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Tonight, the Vancouver Canucks will kick off Ek's wild and whacky simulation league by taking on the Calgary Flames. Here are the rosters for tonight's battle.

Vancouver Canucks

Pavel Bure/Cliff Ronning/Alexander Mogilny (The R & R Line)
Markus Naslund (A)/Ryan Kesler/Todd Bertuzzi (West Coast Express 2.0 Line)
Daniel Sedin/Henrik Sedin (A)/Fred "Cyclone" Taylor (The Cycle-oneing the Puck Line)
Tiger Williams/Trevor Linden (C)/Stan Smyl (A) (The Heart Line)
Alex Burrows

Mattias Ohlund/ Paul Reinhart
Jyrki Lumme/ Dan Hamhuis
Ed Jovanovski/ Harold Snepsts
Kevin Bieksa

Roberto Luongo
Kirk McLean

Calgary Flames

Gary Roberts - Joe Nieuwendyk – Jarome Iginla
Joe Mullen - Doug Gilmour – Theoren Fleury
Alex Tanguay - Joel Otto – Lanny McDonald
Jim Peplinski - Kent Nilsson – Hakan Loob

Reserve: Michael Cammalleri

Al MacInnis – Gary Suter
Robyn Regehr – Phil Housley
Dion Phaneuf – Paul Reinhart

Reserve: Brad McCrimmon

Miikka Kiprusoff
Mike Vernon

The Breakdown

Seriously, is this what I'll be doing this season? Breaking down fake games, Well we will give it a go this one time.

When I look at the Canucks roster I see a lot of fire-power that I can see any defence struggling with. All twelve players have either scored 30 goals in a season, recorded 85 points or lead their league in scoring. I think the offence will be the strength of this team and anytime Vancouver can isolate Bure of Phaneuf there is the potential for a highlight of the night.

While the D may not be spectacular, they will be solid. Ohlund, Hamhuis and Snepts are all rock solid in their end. Reinhart, Jovanovski and Lumme are all solid puck movers, who should factor into the offence. I see this group as being tough, skilled and mobile. If they keep things simple, I believe they should be able to hold their own against most teams.

In goal, Bobby Lu will get the start tonight. He is generally money when playing the Flames and while he may see a lot of shots, as long as he lets in less than Kipper he will be fine. I think we will see Lu's token shaky October game, but he will be good enough to win.

Calgary has one of the more balanced teams we will find in this simulation league. In goal, Kipper has the potential to steal games. On D, they are rock solid with a top pair that should be one of the better pairing in the league. Their second pairing of Regehr and Housley should also be very reliable. The Third pair I'm not so sure about. Reinhart needs a steady partner and Phaneuf can be hit and miss at times. This pair will need to have a strong game for the Flames to win.

Up front, there is plenty of firepower as well with seven 50 goal scorers and one guy who had 49. This group has a nice blend of size, grit and skill, but I do think they may have problems with faster teams. If this game is a track meet, I like Vancouver's chances.

Prediction- 7-5 Vancouver

How do you like tonight's matchup?

Follow tonights game on Twitter @HBTVNEws

That's a wrap

Ian

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