Tag Archives: Defenceman

Father Knows Best: Tanev’s dad to help son with Canucks contract negotiations

Posted on by in Province Hockey  |  No comments

The mocking didn’t take long to hit social media on Thursday morning once it was publicly revealed that Canucks defenceman Chris Tanev will conduct his own contract negotiations on a new deal, with his father, Mike, as his “advisor.”

An NHL player contract being negotiated without a certified agent is unusual, and some of the online posts suggested the Tanevs would be taken to the cleaners by Canucks’ master negotiator Laurence Gilman.

“It’s disappointing that people are going to judge Christopher for making this decision without knowing any of the details behind it,” his dad, Mike Tanev, said on Thursday afternoon from Toronto.

Mike Tanev assisted his son when he signed with the Canucks as an undrafted free agent out of U.S. college in 2010. Chris Tanev received a three-year, entry level deal at $900,000 annually that was leveraged by two other teams offering him contracts (Ottawa and Washington) besides Vancouver.

Mike Tanev, who’s had a long career in sales, said the...

Read more

Gallagher: As far as refs are concerned, it’s open season on Burrows

Posted on by in Province Hockey  |  No comments

You saw it once again Tuesday night in Columbus. Seriously, you see it almost every game.

We speak of Alex Burrows standing in front of the net trying to do what lots of other players in the league do all the time: screen the goalie and try for a deflection on any shot he might be able to get his stick on.

But with Burrows there’s a difference, and every defenceman in the league seems to know it. You see, it’s perfectly alright to cross-check him as hard as you like, perhaps punch him in the head or the face if you like, and there’s virtually no chance the referee will give you a penalty.

Evidently, the rules go right out the window when it comes to this guy, for two reasons.

One is that he told the world that referee Stephane Auger had threatened before a game in December 2010 that he was going to get him for showing him up...

Read more

‘Call me rover’: Versatile Vandermeer may make opening night roster for Canucks

Posted on by in Province Hockey  |  No comments

A little versatility never hurts and it just might mean a roster spot for Jim Vandermeer to start the season with the Canucks.

There have been broad hints this week from Canucks’ management that Vandermeer, the abrasive defenceman, may make the opening night roster as a ninth D-man but also as a player who can fill in on the wing if need be.

Vandermeer, 32, who signed a two-way contract with the Canucks ($600,000/$275,000) earlier this week, says he played about 15 games as a fourth-line forward with San Jose last season and is comfortable with the role if need be.

“I think it was 15 games, maybe some of those it was kind of half and half,” said Vandermeer. “Call me rover.”

He’ll be playing left wing in tonight’s second and final scrimmage, so will get a chance to showcase his skills as a swingman.

The Canucks are clearly looking to get more toughness in their lineup and the rugged Caroline, Alta.,...

Read more

Mason Raymond bound for Sweden, Sedins may be next

Posted on by in Sun Hockey  |  No comments

VANCOUVER - Mason Raymond won't play his first game with his new Swedish team until Jan. 3, but the first big challenge of his overseas hockey adventure figures to come New Year's Day when he and wife Megan make the long trek from Calgary with their active nine-month-old son Max.

Raymond was determined that if he was going to play overseas, his family was going to be along for the ride.

"The biggest thing for me in picking a spot over there was I wanted a good fit for my family," Raymond said in a phone interview Thursday.

Raymond signed a deal this week with Orebro HK of the Swedish first division.

"To be honest I've had quite a few offers and I guess I was hopeful we'd have a deal done in the NHL earlier on," Raymond said about the timing of his decision.

He doesn't know much about his new team, other than the fact a good friend, former Colorado...

Read more

Edler injury revelation a troubling one

Posted on by in Province Hockey  |  No comments

By Jason Botchford

There are two key questions that rolled out of the Alex Edler reveal last week.

At No. 1, with a bullet, is should there be long-term concern about news he is rehabbing a bulging disc under team supervision?

The obvious answer is obvious: of course.

Edler underwent surgery, because of a bulging disc, in January 2011. He continued to experience back spasms throughout the next season. He missed practices and was forced to leave a game in December. And he just happens now to be looking for an extension that would make him the Canucks’ highest-paid defenceman.

