Am I the only one that had a little bit of trouble adjusting to life after Olympic hockey? What an amazing tournament with such speed, skill and intensity. Then two days later, we have to watch the Canucks take on the Blue Jackets? Tough transition, but I think I’m getting back into the swing of things. The Canucks are on a nice little post-Olympic roll, beating the Blue Jackets in a comeback and laying a surprising beat down on the Red Wings.

They did this, despite not making a significant trade deadline acquisition (apologies to Andrew Alberts and Yan Stastny). The only thing tougher to do than watch Blue Jackets-Canucks hockey two days after one of the greatest moments in Canadian hockey history is watch TSN/Sportsnet/CBC hours upon hours of non-events! True, Wednesday’s trading deadline set a record for trades, but none were of the spectacular variety. TSN went on the air at 5am Pacific time on deadline day! The biggest names (Kovalchuk, Phaneuf, Jokinen) all moved before the Olympic trade freeze, which made for a challenging day for all the insiders. Including this guy:

It’s always difficult to judge a GM’s trading ability because we simply don’t know what he was offered. The only thing we can really do is to look at the other big names that moved, and judge whether or not we would have given up more to get that player. Looking at the list of players that moved, there weren’t many that would have significantly upgraded their defense or forwards. Of those who would have made a mild impact, they were given up for more than the Canucks should have been willing to give up (ie. I wouldn’t have given up a second round pick for Eric Belanger).

So what would I have done? Well, a 6th rounder for Milan Jurcina would have been smarter than getting Andrew Alberts for a 3rd rounder. Getting Scott Walker might have been well advised as well, considering that it only took a 7th rounder to get him. Other than those, I don’t see what the Canucks had to give up. They’re thin in the prospects pool, and just because you have Cory Schneider to trade doesn’t mean that you give him up for nothing.

So who is Andrew Alberts? He’s a 28 year old big defenseman that was a plus-player playing 15 minutes a night for the Hurricanes. Seems promising that he was a plus-player with such a terrible team, but averaging only 15 minutes a night worries me a little bit. I’m not certain that he’s an upgrade over any of their top 6 defensemen when they’re all healthy.

Mike Gillis also made a couple of other moves on deadline day, acquiring Yan Stastny for Pierre-Cedric Labrie (minor leaguer for another minor leaguer) and getting rid of Mathieu Schneider for Sean Zimmerman (depth defenseman for the Moose) and a conditional 6th round pick (I assume it’s conditional on Schneider clearing re-entry waivers).

All-in-all, a very underwhelming trade deadline day, but probably for good reason. Making a deal for the sake of making a deal usually doesn’t turn out well, nor does giving up draft picks and prospects for 2nd or 3rd liners. Stay patient, I say, build-up the farm and then roll the dice.

After lets face it, a boring first 20-30 games this season, there are now lots of things going on in Canuckland. In fact, I can think of at least ten of them:

1. Henrikmania

Henrik Sedin, Art Ross Trophy winner… could it happen? You would have been laughed at if you suggested this even a month ago. But not now. Henrik was named the NHL first star for the month of December and is currently tied for first in the league in scoring! This is not just a small streak that he’s on, we’re more than halfway through the season. Take notice: Henrik (and Daniel) have arrived as elite players.

2. Mathieu Schneider is Gone

Apparently he’s nice and happy in Manitoba now and apparently it sounds like the Canucks wanted to see him go as much as he did. One of the more interesting excerpts:

“You’re speaking to a guy who generally believes in forgiveness,” assistant general manager Laurence Gilman said. “But there’s been a certain amount of water under the bridge at this point. He hasn’t been happy with what has occurred here, and we haven’t been happy with what has occurred.”

Doesn’t sound like they’ll be interested in recalling him anytime soon. Something was obviously said/done behind the scenes that we don’t know about.

3. Lukowich is Back

Brad Lukowich is back in town! The Canucks entered this season with 9 defencemen under contract and it looks like it was a good decision. They’ve used them all. Luckily Lukowich got through re-entry waivers (a little surprising if you ask me).

