Since Canada only ices 6 of the 30 teams in the NHL, we as Canadians discuss and debate before every season and finally decide on which Canadian city will be given the title of “the Great Canadian Hope.” The Vancouver Canucks have held that title for the past couple of seasons, but unlike past years, the expectations are sky-high this year and the belief is there from many prognosticators and publications that the Canucks will actually get the job done this season.
Whether the Canucks are successful or not all depends on their former captain and highly polarizing goaltender, Roberto Luongo. For so many years, we’ve tried to figure out just what the Canucks have with Luongo. On some nights, he can look spectacular and like the best goaltender in the world. Other nights (especially in the playoffs), he can look like someone that’s lucky to have a starting job.
Much was made of the fact that the Canucks coaching staff took away his captaincy. They'll tell you that it was due to the high demands and pressure that come with wearing the all-important “C” for a hockey club. With seemingly less pressure on him to perform, does that mean we’ll see more consistency out of Bobby Lu?
He’ll certainly be helped out by a defence corps that is improved from a year ago as GM Mike Gillis and staff worked diligently during the off-season. Dan Hamhuis comes over from Nashville in what was a busy summer for him...well, his negotiating rights and not so much him. Keith Ballard also comes over after a trade with Florida that saw the departures of Michael Grabner and Steve Bernier.
Willie Mitchell departs after the Canucks found it too risky to re-sign him after his concussion problems last season and Sami Salo could be out for the year with an Achilles tendon injury after a floorball accident back in Sweden during the off-season.
The forwards should be strong again with the Sedin Twins leading the way. Henrik is coming off an MVP season and his brother Daniel could have been right up there with him if it weren’t for an injury costing him almost 20 games last season.
Their success can also be attributed to how many players had career years all at the same time. Ryan Kesler had 75 points, Mason Raymond had 25 goals, Mikael Samuelsson had 30 goals and Alex Burrows led the team in goals with 35. The obvious question here is: Are these guys capable of these numbers again or was it just a one-year blip? We saw what happened last year with the Boston Bruins after a bunch of guys had career years two seasons ago.
Two players to watch out for in camp are Manny Malhotra and Raffi Torres. Both were brought in during the off-season because of their two-way play and experience, but I’m sure that the Canucks wouldn’t mind if they scored a little bit as well. After the Top 6 forwards, the next highest scorer for Vancouver last year was Kyle Welwood with 25 points. Yikes!