2010 Canucks Training Camp Report - A Fan's Perspective

From Canucks fan and former PJ columnist Ted Hagmeier who lives in Penticton, BC where Vancouver is holding their training camp:

"I attended the first day of Vancouver Canucks training camp. The players were divided into two groups, each group on the ice for 90 minutes, each group doing the same drills. The first ice time was at 9am, the second at 11:30am. I watched both groups. Players were out skating around beforehand and each practice started promptly. Vigneault ran the practice but Bowness often did the shouting during the drills to keep players moving. The other coaches were pretty invisible. There were no special team drills. Everything was designed around north-south hockey: transition and break outs with full ice flow. There was an ice clean half way through each practice. Here are my observations:

· Luongo let in lots of soft goals during the drills. Wow

· During practices coaches will put in breaks. Often, a coach will bang his stick, blow the whistle and everyone does a hard lap then goes for water. Luongo's 'hard lap' is from blue to blue cause he is slower than everyone else - even the best goalie in the world skates like a goalie! Then he goes for water.

· The coaches didn't do a lot of talking to explain the drills and never used the dry erase board.

· Towards the end of the practice some of the players were looking tired. During a 2 on 2 drill, Vigneault yelled at Dan Hamhuis, "Push it, Hammy"

· Schaefer did extra stretching while his group was on the benches for an ice clean. He looked a little sore, not surprising since he was out of hockey last year. But he looked good in the drills and he has a heavy wrist shot

· O'Brien seemed to be the team funny man - laughing and bear hugging some of the players in between drills.

· He also took a few shots at Sergei "The Sheriff" Shirokov during some 5 on 5 drills in the defensive zone

· The 'Sheriff' impressed me with his speed

· Morrison looked okay but it’s hard to see where he is going to play

· He made a lovely deflection, directing a shot along the ice to score off the crossbar

· Bieksa is a very smooth skater and puck handler, maybe the best among d-man and tops in the team

· The goaltenders, except Luongo, took extra coaching at the end of practice.

· Malhotra, Kessler and Rypien practiced face-offs at the end of practice

· Janik Hansen is a terrible skater. He is fast but no points for style

· Often, it’s the captain who leads the team during stretching in games and practices. Sedin led his group. Malhotra led the group that included Kesler. Sort of odd, if Ryan is being considered for captain

· Both squads got applause when they came on the ice and when they left

· O'Brien was in the second group and came out before his ice time to sign autographs. He might have been the only player to do that.

· Between drills Vigneault spotted someone he knew by one of the gates to the ice (so it was a restricted area). He skated over to him with a broad smile and tapped on the glass to say high. I think that guy was a person with special needs. Otherwise he showed no emotion at all.. Didn’t even tap a player on the pads.

· Schneider looked good in his first practice as the "it's my back-up goaltender job to lose” guy

· In drills the Sedins don't really stand out. Neither has great speed, size or shot. I didn't even recognize Daniel until half way through his session. But in 3 on 3 drills cycling the puck they stood out, even though they were playing without each other

· Bill Sweat, who they just signed, looks like a player. He was one of the best forwards during the 'Young Guns' game I watched and he didn't look out of place with the big boys. I am not saying he'll make the team but he is a good addition for the farm

· Schneider took a puck off the melon. It was a drill early in the practice to warm up the goalies and the skaters. The skater attacks the net with the puck, shoots, and then screens the goalie for a point shot. The point shot had players ducking and we heard the 'doink' as the puck hit mask. The d-man yelled, 'Sorry'

· Henrik badly missed the net on one shot and held both arms up in mock celebration. The players around him laughed. Everyone cheered.

· In the same drill a prospect I don’t know made a nice play to score on Luongo. When he went back to the corner to wait his turn in the drill Henrik tapped him on the pads as if to say, ‘nice play.’

If you ever get a chance to see training camp - do it. Go Canucks Go."

