Thanks for your patience during my day off on Tuesday. I'd expected a big rush of new material to analyze after the long weekend, but it's just starting to trickle out now.
Thanks, also, to everyone who voted during our month of "Who Wore It Best?" polls. I really enjoyed the dialogue that was generated. It's tough to compare players from different generations of the Canucks organization!
Last I checked, Todd Bertuzzi was our leader from the players who wore numbers above 31. Alex Mogilny held down second place—his 55-goal in 1995-96 was amazing to watch, even if it didn't amount to much in terms of team success. King Richard Brodeur, the centrepiece of the 1982 Cup Run, finished third.
Now, on to the news of the day.
Francesco Aquilini Visits Bro Jake Show
Canucks owner Francesco Aquilini made a rare live appearance on the radio this morning, on the Bro Jake show on TEAM1040. Click here to listen—the clip is about 10 minutes long.
Here's a summary of the key points from the interview:
• He's impressed with the leadership that Trevor Linden has shown since his hiring and likes the quality of the guys that have been brought in, like Jim Benning and Willie Desjardins: "Down-to-earth, hard-working, heart-on-their-sleeve kind of guys. The kind of qualities that, as a hockey fan, I want to see on the ice."
• The management group has accomplished its goal of revamping the team to make it younger, faster and deeper.
• He believes that, from management on down, everyone is on the same page. Everyone wants to be here and do whatever it takes to win: working together, selfless, putting the team first.
• His favourite games at Rogers Arena are the ones against the Canadian teams, especially the teams from the East. He singles out the energy of games against Toronto as his personal favourite.
• He says he's not looking at getting involved with the NFL at this time as he thinks the final cost will be too hight. Sports franchise values have changed dramatically in the last 2-3 years.
Good news for him as an owner, I'd say, which should ease the sting of the almost-inevitable drop in attendance that we'll see this year.
I met up over the weekend with a friend who has been a season-ticket holder since back in the days of the Pacific Coliseum. For the first time in more than a decade, she was able to do a significant upgrade to her seat location this spring—which only happens because people who have been around even longer than her decided not to renew. It'll be very interesting to see how many Ice-Packs they've been able to sell and how many bodies will be in the seats for the beginning of the season.
Kids Interview Eddie Lack and Kevin Bieksa at PNE
This video is pretty great. It captures the kids-only press conference held at the PNE on Monday with Eddie Lack, Kevin Bieksa and Fin.
Very diplomatic response from Bieksa to a kid's pointed query about the influence of the coach that we will not name.
Apparently Lack and Bieksa's playing insurance doesn't preclude them from taking a ride on the wooden Coaster:
Amazing! RT @prp_inc: Great shot of @eddielack, @CanucksFIN and @kbieksa3 on the wooden rollercoaster @PNE_Playland! pic.twitter.com/pLilMXzOXH
— Vancouver Canucks (@VanCanucks) September 2, 2014Regional Blackout Lifted but Price Increases for GameCentre Live
Rogers has released new details today about the structure of the GameCentre Live package in Canada for the upcoming season.
The good news: regional games will no longer be blacked out, so we will be able to watch Canucks games on our computers and mobile devices.
The other good news: GameCentre Live is free until December 31 for Rogers wireless data and hi-speed internet customers.
Now, the bad news: for everyone else, the price has increased significantly. I don't have the exact figure, but I believe it was around $150 for the 2013-14 season. This year, it'll be $199.99. Still cheaper than Centre Ice, I believe, and the free offer till December is certainly a nice way to try to hook in existing Rogers customers.
This announcement is the centrepiece of their marketing strategy—getting more people consuming more content on their mobile devices.
Utica Comets Power Rankings
It won't be much longer till we can actually start analyzing players from their performances, instead of from scouting reports and expectations.
The blog To Speak of Orcas has set up a Power Ranking of the Utica Comets roster. It's a good jumping-off point to look at the minor-league roster at a time when the Comets themselves have yet to post any personnel details.