I didn't watch all of the Sedin vs. Sedin challenges on Canucks.com this week, but Friday's trivia challenge is pretty great—and comes with a clearly unscripted ending. It's interesting to see Daniel and Henrik interact on the cerebral side. And yes, Joey Kenward mixes up their names on one occasion.
The Latest on NHL to Seattle
After all the talk in the comments this week about Vancouverites travelling down to Seattle to see the Blue Jays play the Mariners, it's timely that we're hearing more rumours about the NHL's potential arrival in the Emerald City.
Ben Kuzma has a
good backgrounder in
The Province, bringing us up to speed on Vancouver's Victor Coleman, who'd like to buy a franchise.
At this point, the deal basically hinges on a new arena in Seattle. Businessman Chris Hansen signed a memorandum of understanding two years ago that an arena could be built if he could secure the rights to an NBA franchise. That hasn't happened yet, so it sounds like the latest hope is that an NHL tenant might be enough to get the deal done.
It seems like it's a bit of a Catch-22 at this point. Gary Bettman won't commit to a Seattle franchise without an arena; Seattle City Council won't commit to an arena without a franchise.
Here are Bettman's comments
on the matter from the
Columbus Post-Dispatch, made in Columbus this week while he was visiting to drum up excitement for the 2015 All Star Game—a make-good from the cancelled 2013 All Star Game that Columbus lost during the lockout:
The biggest issue in Seattle right now is whether or not there’s a prospect for a new arena. In the absence of a new arena, there isn’t much for us to be focused on.
(But if an arena is built) ... and there’s interest by ownership groups that we think makes sense, then we’ll, at that point, have to take a look at it. But we’re not involved right now in a formal expansion process. We’re listening to expressions of interest, but nothing yet has catalyzed to the point where we’re ready to move forward.
Chris Daniels of KING5 in Seattle has his finger on the pulse of this story. He's worth a follow on Twitter if you'd like to keep up with the latest details. Here's a link to a podcast Daniels did with a Winnipeg radio station, covering the ins and outs of the situation so far.
Who Wore It Best?
Not much question that
Canucks.com would give the honours at No. 16 to Trevor Linden. They made a fun new video to commemorate his glass-smashing hit on Jeff Norton in the 1995 playoffs.
Of course, the Canucks went on to win that series against the St. Louis Blues before falling to Chicago in the second round—ending the dream of a repeat trip to the Stanley Cup Final and ending the Canucks' tenure at the Pacific Coliseum.
On to No. 17—a much more competitive battle. At least we don't have to talk about Ryan Kesler.
Here are my nominees:
Mike Ridley: The Canucks traded Sergio Momesso to Washington during the summer of 1995 to bring in centre Mike Ridley to play with Pavel Bure and Alexander Mogilny—the star-studded first line to kick off the team's first season in brand-new General Motors Place.
Things didn't go quite as planned. Mogilny was lights-out, scoring 55 goals, but Bure blew out his knee 15 games into the season. Ridley scored the first-ever goal at GM Place, but also spent half the season on the shelf, recording 21 points in 37 games.
Ridley's second season in Vancouver was the last of his NHL career, where he posted a more acceptable 52 points in 75 games. Ridley played four games with the Manitoba Moose in 1997-98 before retiring at age 34. In 112 games with Vancouver, he scored 26 goals and 73 points.
Ron Sedlbauer: A big left-winger with good hands who was drafted in the second round in 1974, Ron Sedlbauer became the first Vancouver Canuck to score 40 goals. He also set a record for the fewest assists to go with those goals—just 16—which was tied by Rick Nash in 2002-03 when he had 16 assists in his 41-goal season.
Just one year after his breakout, Sedlbauer had just 10 goals in 31 games when he was traded to Chicago for Dave Logan and Harold Philipoff in December of 1979. During his 325 games in Vancouver over five seasons, Sedlbauer had 108 goals and 177 points.
Patrik Sundstrom: A late-round draft pick who went on to become a scoring star, Sundstrom was drafted 175th overall in 1980. He spent two seasons in Sweden before joining Vancouver as a 21-year-old, scoring 23 goals in his rookie campaign. His best year was his second—he put up 38 goals and 91 points in 1983-84.
Streaky like Sam Gagner, Sundstrom set a Canucks team record for both assists and points in a single game on February 29, 1984, posting a goal and six assists in Vancouver's 9-5 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Sundstrom logged 342 points in 374 games with the Canucks over five seasons before being traded to the New Jersey Devils in September of 1987 for a package that included Kirk McLean and Greg Adams.
Plenty of interesting characters also wore No. 17. Who could forget Russian superstar Vladimir Krutov and his dismal year in Vancouver? Or Jason King of the Canucks' "Mattress Line" with the Sedins (two twins and a king)? Or Jimmy Carson's brief visit during the 1994 Stanley Cup run? Or Dixon Ward, Lonny Bohonos or one of my all-time favourite Canuck names, Vadim Sharifijanov?
What say you?
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