Twenty-five of the NHL's 30 teams have at least one game in the books after the first two nights of the NHL season. The Nashville Predators and Philadelphia Flyers will make their debuts tonight, leaving the Colorado Avalanche, Arizona Coyotes and Vancouver Canucks to play their first games of the year on Saturday.
If the first two days of the season are a sign of what's to come this year, we're due for some wide-open, high-scoring hockey where no lead is safe. On Thursday, the Columbus Blue Jackets went up 3-1 on the Boston Bruins before losing by a score of 6-3 and the Winnipeg Jets rebounded from a 4-1 deficit to pick up a 5-4 overtime victory over the Carolina Hurricanes.
Carolina's next game is Sunday, here in Vancouver.
Also—put the Evander Kane-to-Vancouver trade talk on hold for awhile. Kane lost an edge and fell heavily into the boards in Buffalo last night. He joins teammate Jack Eichel, Sidney Crosby and Jonathan Quick as some big-name early entries on this year's injured list.
Here in Vancouver, the Canucks are hard at work at practice. The organization also officially announced the leadership group for this season.
With no talk of extra alternates, it sounds like Coach Desjardins is expecting to have Alex Burrows in the lineup on a regular basis this season.
Ben Kuzma has a new interview with the coach in
The Province, where Desjardins talks about the conundrum he faced last season with his usage of young players to fill holes caused by injury.
Says Desjardins:
I just believe that accountability is huge and that was a bit of a slippery slope last year.
If you make young players too accountable, they freeze because they’re so afraid they’re going to make a mistake that they can’t play. At the same time, the only way to player better is making that mistake so they don’t make it again. That’s your tough part. I believe you develop by getting what you deserve and you don’t if people give you things because you take it for granted.
We brought Bo Horvat in the right way.
Horvat has been a subject of much discussion, as Desjardins has been using him in the fourth-line centre slot between Burrows and Derek Dorsett during his latest practices.
In his conversation with Kuzma, Desjardins offered further insight into why he may believe that using Horvat in a shutdown role is the ultimate compliment.
"We just don’t score enough," says Desjardins. "But the way to score is to defend better and that should translate into more scoring."
Willie elaborated on his logic to
Jason Botchford, also in
The Province:
"I see Bo being able to play against the top lines, the (Ryan) Getzlafs and the (Jeff) Carter’s and the (Anze) Kopitars," Desjardins said. "I don’t think you can call that a fourth-line role.
"I think Granlund moves the puck well. I think Bo creates a lot on his own. I think it gives us more balance, more scoring on both lines."
Horvat and Sven Baertschi had some magical moments last season but it's true—Bo does have that individualistic streak that's a bit reminiscent of Ryan Kesler. He likes to carry the puck himself, where Markus Granlund's a bit more of a playmaker. I liked the chemistry that Granlund and Brandon Sutter showed together during preseason, but maybe he can make something go with Baertschi as well. All indications are that we'll get a look at that structure on Saturday against the Flames.
Based on this logic, will we see Horvat's crew line up against Sean Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau in a shutdown role? If so, that'll mean plenty of ice time for the fourth line.
As Botchford points out, though, lines can change in an instant. Willie's plan for Horvat seems a bit curious, but let's wait and see how well it works—and how long it lasts.
The lines do indeed remain the same at Friday's practice:
Meanwhile, down on the farm, the Utica Comets have officially named their new captain for the 2016-17 season.
Bancks is a 27-year-old left winger. Undrafted out of junior, he spent five seasons with the AHL Abbotsford Heat before signing on with the Comets for the 2014-15 season. Bancks set new career highs last season with 14 goals and 39 points. He takes over the captaincy from Alex Biega, who has stayed with the Canucks this year.
The Comets have also been busy cutting down their overloaded roster since they started pulling the team together just two weeks ago.
Click here for the opening night roster, which includes 15 forwards, eight defensemen and two goalies.
The 2016-17 AHL regular season kicks off tonight. The Comets start their campaign with a visit to Toronto to take on the Marlies on Saturday, with puck drop at 10 a.m. PT.
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