Alain Vigneault announced his starting goalie today, and for the sixth straight time Vigneault will be giving Cory Schneider the nod. Giddy sports writers immediately hopped up and down at this news, with the prospect of the hottest controversy in this town since the Dickenson-Printers saga.

While I can certainly understand the giddiness of the media, this situation is a little different from the Printers-Dickenson situation the BC Lions faced in 2004-05. At least initially.

For now, Roberto Luongo and Cory Schneider are saying all the right things. Luongo has been very complimentary to Schneider and vice versa. Luongo had this to say about Cory Schneider:

Cory has unbelievable talent. He has been working his bag off for the last two years. He never complained and was always 100 per cent behind me so same thing goes for me. He deserves what he’s getting right now.

Cory Schneider getting six straight starts is a big deal in Vancouver because something like this has never happened to Roberto Luongo before. Of course, he’s never had a backup like Cory Schneider before. Luongo missed the first two games of this streak due to injury, but he’s been healthy for almost a week now. Schneider in the meantime has been exceptional, save for the Chicago game.

So head coach Alain Vigneault has decided to ride the hot hand, giving Luongo another night off against Columbus tomorrow night. If you ask me, it’s the right decision, and Schneider should be kept in until he loses or isn’t exceptional between the pipes. It’s not an unheard of philosophy and you only need to look at the Pittsburgh Penguins last season.

Last year Marc-Andre Fleury of the Penguins got off to a terrible start. He lost 6 of his first 7 games and had to watch Brent Johnson start a lot of games because of it. Brent Johnson started 8 of 12 games in late October/early November before Fleury finally turned his game around and had an exceptional season. Fleury ended up with great numbers and was a big reason the Penguins fared so well despite the absence of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.

What Alain Vigneault has to figure out is if he ultimately will do everything possible to try to ensure that Roberto Luongo is playing at full capacity by the time the playoffs roll around. It’s all fine and dandy to give the keys to Cory Schneider in November and ask him to carry the load while he’s playing well. Luongo gets some rest and has a lot of time to get in the groove before the playoffs start. But what happens if Schneider is outplaying Luongo in February or March? It’ll be then, not now, that the real tough questions will have to be answered.

Today is the first installment of a new feature I like to call “Arguments I Hate”. The premise is simple. I will present something that a lot of people say or believe is true, and tell you why it’s nonsense. Today we’ll look at the assertion that Vancouver is a ‘goalie graveyard’.

The term ‘goalie graveyard’ was a term first coined by former Canucks general manager and quote machine, Brian Burke. What Burke was suggesting was that Vancouver was among the toughest cities on goalies. At the time, the Canucks were in the midst of rolling through a whole bunch of goalies and were currently trying out Dan Cloutier. The Canucks were unable to solidify the goaltending position since having Kirk McLean between the pipes in the mid-1990s. Despite the catchy name, the goalie graveyard argument is a myth.

The ‘goalie graveyard’ argument is an argument that I hate because it has been used to suggest that the Canucks have had a lot of good goalies that fans are overly critical of. Since Kirk McLean was traded away in 1998, the Canucks have had the following goaltenders play 10+ games for the team: Arturs Irbe, Sean Burke, Garth Snow, Corey Hirsch, Kevin Weekes, Felix Potvin, Bob Essensa, Dan Cloutier, Petr Skudra, Alex Auld, Johan Hedberg, Dany Sabourin, Curtis Sanford, Jason LaBarbera, Cory Schneider, Andrew Raycroft and Roberto Luongo. Of those goalies, only Sean Burke, Felix Potvin and Roberto Luongo were considered the number one goalie from the team they were acquired from. Of those goalies, I would suggest that only Roberto Luongo has been treated unfairly by the fans, and that has only been the case in the last couple of seasons. Previous to that, Luongo could do no wrong in Vancouver.

Have Canucks fans criticized goaltenders in Vancouver? Absolutely. Was it warranted? You bet. Felix Potvin was basically run out of town in 2001 after being outplayed badly by Bob Essensa. Potvin proved that he had something left in the tank with the Los Angeles Kings afterwards, but his play was not up to par in Vancouver and the fans knew it.