Visnovsky for Ryan Whitney

The Oilers have traded Lubomir Visnovsky to the Ducks for Ryan Whitney. A great deal for both teams. Whitney's rep has taken a bit of a hit, and to be able to pick him up is a steal for the Oil. Visnovsky may be helpful to the Ducks in the short term as the try and secure a playoff spot.

Fantasy Impact: This season Whitney will see a TON of PP time now that Souray is out for the year. Get him NOW! Visnovsky should see a slight bump in production, but an much great improvement in plus minus.

Corvo a Cap

Washington picked up Joe Corvo for Brian Pothier and a prospect.

Fantasy Impact: Corvo could be a very interesting pickup for the Caps. He'll likely see a significant amount of second PP time. If your league requires you to have 5 or 6 d-men, Corvo could fit in very nicely at the lower end of your roster.

Fredrik Modin is King of the World!

Modin has been traded to Los Angeles for futures.

Fantasy Impact: Modin should add some very nice veteran production. The knock on Freddy is that he is a significant injury risk. But if he stays healthy he could be a bit of a surprise. He's likely unowned in most leagues and we'd recommend picking him up and seeing what happens.

Leafs Trade Lee Stempniak to Phoenix

The Coyotes have acquired Lee Stempniak in a deal that will provide the some decent scoring depth.

Fantasy Impact: Stempniak should see a bit of a boost in production as there is no pressure to perform. We think he's worth a flyer.

Are the Sabres Daffy to Pick Up Raffi?

The Sabres acquired Raffi Torres for Nathan Paetsch and a 2nd rounder. The Sabres then traded Clarke McArthur to Atlanta.

Analysis: Raffi has been solid this season and should help the Sabres with secondary scoring and penalty killing.

Fantasy Impact: if you have shorthanded scoring as category in your league, then Torres may have some decent upside. And his goal production is nothing to sneeze at. But it's not like he's playing with with a high powered offence so don't get too excited.

Cowtown reunites Finnish Tandem

Calgary has acquired Vesa Toskala from the Anaheim Ducks for current back-up Curtis McElhinney. FANTASY IMPACT - not much either way, but if Kippersoff gets injured, Toskala is a much better option than McElhinney. The Flames were hoping to give Kipper days off down the stretch but they are barely hanging on to a playoff spot, so don't expect that to happen much.

M. Schneider to the 'Yotes

Phoenix appears to be loading up for the playoffs, after acquiring Derek Morris earlier today they have acquired Matthieu Schneider from the Canucks for a rumored late round draft pick. FANTASY IMPACT - Schneider's niche is his ability to move the puck and play on the PP. He'll get a solid chance to do that in Phoenix but his play away from the puck will limit his minutes. Watch for his +/- as well.

Ducks get D-Help

Anaheim has moved Justin Pogge and a 4th round pick to the Hurricanes for Aaron Ward. FANTASY IMPACT - almost none in terms of Ward unless your league counts blocked shots, hits and a few PIMs. Pogge now joins his 3rd NHL organization this year and looks to be the heir to a back-up job of Cam Ward or perhaps more if Ward's injury issues continue.

..and there is more...

Carolina has traded Scott Walker to the Washington Capitals for a 7th round pick. FANTASY IMPACT - clearly Walker's impact is going to be more of a grinder, good guy in the room rather than an offensive dynamo. Don't expect alot unless he somehow draws top 6 forward duty to create room on the ice for more skilled players.

St. Louis has traded Yan Stastny to the Vancouver Canucks for a minor league PIMs specialist. FANTASY IMPACT - there isn't any unless Stastny plays and you count face-off wins. He's not offensively gifted. At this time, and depth guy.

Colorado has shipped Wojtek Wolski to the Coyotes for Peter Mueller and Kevin Porter. FANTASY IMPACT - Mueller and Wolski are both under-achieving but Wolski seems to have better upside as Mueller's desire to compete is reflected in his putrid offensive stats. Mueller was a scoring best in junior, but something has happened along the way for him to really developed into a fantasy bust. Trade him if you got him or let someone else take the "flyer". Wolski makes the 'Yotes better in terms of pure offense and if he buys into Tippett's counter-punch style of play, is worth a waiver scoop. Porter, a Hobey Baker Award winner, is actually pretty skilled and pretty tenacious and joins an Avs team that welcomes US College guys alot. Porter has at least 3rd line skills with upside.

