We were treated to an early Christmas gift on Thursday when Mats Sundin finally ended the saga that has been frustrating hockey fans since July 1st. He chose to play rather than retire, and he chose to play for the Vancouver Canucks over the New York Rangers - a move that made the most sense but which shocked the hell of a lot of hockey pundits. Everyone assumed that the New York Rangers was his first choice and that he would certainly end up there for the rest of the season, but instead he decided with his head rather than his heart.

The former Toronto Maple Leaf captain claims that Vancouver was his first choice all along, since Mike Gillis offered him the 2-year $20 million dollar contract all those months ago, but I’m not so sure. It doesn’t matter though, because he will play for the Canucks for the rest of the year and play his socks off, then when the summer comes round he can decide if it is really the Canucks that he likes or whether his heart and head take him some place else.

Many people are deriding his decision, saying that he has been selfish, that it is all about the money and calling him a sell-out but this is simply unfair. Firstly, if he had taken less money than his market worth just to play for a team he fancied playing for it would be a dangerous precedent to set for the rest of the league and could possibly drive prices down for other players going into contract negotiations - clearly not a good thing for the league as a whole.

Secondly, if he had gone to New York the Rangers would have had to trade or waive some of their players just to make room for his salary - that would mess with team chemistry and perhaps create ill-feeling towards him in the locker room which would not have been a good starting point for resuming his career. And who is to say that the team would be better with him on it rather than the players that had to be moved for him? Conversely, the Canucks had targeted him from the very beginning as the player that would make the most impact on the team and had kept the money clear for him (and a roster spot open) all season long so that he could sign with no disruption if he decided that he did want to play - Sundin must have admired that kind of patience and commitment to him and maybe that helped him decide as he knew that he was wanted by everyone in the organization.

Thirdly, when he did sign with the Canucks he signed for less than the original offer. He signed for one year rather than two because he wanted to make sure that he would continue playing into next season - he could have just taken the money and retired anyway, leaving the team to pick up the tab. And he signed for about $8.5 million rather than $10 million, leaving enough cap room to add another player before the trade deadline in order to make the team truly competitive. That doesn’t sound like a selfish decision to me.

People are bitter that he will play for the Canucks, but the only people that should feel put out are the Toronto Maple Leafs, who tried to get him to waive his no-trade clause at the end of last season so that the team could get a package of players, prospects and draft picks to really get a head-start in rebuilding for the future. Mats declined to move, saying that he didn’t want to be a rental player, that he didn’t believe in joining a team midway through the season and that he wanted to retire a Leaf. Now that he is not retiring and is joining a team other than the Leafs midway through the season, he has become a hypocrite and traitor in the eyes of Leafs fans. I understand their sentiment, but also want to point out that the new GM of the Maple Leafs, Brian Burke, told Sundin that he didn’t want him this season, so it isn’t exactly like he had the choice to play there and retire a Leaf like he wanted to.

I am ecstatic that he chose Vancouver - there is no way that this signing can be a bad thing for the Canucks. He has been a consistent point-a-game, goal-every-other-game guy throughout his entire career and there is no reason those figures should change too much, but even if he only scores 15 points over the rest of the season, just the very fact that someone of his reputation is on the ice will be enough. He will make his linemates better with his leadership and experience, and he will allow all of the top 6 players to increase their points totals just by drawing defenders towards him and allowing them more space. So long as he doesn’t play with the Sedin twins, he will draw the top checking line to him and the Sedins can work their puck-cycling magic as a second line - and that will be just too much for many opponents. His presence on the power play should also make an immediate improvement.

Mike Gillis, I salute you. In my opinion the guy hasn’t made one wrong move since becoming the GM of the Canucks this Spring and the way he played this waiting game with Sundin showed exceptional patience and foresight. I trust him to make the right decisions for the team and am excited for the future of the franchise under his management.

Thursday night was a pretty amazing night. Hockey season began for the Canucks with a game against the Calgary Flames, their biggest rivals. The atmosphere on opening night is great enough anyway, but with it being a game against the Flames as well I knew it would be electric. Added to this, in the pre-game ceremony the team were going to pay an emotional tribute to Luc Bourdon, our defenceman who died at the end of May when a gust of wind blew his motorcycle into the path of an oncoming truck. As that event had hit me so hard, I truly didn’t want to miss this game. We paid more than we wanted to for tickets up in the second to last row, but it was a night I’ll never forget so it was well worth it.