Goalies like Dan Cloutier and Kevin Weekes drew the ire of fans because of their play. But at the same time, goalies like Arturs Irbe, Corey Hirsch, Alex Auld, Andrew Raycroft and Cory Schneider played well in Vancouver and were rarely criticized. Fans in Vancouver are hard on their starting goalie when he struggles mightily for long periods of time, but show me a market that isn’t? The problem in Vancouver was that they didn’t have a good goalie, not that the fans ruined good goalies.

If Vancouver is a goalie graveyard, then certainly Philadelphia is one too by the same logic (look at their list of goaltenders recently, it isn’t impressive). Surely Montreal is a goalie graveyard too. They jeered hall of famer Patrick Roy before he got traded. Jose Theodore fell apart in Montreal despite being a former Hart Trophy winner. Is the Atlanta Thrashers/Winnipeg Jets franchise a goalie graveyard because they trusted Damian Rhodes, Milan Hnilicka, Pasi Nurminen, Johan Hedberg, Kari Lehtonen and Ondrej Pavelec to tend their goal? Surely after the failures of Patrick Lalime, Ray Emery and other legendary Senators goalies makes Ottawa a goalie graveyard.

‘Vancouver is a goalie graveyard’ is an argument I hate. If you bring bad goaltending to this city, you’ll get criticized and eventually traded. Just like every other hockey market.

From time to time, I like to make up rumours. They never come to fruition, they completely lack any kind of insider knowledge, but they’re fun to talk about damn it!

While watching the Winnipeg Jets get their first win in 16 years tonight, I couldn’t help but think that the Canucks could poach some talent of the young Jets roster. One guy in particular is Tobias Enstrom. Enstrom, if you’re not familiar with him, is a small but skillful offensive defenceman in his fifth year in the NHL. He’s quietly put up two consecutive 50+ point seasons the last two years in Atlanta. He is 26 years old and makes $3.75 million per season.

Essentially, Enstrom is the perfect replacement for the departed Christian Ehrhoff. Ehrhoff is a player the Canucks still miss, particularly on their power play.

The Jets are weak in goal and up front, but they’re rich in young offensive defencemen. Perhaps the Winnipeg Jets are willing to part with Enstrom, given that they already have Dustin Byfuglien and the young Zach Bogosian on their blue line. In order to get better up front or in goal, the Jets might be wise to move of them.

So what can the Canucks give up? They have a few pieces that the Jets might find attractive.

Cory Schneider spent three seasons in Winnipeg with the Manitoba Moose and the Jets brass is likely very familiar with him. He’s a natural fit in Winnipeg and could form a nice goaltending tandem with Andrej Pavelec.

I’m not sure if I would make this trade straight up, but if you could add Keith Ballard (who has the potential to be a good all-around defenceman) and Blake Wheeler (a big strong forward with skill), I would make this deal. The Jets might need a forward thrown into the deal, in which the Canucks could add a player like Chris Higgins or Mason Raymond once he recovers from his injury (or if that tickle their fancy, prospect Jordan Schroeder might look appealing).

What do you think Canucks and Jets fans? Would you make this deal? Why or why not? Let me know in the comments section.

Due to the Canucks long playoff run, the team is in for a very short offseason. The NHL entry draft is in four days and free agency begins in only eleven days. Mike Gillis has some work to do, as all GMs do. Luckily for the Canucks, most of their core is locked up long term, but there are a few key players that will become restricted free agents. Kevin Bieksa, Christian Ehrhoff, Sami Salo, Andrew Alberts, Raffi Torres, Chris Higgins, Tanner Glass and Jeff Tambellini are all unrestricted free agents on July 1st. Maxim Lapierre, Jannik Hansen, Victor Oreskovich and Alex Bolduc are all restricted free agents.

While who Mike Gillis decides to sign and not sign will affect the look of the 2011-12 Vancouver Canucks, he may also be in the market to make a trade or two. He might need to make a move to free up cap space, or to find the missing piece of the puzzle.

Today we will look at the Canucks’ goaltenders and defencemen. Later in the week I will look in depth at their forwards and before July 1st I will look into who the Canucks can go out and sign from elsewhere.