4. Jannik Hansen Gets No Respect

Jannik Hansen is the Rodney Dangerfield of the Vancouver Canucks. He has seven points in 20 games so far, playing only 12 minutes a night on the fourth line. Those are great numbers, he has an even plus-minus rating and I think he checks well also.  So why has he been a healthy scratch since the December 27 win in Calgary? I know why:  no respect.

5. Louie’s Lights Out

So why are the Canucks playing so well of late? Well as usual, the Canucks go as Roberto Luongo plays. He’s been lights out lately and so has the team. He’s starting to climb up the ladder in goalie stats to where he belongs.

6. Tickets to Canucks Games

Notice how many times the Canucks have released tickets for games at GM Place lately? I can’t remember another season like it. Any chance they’re not actually selling out all of their games anymore? Maybe they’ve finally reached the ceiling for ticket prices, especially in this economy.

7. Rick Rypien

Need we say more?

8. Pavol Demitra

He practiced this week for the first time in months and he’s almost back from his injury. Lets just hope he can stay healthy once he gets back.

9. Cody Hodgson

Watching the World Juniors without Cody Hodgson got me thinking, has he played this year yet? Well the answer is no. It also got me thinking once again: why was he playing in the NHL preseason again?

10. On the Right Side of the Bar

Finally the Canucks have re-joined the top 8 in the Western Conference! I don’t think I was the only one who was getting nervous about that. Don’t look now, but they’re knocking on the door for the division lead too.

The Canucks have announced that Mathieu Schneider has been placed on waivers. In most likely not unrelated news, the Canucks have called up Alex Bolduc.

Disappointing news concerning Schneider in my opinion. Why exactly was he brought in? He was brought-in to run the power play, yet received practically zero time with the #1 unit and was in and out of the lineup. I know that the Canucks’ power play has been very good this season, but when you analyze the stats, it’s puzzling why Schneider (two power play points in very limited action) received far fewer power play minutes than Kevin Bieksa (five power play points with lots of power play time).

Schneider was also brought-in for veteran leadership and to provide depth. Of course that would come in handy when the games get more physical/intense in the stretch run and into the playoffs. Mark my words: one or more Canucks defensemen will suffer an injury and they will wish that they had Schneider to call-on.

At the moment it’s not clear whether the Canucks told Schneider to stay away from the team so they could move him or if he just bolted, but in either case, it’s too bad.

Interesting stuff from Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun. Among other things, Garrioch is reporting that the New York Rangers are interested in acquiring Pavol Demitra and that the Canucks are shopping Shane O’Brien. Interesting news on both fronts.

Apparently the Rangers are interested in reuniting Slovak buddies Marian Gaborik and Pavol Demitra (no word on Demitra buying a house in Manhattan yet). This makes some sense when you think about it, as Glen Sather has been prone to reuniting countrymen, just as he did with Jaromir Jagr, Robert Lang and the rest of the Czech National Team.

Just who the Canucks could get in return is another story. Sure, the Rangers would love to have Demitra, but he also makes $4 million per season and the blue shirts are at the cap. Looking at the Rangers roster/cap situation, I don’t see a fit.

So what about O’Brien? Vigneault dressed him in three straight games which has sparked rumours that he’s shopping him. While on the surface this may make some sense, they had better get a defenceman in return if they trade him. The Canucks have been remarkably lucky with their injury prone defense corps this season, but lets not forget that Sami Salo and/or Mathieu Schneider are VERY prone to injuries. They need to have extra d-men waiting in the wings.

This is not to say that Mike Gillis isn’t or shouldn’t be working the phone lines. The Canucks have not been good enough this season and could still use a proven scorer. Let me be the first to beat the Alex Tanguay and Ray Whitney drums. Both guys are pending unrestricted free agents that are having disappointing seasons thus far. Might be worth a shot.

Canuckz.com is on Twitter! Follow Tonyz Tanti and Sean Ovariez for the latest updates to Canuckz.com. Come on, do it, all the cool kids are.

