Report: Nicklas Jensen likely to play in the SEL next season
Thomas Drance
June 20 2012 12:37PM
It has been reported today by News 1130 sports that Nicklas Jensen will look to play in the Swedish Elite League (Eliteserien) next season should he fail to make the Vancouver Canucks roster out of training camp.
CKWX has learned that #Canucks #1 draft pick Niklas Jensen will play in Sweden next year of he doesn't make the Canucks.
— News1130 Sports (@News1130Sports) June 20, 2012
The 19 year old Danish winger, who led all Canucks prospects in NHLE goals with the Oshawa Generals last season, has apparently already informed his OHL club of his intentions, and is talking to three or four Swedish clubs about joining them next season.
Jensen's agent Anton Thun, who is being quoted by News1130 and the Province's Jim Jamieson has indirectly cited "level of competition" and his client's need to play professional hockey next season as major reasons for his client potentially shirking the Ontario Hockey League next season.
Read past the jump for more.
Strombabble: Frenzy
Thomas Drance
June 19 2012 12:55PM
#Canucks telling few #NHL interested teams they have multi offers on Luongo. Gillis still looking for a hockey trade rather than dump salary
— Nick Kypreos (@RealKyper) June 18, 2012
Last night, Nick Kypreos tweeted that the Canucks are telling teams calling to ask about Roberto Luongo, that they have "multiple offers" on the table. That echoes Mike Gillis' comments in a Team1040 interview last Friday when he answered Farhan Lalji's question about whether or not teams have an interest in acquiring Luongo with, "Of course there have been [teams inquiring], he's an all-star goalie, he's one of the top 3 or 4 goalies in the league!"
The 2012 NHL Draft begins in Pittsburgh this Friday night, and despite the repeated protestations of Canucks General Manager and Team President Mike Gillis, many expect that the Canucks will pull the trigger on the long rumoured Roberto Luongo deal this weekend. As the draft nears, the scuttlebutt has heated up, and the misinformation is flowing freely. Let's cut through the haze, by engaging in a harmless spot of Strombabble.
Read past the jump!
Odds and Ends
Thomas Drance
June 19 2012 09:47AM
Well that's certainly odd.
The Canucks made some newsy noise yesterday by releasing their preseason schedule for this fall, and by qualifying several players we all expected them to qualify somewhat earlier than we expected them to be qualified. Neither event is worth it's own post, I figure, but I've got some spare thoughts to jot down about those happenings. So let's throw it all into our patented Canucks Army magic bullet and discuss what there is to discuss!
Hamhuis, Bieksa and Heavy Lifting
Thomas Drance
June 18 2012 03:04PM
Kevin Bieksa and Dan Hamhuis: just a couple of guys who know how to clear the crease.
Though he's performed as well, or nearly as well, as any defenseman on the roster over the past couple of seasons, Kevin Bieksa's play has been a source of perpetual frustration for many Canucks fans. You know a fanbase has an irrational, bi-polar relationship with a specific player when that player begins to accrue false narratives that "explain" their play. For Roberto Luongo, it's that he's a choker. For Mason Raymond, it's that he's a "perimeter player." For Kevin Bieksa, you can pick your poison - he only plays well in contract years is a popular one, but the idea that he's not good at defense (demonstrably untrue) is another favorite.
The way the story is usually told, Kevin Bieksa's defensive play turned around when Dan Hamhuis arrived in Vancouver. Once Hamhuis arrived, Bieksa stopped his positional "swimming" in Vancouver's own end, cut down on his unforced errors with the puck and was magically transformed into a reliable defensive presence along Vancouver's blue-line.
Read past the jump for more.
Aaron Volpatti and the "New Age Fourth Liner"
Thomas Drance
June 18 2012 08:36AM
Aaron Volpatti does something that Darcy Hordichuk can't...
Be on the ice at the same time as the opposition's top-line.
Occasionally, albeit rarely, a story like Aaron Volpatti re-signing with the Canucks - falls through the cracks and we don't comment on it for a couple of days. On Friday, however, Ivy League graduate, pugilist and Revelstoke native Aaron Volpatti re-upped with Vancouver's club on a one year deal worth $600,000 in the NHL, and $105,000 in the AHL (or the maximum amount an AHLer can be paid without requiring re-entry waivers when he is shuttled between the big club, and their affiliate).
Read past the jump for more.