Lets start with the most polarizing figure on the team, Roberto Luongo:

Roberto Luongo

Despite his critics, he is still one of the premiere goaltenders in the NHL. There’s no doubting his skill, and he has done everything short of winning a Vezina and winning a Stanley Cup. But despite this, you can’t argue that he has had a strange propensity of getting into slumps at inopportune times. His play in game 4, 5, and 6 of the Chicago series left some room for concern. He gave up some bizzare goals against Nashville. And in the Stanley Cup finals he had four sub-par games. One could argue that he was outplayed in 3 of the 4 series. It seems strange to say, because when he was good, he was VERY good. But unfortunately the good does not erase the bad. Despite all of this, I believe Luongo is an excellent goalie that can win a Stanley Cup. And because he has a no trade clause, he won’t be going anywhere.

Cory Schneider

I believe in Roberto Luongo, but I also believe in Cory Schneider. Schneider is unproven of course, and it would remain to be seen if he could carry the mail as a number one netminder. In a perfect world, the Canucks would trade Luongo, clear cap space and go with the younger/cheaper Schneider. That would give them approximately $4 million more to play with. Because of Luongo’s no-trade clause, that would be a risky proposition, given that he could say no and then you have a rift in the relationship between your top goalie and management. They could also choose to trade Schneider and find a journeyman goalie to backup Luongo. While that could possibly fetch them a good second line winger to play with Ryan Kesler, but Mike Gillis will likely play it safe and keep both of his goalies for at least one more year. He stays.

Dan Hamhuis

No doubt here, he stays. He was their best offseason acquisition and is their best shutdown defenceman.

Kevin Bieksa

He is an unrestricted free agent and will surely get a raise on the $3.75 million he made last season. On the open market, he would command over $5 million for sure, but it seems like he might be willing to take less to stay in Vancouver. If the Canucks could convince him to sign for the same as Hamhuis ($4.5 million), it would be a steal. I think he stays.

Christian Ehrhoff

Like Bieksa, Ehrhoff is an unrestricted free agent. Like Bieksa, he will command over $5 million on the open market. He says that he might take less to play in Vancouver, but I don’t think he will as much as Bieksa. Ehrhoff is their most talented offensive defenceman and he is one of the most important players on their potent power play. The Canucks would be wise to re-sign him, but it might not fit in their salary structure. If he doesn’t stay, then a likely destination for him would be Detroit. Without Brian Rafalski, Ehrhoff would be a fine replacement. It’s probably 50/50, but I think he goes.

Alex Edler

He isn’t going anywhere, and if the Canucks are unable to re-sign Christian Ehrhoff, his role as an offensive force will likely expand.

Sami Salo

It will be very interesting to see what happens with Sami Salo. One of the longest serving current Canucks, Salo made $3.5 million last season. As you might be aware of, he is quite injury prone. He has also lost a step and is also 36 years old. I can’t imagine the Canucks locking him up for more than one year, and if they do, what will be the price? He played well after returning from injury, but I don’t think the Canucks can afford to pay him big money given his lack of reliability due to injuries. If he accepts a one year, $2 million deal, I think it would work. Otherwise, he leaves. I think Salo stays.

Aaron Rome

Rome has one more year left on his contract at a very affordable $750,000 cap hit. He is a favourite of Alain Vigneault, and we found out why after he was suspended in the Stanley Cup final. The team missed his reliability and grit. He is a dependable depth defenceman, and will be back next season.

Andrew Alberts

Alberts had a strong season and the Canucks would probably like to have him back, but I’m betting that he will want more playing time and will sign elsewhere.

Keith Ballard

The most intriguing decision that Mike Gillis will make this offseason will probably be with Keith Ballard. To say he had a disappointing season is putting it nicely. He has four more years left on a deal that pays him $4.2 million per season. That likely means that his contract is impossible to trade. Gillis can decide to keep him and hope he has a bounce-back season, or dump him in the minors in order to re-sign Christian Ehrhoff. The problem with dumping in the minors is that it likely won’t please Francesco Aquilini, who would be on the hook for paying Ballard $16.8 million dollars for a minor leaguer! My best guess is that he stays and has a bounce-back season, but it’s a toss-up.

