With the regular season nearly upon us, and the rosters virtually set for opening night, it's time to make some early predictions; some serious and some humorous. So let's get right to it.
The Canucks will finish the regular season.....
In 9th place in the Western Conference, and 4th place in the Pacific Division behind Los Angeles, Anaheim and San Jose. The Canucks are in a heated race and need a win against the lowly Oilers on the final night of the regular season to sneak into 8th place and the final wildcard spot. They lay a dud and lose 4-1, ripping the hearts out of Canucks fans province wide.
The Canucks leading scorer will be.....
Henrik Sedin. Not a bold pick by any means, but Henrik and brother Daniel return to nearly a point a game form and rebound after a rough season under former coach John Tortorella. Henrik finishes with 14 goals, 63 assists for 77 points. Daniel isn't far behind with 73 points (28 goals, 45 assists), while linemate Radim Vrbata finishes with the most goals at 34 and totals 66 points. No other Canuck finishes with more than 50 points.
Ryan Miller finishes the year with.....
31 wins, a 2.36 GAA and 918%. Decent numbers overall and single-handedly wins his new team a handful of games. Goes through a rough stretch around Christmas in which he temporarily loses his starting job to Eddie Lack and sulks and makes some negative comments to the media who run with it, and once again there's a goalie controversy in Vancouver. It's short-lived though, as his job as backup lasts just over a week and he gets back on track and finishes off the season strong and as the team's clear number one goalie.
The Canucks most improved player will be.....
Alexander Edler. He had an abysmal season last year (along with everyone else), and has fallen out of favour with most Canucks fans, but the big Swedish defenceman rebounds with a solid year. He finishes with 13 goals and 37 assists for 50 points and limits the amount of defensive gaffes that have plagued him throughout his career. He returns to form and finishes the year as the Canucks best overall defenceman, slightly ahead of Dan Hamhuis.
The most disappointing Canuck will be.....
A tie between Zack Kassian and Alex Burrows. Kassian continues to disappoint, and aside from a few flashes of brilliance throughout the season, proves that he's likely going to be a bottom 6 forward for the rest of his career. He finishes with 13 goals and 16 assists but on the bright side, only one suspension. Unfortunately he also misses a few games due to off-ice issues as he gets arrested and charged with assaulting a patronizing fan at The Roxy. Alex Burrows is snake-bitten once again and proves that he can't score much without the Sedins. Thankfully, he is good defensively and kills penalties well so despite the disappointing offensive stats, he still has some value to the team.
The Canucks most surprising player will be.....
Linden Vey. He may not be a surprise to hardcore Canuck fans who have been watching all preseason, but he will turn some heads and make a name for himself in the NHL. He finishes third in Calder Trophy voting (rookie of the year) and finishes the season with 19 goals and 29 assists for 48 points.
Slightly Humorous Bold Predictions (and maybe some wishful thinking)......
Best Moment: Daniel Sedin accidentally hits someone from behind. Henrik comes over to make sure that player is okay when that player suddenly jumps Henrik (mistaking him for Daniel). Kevin Bieksa comes out of left-field and proceeds to rag-doll the opponent before the refs jump in. Bieksa gets suspended for a game but the Sedins chip in and buy him a puppy the next day to show their appreciation. Henrik is unscathed aside from some minor bleeding from the lip, but Daniel gets him a towel from the bench and wipes the blood away for him. Minutes later Daniel scores on a one-timer from a sweet Henrik no look, behind the back pass. All is forgotten. Bieksa names the puppy Stefeter after the Sedin's two older brothers Stefan and Peter.
Biggest Win: The Canucks beat the Bruins 7-1 at home. The win itself is just another win in the standings, but we all know how sweet it is going to feel. Especially because Brad Marchand breaks his femur in 6 places when he tries to slew-foot Henrik Sedin at full-speed (remember the wishful thinking part?). This incident was a close second for 'Best Moment.'
Biggest Loss: As mentioned earlier, Vancouver has a chance to make the playoffs on the final night of the season with a win at home versus Edmonton. They play awfully and choke in their chance to 'win and you're in.'
Biggest Trade: The Canucks deal Eddie Lack at the deadline to the Buffalo Sabres for Mike Weber and a 4th round pick. Weber adds some toughness and some depth to the blueline, but ends up being terrible. Still, he's an upgrade over Luca Sbisa and plays the remainder of the regular season as the team's 6th Dman. Jacob Markstrom proves himself as an NHL-calibre goalie in the AHL and becomes the team's backup in place of Lack. Thatcher Demko, Vancouver's 2nd round pick in the 2014 draft, is GM Jim Benning's longterm plan at goalie when Miller's contract expires after the 2017 season.
Other notable items.....
- Hunter Shinkaruk plays a handful of games as an injury call up and impresses in his short time. He leads the Comets in scoring and proves he's an integral part of the future.
- Much like Shinkaruk, Niklas Jensen gets some games with the big club and impresses offensively scoring 5 goals in 11 games before getting injured himself and limiting his time in the NHL.
- Nick Bonino proves he needs Getzlaf and Perry to score and has an average season finishing with 12 goals and 32 assists. Linden Vey replaces him as the 2nd line centre.
- Tom Sestito whines about ice-time and about being scratched and demands a trade 20 games into the season. Benning tries to trade him, but no team will pay even a conditional 7th for him. He ends up clearing waivers (again) and being sent to Utica. He doesn't accept his demotion and sits out the rest of the season before signing with the Tilburg Trappers of the Dutch League where he leads the league in scoring. Local Dutch league fans call him the next Dale Weise and Sestito reminds everyone that he was a big-time scorer in junior and just needed his opportunity to play 1st line minutes.
Follow writer Mike Kermode on twitter @mikekermode
Eastern Conference:
Atlantic:
1. Boston (Playoffs)
2. Montreal (Playoffs)
3. Detroit (Playoffs)
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4. Toronto
5. Ottawa
6. Tampa
7. Florida
8. Buffalo
Metropolitan:
1. Pittsburgh (Playoffs)
2. Philadelphia (Playoffs)
3. New Jersey (Playoffs)
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4. Washington (Playoffs) Wildcard 1
5. NY Islanders(Playoffs) Wildcard 2
6. NY Rangers
7. Columbus
8. Carolina
Western Conference:
Pacific:
1. Los Angeles (Playoffs)
2. Anaheim (Playoffs)
3. San Jose (Playoffs)
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4. Vancouver
5. Calgary
6. Arizona
7. Edmonton
Central:
1. Chicago (Playoffs)
2. St. Louis (Playoffs)
3. Dallas (Playoffs)
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4. Minnesota (Playoffs) Wildcard 1
5. Colorado (Playoffs) Wildcard 2
6. Winnipeg
7. Nashville
Eastern Conference Playoffs:
Boston over NY Islanders in 5
Pittsburgh over Washington in 5
Montreal over Detroit in 6
New Jersey over Philadelphia in 7
Boston over Montreal in 6
Pittsburgh over New Jersey in 6
Pittsburgh over Boston in 7
Western Conference Playoffs:
Blackhawks over Avalanche in 6
Kings over Wild in 6
Stars over Blues in 7
Ducks over Sharks in 5
Blackhawks over Stars in 7
Kings over Ducks in 6
Blackhawks over Kings in 7
Stanley Cup Final:
Penguins over Blackhawks in 6
Conn Smythe: Evgeni Malkin
Art Ross: Claude Giroux
Rocket Richard: Corey Perry
Hart: Carey Price
Vezina: Carey Price
Calder: Jonathan Drouin
Norris: Drew Doughty
Adams: Lindy Ruff
Selke: Anze Kopitar
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