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Vancouver Canucks Game Day: Feb. 3 at Detroit; Torts Returns, Weise traded |
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Vancouver Canucks at Detroit Red Wings - Monday February 3 - 4:30 p.m. - Sportsnet Pacific, Fox Sports Detroit Plus
Vancouver Canucks 27-20-9 63 points fourth in Pacific Division
Detroit Red Wings 24-19-12 60 points fifth in Atlantic Division
John Tortorella returns from his six-game suspension as the Vancouver Canucks make their only visit of the year to Joe Louis Arena on Monday night.
Torts has spoken to the media this morning in Detroit, but I haven't found any video or a complete transcript. So, a series of tweets it is, from the horse's mouth:
It will be very interesting to see if a banged-up Canucks team has enough gas in the tank to give Tortorella a good effort tonight. Their third-period fade has been an issue all year, and now they're more undermanned than ever.
Even though tonight's game is Roberto Luongo's last chance to impress Team Canada head coach Mike Babcock in person, the Canucks have elected to start Eddie Lack for the second straight game. Luongo has had some rough games in Detroit—you might remember the infamous 8-3 debacle last season. Still, the decision seems surprising—until we remember that Vancouver is in a back-to-back situation, playing Boston tomorrow. Makes sense that Luongo would want his first shot at the big bad Bruins in Beantown since in 2011 Stanley Cup Final.
The Bruins haven't played since Saturday. Naturally, Brad Marchand is chomping at the bit to exact revenge for the December loss in Vancouver:
Weise Traded
Apparently those league-wide bulk emails can yield results after all! Just received the press release announcing Dale Weise's trade to the Montreal Canadiens, in exchange for defenseman Raphael Diaz.
It's like Yannick Weber 2.0. Diaz is a 28-year-old right-shooting (!) defenseman out of Switzerland who comes to the Canucks from Montreal. Like Weber, he's a member of the 2014 Swiss Olympic team, and like Weber, he's undersized. He doesn't have the same big shot—he's goalless this season—but has 11 assists and has averaged over 18 minutes of ice time a game for Montreal.
He certainly fills a need at this point, and we knew the Canucks were looking to deal Weise. He was also traded away from the New York Rangers when Torts was coaching there, so the move comes as no surprise. Montreal can use the size and toughness that Weise brings, too, so at first glance, I'd say the deal is a win for both sides.
Diaz carries a $1.25 million cap hit on a deal that expires at the end of this year. In this case, I'd say it's fine that he's a "rental," if you will—the price was low enough. He'll have a shot at earning a new deal but the Canucks will certainly hope to start again next season with a full roster of healthy defensemen.
The Habs are currently in Montreal on a homestand. It doesn't seem unreasonable to think that Diaz could get to Detroit in time to suit up for tonight's game?
Quick Hits:
- I see Thomas Vanek has officially thrown himself into the rental market by rejecting a big contract offer from the New York Islanders, who are now looking to trade him. I'm ignoring all suggestions that the Canucks would be in on Vanek or Matt Moulson. Those are exactly the types of deals that would make no sense for this team at this time.
- Some HockeyBuzz programming notes as we go forward. The Canucks have four games this week, wrapping up on Saturday in Toronto, but the Olympics begin this Thursday. I'm doing a lot of live blogging of various sports for Bleacher Report, much of which will be happening in the early morning hours.
Since we'll have NHL hockey for a few days, then the progress of our Canucks in the tournament, I will be posting here regularly throughout the Olympics. However, the timing may not be as consistent as usual. I'll keep letting you know in the comments when the new blogs go up. Should be an entertaining couple of weeks!
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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