That’s enough for at least mild concern, even if the Canucks brass says it has none, believing his current back issue is temporary.

“After consultation with our doctors and the back specialist, they think it’s something which will correct itself,” Canucks assistant GM Laurence Gilman said.

But even if we assume this isn’t another Cody Hodgson situation and the doctors and specialist are spot on...

Read more

Canucks defenceman Dan Hamhuis stays sharp on blades

Posted on by in Sun Hockey  |  No comments

VANCOUVER — While most of his locked-out teammates had long since left the ice Tuesday, Vancouver Canuck defenceman Dan Hamhuis was on another sheet at UBC's Thunderbird Arena diligently doing drills with skating coach Barb Aidelbaum.

Hamhuis is considered one of the smoother skaters on the Canucks, if not the entire NHL, so watching him work for a full hour with Aidelbaum was a bit intriguing. What gives? What could he possibly learn at age 29 after eight NHL seasons and two in the American Hockey League?

“I'm certainly not the fastest and quickest guy in the NHL but I'm trying to be,” Hamhuis said with a laugh.

The Smithers native said he first worked with Aidelbaum when he was a junior and young pro, attending summer skating camps arranged by his original agent Ross Gurney. When Hamhuis signed with the Canucks two summers ago, he decided to give Aidelbaum a call.

“I always feel it's a great way to start...

Read more

New Canuck defenceman Jason Garrison training, waiting and wondering

Posted on by in Sun Hockey  |  No comments

VANCOUVER - It's still summer and new Vancouver Canuck defenceman Jason Garrison is already rocking a full beard.

Since it isn't playoffs, is it a lockout beard?

“No,” a smiling Garrison said Thursday following a workout at UBC's Thunderbird Arena. “I just don't shave too much in the summer, but let's hope I can get a real nice playoff beard going, too.”

There is no chance, he insisted, that he'll keep the current beard until the National Hockey League and its players sign a new collective bargaining agreement. Just think of the photo ops. Or the guys from ZZ Top.

“It would look pretty gross, that's for sure,” Garrison said, quickly rejecting the suggestion. “I plan on shaving in the next few days here.”

Garrison may have oodles of times to both grow a beard and then shave it off before he gets to play a game for his new squad. The 27-year-old from White Rock signed with the Canucks on July 1...

Read more

Canucks considered offer sheet to Shea Weber

Posted on by in Sun Hockey  |  No comments

VANCOUVER — The Vancouver Canucks seriously considered presenting an offer sheet to restricted free agent defenceman Shea Weber.

"It is safe to assume it is something we discussed internally," assistant general manager Laurence Gilman said Thursday.

Gilman would not say how close the Canucks came to making an offer to Weber, the Sicamous native who late Wednesday signed a 14-year, $110-million offer sheet from the Philadelphia Flyers. The Nashville Predators, who selected Weber in the second round (49th overall) of the 2003 draft, now have a week to decide if they will match the heavily front-loaded offer from the Flyers or instead accept four first-round draft picks.

The Canucks ultimately decided that any offer they made to Weber would almost certainly be matched by the Predators, who just lost their other top defenceman, Ryan Suter, to the Minnesota Wild. The Canucks may have also determined there was simply too much competition as reports Thursday indicated Weber had visited with the Flyers,...

Read more

Canucks’ Dale Weise files for salary arbitration, Joslin and Mullen signed

Posted on by in Province Hockey  |  No comments

This is the way it was supposed to be.

In his seventh game with the Vancouver Canucks last season after being claimed off waivers from the New York Rangers on Oct. 4, grinding winger Dale Weise scored his first NHL goal on a line with Maxim Lapierre and Aaron Volpatti by tipping home an Alex Edler shot. At that point, it appeared the Canucks had finally found a fourth-line solution.

However, Volpatti would require shoulder surgery, Lapierre would be required to play different roles and Weise would slip from early season promise to score just three more times in 68 regular-season games while earning $605,000 US at the NHL level on his two-way deal. And when it mattered most, he appeared in just two of five playoff games. Yet, the 23-year-old restricted free agent hasn't come to terms on a new contract and filed for arbitration Thursday to again add fuel to the fire that the fourth line could still...

