in the first period and added an empty netter.

Speaking of Hamhuis, looks like it may be Danny in and Sammy out on the PP. Salo didn't see any PP time while Hamhuis did and looked great.

PP units:

1st - Sedin-Sedin-Burrows-Edler-Samuelsson
2nd - Higgins-Hodgson-Sturm-Bieksa-Hamhuis

Big ramifications for Hamhuis if he manages to stay there. Surprised to not see Salo there, considering his huge shot, but it could simply just be Vancouver giving Hamhuis a look there for the time being. Or, they could be trying to keep Salo off the ice as much as possible so that he doesn't get hurt

Sturm has fit seamlessly into this lineup. He's a great skater and has great smarts. Always puts his passes where he wants them, I'm starting to actually like this signing after being quite critical of it at first.

Ballard actually had a very solid game. I am not a Ballard fan at all, so for me to say that means a lot. I'm definitely very hard on him so all the criticism may not be warranted, but there are just too many small mistakes made each and every game. Last night was a good sign. Thank you, Tanev.

Luongo looked good, though he wasn't tested a ton. Edmonton's PP was pretty abysmal.

Edler is looking at a suspension after a hit to the head on Taylor Hall. I think Hall put himself in a vulnerable position, but contact was definitely Edler's elbow to Hall's head, and it wasn't as if Edler kept his elbow tucked in. Really frustrating, but I can't expect him to avoid suspension if I want the problem of head shots solved.

Lapierre earned some respect by actually fighting Theo Peckham after Oreskovich laid out RNH. Oreskovich has brought a ton of energy and huge hits so far this season. Torres who?

Great game last night... Sedin's are gonna need a few more games to get their pace and chemistry back, but they look good considering this was only their second game.

Four more days!!!

[doulos]

Lappy didn't choose to fight. He was dragged out of the scrum by Peckham and forced to fight. Thing is he's not a small guy so he did alright after being fed a few uppercuts right at the start.

[ridinryan44]

Lappy didn't choose to fight. He was dragged out of the scrum by Peckham and forced to fight. Thing is he's not a small guy so he did alright after being fed a few uppercuts right at the start.

Yea, he was... but did you not expect him to turtle the entire time? I did... and he didn't. For that he gets credit, Mr. Oiler

[doulos]

I'll give him credit for not soiling himself. And that's it!

[ridinryan44]

In a surprise move Vancouver has waived victor Oreskovich and claimed Dale weise from the nyr. Apparently Vancouver likes weise better than Oreo. I know nothing about weise so I will research and report back.

[ridinryan44]

AV was quoted as saying that "Weise is more busy and more physical than Oreskovich."

While Oreskovich has looked good in the preseason, he did tend to disappear for stretches. Here is a link to the Sportsnet article. He appears to be penciled in for the fourth line. Everything I've been reading around the internet has NYR fans pretty sour on the loss. Gotta like hearing that from this end...