Friday December 16 - Vancouver Canucks vs. Tampa Bay Lightning - 7 p.m. - Sportsnet Pacific
Vancouver Canucks: 30 GP, 12-16-2, 26 pts, seventh in Pacific Division Tampa Bay Lightning: 30 GP, 15-13-2, fourth in Atlantic Division
The Vancouver Canucks return to Rogers Arena on Friday night, opening up a four-game homestand against the one team they beat on their last road trip, the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The big on-ice news for the Canucks comes from the blue line. The good news—Chris Tanev is back:
"I'm very happy the wait is over. That was too long of an absence, I missed just being around the rink and the guys." - Tanev
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) December 16, 2016
Tanev has appeared in just seven games this season. It's a bit of an oversimplification, but the Canucks went 4-2-1 with him in the lineup and 8-14-1 without him, so his return should add some stability to the blue line.
However...
Gudbranson dealing with an injury. #Canucks
— Ann Schmaltz (@annschmaltz) December 16, 2016
Gudbranson is being called "questionable" for tonight. Tanev skated with Ben Hutton on Thursday, while Gudbranson was paired with likely forward scratch Brendan Gaunce, so I'd guess that's how we'll see the defense pairings play out.
Or maybe they're just setting up the heroic return of Mattias Ohlund?
Ohlund addressed the #Canucks this morning.
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) December 16, 2016
"He looks good, I think he could still play. His message was to enjoy playing the game."
Too bad about those surgically-repaired knees that kept him on the Tampa Bay Lightning's long-term injured reserve list for the last five seasons. Ohlund is now 40 years old but played just two years for the Lightning after signing the seven-year free-agent contract that moved him out of Vancouver at the end of the 2008-09 season.
Ohlund's a rare Vancouver first-round draft pick that lived up to expectations. He was chosen 13th overall in 1994, just a couple of weeks after the Canucks' thrilling run to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final against the New York Rangers. Then, he spent three years with Lulea in Sweden before joining the Canucks as a 21-year-old.
Imagine how his situation would have played out if we'd had Hockey Twitter in the 90s! Under the free-agency rules of the day, the Canucks came scarily close to losing Ohlund's rights before he'd ever played a game in Vancouver. From the Associated Press, from August 1, 1997:
Swedish defenseman Mattias Ohlund, an unsigned 1994 first-round draft pick of the Vancouver Canucks, signed an offer sheet with the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday. Ohlund signed a five-year, $10 million offer sheet with Toronto, according to his agent, Michael Barnett, which includes a $7.5 million signing bonus. If Vancouver wants to retain Ohlund, it will have to match Toronto's offer. Ohlund is a Group 4 free agent, which means the Canucks have the right to match any offer, but won't receive compensation if they don't. It also means the Canucks can't trade Ohlund for a year if they do match the offer. The huge signing bonus is a setback for Vancouver, which reportedly could have signed Ohlund last summer to a three-year deal worth about $2.5 million, or $850,000 per year. ``(The Leafs' offer) was much higher than I think that player warranted,'' Canucks general manager Pat Quinn told Vancouver radio station CKNW. ``But they made a business decision and we have one facing us.''
Needless to say, the Canucks did match the offer before the deadline.
Ohlund arrived just in time to see the Canucks franchise melt down around him. Pavel Bure led the team with 51 goals and 90 points in 1997-98, but that was the year that Pat Quinn and Tom Renney were replaced by Mike Keenan and the team dropped 13 points in the standings to finish seventh in the Pacific Division with a record of 25-43-14 for 64 points. (That .390 points percentage came before the introduction of the "loser point", so it's even lower than Vancouver's .433 points percentage for this season so far).
Even in a tire-fire year, Ohlund was a bright spot. With 30 points, he finished his rookie year tied with Jyrki Lumme for the team scoring lead among defensemen—and he was a plus-three compared to Lumme's minus-25. Despite the Canucks' 24th-place finish in a 26-team league, Ohlund finished second in Calder Trophy voting—ahead of future stars like Patrik Elias (third) and Patrick Marleau (sixth). He was the only player to receive first-place votes on the Calder ballot other than winner Sergei Samsonov of the Boston Bruins.
Along with fellow Swede Markus Naslund, Ohlund helped create a soft landing for Daniel and Henrik Sedin when they arrived in Vancouver in 2000, in Ohlund's fourth season. He was just four years older than the twins, and I remember seeing him out with them around town, helping them get the lay of the land. The Canucks broke a four-year playoff drought in the twins' rookie year and Ohlund received Norris Trophy votes as the NHL's best defensemen twice in the subsequent seasons where the West Coast Express dominated, before the Todd Bertuzzi incident and the 2004-05 NHL lockout.
As good as Ohlund was in Vancouver, he could have been even better if he hadn't dealt with serious injuries. I was in Row 1 at what-was-then GM Place on September 21, 1999, when Ohlund was struck in the eye by a puck in a preseason game against the Ottawa Senators. He missed nearly half of the 1999-2000 season after surgery and also had a followup procedure the following year. His first knee injury came in the 2002-03 season.
So—Ohlund has seen all the ups and downs of what it means to be a Canuck—and still has ties to current members of the organization. He played with Trevor Linden, the twins, Alex Burrows, Alex Edler and Jannik Hansen.
It should be a moving ceremony tonight.
Mattias Ohlund at the mic.
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) December 16, 2016
"I loved my time here. I'm proud I was able to play in this league and for this team. What a franchise." pic.twitter.com/2ZRqd0OeeC
Maybe Ohlund's induction can provide an on-ice spark for a team that desperately needs one. The Arizona Coyotes are currently riding a two-game win streak and have passed Vancouver in the Pacific Division standings, leaving the team 29th overall—ahead of only Colorado.
The Lightning are coming off a 6-3 win over the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night, where they were led by two goal performances from Brian Boyle and Alex Killorn.
Nikita Kucherov is sidelined with an injury, as is Ondrej Palat, so Erik Condra has been recalled. Ryan Callahan and Steven Stamkos remain on injured reserve.
The Lightning play back-to-back games this weekend, visiting Edmonton on Saturday, so it's expected that Andrei Vasilevskiy will get the start tonight at Rogers Arena. Expect Ryan Miller back between the pipes for the Canucks.
Enjoy the game!