Chris Tanev

Chris Tanev has all but locked up a spot on next year’s roster, given his strong play in the Stanley Cup Final. His calm, cool demeanor was great to see. Having a good, young, cheap defenceman is a nice thing to have in a salary cap system. He makes just $900,000 next year.

Late last night I received an email from my friend Darin. Darin is a die hard Canucks fan, about as die hard as you can get. He watches every game, analyzes every play. He loves the Canucks. But he also takes losing pretty hard. He last ranted this hard during the Chicago series last year. He was remarkably quiet during the first round this year, but after last night, he needed to rant.

Enjoy:

The countdown to the free agent frenzy is on. July 1st marks the first day of free agency 2010 and the Canucks are sure to be busy. The Canucks currently have five regulars scheduled to become unrestricted free agents and four regulars set to become restricted free agents. Clearly not all of them will be back and some new players will be added via free agency. There is also the potential for young players to step into the lineup and more trades to happen. So what will Mike Gillis do? Well, lets try to figure that out right now:

Unrestricted Free Agents:

Willie Mitchell: Perhaps the most valuable Canucks defenceman over the last number of years, most in the know are assuming that the Port Alberni native’s days are numbered in Vancouver. Mitchell, 33,  made $3.5 million last season and should still have a couple more very productive years left. If not for his concussion history, I think the Canucks would be wise to re-sign him at the same money for a couple more years. The question is what will he command on the open market? He’ll probably land somewhere in the neighbourhood of $4 million on a short term deal or $3.5 on a 3-4 year deal. I don’t think he’ll be back, but I think they should try to keep him.

Pavol Demitra: Needless to say Demitra will not be back. He had a disappointing two seasons in Vancouver and isn’t a top six forward anymore with the players they have.

Andrew Raycroft: The one-way deal for Cory Schneider means that Raycroft won’t be back, though he was probably destined to go somewhere else anyway where he can get more money and playing time.

Ryan Johnson: Johnson is now 34 years old and has a lot of mileage on his body. His heart is unquestionable but he provides little offense and has lost a step. He had a very poor year on the penalty kill last year and I don’t think he’ll be back. He’ll find another spot in the league most likely, but at less than the $1.15 million he earned last season.

Kyle Wellwood: Sorry to say it, but I think Canuckz.com blogger Sean Ovariez’s favourite player will be playing somewhere else next season. Wellwood is just so inconsistent and doesn’t provide that grit element the Canucks were missing in the playoffs. Add the fact that the Canucks are probably hoping that Cody Hodgson takes over the third line centre role next season and I think the writing is on the wall, but he’ll be missed.

Restricted Free Agents:

Mason Raymond: Raymond will be back, but the question is at what price? A good comparable is Wojtek Wolski, who at a similar age and production just signed a two year deal worth $3.8 million per season. Wolski probably has the better resume thus far, so expect Raymond to make less than that, but not much less. Bet on about $3.2 million per season.

Shane O’Brien: O’Brien got a qualifying offer from the Canucks worth $1.6 million. The question is, is that too much for the role he plays? With the acquisition of Keith Ballard, O’Brien is now sixth on the depth chart. I like O’Brien, but I don’t think you can afford to pay your sixth d-man that kind of coin. He might be trade bait.

Tanner Glass: Glass brought some nice elements to the team last season, but I don’t think he’ll be back. He was good, but the team will probably be looking for more potential in his spot.

Jannik Hansen: Jannik Hansen is an interesting case. He’s still young at age 24, and was actually quite productive. Something tells me he won’t be back though. Perhaps it’s because he’s not Alain Vigneault’s favourite guy or perhaps they just want more grit and toughness on the third/fourth line.

Young Players Ready to Step In:

Cory Schneider: The young netminder signed a two year one-way deal worth $900,000 per season and will be handed the backup job behind Roberto Luongo. Mike Gillis has hinted that Schneider will get more playing time than Luongo’s backups have in the past.

Cody Hodgson: The Canucks most important prospect is now two years removed from his draft year and the team will do anything it can to give him the third line centre job. Assuming that he’s recovered from his injury troubles from last season he should be up for the challenge. Cross your fingers.

Jordan Schroeder: Schroeder didn’t have a great year last season with the University of Minnesota, notching 28 points in 37 games. At the end of the college season, he joined the Manitoba Moose and looked impressive. He put up 9 points in 11 regular season games and 6 points in 6 playoff games. That’s an impressive pro hockey debut, but I’m thinking he’ll probably need some more seasoning in the AHL.

