The trade. Is that what you all want? After the crushing disappointment of not getting one of those top three picks, would a blockbuster trade breathe redemption and excitement into the pending offseason for you?
It’s an interesting concept. Canucks GM Jim Benning was pretty clear they’d put in the due diligence and make the calls, but that his sense was those teams ahead of the Canucks wouldn’t be too interested in doing business; but everyone has a price.
Just look at last weekend’s NFL draft. Both Tennessee and Cleveland traded out of the top two spots and got a ransom of picks for doing it. It tends to not happen as much in the NHL because players take longer to develop while in the NFL you can turn your franchise around in two years with the right quarterback.
But the one time the Canucks really did swing for the fences, it worked out pretty well in them netting the Sedins at the same draft.
There is also the notion of a huge need for the Canucks sitting on the trade block: P.K. Subban. Now, I’m not suggesting you mortgage even a piece of the future for an elite defenceman in his prime, but there has been loads of suggestion Edmonton are interested and you’d have to think the Canucks would at least want to kick the tires.
So, what would you do if you were in the fancy office down at Rogers Arena?
It is an interesting tack for the Canucks. They are realistically at least two seasons away from showing any real progress. There is Ben Hutton, Bo Horvat and Jake Virtanen to be happy about. You’d like to think Jared McCann is in that group, too, but there are some puzzling signs from management on his fate in Vancouver.
And then of course there is last year’s No. 1 pick, who people are even more excited about now after the season he put together in college.
“I can’t really explain the feeling when we won,” Boeser said. “The development I did this year has kind of opened my eyes to how good I can be. That really excites me.”
Boeser had a goal and three assists in North Dakota’s 5-1 win over Quinnipiac University in the NCAA title game on April 9 in Tampa. It capped his sensational freshman season at 27 goals and 60 points in 42 games. He finished third in the nation in scoring.
While we’re on draft prospects, I found this interesting piece on ESPN about Auston Matthews. We’re always looking for comparables, and I’d say if he turns out like Jonathan Toews, the Leafs will be pretty happy.
But, like Toews, like Wayne Gretzky, like Gordie Howe, or like everyone who has won a Stanley Cup, Matthews will need help breaking the Maple Leafs’ 48-year Stanley Cup drought. But he is a great first piece. He is not a showhorse, he is a workhorse. He will go to the dirty areas, hang around the net, make his linemates better and make them money. Like Toews, he is confident, comfortable in his skin and he has a sneaky sense of humor.
We will have to wait and see what the Leafs do in free agency and/or trades this summer to get a sense of whether they are going to be patient with young players and wait another year or two — John Tavares will be a free agent in two years — to really go for it. Or, now that they have Matthews, will they look to start the playoff clock next spring and go after Stamkos and/or others in free agency? I’ve been of the opinion, since this past season, that if the tanking worked and they got Matthews, the rebuild would happen quicker.
Gah, can you imagine what the Sportsnet promos would look like if the Leafs had Matthews, Stamkos AND Tavares? Ugh, they’d never even mention Vancouver on their broadcasts; we’d just get Damien Cox and Strombo arguing about whether the Stanley Cup parade should go east-west or north-south for an hour.
Crosby mad, Pens win anyway
Pittsburgh has a stranglehold on the series after beating the Capitals in OT last night.
Sidney Crosby was not happy at a slash he got from Alex Ovechkin though.
Nashville on roll
The Nashville Predators may trail the San Jose Sharks in their playoff series, but they claim to be the better team and feel they’re on a bit of a roll.
But momentum appears to be on the side of the Predators, not only because of Tuesday’s 4-1 win in Game 3 but also because of the team’s strong overall performance in a narrow Game 2 loss.
“We thought we played a whale of a game (in Game 2), and we just kind of continued that same energy into (Tuesday) instead of getting down on ourselves,” Predators forward Colton Sissons said. “We got rewarded with a couple more bounces and goals. We have to keep playing with that same kind of jump going forward.”
You have to give the Predators credit — we can get awfully snobby about our hockey markets up here in Canada, but the games look like they’re being played in a great atmosphere. They’re being helped by a Montreal company that is giving every fan in the building a lighted bracelet that flashes in time with the music. It’s not exactly a white towel, but it does help create a unique playoff atmosphere.
Chirp, chirp
Such a shame Patrick Kane is a douche because the relationship between him and Jonathan Toews is pretty great. This happened yesterday.
Fun while it lasted
Sadly, it’s looking increasingly likely the NHL won’t be continuing with the Olympic program in 2018.
It’s money. It’s always money.
