Nothing particularly Canuck-related in Friday night's playoff action.
For a general look at the playoffs so far, I did a story for Bleacher Report last night with my quick reactions to all the series.
Click here if you're interested in taking a look.
I was so pleased to see the Red Wings get the best of the Bruins. It looked like Mike Babcock basically adapted his Team Canada strategy for Detroit: keep it close and wait for your chance to seize the moment. That Pavel Datsyuk—amazing.
Three games on the schedule today, starting with Chicago and St. Louis at noon. Good idea, the early start, if they're planning on playing another six periods today.
We're used to so much drama surrounding the Canucks, but the news cycle is eerily quiet this weekend, especially with the Easter holiday. For today, I'll do a quick recap of how the playoffs are progressing for Vancouver's top prospects. Briefly: very well.
Big defenseman Anton Cederholm of the Portland Winterhawks is starting to draw some attention. His team starts the Western Conference final against the Kelowna Rockets tonight in the WHL playoffs and is looking to head back to the Memorial Cup for the second straight year.
Steve Ewen has a good story on Cederholm in
The Province.
Click here to read. He was a fifth-rounder in last year's draft, so it would be a real bonus if he turns out to be an NHL-caliber defenseman.
Over in the OHL, it's a great feeling to click on the list of playoff scoring leaders and see all the names I'm looking for on the first page: Dane Fox, Brendan Gaunce, Cole Cassels and Bo Horvat.
Check it out here.
The Erie Otters, home team of Fox and Gaunce, are down 2-0 to the Guelph Storm in the Western Conference Final, but head home for Game 3 on Monday. Fox leads the Otters so far in the playoffs with 17 points in 11 games while Gaunce is third behind Connor McDavid with 15.
Worth nothing: OHL leading scorer Zack Mitchell of Guelph is probably earning himself an NHL contract in these playoffs, especially if the Storm beat the Otters in this series. The 21-year-old was undrafted, so he's currently a free agent.
The Eastern Conference final sees North Bay leading 1-0 over Cole Cassels' Oshawa Generals, with Game 2 scheduled for Sunday in Oshawa. Cassels is second in team scoring for the Generals with 13 points, right behind one of this year's top draft prospects, Michael Dal Colle.
As for Bo Horvat, he picked up 11 points in nine games before his London Knights were eliminated by Guelph in five games in the second round. London is hosting the Memorial Cup this year, so Horvat and his team will get an automatic berth when the tournament begins on May 16.
All told, impressive performances across the board from the Canucks' young prospects. It bodes well for the potential introduction of young talent in the not-too-distant future.
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