San Jose Sharks vs. Vancouver Canucks - 6:00 p.m. from Rogers Arena - Sportsnet 360, NHL Network (US)
Vancouver Canucks vs. San Jose Sharks - 7:30 p.m. from Stockton, CA - no television or radio
No wonder it felt like forever: it's been more than five months since the Vancouver Canucks last hit the ice at Rogers Arena, for their 2013-14 swan song against the Calgary Flames back on April 13.
Tonight, we'll get our first chance to see whether the team's on-ice performance somehow reflects all the changes that we've seen over the summer and during training camp. The Canucks face the San Jose Sharks with games both in Vancouver and in Stockton, California.
In case you missed it yesterday, here are the Canucks' lineups for both games:
VANCOUVER
Sedin - Sedin - Vrbata
Shinkaruk - Vey - Friesen
Zalewski - Horvat - Dorsett
Kenins - Lain - Fox
Edler - Corrado
Hamhuis - Subban
Andersson - Bieksa
Lack / Cannata
STOCKTON
Burrows - Bonino - Kassian
Gaunce - O'Reilly - Jensen
Sestito - Jeffrey - Grenier
Archibald - Cassels - De Fazio
Weber - Tanev
Tommernes - Sanguinetti
Cederholm - Biega
Markstrom / Eriksson
My understanding is that the full food and beverage unveiling won't happen until the regular season home opener on October 11, but fans at Rogers Arena will get a chance to see the twins' new linemate, Radim Vrbata, as well as the Canuck debuts of Linden Vey and Derek Dorsett. Key prospects like Hunter Shinkaruk, Bo Horvat and Dane Fox will also be playing in Vancouver.
Though Ryan Stanton's not scheduled to play, Willie Desjardins says he's feeling okay after taking a hard hit from Darren Archibald during Sunday's scrimmage:
New goalie Ryan Miller also gets the night off.
In
this article from Ben Kuzma over at
The Province, Willie Desjardins says they're taking their time with Miller in order to allow him to work a bit with Rollie Melanson. "We want to get him familiar with stuff before we put him in and that was a choice we made as a group."
Miller's aggressively downplaying the idea that goalies are subjected to more scrutiny in Vancouver than in other markets. I can't decide if that's admirable or naive. But he does make a good point when he talks about the big skates he filled when he first arrived in Buffalo, receiving the torch from one of the greatest goalies of all time, Dominik Hasek:
People constantly compare you and they want to see you play to that level. And when you don’t, it’s: ‘Dom was better.’ You just do the best you can. It’s the same in any NHL city and you guys don’t have a monopoly on that here — sorry. You’re under the microscope everywhere.
Miller's certainly not shying away from the challenges that come with his new gig.
For their part, the San Jose Sharks promised change over the summer, but didn't do a whole lot. The captaincy is up for grabs after Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau were stripped of their "C" and "A," they signed a few minor free agents and they're moving Brent Burns back to the blue line to help compensate for the departure of Dan Boyle.
Burns will be
in the lineup tonight in Vancouver, as will Marleau, Logan Couture and the man who will challenge for San Jose's No. 1 spot in goal this season, Alex Stalock.
Notable names in the Stockton lineup include Joe Thornton, Joe Pavelski, Tomas Hertl, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Antti Niemi and big bruiser John Scott.
Though Willie Desjardins initially said he wouldn't make cuts until after tonight's games, three Canucks prospects were returned to their junior squads on Monday: injured centre Kyle Pettit and defensemen Mackenze Stewart and Evan McEneny.
To finish off today,
some tidbits from Trevor Linden in Elliotte Friedman's "30 Thoughts."
Friedman speaks broadly about the rash of injuries that seem to have arisen from offseason training this year—thankfully, none to the Canucks so far.
Ironically, with Trevor Linden being such an avid cyclist these days, the Canucks are moving away from doing anything on the bike with their players—even the traditional VO2Max testing—because cycling uses the hips differently than how they're used when skating.
After testing very well to open this year's camp, it sounds like Kevin Bieksa has benefited from a more structured training regime over the summer.
Finally, Trevor tiptoes carefully through the marshes of last season:
"They are most excited about having guys in the room that want to be there. That’s probably the most important thing." But...
Linden took pains not to discredit anyone who is no longer there (“this is not an indictment of Roberto Luongo, he was in a tough spot”) as did his returnees. “(The core players) never pointed fingers at the coach or anything else,” Linden added. “They were looking at themselves; not blaming anyone. With all of the distraction gone, they just want to have a good season.
Linden also has a tactical suggestion for how the Canucks can do better on the ice. "Last year, there was too much separation. There were three forwards, and then two defencemen. It’s hard to score like that."
Enjoy the games tonight! I'll be back in my perch at Rogers Arena and will have a rundown for you tomorrow.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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