Friday September 30 - Vancouver Canucks at Calgary Flames - 6 p.m. - Sportsnet One
Vancouver Canucks: 1-1-0 in preseason
Calgary Flames: 1-2-0 in preseason
Press pause for today on Stecher-mania. The defenseman everybody's talking about won't be making the trip to Calgary for tonight's game against the Calgary Flames.
Here's the lineup for both teams:
Yes, it's only preseason, but Stecher's three-point, first-star performance against the Oilers on Wednesday even caught the attention of hockey eyes outside of B.C. Don Cherry gave Stecher a shoutout on Coach's Corner during Thursday's clinching game at the World Cup of Hockey, and Ryan Kennedy posted
this article at
The Hockey News. Kennedy suggests that Stecher's part of a trend toward smaller defensemen in the NHL and could follow in the footsteps of Minnesota's Jared Spurgeon.
Spurgeon's listed at 5'9" and 176 pounds. He was originally drafted in the sixth round by the New York Islanders but didn't earn a contract. The Wild picked him up as a free agent.
Last season, Spurgeon put up a career high of 11 goals and 29 points—and signed a four-year contract extension that kicks in this year, with a cap hit of over $5.1 million a season. Here's why:
Last season, he played the toughest minutes of any Minnesota player while also ranking second in scoring and ice time (Ryan Suter was first in both cases) among Wild blueliners. Dude can play, even if he’s not built like a cement-mixer.
Kennedy's not racing to pencil Stecher into a pemanent NHL role after just one game. As he puts it, "If Stecher should see time with the Canucks this season, even as a call-up in his first year of pro, then excuse the cliché, but he’ll be winning one for the little guy."
The Canucks acquired Philip Larsen from the Edmonton Oilers on February 24, six weeks before Stecher and his North Dakota teammates won the NCAA Frozen Four title on April 10. From there, the Canucks worked quickly, inking Stecher to his free-agent contract on April 13.
Larsen's first game as a Canuck, against the Sharks on Tuesday, wasn't nearly as impressive as Stecher's—though it's true that Stecher benefitted from playing with an established NHLer in Alex Edler rather than pairing up with green Nikita Tryamkin. It looks like Larsen and Tryamkin will be a pair again tonight in Calgary—and I think the pressure is on Larsen to put up some points and start making a case for himself.
Larsen will still hold the edge for the opportunity to be the Canucks' power-play quarterback. He's older (26), more experienced (125 NHL games), bigger (6'1" and 183 pounds) and would need to clear waivers to be sent to the AHL. He also came back to North America after two years in the KHL with the belief that he'd be playing at the NHL level—but nobody's jobs are gifted to them at this level.
Willie Desjardins and Jim Benning know that they need to deliver better results on the ice this year and in the end, they're going to have to give strong consideration to players that are most likely to help the team win games. We don't know yet if Troy Stecher is that player, but it's a marvellous possibility and certainly lends some excitement to the exhibition season.
One additional roster move to note from Thursday—goaltender Michael Garteig has now been assigned to the Utica Comets. That leaves four goalies in camp—Miller, Markstrom, Bachman and Demko.
Also, it sounds like Jake Virtanen's shoulder injury from Tuesday's game against the Sharks is nothing serious.
Tonight's game will mark the Canucks' first time playing against their old assistant coach, Glen Gulutzan. There will also be some familiar faces in the opposing lineup.
Click here for the projected line combinations from the Flames website, which features Hunter Shinkaruk playing left wing on a second line with Matt Stajan and our old pal Micheal Ferland, while Chris Higgins lines up on the third line with Freddie Hamilton and Alex Chiasson.
The Flames will also be showcasing a first line of Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Bennett and Troy Brouwer, and we'll see new goaltender Brian Elliott get the start in net.
As for the Canucks? Here are the lines from today's morning skate at UBC. Brendan Gaunce gets another look tonight, and it looks like Jack Skille will also draw in, in place of Emerson Etem.
And here's the back end. Chris Tanev draws into his first game, partnered with Guillaume Brisebois.
Game time is 6:00 Pacific. Enjoy!
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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