Evan Oberg: In his first season of pro hockey Oberg lead all Moose d-men in scoring at age 21. He’s still young and could challenge for a job with the big club next season He’s probably destined to be a call-up from the Moose though.

Trade Bait:

In my mind the Canucks have a few pieces that could be offered up in a trade. Most notably, Kevin Bieksa could become expendable with the acquisition of Keith Ballard and perhaps the signing of free agent d-man. Shane O’Brien is in much the same situation as Bieksa (overpaid for his spot on the depth chart) and could be on the block. Look for at least one of them to go.

Up front, the trading of Michael Grabner probably solidifies Mason Raymond’s spot with the team. I say probably, because if he demands too much money as a restricted free agent he might be gone. That’s a long shot though. Darcy Hordichuk didn’t play a playoff game last season, but something tells me that he’ll be back.

So Who Will Gillis Bring Into the Fold?

Check back tomorrow when Canuckz.com will take a look at the most likely free agents the Canucks will target on July 1st. We’ll also take a stab at a few juicy trade rumours making the rounds. Remember to follow yours truly on Twitter for all the updates.

Well, we’ve all had a chance to take a deep breath, sit back and really think about the year that was for our beloved Vancouver Canucks. Gone is the emotion/heartbreak/disappointment/anger from their second straight second round loss to the Chicago Blackhawks. What’s left is a better chance for impartial analysis as to what they did, what they have and what they should do.

Was it as Bad as we Thought?

It’s been over a month since the Canucks were ousted by the Blackhawks. At the time we knew the Blackhawks were good, but we also thought the Canucks could have and should have been better. Perhaps they should have, but consider this. The Canucks lost to the eventual Stanley Cup champions, which suggests they’re a pretty good team. The Blackhawks beat a hard working bunch with a strong defense (Nashville), a high scoring team (Vancouver), an all around talented team (San Jose) and a gritty team (Philadelphia). Basically, they beat different teams and it didn’t faze them one bit. The Canucks stretched the Hawks to 6 games, as far as any of their other three opponents.

I’m not arguing that the Canucks couldn’t have played better or that they don’t have problems they need to fix, but I’m starting to think that they weren’t as bad as we thought they were. We need to give the Blackhawks a bit of credit.

Your Best Players Need to be Your Best Players

So what just happened? Why did the Canucks look so terrible at times against the Blackhawks? For me, it starts with the old adage that your best players need to be your best players. I believe that Daniel and Henrik Sedin were good enough in the playoffs, each notching better than a point per game in the post season. It was the Canucks most important player, Roberto Luongo, who did not play up to par. True, the Chicago Blackhawks can make a lot of goalies look silly, but Luongo ended the playoffs with a save percentage below .900, not good enough for a goalie of his ability. Quite simply, the Canucks as they were constructed this year can’t and won’t win a Stanley Cup with average or below average goaltending.

But now, a little perspective. A lot of uneducated hockey fans are suggesting that the Canucks trade Luongo and “give Schneider a shot”. Lets not lose our minds here folks. Luongo may have had an off-season, but he can certain bounce back and giving the reigns to an unproven good AHL goalie is probably not a prudent move. For those of you in favour of letting Louie go, consider that his cap number will be going down next season, from $6.75 million to $5.33 million. That cap number puts him in 9th place among the other goalies in the league.

Who Would You Rather Have?

For those Luongo haters I also ask you this: how many goalies in this year’s playoffs would you want ahead of Luongo? Certainly not either of the Stanley Cup Final goaltenders. Would it be Evgeni Nabokov, he the man who plays behind all that talent in San Jose and year after year can’t get it done when it matters? How about Ilya Bryzgalov, who after a terrific regular season posted similar numbers to Luongo and lost in the first round. It’s getting harder and harder to make the case for Martin Brodeur now, with his best days behind him he looks like he’s beginning to lose a step and has had a few playoff flops in recent years. The Marc-Andre Fleury argument has always been “he’s got a Stanley Cup ring” but look at this year’s playoffs and I defy you to say that you’d be more comfortable with him in net. Steve Mason proved that having one amazing year doesn’t necessarily mean that it can be sustained, so lets forget about Tuukka Rask, Craig Anderson, Jimmy Howard, Brian Elliott and Jaroslav Halak. That leaves Ryan Miller, who was the best goalie in the league this year, and I would take him ahead of Luongo, but his teams (Team USA and Buffalo) didn’t do as well as Luongo’s this year.

