Tagged: trade deadline 2011
So the NHL Trade Deadline this year wasn’t exactly scintillating television. In fact, at one point you had roughly 20-odd TSN “experts” (term used loosely since they employ Craig Button) debating the composition of Team Canada for the 2014 Winter Games. Not exactly a pressing topic, well, anywhere these days. Yet with 16 NHL trades completed on Monday, and another 21 between Valentine’s Day and Sunday, it’s fair to say this has been a fairly active NHL deadline season. So who are the early winners and losers? Winner: Jeff Penner, Mikko Lehtonen, Anton Khudobin, Drew MacIntyre, Brett Festerling, Tom Sestito,...
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When it comes to thoughts on the Canucks’ acquisitions of Maxim Lapierre and Christopher Higgins, it’s hard to say something that hasn’t already been said. With that in mind though, there are a few reasons I think these new players will fit well. The big take away from the addition of Lapierre is that Burrows can finally worry about doing his job. With Rypien out of the lineup, it looked like Burrows was unsuccessfully trying to play under-your-skin-hockey while simultaneously struggling to play Sedin triggerman. Lapierre allows Burrows to focus on offense as a top liner, a role he played...
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No, the Canucks didn’t need to do much by today’s trade deadline day. After all, as of this morning, they were leading the entire NHL with 87 points. They also ranked 1st in offense (3.27 G/game), 1st in defense (2.30 GA/game), 2nd on the PP (24.8%), 3rd on the PK (85.6%) and 1st in faceoffs (55.4%). It’s true they’ve been on a bit of a slump recently. But that’s only if you consider a 5-5 record in their last 10 games a slump. That said, it’s no secret the Canucks needed to acquire a fourth-line center. This season, they’ve tried...
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NHL Trade Deadline 2011
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In what could be the most important audition of his young career, Cody Hodgson is getting another look as the Vancouver Canucks’ fourth-line center. It’s no secret that the Canucks have been looking for a fourth-line center since breaking ties with Brendan Morrison after training camp. It’s also no secret that, on a team experiencing perhaps its most successful regular season to date, the fourth-line center position has been seen by many as its Achilles heel. They’ve tried, with no extended success, Alex Bolduc, Rick Rypien, Mario Bliznak, Jeff Tambellini, Peter Schaefer, Joel Perrault, Tanner Glass and Hodgson in that...
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With a week left before the NHL’s trade deadline, let’s take a quick snapshot of the Canucks’ salary cap situation. First, the team sent Evan Oberg back to the Manitoba Moose this morning and recalled Cody Hodgson. This pretty much says that Dan Hamhuis has been cleared and is good to go against the Habs tomorrow night. It also gives Hodgson an extended audition in the fourth line center spot (more on that later) and allows Tanner Glass to move back to his natural wing position. If Keith Ballard returns on Thursday as expected, the Canucks will have 22 healthy...
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With Canucks defenseman falling like flies from game to game there’s certainly a building pressure on the team to act come the deadline. While players like Ballard, Alberts, and Edler are all expected to return before the playoffs, how much worse is it going to get before it gets better? Hamhuis’ injury of a concussion is likely the most unpredictable, veterans like Nolan Baumgartner injured down on the Manitoba Moose, and players the Canucks don’t want to lose to the waiver wire in Nathan Paetsch and Ryan Parent, Mike Gillis has a tough decision to make. If the Blackhawks and...
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