The Vancouver Canucks

In Alberta the off-season has become a question of coaches with both the Flames and Oilers looking to fill vacancies behind the bench. With the NHL playoffs winding down and the Memorial cup firing up, attentions are turning towards prospects and the impending free agent season as well.

The guests this week include Jonathan Willis, Tom Lynn and Corey Pronman. They joined Lowetide to talk the above topics and others including hedge fund management strategy, the importance of sustainable lifestyles in the 21st century and the best places to find a good sandwich in Western Canada (not really).

This is Nation Radio.

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VanCanucks: @pippipsnap – Good haul! Did you enjoy it? @CanucksStore

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VanCanucks: @qmclaren – We miss you too!

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from Fluto Shinzawa of the Boston Globe,

Reebok-CCM dubs its next-generation gear “Crazy Light.’’ The Crazy Light shoulder pads weigh 750 grams. Traditional shoulder pads weigh 1,000-1,500 grams. The pads feature a softer material called UFoam instead of hard plastic.

The line is undergoing testing. Select players, including Reebok-CCM endorsers, tested the new pads in the 2011-12 season. The advantage to the Crazy Light line, according to Dube, is how it protects the wearer while also spreading out impact.

“It’s more diffuse,’’ Dube said. “There is a reduced stress of impact. It also absorbs more impact. It reduces the angular acceleration, which is key.’’

According to Shanahan, some players have tested the softer shoulder pads. Like Dube, Shanahan does not have a timetable as to when such pads will become standard.

“We’re going in a different direction now, where we’re trying to make it more streamlined, where it’s as protective, but softer and safer,’’ Shanahan said.

more and other hockey topics…

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Updated 2x at 1 PM: Well, Red Wings prospect Petr Mrazek was able to learn from Czech pros and NHL’ers, hang out with his buddy Jakub Stepanek (who is dating Mrazek’s sister), and earn a Bronze medal, anyway.

The Czech Republic defeated Finland 3-2 today to capture Bronze at the World Championship, in no small part due to the goaltending of Stepanek and a superb Czech defense, but the Finns didn’t “get started on time” once again, goalie Petri Vehanen got caught swimming two too many times, and while the play of the line of Wings forward Valtteri Filppula, Mikko Koivu and Jussi Jokinen was nothing less than admirable, the Finns didn’t really show any backbone until they were down 3-1 going into the 3rd period, and they finally engaged the Czechs, physically and otherwise.

Continue reading “Red Wings at the Worlds, medal round: Czechs capture bronze over Filppula, host Finns”

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from Pierre LeBrun of ESPN,

For core Kopitar, Brown, Drew Doughty and Jonathan Quick, this is all new. They had never won a playoff round before, let alone had a chance to get to a Stanley Cup finals. Sunday will test their ability to focus.

“You continue to try to harp detail on them,” Sutter said when asked about his team’s ability to not look ahead. “Hopefully they have the preparation skills to do that.”

Sutter later added: “You have to be able to channel all that, because if you don’t, it doesn’t work, right? There has to be discipline and control. I’m not a rocket scientist, they are people.”…

“Everyone talks about getting to the Stanley Cup finals, but I can only speak for myself, playing in that game tomorrow is pretty fun as well,” Brown said. “It’s one of those things where you have to really enjoy the journey. We’re one game away from the Cup finals. These games are tough, though.”

The Kings, to a man, say they’re just trying to enjoy the journey while staying in the moment.

“Experience is experience, right? It’s awesome for the young guys,” Sutter said. “They haven’t had it, most of them hadn’t even won a playoff game. So why not experience the experience? It’s the best part of it. Why shouldn’t they be able to do that. It’s the only way you get it, otherwise you go watch another team play.”

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from Michael Arace of the Columbus Dispatch,

Bottoming out is not the end of the world. For many teams, especially in the NHL, it is the start of something better. The Pittsburgh Penguins and Chicago Blackhawks used rock bottom as a launching pad to Stanley Cup championships. When a hockey team is truly awful, it gets the best draft picks and replenishes. Putrefaction fertilizes opportunity, provided there are smart people in place to manage the fertilizer.

The question is, what do the Blue Jackets market now? What do they sell? What is the pitch?

The 2009 playoff appearance, despite the sweep, stoked hope among fans. There was a bump in season-ticket sales. Then, the Jackets played poorly enough to get coach Ken Hitchcock, a future Hall of Famer, fired. Season-ticket sales fell off.

Last summer, the owner opened his checkbook, the general manager traded for an All-Star center, Jeff Carter, and signed one of the best defensemen available on the free-agent market, James Wisniewski, and there was another bump in season-ticket sales. Then, the Jackets played poorly enough — “poorly” does not even cover it — and there was a fan revolt.

If you know someone you never thought would give up a season ticket and did this spring, raise your hand. My hand is up. Both my hands are up. I need more hands.

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from the Vancouver Province,

It’s hard to imagine how having both back would be a healthy situation for either goalie, or the Canucks, who risk having too many resources and cap space tied up in one position where only one player can start at a time. There comes a time when a team is best served by making a decision and moving on. We’re there with the Canucks’ goalies. Sure, it’s worked for past couple of years, and worked exceptionally well, but the dynamics have changed.

At 26, Schneider, understandably, wants significantly more playing time, and battling Luongo for shifts in the crease isn’t the easiest, or smoothest way to go about getting that done. If you thought the goalie storyline was consuming and ubiquitous last season, that’s like an amuse-bouche compared to the meal people will be making of it this fall….

If the Canucks don’t trade him can’t trade him they risk losing Schneider, who could, potentially, sign an offer sheet as a restricted free agent after July 1. The Canucks can choose to take him to arbitration but not until July 5, leaving four days where other teams will be able to negotiate with one of the most coveted goalies in hockey.

Then, of course, there’s July 1, 2013 when Schneider can become an unrestricted free agent.

Losing Schneider would be like pouring a dump truck of concrete into the luggage Luongo is already hauling around Vancouver and Rogers Arena.

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Well this is unexpected. As this night owl popped up early (too damn early) to watch Finland and the Czech Republic battle for a bronze medal, the earlier morning/overnight’s worth of collective bargaining agreement doom has received a, “Really, another lockout would be crazy” endorsement from one of the most dedicated and ardently anti-player voices during the last one: the Buffalo News’s Bucky Gleason believes that, this time around, the NHL and its Board of Governors would be wise to hammer out an agreement which will keep the lights on in October:

Owners are going to have a difficult time complaining about an agreement that they essentially drew up and forced upon the players seven years ago. If they’re looking for a higher percentage of revenue, players will be looking for more say when it comes to funding or relocating troubled teams. Remember, that’s how it should work in a so-called partnership Bettman claimed he desperately wanted.

In truth, many players would be inclined to let the good times roll. Revenues climbed every year after the lockout and could reach a record $3 billion, a 50 percent increase in seven years, in the near future. It’s a nice haul for both sides, especially in difficult economic times.

Continue reading “More CBA talk from a somewhat unlikely voice of reason”

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