Official 2008/2009 Canucks Thread

[Ronin]

I'd like Ohlund to stay too but I'd trade him ahead of Bieksa. Ohlund is always reliable on both ends of the ice even though he isn't spectacular. Again, the guy has been with the team through it all and has taken discounts to stay. He'd be the team captain if our last experience with a Swedish captain was better.

[the_rickster]

i dont think ohlund will be with us next season. i appreciate everything he's done for us and i like him as a canuck, but i'd bet against him resigning.

[dim_sum]

Originally Posted by Ronin

I'd like Ohlund to stay too but I'd trade him ahead of Bieksa. Ohlund is always reliable on both ends of the ice even though he isn't spectacular. Again, the guy has been with the team through it all and has taken discounts to stay. He'd be the team captain if our last experience with a Swedish captain was better.

if that puck didn't hit him in the eye, i think he would've been an all-star d-man

[the_rickster]

for all intents and purposes, he is an all-star

[shawn79]

we keep losing superstars on this team beacuse of money
first bure then naslund now maybe the twins

[Expresso]

Originally Posted by shawn79

we keep losing superstars on this team beacuse of money
first bure then naslund now maybe the twins

Did really lose Naslund cause of cash? I thought the team parted ways.

[RRxtar]

good observation. bure because of money, naslund because he couldnt fill his roll and the twins are still here. some within the last 10 years. we are just losing superstars left right and center

[the_rickster]

he signed for less than what he was making and for very same bottom line terms as demitra. we didn't lose him due to money, we lost him because of direction.

we lost jovo because of money.

[Ronin]

We lost Jovo because of money but not because the Canucks weren't willing to spend it. It was because in the post-lockout era, we needed that money elsewhere (signing Luongo) and we realistically weren't going to lock up $7m on an defenseman that as great as he is...is always injured and a defensive liability.

[Selanne_200]

I would love for the sedins to stay and props to them for doing a hometown discount; however, I don't think it's right to compare the sedins with the likes of drury and gomez based purely on points total.

Ohlund would make an excellent captain because of his consistency but Mitchell would be awesome too cuz he's all heart!

[Tim Budong]

its either ohlund or salo thats leaving for sure
so go figure

[stuff99]

I rather have Ohlund than Salo

[KenM]

Originally Posted by darthchilli

its either ohlund or salo thats leaving for sure
so go figure

what made you draw to that conclusion?

[shawn79]

we should keep the sedins for something to have in this organization to reconize with

home grown talent twins

[Harvey Specter]

Funny how we have Ohlund trade rumors every season.

[Tim Budong]

becuz its either one
ohlund can play some backbone D
salo can anchor a PP
beiksa can somewhat do both

beiksa fetches the most as trade bait...but not anymore..

[Soundy]

Well, what's it gonna be, people?

We all whine and moan that the Sedins are no good in the playoffs, we need to get rid of them, trade them both for Jokinen, etc... now it's, "Oh, we better sign them!"

First everyone's ripping on Gillis because they don't think he's going to "make any big moves" (with no basis for that opinion)... now everyone's pissed off because he HAS made big moves (letting Naslund and Mo go) and they're afraid he might make more.

And yeah, we lost Jovo IN PART because of money... but not through any fault of the Canucks. Wayne Gretzky *WANTED* Jovo in Phoenix and offered him a huge raise to go there - more than the Canucks could realistically afford and arguably more than Jovo was really worth. And besides... if The Great One says, "I want you on my team"... who's going to say no to that?

[hotjoint]

I can't wait for the season to start!

[stuff99]

Gillis has one option with Sedins
Twins have put up more points than big-name stars

Ed Willes
The Province

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Daniel (left) and Henrik Sedin hope something good was cookin' at dinner on Wednesday.
CREDIT: Getty Images file photo
Daniel (left) and Henrik Sedin hope something good was cookin' at dinner on Wednesday.

Since they arrived in Vancouver eight years ago, any assessment of the Sedin twins has started with a thorough analysis of everything they aren't -- not what they are -- and that's led to a criminal under-appreciation of their abilities.

Sure, the cognoscenti concede, the twins are consistent, durable, loyal, productive, hard-working, team-first guys who are among the NHL's top-20 scorers. And they work cheap.

But other than that, what have they done?

I mean, it's almost funny, like that scene in Life of Brian where John Cleese asks what The Associated Pressart from sanitation, medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh-water system and public health -- have the Romans ever done for us? But starting Wednesday night, the joke's over and new GM Mike Gillis is going to have to demonstrate how much the twins are appreciated because the Canucks' immediate future is riding on it.

"Obviously we need to sit down and talk about some things," said J.P. Barry, the Sedins' agent, in advance of Wednesday night's summit meeting. "Some things were said [this summer] which need clarifying.

"We're talking about a significant negotiation and there are a number of factors involved."

