Canucks win with depth

By Garth McLennan

here’s a reason why the
"Tico Canucks are

currently perched atop their
division and winning convincingly
against some of the traditionally
elite clubs in the NHL. Yes, the
Sedin twins, two potential MVP
candidates, are as impressive as ever
and sure, Roberto Luongo and Cory
Schneider have teamed up to provide
the Canucks were perhaps their most
formidable goaltending tandem ever.
Yes, Ryan Kesler paired with Mason
Raymond on the squad’s second line
creates one of the fastest lines in
hockey. All of those things are true,
and they’re all major reasons why
the Canucks are among the class of
the NHL this season. However, there
is one quintessentially important
ingredient that has been somewhat
overlooked so far this season in
Vancouver’s success.

After all, the Sedins were
spectacular last year. Sure, Schneider
wasn’t around, but Luongo had a fine
season. Kesler and Raymond were
producing at similarly impressive
rates as this campaign. So what
changed? What has been so different
this year? Why is there a new kind of
electricity surrounding this team, a

sense that regardless of which team
is sitting on the other bench, the
Canucks can leave whatever arena
they’re in with another victory in the
win column?

What’s been so special this year
for the Vancouver Canucks? The third
line, that’s what. During his tenure in
British Columbia, Mike Gillis has had
a mixed bag of results when it comes
to retooling his roster each summer.
Prior to this season though, he
whacked two home runs that elevated
the Canucks into best-in-the-league
discussions.

Manny Malhotra was signed
away from the San Jose Sharks
for what was presumed to be an
outrageous $2.5 million per season
for three years. $2.5 million a year

- for a cap strapped team? Three years

and that kind of money for a guy
who'd never exceeded 14 goals or
33 points in a single season? To put
it mildly, more than a few people
were questioning Gillis’ wisdom on
locking up the cagey veteran of 11
NHL seasons.

However, so far this year
Malhotra has made Gillis look like
a genius. He’s been the NHL’s top
faceoff man, he’s hit, he’s battled
harder in the corners than any
previous Canuck third line center in

years and he’s scored some timely
goals and put points on the board.
Through the first 14 games of the
season, Malhotra already had ten
points.

The second free agent pickup
Gillis nailed was the addition of Raffi
Torres, whom Gillis scooped up late
in the summer when no one would
give the former fifth overall pick an
opportunity.

Torres was added on a one-
year contract for a million dollars a
season, and the argument could be
made that he’s already exceeded the
expected return on that investment.
Torres, who’s bounced around the
league in the last several seasons with
forgettable stops in Columbus and
Buffalo after a distinguished five year
run in Edmonton, has been everything
anyone could have hoped for when
Gillis took a flyer on him.

So far, Torres has been the
prototypical third line grinder that
everyone is looking for. He’s already
chipped in with an amazing seven
goals (including a hat trick against
the Oilers), he’s terrorized opposing
defensemen while zooming in on
the fore-check and he’s formed a
fearsome duo with Malhotra as a third
line staple. When he was initially
signed by the Canucks, he was

  

| viewed by many as
a roster option who
ya would spend most
® of his day parked in
= the press box; now
it’s hard to imagine
him not remaining a
, Staple in the line-up.
: Malhotra and
Torres have combined to give the
Canucks exactly what they needed
during the playoffs the last two
years where they were run out of the
building most nights by the Chicago
Blackhawks: third line depth with
grit, toughness and enough skill to
help out offensively when the team’s
primary weapons fail to get the job
done. Kyle Wellwood, for all of his
skill, proved over and over again that
he just wasn’t the guy for that job,
and he’s currently skating in Russia
because of it.

Are Malhotra and Torres the guys
who are going to carry the Canucks to
the Stanley Cup? Probably not, but if
you look back at the last several Cup
winners, the Chicago’s, Pittsburgh’s
and Detroit’s of the NHL, the won
it all not just because of their star
power but because of their seemingly
endless depth across the board.

Now the Canucks finally can count
themselves in the same class.

 

  

By Josh Martin, Sports Editor

even wins in eight games says

it all. The Vancouver Canucks

are rolling through November
as one of the hottest teams in the
league. They look stronger than ever.

Roberto Luongo doesn’t even have to»

play well and they’ll still find a way
to come out on top like in the 6-4 win
over Detroit last week.

The Canucks had a beautiful
winning streak, going 6-0 before
hitting a little speed bump against
the Montreal Canadians where they
were held scoreless and failed to
convert any scoring chances on Carey
Price despite 34 shots on goal. But
on Thursday night in Ottawa it was a

Canucks Cruise through November

different story as the Canucks quickly
remembered how to score. They
bombarded the Ottawa Senators net
with six goals, ending the Senators
four game winning streak with a final
score of 6-2.

Mario Bliznak scored his very
first NHL goal after being recalled
by the Canucks and even Tanner
Glass chipped in for some insurance
to help out his team. Alex Burrows
got his first of the season while the
Sedin twins continued to pile up the
points. They’re among the top scorers
in the league with 18 points apiece.
Defensemen Keith Ballard was
scratched for the second game in a
row, being replaced by Aaron Rome.
A $4.2 million man being replaced

for a $750,000 man. It’s strange how
that works out, but that’s how it goes
if you’re not playing well in the world
of hockey at the NHL level.

Dan Hamhuis is back in the line
up which is very good news for the
Canucks blue line that will get an
automatic boost with his presence on
the back end. I am also very excited
to see him back on the ice because I
picked him in my hockey pool as one
of my defensemen thinking that he’ll
have a breakout year in scoring this
season. Well, he got injured and has
only one point in six games. I knew I
should have picked Alexander Edler.
That guy knows what’s going’ on
with 10 points in 15 games. That’s
not too shabby for a d-man, not too

bad at all.

With the win over the Senators,
the Canucks stay in the third spot
in the Western Conference with -
20 points. They will have to keep
winning games if they want to
maintain or improve on that position
with such a close point total between
teams. Only five points separates the
Dallas Stars who are in eighth with
the first place Detroit Red Wings.
Well, things are looking good in
Vancouver... There’s not much you
can complain about with seven wins
in eight games. Let’s just see how
long they can keep this hot streak
going without hitting anymore speed
bumps along the way.

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