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Vancouver Canucks: Most Improved in West? Naslund Admits Talking Mgmt Job

August 21, 2014, 3:42 PM ET [59 Comments]
Carol Schram
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
To start today—I understand we were having some technical issues with yesterday's comment thread. I've passed the word along to the team at mission control. Maybe this new blog will be enough to get the situation sorted out. Thanks for your patience!

As I surfed around NHL.com yesterday, I was intrigued to see senior writer Dan Rosen name the Canucks as the team that he thinks will be most improved in the Western Conference this season "based on some addition by subtraction."

Rosen seems reasonably balanced in his thoughts, admitting that losing Ryan Kesler will hurt and that he's not a fan of Ryan Miller as a playoff goaltender. Overall, he seems to think the changes made this summer will have a positive effect.

Soon enough, we'll see if he's right. For what it's worth, he's picking Cory Schneider's New Jersey Devils as the team to watch in the East.

Naslund Considered Management Job With Canucks

The Score has picked up an interview with Markus Naslund from the Swedish paper Expressen, in which he admits to speaking informally with Trevor Linden about the management situation in Vancouver.

Though he expresses some interest in the idea of coming back to North America to be part of a Stanley Cup winner, it sounds like Naslund is pretty settled in Sweden for now:

I had some contact with Trevor, but not more than that he wanted to discuss some stuff with me (informally). Earlier there was talk about (finding a management role in Vancouver), but I don't feel ready for that. If I would decide to work in hockey, it should be with all of my heart, I can't do anything at 50 per cent.


Perhaps Naslund will change his mind if the team's fortunes start to improve?

Charity Games in Slovakia Honour Demitra


It was nice to see this story on NHL.com today, about a series of charity games to raise money for grassroots hockey in Slovakia. The series also honours Slovak hockey great Pavol Demitra, who died nearly three years ago in the Yaroslavl plane crash.

The three charity games feature a roster of Slovak All-Stars against St. Louis Blues All-Stars, with plenty of big Slovak names from yesterday and today like Peter and Anton Stastny, Miroslav Satan and Zdeno Chara. As a tribute to Demitra's No. 38, Thursday's game was stopped in the 38th minute, the arena lights were dimmed, and his number was displayed on the scoreboard.

Who Wore it Best?

Strong support for Jyrki Lumme is yesterday's poll was echoed by Canucks.com, who share a nice little video of some of Lumme's more daring offensive forays.



Let's look at the nominees for No. 22:

Jeff Brown: I'd give Brown the nod as perhaps the purest power-play quarterback in franchise history. Acquired from St. Louis in March of 1994 as part of the Peter Nedved compensation package, Brown's impact with the man advantage was immediate.

In Vancouver's last two years at the Coliseum, my family had season tickets in Row 1, right on the blue line. The team's power play had struggled during the 1993-94 regular season, so it was amazing to see Brown man that right point in front of us on his first day as a Canuck—assuming the position and calling for the puck. Systems weren't as structured 20 years ago as they are today but even then, I was blown away that a player could just step in and do the job—without even having practiced with his new teammates.

Brown had six points in 11 regular-season games after his arrival in 1994, then put up six goals (three on the power play) and 15 points during the run to the Stanley Cup Final.

Brown didn't stay in Vancouver for long. He was traded to Carolina in December of 1995 in a package that included Frantisek Kucera. All told, Brown posted 10 goals and 54 points in 72 regular-season games with the Canucks, but his time here was memorable.

Jocelyn Guevremont: An early building-block of the Vancouver Canucks, Jocelyn Guevremont was drafted third overall by Vancouver in 1971. A 6'2", 200-pound defenseman, he was a steady blueliner in Vancouver for four seasons.

Guevremont had a decent scoring touch, too. He scored 51 points in his rookie season, then followed up with a career-best 16 goals in 1972-73. Guevremont was named to the Team Canada roster for the 1972 Summit Series against Russia, but did not dress in any of the games.

He was traded to Buffalo in October of 1974, along with Brian McSheffrey, for Gerry Meehan and Mike Robataille. During his time in Vancouver, Guevremont put up an impressive 44 goals and 142 points in 227 games.

Tiger Wiliams: Trading Rick Vaive to Toronto might not have been one of the Canucks' brighter moves over the years, but Tiger Williams came back in return and vastly exceeded expectations. During his early years in Toronto, Williams was known primarily as a fighter. He led the league in penalty minutes on two occasions and threw down some epic battles on "Hockey Night in Canada."

Tiger's first full year in Vancouver was the best of his career. In 1980-81, he not only led the league in penalty minutes again, he also scored a career-high 35 goals and 62 points. He played on a line with Wayne Gretzky and Mike Bossy in the 1981 All-Star game and even earned some consideration for the Hart Trophy.

He was also a key rabble-rouser during the Canucks' 1982 playoff run, setting a team record for most penalty minutes in one series against Chicago—when Towel Power came into being—and in a single playoff year.

In the summer of 1984, the Canucks traded Williams to Detroit for Rob McClanahan. During 312 games in Vancouver, Tiger put up 165 points and 1,324 penalty minutes. He still holds the NHL record for career penalty minutes, with 3,966.

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