The point? The best option for the Canucks remains to keep faith with Luongo and hope that he has a bounce-back season. Perhaps he needs to play less, and perhaps they’ve learned their lesson in that respect. Maybe he doesn’t need to play every game to be a great goalie, maybe he just needs to get used to resting more.

Where was the Grit?

Against the Chicago Blackhawks it seemed to be non-existent. While the Canucks defensemen were getting pounded, the Blackhawks defensemen cruised around with ease. A little more grit that can play in their top 9 or even in their top 6 should be a high priority for GM Mike Gillis, but once again, a little perspective is needed. Yesterday, Alex Burrows underwent shoulder surgery, while Ryan Kesler revealed he also played through a shoulder injury in the playoffs. It should come as no surprise that grit would be an issue when the two grittiest players in the Canucks top 6 forwards have shoulder injuries. So maybe it’s not quite as bad as we thought.

Defense

What was once the Canucks greatest strength not long ago is now their greatest need. Losing Willie Mitchell hurt greatly, and I contend that he is their most important defenseman. Christian Ehrhoff had a great season, but is not great defensively. Sami Salo actually stayed healthy for longer than anyone predicted, and had a solid season. Kevin Bieksa is now another year removed from his great breakout season, and I’m among those who think that he won’t regain the form that rewarded him with a big contract. Alex Edler stepped his game up more than anyone in the playoffs, which was a pleasant surprise. The Canucks D is missing a bit of nastiness though, something Kevin Bieksa is supposed to provide. It’s also missing a stud on the blueline that can eat up big minutes against the other team’s best players while contributing offensively.

The Recap

The Canucks had a nice regular season, not a great one. They won their division, but finished fourth in points in the Western Conference. They were a clear notch below the Sharks and Blackhawks in the regular season and failed to make it past the second round. That is not the mark of an elite team ready to knock on the door. There were a lot of positive things that happened this year though (the emergence of the Sedins as elite players, Kesler and Burrows proving they can score consistently, Edler and Ehrhoff taking steps forward in their development). Mike Gillis has some things to tweak, no doubt. But how bad was it? It wasn’t so bad, and it can sure get a lot better.

Ten Days Away

The NHL entry draft is ten days away, which not only marks the day that teams pick future NHL stars, but also the start of the NHL trade frenzy! Speaking of frenzies, the free agency frenzy begins in just over two weeks.Check back before the draft and July 1st to get in-depth analysis of just what Mike Gillis’ options are.

Before I buy a domain name online, I always search the web for Godaddy coupon codes. It’s so quick and easy to save a few bucks.

Who likes rumours? Everyone! Matthew Sekeres is reporting that the Canucks and Blues may be working on a deal that would see the Canucks acquiring David Backes with Cory Schneider heading the other way. Apparently Mike Gillis decided last minute to skip the Top Prospects Game in Windsor in favour of the Habs-Blues game in Montreal, presumably to watch Backes.

Here are some other interesting things that Sekeres is saying about this rumour:

- In July 2008, one of Gillis’ first acts as Canucks GM was to sign St. Louis centre David Backes to a three-year, $7.5-million (all currencies U.S.) offer sheet. The Blues, grudgingly, matched.

- The Blues are six points out of a playoff spot, and have 16 games remaining before the Olympic break

- Blues president John Davidson was in Winnipeg in early-January, and told a local radio station he was there to scout the American Hockey League’s Manitoba Moose, Vancouver’s farm team, and the Hershey Bears, the Washington Capitals farm team. Both the Canucks and Caps are in playoff position.

- The Blues have been trying to get by with the tandem of Chris Mason and Ty Conklin, a pair of 33-year-olds who have been backups more than starters over their careers. Prospect Ben Bishop seems to have fallen out of favour, and long-range prospect Jake Allen proved that he is not nearly ready for prime time with an abysmal performance at the world junior championship in Saskatchewan earlier this month.