The Canucks silenced the boisterous United Centre crowd with a gritty 3-2 third period comeback victory on Wednesday. The win was big, not only because it was their first road win of the season and against a hated team, but because of how they won:

-They came back on the Hawks, a team known for coming back on other teams
-They outshot the Blackhawks, the first time that Chicago has been outshot this season
-Roberto Luongo was outstanding, especially when the score was 2-1 for Chicago. He especially came up big during the lengthy 5-on-3 man advantage in the third period
-Michael Grabner (!) scored. And he looked like a sniper while doing it.
-They hit! Willie Mitchell’s hit was the turning point of the game.

Injury News:

Rick Rypien has a groin injury (surprise surprise), prompting the question: who is the most injury-prone player on the Canucks? They’ve got a few candidates including Rypien, Salo, Demitra and Schneider.

Speaking of Mathieu Schneider, he appears ready to go. He has been cleared to play, so we will most likely see him on Sunday against the Oilers. He is inegligible to play Saturday because he was placed on 10 day injured reserve.

It’s finally here. Game 1 of the 2009-10 season and I’m going to say it. The Canucks are overrated. Not that I don’t think they have a good team, but this is getting ridiculous. On TSN’s preview show last night Ray Ferraro and Pierre McGwire  picked them to go to the Stanley Cup Finals. TSN has ranked them as 6th best in the league. Not to be outdone, Sportsnet has them ranked 6th also. The Province is calling this edition of the Canucks the best ever. I like the moves that Gillis has made, and this is a playoff team, but what really has changed from a year ago? From my view, they’ve switched Ohlund, Vaananen, Sundin and Pyatt for Ehrhoff, Schneider, Samuelsson and Shirokov. An improvement, sure, but not drastic changes.

For me, the biggest improvement will come with a healthy full season from Luongo. Can we expect young players like Wellwood, Raymond, Bernier and Edler to improve? Sure. But can we expect the same kind of dream seasons from Kesler, Burrows and Mitchell? Who knows.

The Canucks are a very good team, but lets not get too excited here. They’ve improved slightly from last season.

So with that said, here are Canuckz.com’s official predictions for the upcoming season!

Western Conference:

1. San Jose: Don’t believe all the negative publicity. The top regular season team from a year ago got better with the addition of Heatley.

2. Detroit: They won’t be as good losing Hossa and Hudler, but they had a great season last year despite terrible goaltending from Osgood. They’ll be a force once again.

3. Vancouver: They’ll need to fight off Calgary for top spot in the division

4. Anaheim: Lost Pronger, but they have arguably the best group of top 6 forwards in the NHL.

5. Chicago: Good young team, but Huet in goal and missing Hossa to start the season will hurt.

6. St Louis: Young team caught fire in the second half of last season, that should carry-over to this year.

7. Calgary: Coaching better with Sutter, defence better with Bouwmeester, but losing Cammalleri and an improved conference will hurt.

8. Edmonton: New coach, better goal-tending and improved young players will sneak the Oilers into the playoffs this season.

9. Columbus: Hard playing in a tough division.

10. Los Angeles: Improved sure, but still question marks on defence and in goal.

11. Dallas: Having Morrow back will help, but their defence is in shambles.

12. Minnesota: No Gaborik, no Lemaire, no playoffs.

13. Nashville: Team always defies logic and plays well… until this year.

14. Phoenix: Too many distractions, too little talent.

15. Colorado: Life after Joe will be tough.

Eastern Conference:

1. Washington: A full year with Varlamov and a talented/motivated lineup.

2. Boston: Lost Kessel, but other youngsters like Lucic, Wheeler and Krejci will pick up the slack.

3. Pittsburgh: Stanley Cup hangover will get them off to a slow start until they pick it up.

4. Philadelphia: Can Emery and Boucher hold up in goal? They’ll be average but adding Pronger will help.

5. New Jersey: A healthy Brodeur and Jacques Lemaire means they’ll be competitive.

6. Carolina: Basically the same team that caught fire in the second half of last season.

7. Buffalo: A healthy Ryan Miller and a weak division will be the recipe for a return to the playoffs.

8. Ottawa: Head coach Cory Clouston will get the Sens to over-achieve.

9. Montreal: Not enough secondary scoring.

10. NY Rangers: Tough division, can Gaborik stay healthy?

11. Tampa Bay: Can’t be as bad as last season, can they?

12. Florida: No Jay-Bo, honeymoon with their coach is over too.

13. Toronto: Not enough scoring from this truculent bunch.

14. Atlanta: Still too many questions in goal.

15. NY Islanders: A glorified AHL team, who knew making your backup goalie your new GM would be a bad idea?

Mike Gillis had a busy day on Friday, signing Mathieu Schneider and acquiring Christian Ehrhoff and Brad Lukowich in exchange for Daniel Rahimi and Canuckz.com favourite, Patrick White (that was sarcasm by the way). Lets take an in-depth look at everyone they acquired and everyone they let go:

Who did they let go?

Patrick White

Drafted in the first round in 2007 by former GM Dave Nonis, White appears destined to be yet another first round bust. The Canucks went off the board a bit to take him (he was projected to go in the 2nd round), and it looks like a mistake. In two years with the University of Minnesota, White has 26 points in 81 games. Last season he finished 10th in scoring on his team. If White turns out to be an NHL player, it’ll be a shock, if he turns into a star, it’ll be a miracle.

Daniel Rahimi

A third round pick from the 2006 draft, Rahimi hasn’t shown much promise. He hasn’t been exactly knocking on the door fighting for an NHL spot, and was probably let go because they don’t see him making much of an impact in his career.

Who did they acquire?

Christian Ehrhoff

Ehrhoff was the key to the deal with the Sharks. The smooth skating 27 year old German has been a consistent point producer over the last four seasons. He’s a “puck moving defenceman”, and excels on the power play. The Sharks got rid of him to shed salary, even though he has a pretty fair deal, paying him $3.1 million per season for the next two years.

Brad Lukowich

Brad Lukowich will bring experience, dependability and two Stanley Cup Rings to the Canucks blue line. He has one year left on his deal with a cap hit of $1.567 million. Not bad for a guy with his experience who is still only 32 years old. He’s also a BC boy.

Mathieu Schneider

Old man Schneider is now 40 years old, but he had a very productive season last year. Once re-acquired by Montreal, he kick-started their power play until getting injured. That’s the key with Schneider, how much gas does he have left in the tank, and can he stay healthy? Time will tell. Still a good signing, as it’s low risk (a one year deal worth reportedly $1.5 million) and potentially high reward. Schneider is a proven power play specialist, something the Canucks desperately needed. He also has a Stanley Cup ring, which now gives the Canucks three players on their roster that have won a Stanley Cup. I can’t remember the last time the Canucks were able to say that.

What now?

So what’s next? The Canucks now possess 8 NHL d-men making more than $1.5 million and 14 NHL calibre forwards. They’re also over the salary cap. This means that someone has to go, and probably a defenceman. You can’t have two defencemen sitting in the press box making more than $1.5 million a season. So who is on the way out? Some were speculating Bieksa on the radio Friday afternoon, but I can’t see Gillis getting rid of a guy like that. It remains to be seen who goes, but don’t count out Gillis asking Mitchell or Salo to waive their no-trade clauses.

Meet “THE GERMANATOR”!

Dan Murphy of Sportsnet is reporting that the Canucks are about to sign Mathieu Schneider. That’s a pretty reliable source, which could mean that Gillis has finally found his puck moving defenceman. I know he’s old, but at the right price (about $2 million per season lets say?), he’s a perfect fit. Stay tuned…

Update: still nothing new to report, he’s probably coming to Vancouver, but nothing has been announced yet. While we wait for an announcement, how about a look back at one of the better moments in Schneider’s career, the 1993 Stanley Cup Final (Desjardins gets the goals, but Schneider’s on the other point!). Enjoy!