An extension for Ehrhoff can’t come

soon enough
By Garth McLennan

ews that the Vancouver Canucks
N« their star rushing defenseman

Christian Ehrhoff had opened up
contract talks on an extension for the 28
year old German should only be greeted
with applause by Canucks fans.

After all, as GM Mike Gillis’ club is
proving on an almost nightly basis, this
is perhaps the deepest and (so far) most
consistent group ever assembled under
the Canuck logo. At the very least it has,
by far, the highest expectations of success
among the team’s fan base. A very big
reason for that is the striking depth on
the back end that Gillis has managed to
assemble.

Even after dumping Shane O’Brien
after training camp, on a regular and
healthy night the Vancouver blue-line
features Ehrhoff, Alex Edler, Dan
Hambhuis, Kevin Bieksa, Andrew Alberts,
Aaron Rome or Keith Ballard. That is
an amazing stable of defenders for any
team to have, and when you couple that
was Roberto Luongo or Cory Schneider
in goal every night, it isn’t difficult to
see why the Canucks are racking up wins
more frequently than just about any other
squad in the league.

Vancouver’s defence corps is deep
across the board, well paid (of the seven
defensemen listed above, five of them
make over three million dollars per
season) and superb at both ends of the
rink. On the offensive side of the coin,
that all starts with Ehrhoff, who has
been building terrifically on his breakout
campaign last year, which saw him
accumulate a career best 14 goals and
44 points in 80 games while also being
named the team’s best defenseman.

Now, those are very strong numbers,
but they’re hardly statistics of the Norris
Trophy variety. So what makes Ehrhoff
so special to a team with an abundance of
high level, if not elite, defensemen? After
all, isn’t Ehrhoff likely due a significant
raise on his current, expiring deal that
pays him $3.1 million per year? And
aren’t the Canucks already a cap-strapped
franchise that for the foreseeable future
is going to have to be very consciences
about every dollar they spend?

All of those arguments have merit to
them, but they all fall short in identifying
Ehrhoff’s value to the Canucks.
Vancouver is so good this year because
of their depth, and without Ehrhoff,
regardless of how many other solid
defenders the Canucks have patrolling
the blue-line, losing Ehrhoff would be a
massive loss that'would leave a gaping
hole. He’s a buttery-smooth skater with

Pee 1817)

 

speed to burn who can quarterback the
team’s breakout better than anyone else
they have. He’s a sublime passer with a
pinpoint accurate shot to go along with
that. His plus/minus rating is routinely off
the charts. He’s beyond durable on a team
that is regularly struck with catastrophic
injuries their back end.

Plus, this is also the final year on
the contracts for Bieksa, Alberts and
Sami Salo (who’s out with injury at
the moment), all three of whom almost
certainly won’t be retained next season.
All three are high risk, expensive options
that aren’t necessary with the cheap,
entry-level players Vancouver has on
the farm in Manitoba (for the first time
in years, the Canucks organization has
some very solid defence prospects in their
system). That frees up some substantial
money for extending Ehrhoff.

On top of that, the bulk of
Vancouver’s core, the Sedins, Ryan
Kesler, Mason Raymond, Hamhuis,
Edler, Ballard, Luongo, Manny Malhotra
and others, are already signed, sealed
and locked up for years to come. It isn’t

_like there are a number of expiring deals

involving core players on the horizon.

The money will almost certainly
be there, and bringing Ehrhoff back is a
must.

 

§&

POR

   
  

ATs,

A

A roaring ending to a wild season

By Josh Martin, Sports Editor

he BC Lions season came to an
T= last Sunday in a game that

was thrilling to say the least. A
remarkable comeback to a year after a
horrific 1-7 start, all the Lions needed was
a perfect Hollywood ending to seal the
deal and be referred to as the “comeback
kids” but before they knew it the
Saskatchewan Roughriders came up big
instead and crushed whatever dreams the
Lions thought they had.

The biggest play for the Lions in their
last outing of the season had to be the
final play in the fourth quarter where the
Lions had to score a touchdown in order
to force overtime and stay alive. It was
nerve-racking, intense and phenomenal
all at the same time. As time ticked away
it looked as though there was no chance
the Lions would score a touchdown on
their last down in the final five seconds of
the game. In my household the common
phrase that was being tossed around
more often than not was, “It’s over”. A
phrase that has so many times dictated the
remaining few seconds of the game for the
team you’re routing for or the team that
you’re a part of that’s down by a goal or
in desperate need of a point.

But this time, “its over,” was
finally replaced with the unforgettable
and the favourite, “OH YEAH!” It was
a thing of beauty, the play unravelled
almost like it was in slow motion, with

quarterback Travis Lulay throwing

his 29 yard pass into the end zone and
Emmanuel Arceneaux leaping up over the
Saskatchewan players for a spectacular
catch that forced the game into overtime.
Arceneaux was immediately bombarded
with his teammates jumping on him in
celebration which instantly reminded

me of the time when the Canucks forced
overtime in game seven of the 04’ playoffs
against the Calgary Flames.

Although both games involved two
completely different sports they had all of
the same ingredients; a great comeback,
the leaders playing well, and both
Vancouver teams losing in overtime. A
bittersweet ending.

Travis Lulay has established himself
as the new leader of this team after easily
having his best game of the season. He
put everything on the line for his team
which came back to force overtime and
then again in the extra session of OT when
he ran in for the touchdown himself and
then scoring on the two point conversion
with a pass to Geroy Simon to force the
second frame of OT. It might’ve been
a disappointing finish for the orange
and black but on the other hand it was a
successful stint in the sense that they’ ve
already hit rock bottom and came back
in the same year. They now have a new
leader to build around with Lulay, who
will hopefully pick right up where he left
off come next season.

 

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