When we arrived at the stadium we were all given a commemorative cap and a round silver pin with the initials LB etched on (the logo that all the Canucks will wear on their helmets throughout the season to honour Luc Bourdon). The pre-game Luc Bourdon tribute was so wonderfully done and extremely emotional. His mother and girlfriend went onto the ice to be presented with Luc’s last game-worn jersey (which had been given to a fan on the night and very honorably returned by the fan to Luc’s family). Then Tom Cochrane came onto the ice to sing Big League as a video tribute was shown. My god it was emotional, and there wasn’t  a dry eye in the house. The lyrics to Big League are so apt to Luc’s life cut so short, it could have been written specifically for him:

When he was a kid, he’d be up at five
Take shots till eight, make the thing drive
Out after school, back on ice
That was his life, he was gonna play in the Big League

Not many ways out of this cold northern town
You work in the mill and get laid in the ground
If you’re gonna jump it will be with the game
Real fast and tough is the only clear lane to the Big League

My boy’s gonna play in the Big League
My boy’s gonna turn some heads
My boy’s gonna play in the Big League
My boy’s gonna knock ‘em dead
The Big League

All the right moves when he turned eighteen
Scholarship and school on a big U.S. team
Out with his girl near Lake McClean
Hit a truck doing seventy in the wrong lane
To the Big League

My boy’s gonna play in the Big League
My boy’s gonna turn some heads
My boy’s gonna play in the Big League
My boy’s gonna knock ‘em dead

Never can tell what might come down
Never can tell how much you get
Just don’t know, no you never can tell

Sometimes at night I can hear the ice crack
It sounds like thunder and it rips through my back
Sometimes in the morning I still hear the sound
Ice meets metal…
“Can’t you drive me down to the Big League?”

My boy’s gonna play in the Big League
My boy’s gonna turn some heads
My boy’s gonna play in the Big League
My boy’s gonna knock ‘em dead

Never can tell what might come down
Never can tell when you might check out
Just don’t know, no you never can tell
So do right to others like you do to yourself
In the Big League

You can watch the ceremony in its entirity here - kudos to the Canucks organisation, they did it so right. I had chills running down my spine all throughout, although also had a smile on my face as I remembered him. By the way, if you’re watching the video and aren’t a Canucks fan you’ll notice what sounds like a lot of boos from the crowd but they are really “Luuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu“’s for our goaltender Luongo, and “Luuuuuuuuuuuuuuuc“s for Luc - Canucks fans have never been particularly creative with their chants! You’ll notice the same Luuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuc chant in this video - one of my favourite plays from Bourdon when he almost single-handedly stopped Ovechkin, one of the league’s top offensive threats, from scoring a goal.

The game itself was about a perfect a game as any fan can ask for. The Canucks were a bit nervy in the first period, trying to get their heads together after the tribute, but it was plenty physical and we managed to come out of it with a 1-0 lead. In the second period we scored 2 goals in the first 4 minutes and then we were away. There were hits and fights and harsh words spoken but the Flames couldn’t faze us and we went on to win 6-0 with our new captain, Luongo, getting a shutout and Alex Burrows, Luc’s closest friend on the team and by far the most emotional at the ceremony, scoring 2 goals. He dedicated the second goal to Luc by imitating Luc’s custom goal-scoring move - shooting an imaginary arrow to the heavens. Burrows actually had dinner with Luc’s mum and girlfriend the night before and they had asked him to score a goal for Luc - and he managed to score one for both of them. No one has a clue if Luc was watching over Alex and the team that night but it certainly felt like it, and the team did him proud.

I think any game I ever go to again is going to be a bit of a disappointment compared to that one - it was all just too perfect.

It’s a very angsty period of time for hockey fans. The time between the draft and the start of free agency on July 1st is filled with rumours everywhere of just who we might sign come July 1st, and the frontrunners for the Canucks seem to be Pavol Demitra, Marian Hossa and Ryan Malone. It is also rumoured that Alex Auld may return to Vancouver to back up Luongo in goal. With the salary cap going up to almost $57 million, it is possible that Mike Gillis could pull it off and sign them all, especially if he can manage to dump some salary in the form of Taylor Pyatt and Jeff Cowan. It’s very doubtful though.

There is much speculation that we will move one of our young defencemen, Kevin Bieksa (who had a fantastic season the year before last but a horrible season last year) in a trade with the Carolina Hurricanes and it is hoped that we will get Erik Cole or Justin Williams in return. Both are right-wingers who would make a great linemate for the Sedin twins. It seems that Williams is the more preferred of the two since he is younger and has 3 years left on his contract (as Bieksa has) whereas Cole only has 1 year left, so will be and Unrestricted Free Agent next year looking for a big pay rise. But Cole is that big, strong, talented power forward that we’ve always been missing.

