First off we’d like to offer a sincere thank you to TSN for creating news in the middle of the pandemic.
True, it isn’t news in the strictest definition of the term and it’s a telling commentary on the cable channel’s towering sense of self-importance that it’s considered news. But the All-Time 7 series creates a lively debate among hockey fans in the seven Canadian markets while it distracts from the grim reality of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Whatever else it it, it’s a welcome respite to remember the great players in franchise history, to recall the excitement and joy they gave us. The Vancouver Canucks, as it happens, have been blessed in this area and while the game’s greatest prize has eluded them, the faithful have seldom been shortchanged in the entertainment department.
I’ve got no particular beef with Craig Button’s selections to the all-time Canucks’ team. He is a smart hockey man who thinks these things through carefully.
I’m just coming at my team from a different perspective.
Goalies
Roberto Luongo and Kirk McLean
Defence
Alex Edler/Mattias Ohlund
Dan Hamhuis/Kevin Bieksa
Quinn Hughes/Sami Salo
Forwards
Daniel Sedin/Henrik Sedin/Pavel Bure
Markus Naslund/Bo Horvat/Todd Bertuzzi
Greg Adams/Thomas Gradin/Tony Tanti
Alex Burrows/Ryan Kesler/Trevor Linden
Foundation player: Stan Smyl
Head coach: Pat Quinn
General manager: Brian Burke
Now for the rationale.
The goalies are chalk. Jacob Markstrom might merit consideration in a couple of years providing a) he signs with the Canucks and b) there’s hockey again. But Luongo and McLean stand alone.
The blue-line is a trickier proposition. Button went with three left-shot defencemen and three right-shot which is fair. But that left-right balance is a relatively new construct in the game’s history. It’s hard to pinpoint the exact moment it was cemented but, for half a century or so, teams played their best defencemen together, regardless of which way they shot.
The great Habs’ team of the late 1970s featured the best blue-line in the game’s history. It was anchored by three left shots: Larry Robinson, Serge Savard and Guy Lapointe. The best pairing in the game’s history was likely Bobby Orr and Dallas Smith in Boston, two lefties. Edmonton’s Paul Coffey and Charlie Huddy are in that conversation. Again, two southpaws.
The point is great players can figure it out. That’s why I’d rather have Quinn Hughes on my team than Doug Lidster. As for the other pairings, Bieksa and Hamhuis form the shutdown pair. They played together on the best-ever Canucks teams, handled the toughest matchups and contributed 30 to 40 points a season.
Ohlund and Edler are the two best defencemen in Canucks history. That’s as much a commentary on the organization’s chronic inability to find elite blueliners but the two Swedes would form a fearsome pairing.
As for the third pairing, we went with Hughes and Salo partly because of the left-right thing but also out of consideration for the power play. Had Salo stayed healthy, he’d be right there with Ohlund and Edler in franchise lore. As it is, I want his shot on the power play.
Admittedly, the selection of Hughes might be premature and that spot could go to Ed Jovanovski. But I keep thinking of Hughes running a power play with the Sedins and Bure in their primes. Tell me you wouldn’t want to see that?
You’d also want to see this forward group. You wonder how Bure would fit with the twins but the Sedins made a 30-goal scorer out of Anson Carter. They could adjust to Bure. If that didn’t work, you could move Burrows to that line, drop Adams down to the checking line and have a third line with Bure, Gradin and Tanti.
Not bad.
Originally I had the West Coast Express as a unit. Brendan Morrison was a perfect fit for Naslund and Bertuzzi and I wanted his versatility in the lineup.
I just couldn’t justify keeping Horvat off the team. He’s simply a better player than Morrison but the Canucks’ inability to develop elite centres is another sore point.
Naslund needs no further explanation. Bertuzzi had two seasons when he was one of the five-best players in the game. We’re going to bottle 2002-03 Bert and put him on this team ahead of Alex Mogilny.
I’ve got Adams ahead of Courtnall on the third line. He’d find real chemistry playing with Gradin and Tanti and could play a couple of different roles. Gradin could play with anyone. Tanti would be a tasty option on the second power-play unit.
Linden played a lot of centre for the Canucks but I’ve got him on the wing. Again, you could move him to the middle if you were looking for a spark but Linden playing with Kesler and Burrows would be a nasty bit of business.
Kesler is the second-best centre in Canucks’ history after Henrik Sedin. He’s in a shutdown role here but he could play anywhere in the lineup.
The foundation player, meanwhile, is described as someone who is part of the DNA of a franchise. If that isn’t The Steamer, who is?
As for the head coach, I couldn’t leave Pat Quinn off an all-time Canucks team. He gets the nod over Alain Vigneault.
The GM’s position is a little more contentious but I think of what Burke inherited, the trades he made and his best draft picks. Mike Gillis presided over the most successful period in Canucks history but in those areas where a GM is judged, I’ll go with Burke.
Also he’s a much better quote.
So there it is. I don’t expect everyone to agree but I know one thing.
I won’t be disappointed there.
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