The Fantasy Impact Deals so Far...

Alright – so all morning and afternoon we’ll be settling in to give you the best Fantasy take on the deals that are made. Expect a lot of deals, but don’t expect many quality ones is our prediction. So far, there’s not been a ton, but there have been some from last night and we’re here to break them down:

Ponikarovsky to the Penguins – Malkin has been complaining about the quality of his wingers all season and GM Shero has addressed the issue by acquiring Ponikarovsky from the Leafs for Luca Caputi and Martin Skoula. Skoula’s in the deal to allow the Penguins to get under the cap, and today was moved to the New Jersey Devils . Caputi is the key for the Leafs. A guy that sniped 50+ goals in his final year of junior and has had some success at the Minor League level, but he’s doesn’t play big and his skating is rumored to be at best – just OK. We think he projects at most a 2nd line winger, but likely more 3rd line. That all said, the offensive starved Leafs are going to try him right away. For the Penguins, expect Ponikarovsky to patrol one the left side of either Crosby or Malkin; our bet is Malkin. Ponikarovsky should hit career highs now in goals scored as he’ll be playing with much better line-mates than he has had for some time. If he shows any sort of chemistry and keeps his stick on the ice, he may even flirt with 30 goals this season. He’s streaky – but when hot, he’s very solid.

Phoenix has acquired Derek Morris from the Bruins for a 4th round pick. This should help the ‘Yotes stabilize their young defence as Morris can chip in with the odd point and play on the PP, but more importantly smells like a salary dump in anticipation of bigger deals yet to come for the Bruins. Boston has lost 8 straight games at home and can’t score to save their collective lives. With them not landing Kovalchuk prior to the Olympic break, we think the Bruins are after the Hurricanes’ Ray Whitney. Whitney wants a contract extension before he waives his no-trade clause and this looks like the Bruins are getting ready to oblige.

Hogtown begins the Dealing...

This past Sunday, Toronto GM Brian Burke tried to share things up on his roster by dealing Ian, White, Matt Stajan, Niklas Hagman and Jamal Mayers to Calgary for Dion Phaneuf, Fredrik Sjostrom and Keith Aulie. He then kept the trade winds blowing and dealt Jason Blake and Vesa Toskala to the Anaheim Ducks for Jean-Sebastien Giguere.

Fantasy Impact: In Toronto, the Leafs should now have two bona-fide studs on the PP with Kaberle (who’ll do the passing) and Phaneuf (who’ll do the shooting). The latest rumor out of Calgary is that Phaneuf and Jarome Iginla had got into a “donny-brook” that led to fisticuffs in the locker room and it was pretty evident that the chemistry in the locker and on the ice was suffering. The Leafs are now trying to build from the crease out with Giguere as the team’s #1, Phaneuf and Kaberle mentoring Schenn and Carl Gunnarson while Komisarek and Beauchemin should round out the Leafs likely top 6. Aulie is the next coming of Hal Gill and a potential Leaf in 2011. The Leafs PP should be better, but Phaneuf’s +/- is about to take a pounding. The Leafs are going to have to call up a bunch of guys from the farm to finish out this season unless they turn Ponikarovsky into 3 new forwards. Jeff Finger seems to be a defencemen that Bruke would like to move, and is he does, he'll get at least one forward coming back that can play in the NHL. Giguere still has this year and next on a big $ deal, so he’ll start plenty. The Leafs won’t be hugely improved and we’re not convinced the Giguere can capture the magic he did in the ’02-’03 season. That said he’ll be better than Toskala and Gustavsson – at least in the short term. For the Flames, they get some depth and some cap relief. It will be intriguing to see if Stajan adopts the #1 pivot, or the #3. Rumors are swirling that the Flames are trying to move Jokinen to the Rangers as well. Stajan is a younger version of Daymond Langkow and may see his point per game drop with a reduced role and minutes. Hagman stands a strong chance or helping the goal starved Flames as he has 20 goal potential and seems not to need prime minutes to achieve them. Ian White actually has more points than Phaneuf and has decent offensive skills. He’s worth a flyer in deeper leagues’, but he’ll be the 3rd option on the PP from the point after Boumeester and Giordano. The Ducks, well they get a little cap relief and some forward depth in Blake who may be so relieved to escape the pressure cooker that is Toronto, that he might put up some decent fantasy numbers. Watch him closely as he’ll get second line duty right away.

