What To Do Without Burrows?

The Canucks head into the 2010-2011 NHL season with high expectations and are coming off a year where they were the second highest scoring team in the league overall and the best offensive team in the Western Conference. Naturally, since the Canucks have added some forward depth during the off-season, most fans would expect this team to replicate that without any problems.

Not so fast, for the first month to two months of the season the Canucks will be without Alex Burrows who scored 35 goals last year and who leaves a hole in the Canucks top 6 forward group where the Canucks will need someone to step up and fill in until Burrows returns.

With all the talk surrounding the Canucks bottom six forward training camp battles, there is an interesting situation that top 6 fill in candidates Raffi Torres, Cody Hodgson, Jannik Hansen, Jordan Schroeder, and Sergei Shirokov find themselves in. Without Burrows offense and chemistry to open the season, one of the above mentioned forwards has an opportunity to jump onto the top two lines and be productive, but who will it be?

Jannik Hansen is coming off a year with 9 goals, whereas Raffi Torres had a great first half of the season but ended his campaign in Buffalo where he was MIA in the offensive attack for the Sabres. Cody Hodgson and Jordan Schroeder have an opportunity, but they're both young and need to make the team, let alone make the top 6 forward group.

Sergei Shirokov is an intriguing option as he is expected to suit up alongside the Sedin twins in upcoming Pre-Season action and will be given a look to start the season riding shotgun with two of the NHL's best offensive forwards.

Burrows, meanwhile, is coming off successful shoulder surgery and without full contact practices right now is still a month to two months away, without considering the time he'll need to make an impact jumping into the NHL season that has already been in full swing for 6 - 8 weeks. With Daniel, Henrik, Samuelsson, Kesler, and Raymond, goal scoring shouldn't be a major issue for this Canucks bunch, but taking it for granted could cost the Canucks some early points in the standings.

Brendan Morrison Gets Canucks Training Camp Tryout

Former Vancouver Canuck Brendan Morrison has agreed to a professional tryout and will attend the organizations training camp in Penticton which kicks off on Saturday. The BC native has seen his role diminish in recent years, but the Canucks are hoping that he can be a solid bottom six contributor and a character teammate.

That's if he makes the team of course. Right now, the Canucks have a few spots open in the bottom six forward group, and since Alex Burrows will miss part of the beginning of the season after successful shoulder surgery, someone will need to step up into the top 6 forward group for the time being, creating another available spot in the bottom two lines.

The Canucks play their first Pre-Season game as a split squad set of games, one in Calgary and one in Vancouver, both on September 21st at 7PM Pacific.

Roberto Luongo Steps Down As Canucks Captain

The Vancouver Canucks announced on Monday that Roberto Luongo has relinquished his captaincy, and the team will be looking for his replacement for the upcoming season. There was much speculation about this issue, and the announcement comes as little surprise to anyone in Vancouver as the rumours have been flying for a couple of months already.

Early speculation has Henrik Sedin, the NHL's leading scorer and MVP last season, as the most likely replacement, but Mike Gillis has stated that the team will not rush into any decisions. Ryan Kesler is another option, but many people feel he is not quite ready to accept a responsibility of that magnitude. Heading into the season without a captain is also a possibility for the Canucks, but Gillis did mention that he expects to make a final decision before the start of the regular season.

“Roberto has been an excellent captain for our team the past two seasons,” Gillis said in a statement. “We respect and support his decision to relinquish the captaincy and are confident that he will continue to help lead our team through his tremendous character and work ethic both on and off of the ice.”

The Canucks goalie was an anomaly, as a captain being a goaltender hasn't been done in the modern era.

Rumour has it that the responsibility of dealing with the media pre and post game was a bit too much to handle for Luongo, and a goalie being the spokesman for the team often made it sound like he was throwing his teammates under the bus.

According to Gillis and Luongo, it was the former captain's decision to step down, as opposed to management asking him to, which has been rumoured around town.

"I am honoured to have served as captain of the Vancouver Canucks for the past two seasons," Luongo said. "Being captain in a Canadian city for a team with such passionate fans is a privilege and an experience I will always take pride in. I will continue to be a leader on this team and support my teammates the same way I always have while focusing on our ultimate goal."

Expect Luongo to bounce back from a poor season (by his standards) with the pressure of being captain off his shoulders. Luongo was well-known for his game day preperation and often quirky superstitions which, before being named captain, included not talking to the media on game days.