And some significant numbers are attached to those factors.

The Sedins, as the faithful are acutely aware, are about to enter the final year of contracts which will fetch them just under $3.6 million US this season. Clearly, they are in line for a substantial raise. But the more interesting question is, how substantial?

The twins, after all, aren't exactly negotiating from a position of weakness. For starters, they are one year away from unrestricted free agency. They also represent an alarming share of the Canucks' -- for wont of a better term -- offence. (Last season Henrik accounted for 76 points and Daniel had 74. The next closest returning Canucks were Ryan Kesler and Taylor Pyatt with, ta-da, 37 points each.) And when you come right down to it, the numbers they've put up in the Canucks' no-goal system compare favourably to some of the NHL's elite.

Over the last three seasons, for example, both Henrik and Daniel have put up more points than Brad Richards, Patrick Marleau and Marian Gaborik. Of those players, Marleau will be the lowest-paid this season at $6.3 million. Uh, if we can figure that out, rest assured there are others.

"They're top 20 in scoring right now," said Barry. "Who's to say that if they're surrounded by the right personnel they couldn't be top 10."

Which is an interesting supposition, but this matter also goes a lot deeper than points and dollars and cuts right to the Canucks' future under the new regime.

Since pronouncing his mission statement at his now-famous opening press conference, Gillis hasn't exactly dazzled this market with his offseason moves. Anyone who saw the Canucks play for more than a period last season was painfully aware the team needed to add two or three top-nine forwards to ease the burden on the twins.

Gillis also went into this summer with draft picks, prospects, a surplus on the blueline and $20 million in cap space.

His response? He exchanged Markus Naslund and Brendan Morrison for Pavol Demitra and Steve Bernier, while virtually every team in the Western Conference improved themselves.

As a result, the twins are now as important to the Canucks as Roberto Luongo and, if you doubt that, consider what their lineup would look like without the Sedins.

Gillis might have had more ambitious plans this summer but, as the new season dawns, he's left with one option.

And it's not waiting around for Mats Sundin to make up his mind.

ewilles@theprovince.com
© The Vancouver Province 2008

[Expresso]

^^^I'm with that article, w/o the twins you have to go sign 2-3 more top line players and they aren't exactly abundant. I think you will see the same thing as last year, where marquee players are resigning with their current teams for big cash and long term. Staal is just one example today!

Originally Posted by darthchilli

becuz its either one
ohlund can play some backbone D
salo can anchor a PP
beiksa can somewhat do both

beiksa fetches the most as trade bait...but not anymore..

Ohlund has a NTC and I think Salo does too, its just easier to move Bieska.

[RRxtar]

why do i keep reading people saying "the twins only get points because they assist eachothers goals"? what the hell do you think happens with alfy-spezza-heatley or zetterberg-datsyuk or lecavalier-stlouis or even nassy-mo-bert?

[Soundy]

Originally Posted by RRxtar

why do i keep reading people saying "the twins only get points because they assist eachothers goals"? what the hell do you think happens with alfy-spezza-heatley or zetterberg-datsyuk or lecavalier-stlouis or even nassy-mo-bert?

+1000

Points are points - if the twins are getting those assists, maybe nobody else is.

Look at Anson Carter - registered the best goal-scoring season of his career playing with them. He's moved on and done bupkiss, because he needed them to set him up.

And for that matter, look at Gretzky: 894 regular-season goals... but his assists total - 1963 - was almost 2.2 times that amount. He's not considered "The Great One" just because of his goals, but because of his TOTAL points (among other things).

[SumAznGuy]

I am really curious to see if the twins could be traded to 2 seperate teams. Since they play well together, would any team take the gamble and trade for 1? And if they do, which one of the two would they trade for?

[the_rickster]

^i hear where you're coming from... you can't score goals without someone feeding you the puck.
look at the stats of those players you mentioned. they're putting up similar numbers in each category. spezza, alfy and heatley put up 35, 40 41 goals respectively. datsyuk and zetterberg put up 35 and 43.

hank and daniel? 15 and 29. assists? 61 and 45. see a pattern there at all? henrik's lack of goals is made up in assists. the issue here is that the scoring is predominantly one player while those other two examples are showing more evenly distributed GOALS. teams don't win games based on points handed out during the game, they win by scoring goals. i'm not saying henrik is underachieving because he's not... i'm saying that people are judging them that way because one is feeding the other and in doing so, they put up 150 points while contributing only 44 goals.
datsyuk and zetterberg put up 189 points with 74 goals. 30 MORE goals in 39 points.
see where i'm coming from?


this is why the canucks desperately need another goal scorer. henrik can distribute the puck to more bodies on the ice and get more GOALS.

[AzNightmare]

In other words, they need someone like anson carter, that can finish just as well as Daniel. Hopefully Bernier can get the job done.