International Ice Hockey Federation president Rene Fasel puts the chances at 60 per cent that the NHL will decline to go to the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, because of a lack of money to cover player insurance.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Fasel said the IOC has cancelled its contribution to player travel and insurance costs for Pyeongchang, leaving the IIHF facing a $10 million shortfall and “begging” for money around the world.
“It’s always difficult to get (to) the Olympics, the games,” he said. “And now with some problems on our side, 50-50 is very positive. I would be more 60 per cent that they are not coming.”
Commissioner Gary Bettman has made it clear costs are a key factor.
“There are real costs to us going, including insurance, including transportation because we’re losing part of our season, we’ve got to get in and out quickly,” Bettman said last month at a meeting of the Associated Press Sports Editors in New York. “The players for the last five Olympics in particular have been accommodated in a certain way as far as it relates to their families. Those are issues that would once again have to be resolved. … I’m not sure that there would be a lot of appetite for us on top of that to have to pay for the privilege. We don’t make money going to then Olympics.”
Bettman said he didn’t expect a decision until after the World Cup of Hockey in Toronto in September.
But what’s disappointing is between the lame also-ran rosters of the yearly worlds, played in Europe during the Stanley Cup playoffs, infrequent World Cups and Canada Cups, the Olympics were gaining traction as the definitive national team hockey championship. Pulling out now and filling the rosters with players not in the NHL just makes the event pretty meaningless.
The ridiculous World Cup of Hockey has no true history or consistency, and adding in hybrid teams of North American youngsters and a catch-all of smaller Euro nations is gimmicky and cheapens the tournament. Dollar-for-dollar, yes, the NHL shouldn’t have to subsidize the IOC, but that’s just down to poor negotiating skills on the NHL’s part.
They had a ready-made national championship that had momentum, with some tremendous iconic moments over the last 18 years since Nagano 1998, from Crosby’s Golden Goal to Gretzky’s shootout snub, the Swedes win, Dominik Hasek’s dominance. They’re willing to throw that all away to foist their own fake tournament on us during the summer. Garbage.
Plus the Americans have never won since they put NHLers in the Olympics, so that’s pretty great. They are good at destroying their rooms though.
Red is the colour, soccer is the game?
Another game, another suspension for the Whitecaps. They’re facing the prospect of Portland at home without Kekuta Manneh because he’s been sidelined for a game for a stupid stamp on an opponent in the game last week in New York.
One imagines the disciplinary committee read intent into the Manneh play and determined that the Gambian speedster could have done more to avoid the contact. There’s no other explanation, although you can watch that replay 100 times and have a tough time determining intent.
The committee has to be unanimous in its decision to suspend a player after the fact, so they obviously felt confident that there was some malice there.
Manneh joins a growing list of Caps to be retroactively disciplined this season. Christian Bolanos and Kianz Froese were both slapped with early-season suspensions for tackles, and Masato Kudo was banned for a dive in the box that drew a penalty.
The Whitecaps have also had to do without Matias Laba and Kendall Waston due to in-game red cards. Caps coach Carl Robinson felt his team was hard done by on both those calls — a harsh straight red to Laba for a tackle, and a soft first yellow on Waston before an obvious second card followed.
Jordan Smith’s sending off at Kansas City in week two was an obvious ejection.
Bottom line, whether it’s Manneh’s injury or something else, his progress is rapidly going backwards. He’s not really had an impact and dumb reactions like last week are only hurting his team.
The frustration is obviously starting to boil over a bit.
Beat it, Blue Jays
The Mariners swept the A’s yesterday and sit in first in the AL West. The Jays are meandering along and are in third in the AL East. But the “regional” Sportsnet network can barely find time to let us know how the M’s did in between Josh Donaldson and Russell Martin promos. Yeah, I know, the whole nation is behind them. But it’s going to be interesting to see how the season plays out. If the Mariners continue to look great and the Jays slide back into mediocrity, is the coverage going to continue to pretend that the whole country only wants Jays news?
Let’s hope not, because just like with the Raptors, I know far more fans of an amalgam of teams around the respective leagues than those who get behind the Jays and Raptors just because they’re Canadian.
Fly on the wall
Interesting new feature from our UFC expert Spencer Kyte where he examines an issue and, er, lets fly on both sides of it, and lets you vote. This week, should the UFC bring in a women’s flyweight division?
Bit of an abbreviated Skate for you today; apologies, but Jonathan McDonald will be back later today with his Afternoon Skate and Joe Ruttle has you all lined up tomorrow morning to Skate you into the weekend.
Happy Thursday everyone, YNWA.
