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Vancouver Canucks: Holiday Roster Freeze Approaches, Virtanen Shines at WJC |
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The Vancouver Canucks held their annual SuperSkills contest on Sunday and will enjoy a day off on Monday before a much-needed practice on Tuesday.
If you're keeping score, Team White defeated Team Blue 17-7 at the skills competition. Team White was coached by Dan Hamhuis and included the Sedins, the Bo Horvat line and Eddie Lack. Team Blue was coached by Zack Kassian and included the Bonino line, the Richardson line and Ryan Miller.
Jannik Hansen won the fastest skater competition in a time of 14.52 seconds, Yannick Weber had the hardest shot at 102.1 mph, and Shawn Matthias was a surprise winner in the shooting accuracy contest.
If you'd care to check out the action:
Nice timing to have a fun, family-oriented event after such a brutal loss on Saturday night.
The Canucks are really getting hammered on Hockey Night in Canada this season. Other than two wins over the Edmonton Oilers, Vancouver has lost at home to the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Rangers and on the road to the Los Angeles Kings and Toronto Maple Leafs. They have another Saturday game scheduled this week that's looking like a must-win as they host the struggling Calgary Flames.
We have more details today on the timeline for Dan Hamhuis' rehab:
Don't forget: the holiday roster freeze will go into effect this Thursday at midnight ET. The Blue Jackets and Blackhawks swung a minor deal on Sunday. We could see more trades this week.
I'm not sure if the Buffalo Sabres' sudden success makes them more or less likely to move players like Tyler Myers or Chris Stewart, who have been rumoured to be on the block. Buffalo is 7-3-0 in its last 10 games and is poised to leapfrog struggling Eastern teams like Philadelphia and New Jersey. Columbus has also enjoyed a nice bounceback as the team has gotten healthier: the Blue Jackets are a on a six-game winning streak.
I'll be surprised if we see any action on the trade front from Jim Benning this week. He's been staying true to his scouting roots, spending some time in Utica:
Benning will need to make a final decision this week on whether or not to release Bo Horvat to play for Team Canada at the World Junior Championships. The deadline for that is also the holiday roster freeze this Thursday night.
If Horvat is released, he would miss at least six games: the home contests against Calgary and Arizona before Christmas, then a tough stretch of games against Anaheim, San Jose, L.A. and Detroit after the holidays.
Still no word on when Zack Kassian will get back in the lineup, though Tom Sestito is now healthy and ready to go. Sending Horvat to Montreal would open up a roster spot, but it would also mean shuffling Shawn Matthias or Linden Vey back to centre—not a great option when their line has been clicking pretty well.
Faced with that alternative, I'd keep Horvat here if I was Benning. The Canucks are now just two points away from falling out of the Western Conference playoff picture. It's not even Christmas, but every game counts.
UPDATE: The Canucks have just issued a press release on Monday afternoon confirming that Horvat will remain with the club. Good stuff.
One Canucks prospect who made a strong impression at the World Junior selection camp was 2014 first-rounder Jake Virtanen, who posted two goals and four assists in a pair of exhibition games against a university squad over the weekend.
Sounds like he'll be a fun player to watch during the tournament.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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