Thursday December 17 - Vancouver Canucks at Philadelphia Flyers - 4:00 p.m. - Sportsnet 360 - TSN1040
Vancouver Canucks: 32 GP, 11-13-8, 30 pts, sixth in Pacific Division
Philadelphia Flyers: 31 GP, 13-12-6, 32 pts, sixth in Metropolitan Division
From the "misery loves company" file: if you think the Canucks are having a rough ride under coach Willie Desjardins right now, consider the current state of affairs for the teams being run by the Canucks' former coaches:
• the Columbus Blue Jackets' record of 2-5-3 in the past 10 games is even worse than Vancouver's, and John Tortorella has Ryan Johansen riding the pine once again. Does Torts hate Johansen because he's from the lower mainland?
• the Pittsburgh Penguins are 0-2 since former Canucks assistant Mike Sullivan took over last weekend. They've scored just once under Sullivan, losing 4-1 to Washington on Monday and 3-0 to Boston on Wednesday.
There has been plenty of doom and gloom in the papers and on the radio since the Canucks' nasty loss to Minnesota on Tuesday night.
Perhaps Philadelphia is a good city to help the team get back on track? It's the home of Rocky, after all!
Yesterday, I saw the latest instalment of the franchise, "Creed." I really liked it. The film successfully balances a modern story with an appropriate level of respect for the legacy of the series. It's an emotional story that makes you root for the characters and believe in finding strength to overcome adversity, follow your dreams and find the winner within yourself.
I hope the Canucks climbed the famous Rocky steps yesterday and can draw some inspiration to bring a similar mindset to tonight's game.
Only a small group hit the ice for today's pregame skate at the Wells Fargo Center.
So far, we know that Jacob Markstrom will get the start in net, and that Alex Edler will play his 600th career game. According to
Canucks.com, it's unlikely that there will be any other lineup changes despite the trainwreck performance on Tuesday.
This disappoints me. I don't think the team needs to go "full Torts" and start benching players willy-nilly, but at this point some sort of shakeup would make sense to me.
You know the old saying:
I feel panicky about the impending holiday roster freeze, which starts Friday at midnight. And the Canucks are currently carrying just 22 players, one below the roster limit. Why not at least add another body from the farm for the last few days of the road trip?
Trevor Linden, Jim Benning and Willie Desjardins were in Utica on Wednesday to watch the Comets beat the Rochester Amercks 5-2. Scorers were Alex Grenier, Mike Zalewski, Linden Vey, Jordan Subban and Brendan Gaunce into the empty net, so surely some good impressions were made. Now we have to wait and see whether any followup action will occur.
Meanwhile, over in Philadelphia, the Flyers are inching their way up the Eastern Conference standings with a 6-3-1 record over their last 10 games and 4-2-1 so far in December. The team is starting to gel under new coach Dave Hakstol, the goaltending tandem of Steve Mason and Michal Neuvirth is getting the job done and AHL callup Shayne Gostisbehere is earning praise for his play on the blue line.
"Ghost" was called up from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on November 14, a couple of weeks after the Canucks danced to their 4-1 win over the Flyers in Vancouver. In 15 games so far, the 5'11", 160-pound 22-year-old is 6-5-11 and a plus-3. He has scored three game-winning goals, all in overtime, including the 4-3 winner in Philadelphia's last game, on Tuesday against Carolina.
Gostisbehere's success is a clear illustration that when things aren't working defensively, blue-line help can be found—and can come in unlikely forms. I hope this lesson isn't lost on the Canucks braintrust tonight.
After an ice-cold start, winger Jakub Voracek has finally started to heat up for the Flyers. He picked up three points against Carolina on Tuesday, including just his second goal of the year, and is now 2-17-19.
If you're one of the people advocating for a Luke Schenn trade by the Canucks, you might not see your boy tonight. Schenn has been sidelined since December 5 with an ankle injury—he has been skating with the team but has yet to return to game action.
Other injured Flyers include defenseman Mark Streit and forwards Sam Gagner and Vincent Lecavalier.
Steve Mason will get the start in net.
While we're on the topic of goalies, here's a great profile of Canucks prospect Thatcher Demko, who's blowing people away this season with Boston College:
My favourite line comes from Demko's mother, Danielle:
When he was accelerating school and in this pain and dealing with all this stuff that summer, he said, 'If I don't play 15 years in the NHL, I will be so pissed. I'm not doing this for three or four years in the show.
Love that determination.
Because Demko just turned 20, he's now too old for this year's World Junior Championships.
Also,
click here for a summary of how the NHL's free-agency rules work for NCAA players, from Andy Johnson at SB Nation.
Because both Demko and Brock Boeser went straight into college after they were drafted, the Canucks will hold their rights until the end of their senior year of college, whether they stay in school or not. If either player opts out early, he'll have to sign with the Canucks if he hopes to start his pro career—either in the minors or in Vancouver.
Players like Justin Schultz and Mike Reilly didn't enter college for more than a year after they were drafted, which allowed them to leave school as free agents after their junior years. The Canucks will have one additional year of exclusive rights with both Boeser and Demko—and both those players are showing enough promise that they may want to make the jump to the pros sooner rather than later.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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