By Jessy Dhillon
The 2012-2013 Vancouver Canucks season has flew by, the season has been filled with highs/lows and injuries! After being sidelined with a fractured foot, Ryan Kesler finally made his return in Monday’s night 2-0 win over a desperate Phoenix Coyotes team that needed the win to get back in the playoff race. Ryan Kesler’s return to the Canucks lineup paid off immediately with him scoring in the first period. The Canucks look to have some much needed depth at the centre position with the trade deadline addition of centre Derek Roy from the Dallas Stars and Kesler’s return. I really liked what Coach Alain Vigneault decided to do with his forward lines in the game against the Coyotes. He gave young bruising forward Zack Kassian a chance to play on a line centred by Ryan Kesler. Kassian has looked rejuvenated since his return from the Canucks minor league affiliate Chicago Wolves. I feel Coach AV needs to give the young Kassian an opportunity to play with playmakers rather than having him play minimal minutes on the fourth line. He has a lot of skill and the only way he can flourish is if he gets a chance to play with one of the top 3 centres on the team. (Sorry Andrew Ebbett)
The line of Jannik Hansen, Derek Roy and Chris Higgins clicked the first game the three played together. They have been the Canucks best line of late and with Kesler finally back, it looked like the Canucks could ice three solid scoring lines which would give teams defensive fits throughout the game. Not so fast… It seems the injury bug just will not leave the Canucks this season. Chris Higgins (arguably the Canucks best forward of late) has been sidelined indefinitely with a “lower body injury”. This is quite puzzling to me and fans since Higgins looked terrific in Monday night’s game against Coyotes. The following day Coach AV had said he was “hopeful” that Higgins would be back in the lineup for the playoffs. Losing Higgins is huge for the Canucks considering the chemistry he has developed with Derek Roy. Hopefully the injury is not too serious and “Higgy” is back just in time for the playoffs. The Injury bug did not stop there though. The Canucks most consistent defenseman this season Chris Tanev has also been sidelined with an injury. Game after game, Tanev has played great on the back end for the Canucks this season. It must be really frustrating for Canucks fans to finally get a chance to see what their line up looks like when the team is healthy and then see two more key players have to sit out with injuries.
I would love to see the Canucks call up Nicklas Jensen; their top prospect from the minors while Chris Higgins is out. The native of Herning, Denmark was drafted 29th overall by Vancouver in the 2011 National Hockey League entry draft. Jensen is a skilled player with some size that could play well if he is placed on a line that has a talented playmaker such as Ryan Kesler or Derek Roy. I feel it is worth a shot to give Jensen an opportunity and see what he has while Higgins is out. I would like to see a line with Ryan Kesler centering Zack Kassian and Nicklas Jensen for a couple games and see if they generate some chemistry. The Canucks lack a line that combines size and skill, and those three players put together can maybe offer that. If you look at the trends in the last couple of Stanley Cup champions, they all have had skilled players that have size. I feel the Canucks should give Jensen a shot!
Last week I gave my predictions for what I think the western conference’s top eight, so this week I’ll give you my eastern conference predictions!
I see the Pittsburgh Penguins finishing in 1st place, even with Sidney Crosby out with a broken jaw. The Montreal Canadians and Boston Bruins are neck and neck in their division. I feel Boston’s experience in big games will help them overtake the Habs for the Northeast division title and 2nd place in the conference. With Alexander Ovechkin probably playing the best hockey of his career, the Washington Capitals will win their division and clinch the 3rd seed. (Division champions earn the first 3 seeds in the conference) The Canadians will finish 4th followed by The Toronto Maple Leafs. (Yeah.. you read that right. The Leafs are going to make the playoffs). After a slow start, New York Rangers will finish 6th with the Ottawa Senators placing 7th. Winnipeg and the New York Islanders will fight for the 8th and last playoff spot. I feel Winnipeg will narrowly edge the Islanders. It should be an exciting finish to the Eastern Conference playoff race this season.
Jessy Dhillon is an avid sports fanatic and community youth leader, who’s passion for hockey started at the age of 6 when he started watching Wayne Gretzky play for the Los Angeles Kings. He is a long-time resident of Richmond BC and has deep roots in the Richmond Sports scene through playing youth sports, coaching high school basketball at his former high school Matthew McNair Secondary and organizing sports tournaments for the community.