Read more

PuckWorld: NHL Northwest Division race might actually be a race next season with Wild’s move on Parise, Suter

Posted on by in Sun Hockey  |  No comments

A fifth straight Northwest Division title just got a whole lot more challenging for the Vancouver Canucks.
The Minnesota Wild, perennial playoff also-rans, changed the face of their franchise and maybe the Northwest Division on Wednesday when they landed the two big free-agent plums, forward Zach Parise and defenceman Ryan Suter.
The additions of Parise and Suter to a Wild team that has a number of solid prospects ready to make the jump to the NHL should at least make things interesting in the Northwest.
The Canucks have won their four straight division titles by a combined total of 54 points. In the past two seasons, the Canucks have beaten the Wild by a combined 61 points.
Parise and Suter should help narrow that gap considerably.
The Northwest Division has been regarded as perhaps the weakest in hockey in recent years. For the past two seasons, the Canucks were the only Northwest team to qualify for the playoffs...

Read more

Vancouver Canucks re-sign Ebbett, Pinizzotto

Posted on by in Sun Hockey  |  No comments

VANCOUVER -- The Vancouver Canucks have re-signed centre Andrew Ebbett and right wing Steve Pinizzotto, President General Manager Mike Gillis announced early Monday.

The Canucks also landed free-agent defenceman Jason Garrison, who had 16 goals and 33 points last season with the Florida Panthers on Sunday.

Garrison signed a six-year, $27.6-million deal worth $4.6 million a season. That $4.6 million matches the salary of Kevin Bieksa, who was Vancouver's highest-paid defenceman.

Garrison is believed to have taken something of a home-town discount to sign with the Canucks. He likely could have commanded a salary north of $5 million a season from some of the other teams that were pursuing him.

"We wanted size, we wanted another guy who can shoot the puck on the power play and we wanted character and he fit all of those criteria," general manager Mike Gillis said Sunday night. "He is from Vancouver so he had a real desire to play here, which he...

Read more

Canucks sign free agent defenceman Jason Garrison

Posted on by in Sun Hockey  |  No comments

The Vancouver Canucks waited until late in the day before making a big splash in the free agent pool on Sunday.

The Canucks landed free-agent defenceman Jason Garrison, who had 16 goals and 33 points last season with the Florida Panthers.

Garrison signed a six-year, $27.6-million deal worth $4.6 million a season. That $4.6 million matches the salary of Kevin Bieksa, who was Vancouver's highest-paid defenceman.

Garrison is believed to have taken something of a home-town discount to sign with the Canucks. He likely could have commanded a salary north of $5 million a season from some of the other teams that were pursuing him.

"We wanted size, we wanted another guy who can shoot the puck on the power play and we wanted character and he fit all of those criteria," general manager Mike Gillis said Sunday night. "He is from Vancouver so he had a real desire to play here, which he articulated to us. . .we also wanted to...

Read more

Justin Schultz passes on Canucks to sign with Oilers

Posted on by in Sun Hockey  |  No comments

The Vancouver Canucks have lost the Justin Schultz sweepstakes.

The 21-year-old Kelowna native has chosen the Edmonton Oilers over a short list of teams that also included the Canucks, Ottawa Senators, Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers and Minnesota Wild.

Schultz, an offensive-minded puck-moving defenceman, used a loophole in the collective bargaining agreement to become an unrestricted free agent after three seasons at the University of Wisconsin.

He was originally drafted in the second round (43rd overall) by the Anaheim Ducks in 2008.

The Oilers had called in former Edmonton stars Wayne Gretzky and Paul Coffey to make sales pitches to Schultz.

Last season, the smooth-skating Schultz was collegiate hockey's highest scoring defenceman with 16 goals and 44 points in 37 games, He was on the ice for 69 of Wisconsin's 105 goals, 27 of its 33 power-play goals and 10 of the team's 17 game-winning goals.

The Canucks had hoped he would quarterback the team's power play and saw him as a replacement...

Read more