Spitballin’ (or Super Pass It To Bulis: All In, if you love adventurous acronymizing) is a feature that allows us to touch on a multitude of things really fast, because in the world of hockey, there are always lots of things to find and colour. Here are a few quick topics.
Canucks get Schultzed
There’s very little going on with the Canucks right now. But last weekend, we almost had some real news, as the franchise narrowly missed out on prized NCAA free agent (and Brock Boeser’s UND linemate), Drake Caggiula.
It came down to Vancouver and Edmonton. Then Caggiula, like Justin Schultz before him, spurned the Canucks for the Oilers. It was a disappointment, but not really a surprise. One can imagine how the two club’s pitches went:
Canucks: "We’re in a rebuilding phase right now, and we believe you could be part of it. You’ll have every opportunity to make the team and, with hard work and continued development, establish yourself as a member of the next Canucks core, alongside the likes of Bo Horvat, Jake Virtanen, Sven Baertschi, your former linemate Brock Boeser, and of course, the Sedin twins. Vancouver is a world-class city with everything a star athlete could want, and a fanbase rabid for playoff success. You’ll feel right at home here."
Oilers: "You get to play with Connor McDavid."
Naturally, Caggiula opted for a shot at being the next Jari Kurri. Safe to say he didn't sign with the Oilers so much as he signed with their generational player. No one wants to live in Edmonton, but the Oilers could be based in Hell itself and it still probably wouldn't have made a difference.
Tough blow for the Canucks, but fortunately, the fans are used to this sort of thing by now, and already have a fantastic coping mechanism: crapping all over Caggiula. Sure, he was desirable two weeks ago. Now he's the next Fabian Brunnstrom. Or maybe the next Justin Schultz.
And so, while it may hurt that the Canucks got Schultzed once again, Vancouverites can always hold out hope that the Oilers are about to get Schultzed as well.
Ben Hutton’s rookie mistake
Most of the time, Ben Hutton's optimism is delightful. The Canucks rookie always seemed to have a smile on his face, and for good reason: his first year in Vancouver was downright fantastic.
But it's not all sunshine and roses for Mr. Sunshine-And-Roses.Hutton's positivity has a downside, such as when he writes kind things about worst person in the world candidate Brad Marchand. From his World Championships blog at Canucks.com:
Of all of my teammates, I’ve gotten to know my roommate, Brad Marchand, the most. He’s a completely different guy off the ice. When I first got roomed up with him, I thought I was in for a long three weeks here, but it’s been great getting to know him.
We’re pretty much doing everything together, going to dinner or exploring the city or hitting the spa at the hotel, we’re always hanging out. Good guy, he’s not a pest off the ice. He’s a solid ping-pong player too, so you know.
Ben. No. Next you're gonna tell us that Mark Messier’s not that bad a guy. I don’t buy it.
PITB is famous again
Some time ago, I wrote a brief primer on the playoffs from a Canucks perspective, and who Vancouver hockey fans might want to look into cheering for. A large part of this was the assortment of former Canucks sprinkled throughout the postseason. Among them: Nick Bonino, who went to Pittsburgh in an offseason trade, and then scored the series-winner in Pittsburgh's upset of the Presidents' Trophy-winning Washington Capitals.
With Bonino the flavour of the moment, many Penguins fans found their way to our “I Need Bonino” video from early last season, when we were still with the Vancouver Sun. If you haven’t seen it, join the zeitgeist.
I’ve had several requests for an updated version of the song — one that isn’t quite so specific to the fall of 2015. I’m not making any promises — but I’m also not saying no. I have a few ideas, and it’s not like there’s anything else going on.
The future of Vancouver goaltending? Dan Cloutier
Finally, if you haven't read it yet, check out Jason Botchford's recent column on the departure of goaltending coach Rollie Melanson, who joined the franchise six years ago and had great success working with the likes of Roberto Luongo and Cory Schneider (It probably helps that those two were pretty good to begin with, but I digress.)
Now that Melanson is moving on, Vancouver will need someone else to work with Jacob Markstrom, Thatcher Demko, and whomever else finds his way to the Canucks' crease. (Don't kid yourself into thinking you can project the next five years of Vancouver goaltending. By now you should know that you simply cannot.)
The likely candidate is a blast from the past:
Finding a coach who can continue the trend of developing the team's backups is probably the Canucks’ biggest challenge.
It's been expected for weeks, if not months, that Dan Cloutier would be the one to replace Melanson.
I'm probably not the only one mildly uncomfortable with the Canucks turning their crease over to Dan Cloutier. They tried that in a previous era, and it did not work.
All that said, Cloutier has already done excellent work rehabilitating Jacob Markstrom. I just really wanted to link to the beach ball.