Our upcoming Restricted Free Agents needed to be given qualifying offers by the Canucks by midnight June 25th in order for us to retain negotiating rights with them. It has all been a bit quiet on that front - I had heard no news at all until I read this morning that Ryan Shannon, Rick Rypien and Mike Brown had been extended their qualifying offers (I hope they all stay), but there is still no word on Nathan McIver (big Dman who likes to fight and should be a 6th/7th Dman in the NHL within a couple of years) and AHL affiliate goalie Drew McIntyre (who is a different sort of unrestricted free agent to the others, and I don’t know how that works).

We have also extended a qualifying offer to Kyle Wellwood, who we plucked off the waiver wire after the Toronto Maple Leafs decided they didn’t want him anymore. Kyle is naturally skilled and could be a great first or second line centre for our team but he is coming off a year where he had 3 hernia operations and broke his foot whilst rehabbing. His commitment to training is also questionable and he has developed quite a beer gut since he couldn’t play with his injuries. If our trainers can get him into shape and our motivational coaches can get his head into gear then he will be a fine player and a great pickup. If his motivational problems continue then we’ve just wasted $1 million.

In other news, 16 of our young prospects have been in town for conditioning camp - a gruelling week of training interspersed with some nicer activities like yoga. Today is the last day and they are doing the Grouse Grind - it’s a beautiful day for it and the views will be amazing once they get to the top, though it’s pretty hot too! Three of our new prospects from this year’s draft have attended - Prab Rai (a local lad from the Sikh community who is so stoked to have been chosen by his home team), Yann Sauve and Cody Hodgson.

Hodgson seems to be doing really well on the physical side and I am so impressed with his whole attitude and maturity. For an 18 year old kid he really can talk and he knows what he has to do to get into the NHL as soon as possible. It’s pretty obvious that he is going to be captain of this team one day; he seems so much like Trevor Linden - a wise head on young shoulders. There are high hopes that he may be able to make the Canucks this upcoming season, especially since he will be training with Dave Gagner all summer. Dave Gagner is our new head of Player Development and is the father of Sam Gagner - one of only 3 kids that made it into the NHL in their draft year last year at age 18, and one who was up there amongst the best rookies. This newspaper article has Dave comparing Hodgson very favourably with his son.

I’m not quite sure how it happened, but Cody Hodgson somehow dropped a place or two down the rankings in the draft and fell into the Canucks’ lap. Everyone was expecting them to draft Kyle Beach, a BC boy who is big and gritty and fights but who has had concussion problems and could be a bit of a risk due to his attitude and character. He could be brilliant in two years time, or he could have no NHL career at all.

The Canucks went with the seemingly safe option, but actually they did what they haven’t done in years - draft the best player available to them. Cody Hodgson appears to have the character and determination we need for our team in the future - he has captained the under-18 Canadian squad to a Gold medal while being the top scorer in the tournament, and is used on the power play and penalty kill. Although not huge and a fighter, he is a great all-round player and is described by many in the know to be the smartest player out of the OHL this year, and that includes the first overall selection Steve Stamkos (who Cody has been good friends and teammates with for years). If developed properly, he should easily become our no.2 center, if not our no.1 in the next 2-3 years. I don’t know why exactly, but I just have a great feeling about him and I think he will become a franchise player for years to come.

Welcome to the team, Cody!

“People with great gifts are easy to find, but symmetrical and balanced ones never.” Ralph Waldo Emerson.

I’ve never supported a team in any way before I moved to Canada and started rooting for the Canucks. I watch all the games, I read all the press and watch all the media I can on my guys, I go on the Canucks message board and debate away with fellow fans - though we’ll never know the players, not really, we think we do and we invest a lot of emotion into supporting them, cheering when they win, screaming with frustration when they lose, hoping that they will bring us the ultimate victory so we can share their biggest and happiest moment with them. In this way they are almost like a second family and we are, indeed, all Canucks.

On Thursday May 29th we lost one of our beloved team. Luc Bourdon, our top prospect yet to play a full season for the Canucks, died in a motorcycle accident in his hometown at the age of just 21. He had an extremely promising career and, more importantly, his whole life in front of him to live and it was taken away from him, from his family and friends, and from us fans in an instant. Read the rest of this entry »