| ATTN: New Scorers Needed |
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With the lack of change to the Canuck’s line-up this past summer, what can Vancouver hockey fans expect from their team this year? The answer is not one you may want to hear. The pressure is on Markus Naslund and his Swedish counterparts the Sedin twins to bounce back after their devastating playoff loss to Anaheim last season and start putting the puck in the net. But can Nazzy regain his top form? And would the addition of Peter Forsberg, Eric Lindros, or Anson Carter help the Canucks with their desperate scoring problem? Canucks Fanz columnist Brendan Batchelor attempts to answer these questions.  By Canucks Fanz Columnist: Brendan Batchelor On December 26, 2006, Canucks fans, their stomachs full of turkey from the night before, sat down in front of their television sets, (or next to their radios if they were unable to acquire pay-per-view), to watch the home town boys take on the hated Calgary Flames in enemy territory – the Pengrowth Saddledome. The first few months of the 2006/07 NHL season had been somewhat unsettling for Canucks fans to say the least. The team had compiled a record of 17-18-1, not exactly what fans had expected after the arrival of Roberto Luongo. The opposite could be said for their Alberta opponents. The Calgary Flames, despite sporting a similar record of 17-13-3, had not been beaten on home ice since October 30, just a few days short of two months. The odds seemed stacked against the Canucks, but they would prevail on that memorable Boxing Day, defeating the Flames 3-1on a goal by Trevor Linden and a pair from Daniel Sedin. The Canucks would turn their season around at that point, winning 31 of the next 45 games on their way to the Northwest Division title. As the 2007/08 NHL season draws near, Canucks fans are more optimistic about their chances than they were last December, but should they be? After a quiet off-season, with the exception of the signings of Byron Ritchie, Brad Isbister and Aaron Miller who went under the knife earlier today, the Canucks roster is almost a carbon copy of last season’s line up. Some would argue that this is a good thing, but the forecast for the Canucks is not rosy as opening night approaches. While Vancouver has arguably the best defensive line up in the league, the team’s scoring is what fans should be worried about. With Markus Naslund and Brendan Morrison putting up numbers comparable to the totals of Mike Sillinger and Scott Walker last season, the bulk of the responsibility falls on the shoulders of Daniel and Henrik Sedin who combined for just 9 points in 12 games during last year’s shortened playoff run. If opposing teams give the Sedins anywhere near the amount of attention they received in the post season, Vancouver fans are in for a long haul this year. Lingering reports have suggested that management has been considering the likes of Eric Lindros, Peter Forsberg, and Anson Carter to fill the hole that the underachieving Jan Bulis left in the line up, but these three would be more likely to hurt the team than help them. The injury risk that goes along with the likes of Lindros and Forsberg cannot be stressed enough. The only way either of these players would be a rational addition to the line up is if they agree to take league minimum salary to play in our fair but consistently rainy city, a scenario that has less likelihood than Cory Schneider ever playing an NHL game in a Vancouver uniform. As for Carter, his numbers with the Columbus Blue Jackets and Carolina Hurricanes respectively last season indicate that his success in Vancouver two seasons ago, when he played on a line with the Sedins, was none of his doing. Since it seems that the line of Daniel, Henrik, and surprise 20 goal scorer Taylor Pyatt will be reunited come October 5, Carter can’t be expected to put up decent numbers. In the past week, management has been distracting fans from their lack of player movement this off-season by tooting the horn of reported phenom Mason Raymond, but the need for secondary scoring, or any scoring for that matter, is dire. Despite having arguably the best goaltender in hockey today in Roberto Luongo, you can’t win games without scoring, and although Raymond has the potential to offer great depth to the offence, he won’t be an 80+ point getter just yet, something the Canucks will need in earnest if the Sedins don’t build off their career years. Judging by the lack of any significant improvement this past summer, Dave Nonis seems to have gone the way of Brian Burke, willing to forgo success on the ice for success at the box office. Do you think the Canucks need to add another scorer? Discuss it at the CanucksFanz Forums!
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