Vancouver Canucks: Hockey>Boxing, Jake Virtanen On His Way to Utica Comets (canucks)

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Vancouver Canucks: Hockey>Boxing, Jake Virtanen On His Way to Utica Comets

By Carol Schram

May 3, 2015 • 8:19 am

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I was at the Commodore last night, spinning some tunes surrounding the big Fight of the Century.

It was my first time being immersed in a boxing crowd—which was skewing decidedly in favour of Manny Pacquiao.

When all was said and done, including the lengthy delay so that the cable companies could soak up every possible penny of revenue from their overloaded systems, this tweet best summed up my impression:

To echo the sentiments of my friend Leslie, "I guess like a true Canadian I just prefer my fights dressed up as hockey games."

I made every effort to buy into the spectacle—and actually quite enjoyed the first fight on the undercard, where Ukrainian boxer Vasyl Lomachenko systematically dismantled his opponent Gamalier Rodriguez.

Once the main event *finally* got started, then rolled on with hardly an emotional peak or valley along the way, I found myself thinking that I was significantly more entertained when I liveblogged the Rangers/Capitals game earlier yesterday morning—it was a beauty. Henrik Lundqvist was making spectacular saves all game long, but this goal from Alex Ovechkin was a thriller:

The Rangers prevailed to ice a 3-2 win and tie the series. I've seen my share of dull Eastern Conference playoff games over the past couple of years, but series is showing a lot of promise.

Yes, we have reached the time of year where I ramble about anything that's "Canucks-adjacent," if you will...

If you're looking for something Canuck-specific, you can read this column from Jason Botchford in The Province, which breaks down Jim Benning's first year on the job.

There's not much new here, but I was surprised to see Botch paint the Jake Virtanen draft pick with a measure of concern:

REGRET

The Jake Virtanen draft pick. This may still work out fine. But right now, two players who people in the Canucks organization coveted, both drafted after Virtanen, have absolutely blown up.

William Nylander just turned 19 and just put up 32 points in 37 AHL games.

Then there’s Nikolaj Ehlers, who put up 31 points in 14 CHL playoff games. Both players have higher ceilings than Virtanen.

I would argue that Virtanen's a very different type of player than Nylander or Ehlers—a much bigger body than either of those two pure scorers. Also, Virtanen's shoulder surgery earlier in the season set him back this year in terms of his development compared to his peers. With that factored in, I thought he had a very good season.

Virtanen's Calgary Hitmen were eliminated from the WHL playoffs by Brandon on Friday night, so his next adventure is set to begin:

The Comets have enough depth that it's not yet clear whether Virtanen will get a chance to play, but Utica has advanced to the second round of the AHL playoffs after a 4-2 win in its deciding Game 5 against the Chicago Wolves on Saturday.

The Comets will play either the Toronto Marlies or the Oklahoma City Barons in the second round. The Marlies play their deciding game against the Grand Rapids Griffins today.

Meanwhile, over at the World Championships, Team Canada's having what could charitably be called a pretty good day:

The third period is getting underway as I type this. Matt Duchene just scored on a penalty shot to put Team Canada into double digits.

No NHL tonight until 4:00, when the Habs and Lightning meet up for Game 2. We'll also see if the Flames can find an answer for the Anaheim Ducks with Karri Ramo in goal at 7:00.

Enjoy the day!

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