Hodgson's Calder Candidacy
Thomas Drance
January 24 2012 01:56PM
Hodgson is tearing it up in his rookie season, but is he a realistic Calder contender?
Yesterday Elliot Pap wrote a column that appeared in the National Post under the slightly misleading headline: "Canucks' Hodgson making case for Calder Trophy." Pap's piece wasn't exactly a full-throated piece of advocacy on behalf of the Canucks talented rookie, it was more about Hodgson's impressive play and continued improvement in his first full NHL season. Here's what we know for sure: Cody Hodgson is already a reasonably consistent difference maker at the NHL level, and headline writers at one of the country's biggest papers seem to believe that Cody Hodgson should be in the rookie of the year conversation. I'm sure most Canucks fans would agree.
Canucks Launch New Initiative, Website to Raise Awareness about Mental Illness.
Thomas Drance
January 24 2012 11:56AM
Here's the touching mindcheck.ca PSA, in which Bieksa talks about his departed friend: Rick Rypien
Rick Rypien's passing on August 15th 2011 was a massive emotional blow to the Canucks, and their fans. Today, in honour of Rypien and his legacy, the Canucks Fund for Kids in concert with Fraser Health and Provincial Health Services Authority, and BC Children’s Hospital launched an initiative to raise awareness about mental illness, and to provide young people affected with a resource to help them cope. You can read the full press release from Canucks.nhl.com here.
As I've previously written about at length, I lost a friend to suicide and mental illness as a teenager, so this is an issue that is extremely close to my heart. The way the team handled Rypien's illness when he was with the organization, the grace shown by Bieksa, Gillis and the entire team in the wake of Rypper's untimely death, and this latest endeavor to honour #37's memory in a positive, hopeful way makes me extremely proud to be a Canucks fan.
Canucks Forward Favourably Compares Salo to Lidstrom
Thomas Drance
January 24 2012 09:36AM
Sami Salo is perhaps the Canucks most widely beloved current player. The mild-mannered, oft-injured Finnish defenseman has earned the perpetual admiration of the fan-base, and clearly his team-mates, with his understated demeanor and solid play. But can this admiration and respect go too far and morph into preposterous hyperbole?
Sami Salo Returns to the Line-Up, Tanev Sent Down
Thomas Drance
January 23 2012 03:48PM
Well, it's now official: the much anticipated Tanev-Edler experiment lasted for one whole game!
With Canucks hardest-shot winner Sami Salo returning to the line-up for Tuesday's game against Edmonton, the Canucks have sent promising sophmore defenseman Chris Tanev back to the Chicago Wolves of the AHL. But don't get too upset, Canucks fans, Tanev and his Wolves teammates will face off against the Abbotsford Heat on Wednesday and Thursday night in the lower-mainland. Here's the official team press release from canucks.nhl.com.
Headshots January 23rd
Thomas Drance
January 23 2012 02:40PM
Keith Ballard always ends up in silly positions at practice.
Headshots are a Canucks Army feature where we link to the day's freshest news, and other assorted Canucks web-goodies. If you've written a blogpost, produced a tribute video or birthed a clever .gif into existence - please e-mail me at thom.drance@gmail.com.