The East/West Discrepancy

It’s no secret that the NHL has an unbalanced schedule. Those who support it say that it’s necessary to deal with travel costs, time zone changes and player fatigue. Those who oppose it point to all teams not having the opportunity for all fans to get equal access to the game’s stars.

It’s not secret that many Western fans feel that they are unfairly treated when it comes to not seeing the NHL’s young elite. And now, a simple analysis of the top two picks of the past 15 years tends to bear that out. Of the 30 total players taken either first or second since the 1994 draft a whopping 22 were drafted by Eastern Conference teams. Simply on volume that would seem to indicate a distinct advantage. But consider this: 12 of the last 15 first overall selections were made by Eastern Conference clubs.

So what does this all mean? It means the best young talent is not playing game in and game out in the Western Conference. At best, once a year the top young talent in the league plays in your arena if you happen cheer for a team that plays in either the Pacific, Northwest or Central Divisions…that is, unless you happen to meet in the Stanley Cup Finals.

Major League Baseball has an easy remedy in their entry draft given that the two leagues are split with only limited interaction between clubs during the regular season (sound familiar?). They alternate between the American League and the National League. The team with the worst record overall drafts first and then the team from the opposing league with the worst record drafts next. And they carry on from there. IF that had been the case things may be drastically different for some teams. Consider that Evgeny Malkin would most likely play for the Chicago Blackhawks, Eric Staal may be captain of the Columbus Blue Jackets, Jason Spezza may have been skating with Anaheim, and Dany Heatley could have been plying his trade in Minnesota. Sure this is all speculation, but that is the level of talent that could have been in the Western Conference with a fair and equitable distribution of talent.

Here’s the full draft list of first and second overall picks. First overall picks are bolded.

East:

John Tavares (NYI - 2009)
Victor Hedman (TB - 2009)
Steven Stamkos (TB - 2008)
James Van Riemsdyk (PHI – 2007)
Jordan Staal (PIT – 2006)
Sydney Crosby (PIT – 2005)
Alex Ovechkin (WAS – 2004)
Evgeny Malkin (PIT – 2004)
M-A Fleury (PIT – 2003)
Eric Staal (CAR – 2003)
Kari Lehtonen (ATL - 2002)
Ilya Kovalchuk (ATL – 2001)
Jason Spezza (OTT – 2001)
Rick Dipietro (NYI – 2000)
Dany Heatley (ATL – 2000)
Patrik Stefan (ATL – 1999)
Vincent Lecavalier (TB – 1998)
Joe Thornton (BOS – 1997)
Chris Phillips (OTT – 1996)
Bryan Berard (OTT – 1995)
Wade Redden (NYI – 1995)
Ed Jovanovski (FLA – 1994)

West:

Drew Doughty (LA - 2008)
Patrick Kane (CHI – 2007)
Erik Johnson (STL – 2006)
Bobby Ryan (ANH – 2005)
Rick Nash (CLB – 2002)
Daniel Sedin (VAN -1999)
David Legwand (NAS – 1998)
Patrick Marleau (SJ – 1997)
Andrei Zyuzin (SJ – 1996)
Oleg Tverdovsky (ANH – 1995)