Vancouver Canucks: Benning Looking for Draft Picks, Baertschi Leads Comets (sven baertschi)

sven baertschi

Vancouver Canucks: Benning Looking for Draft Picks, Baertschi Leads Comets

By Carol Schram

May 29, 2015 • 1:30 pm

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Vancouver Canucks general manager Jim Benning made one of his regular appearances on TSN1040 this morning. Here's the link:

I like this quote:

He should be mad. That was absolutely a winnable series—and Game 6 was a winnable game. I hope that anger is the spark that leads Benning to keep making changes to make the team better.

As expected, the man who says he "loves draft picks" is trying to acquire more of them before next month's draft.

He's not wrong about this, either.

It was exciting to see the speed of Sven Baertschi and Jake Virtanen make the difference as the Utica Comets defeated Grand Rapids 4-1 on Thursday night to take a 2-1 lead in their AHL Western Conference Final series.

Baertschi broke the game open early with a natural hat trick, and Jake Virtanen collected his first pro point on the third goal.

Here's a quick look at the first goal:

The second, on the power play:

And the hat trick goal:

I'm excited by this idea of Baertschi and Virtanen playing together. Baertschi's all skill but doesn't exactly bring it in the grit department. Early returns look like Jake, as a linemate, could be the straw that stirs the drink physically and helps to create space on the ice.

It's probably too soon to be projecting the pair of them straight onto the Canucks' second line. For now I'll hope that the Comets can extend their playoff run for as long as possible, giving Baertschi and Virtanen more time to work at developing their chemistry.

Willie Desjardins spoke to News1130 this morning and while he was generally positive about what we've seen from the Comets, this remark stands out. He's not ready to parachute Virtanen onto the big club just yet...

As predicted, Thursday's game was a nice bounce-back for Jacob Markstrom after a sub-par performance in Game 2. He was able to play with the lead for much of the game, but made 40 saves along the way to earn second star honours. And it should be noted that Cory Conacher chipped in a late goal—just the second of the playoffs for Vancouvers' *other* pickup from this spring's trade deadline.

No points last night for second-round hero Alexandre Grenier, but Jason Botchford traces the ups and downs of the Comets' dark horse here in The Province.

It hasn't been smooth sailing for the 2011 third-rounder, who put in time in Austria and in the ECHL before settling in with the Comets for the last two seasons and working his way up the depth chart.

Here's how Grenier describes his evolution—a pretty stereotypical viewpoint from a kid coming out of the QMJHL.

“You grow up idolizing players like Mario Lemieux and Sidney Crosby. You want to be that kind of guy. The guy who scores all the time,… Grenier said. “When I first started, I was a bit more of a loosey-goosey player. When people would ask me how I was going to help the team, my answer was always about bringing offence.

“Travis has been fairly hard on me. He pushed me to stick to a direct game and use my size like a power forward. Now, if someone asks me, I’m more focused on playing good defensively and the offence will come on its own.…

Jim Benning says that Grenier will have a chance to compete for a job with the Canucks this fall.

“He’s a right-shot right winger, and he has good hands, while he’s got physically stronger over the course of the year,… Benning said. “He got himself into better shape and he’s learned how to work on a consistent basis. He’s played well in the playoffs.…

Game 4 of the Comets/Griffins series goes tonight from Grand Rapids, with puck drop once again at 4 p.m. PT.

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