What would this trade mean for the Canucks:

-Acquiring a 25 year old 31 goal scorer (last season)

-Adding size and grit

-Upgrading on Kyle Wellwood as a 3rd line centre

What this would mean for the Blues:

-Securing their goaltending future

-Shedding some salary for a relatively cash poor franchise

Acquiring David Backes is very intriguing to me. Is he the 31 goal scorer we saw last year or is he the under performing player we’re seeing this year? Probably somewhere in between. He’s the right type of player they need: a young big bruising forward. My only concern is that giving up Cory Schneider might be a bit too much. If they could throw-in a draft pick, I think they may have a deal.

Lets hope this deal gets done if for no other reason than to wonder what Kesler and Burrows have to say to Backes when he walks in the room:

It’s that time of year again folks. Yep, the time of year that Mike Gillis tries to coax an aging Swedish future hall of fame centre to not retire and come to Vancouver. Peter Forsberg played in the Karjala Cup tournament in Helsinki this week, and is apparently contemplating a return to the NHL and possibly play in the 2010 Olympics this February. And Mike Gillis is interested.

The issue with Forsberg is of course his health. If he’s healthy, he’s still a very good player, but nagging foot problems have plagued him over the last bunch of years. So where will Forsberg land? Not Philadelphia according to reports. There are also rumours that he’s considering the KHL, but I would find that hard to believe. The Canucks should have the cap space to sign him because of Demitra’s injury, but would Forsberg consider Vancouver out of loyalty to the Avalanche? In the past he has reportedly felt that way, but lots has changed since then. Both teams have completely revamped rosters (gone are the likes of Bertuzzi, Cooke, Ruutu for the Canucks and Sakic, Roy, etc for the Avs), and are no longer the bitter rivals they once were. I’d still consider the Canucks a long shot to get him, but it sure would be nice to see him in a Vancouver uniform.

Imagine what a healthy Forsberg could do for the Vancouver lineup:

Sedin-Sedin-Burrows

Demitra-Kesler-Raymond

Samuelsson-Forsberg-Bernier

Those are three pretty potent scoring lines. If he gets injured, you throw Wellwood into his spot, and you’re back to where you are now.

TEAM 1410 Sports Radio

That’s right, there’s a new all-sports radio station in Vancouver, and it can be found on 1410 AM. It appears that it will be the home for the BC Lions as well as some US syndicated shows such as the Jim Rome Show. Pretty good idea if you ask me.

The current Team 1040 lineup has a lot of the same kind of show with the same kind of guests. I love listening to it, but sometimes it’s nice to hear about, say, the World Series instead of the Calgary Flames’ H1N1 flu shots.

Schneider in Goal Tonight

No, not Mathieu Schneider (wouldn’t be too surprising considering all the positions Canucks defencemen are playing lately), but Cory Schneider will get the start in goal tonight against Dallas. A little surprising considering how well Andrew Raycroft has been in goal this year (did you know he’s first in GAA and 2nd in SV% this year?!). The move is probably a good one, considering that the last time Raycroft played in the 2nd of back-to-back games he was pulled.

Roberto Luongo, yet again, is injured. He’ll be out at least a week with a rib injury. Whether or not it’s only a week remains to be seen, as Canucks management has been known to downplay injuries in the past. This marks the third straight season where Luongo will miss time due to an injury. Does this mean he can’t handle the ridiculously large workload the team gives him every year? Probably not, I tend to think it’s just a matter of being in the net more often gives you more opportunities to get injured.

This means that Andrew Raycroft and possibly Cory Schneider will get an opportunity to play. Raycroft looked great in preseason and his limited game action this season, but he hasn’t played for a while and would surely be rusty. We’ll see how that goes. I think he has the ability to step his game up, but we all know what usually happens to the Canucks when they’re without Luongo, nevermind when they do it with a bunch of injuries.

Here’s the rest of the injury updates:

-Ryan Johnson’s injury apparently isn’t as bad as originally reported

-Sami Salo and Daniel Sedin are ahead of schedule

-Rick Rypien is ready to go

-No news for Jannik Hansen and Pavol Demitra