The nucks youngsters learned a lot from Mathieu Schneider.

Keep your mouth shut, work hard, and your time will come.

Schneider did none of the above and after 17 games – 2 goals, 3 assists, and 12 penalty minutes – was sent to the peg.

And that was just before half the Vancouver D were injured, and Vancouver had to bring up players from the Moose and Stars.

In the American League Schneider did somewhat better, scoring three goals – on the power play – in 8 games and had 2 assists and was a -5.

Now, he’s injured and recently flew to Vancouver to get a second opinion on the knee injury.

It’s possible Schneider might need surgery to repair meniscus damage and could be out for 4-to-6 weeks.

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photo courtesy of rangerstribune.com

The kid broke his foot in a freak accident on November 1st.

Michael Grabner, 22, had played in nine games with the Canucks – after his recall to Vancouver on Oct. 14th. In that span, he had two goals and three assists.

He had started his season in Manitoba where he had 4 goals and 2 assists in 5 games.

Well, Grabner’s back and he’s lightening it up again.

He returned on December 27th, scored his 5^th AHL goal and was named the game’s 2^nd star. The following night, on December 28, he scored in a shootout after the game had been tied 1-1 in regulation time.

On New Years Eve he scored his 6^th and was named the game’s 2^nd star. And last game, on Jan 2nd, he scored his 7^th goal and was named the game’s 3^rd star.

Maybe there won’t be a spot for Pavol Demitra to come back to.

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picture courtesy of hockeynews

Winnipeg Sun article on Grabner

Eric Walsky won the fastest skater competition, finishing his lap  in a time of 13.46 seconds — .22 seconds quicker than Marco Rosa.

Then the rookie surprised the fans at the MTS Centre by hitting all five targets in the accuracy shooting challenge in just 11.96 seconds.

“I didn’t expect to win, to be honest with you,” said Walsky. “But it was a good night.”

Walsky might be a rookie, but he’s not a kid.

Walsky excelled at Anchorage’s East High and was voted Alaska’s player of the year in 2003. He first played for the University of Alaska-Anchorage and had 22 points in 51 games.

He then transferred to Colorado College with the hope of finding a bigger role in an offense that permitted creativity.

The 194 pound 5′11″ right winger collected 20 points in 41 games in 2007-08 – when Colorado College finished first in the WCHA and won the MacNaughton Cup.

The 24-year-old had 36 points (12-24-36) in 38 games – during the 2008-09 season – and finished second in team scoring.

“Eric is a mature, skilled forward with tremendous skating and puck-handling abilities,” Mike Gillis said at the March 20th signing. “We look forward to having him joining our organization and beginning his development in professional hockey.”

Walsky went 5 for 5 during the skills competition, but is only 1 for 29 during AHL games.

He leads the Moose, however, with a +5 and has 5 assists, along with his one goal in 17 games.

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photo courtesy of uscho.com

The Moose share the same boat as the nucks.

They’re a tad over .500, with 22 points in 21 games (1-9-2). They’ve had their own injuries, but have also been stocking Vancouver when nucks players have been injured.

Fortunately, most of the AHL haven’t fared much better, and the Moose are tied for 6th in the 29 team circuit.

Dallas’ new farm team the Texas Rangers – featuring Brad Lukowich – are in 1st place with 28 points, followed by the Rochester Americans with 27. The Hershey Bears and Manchester Monarchs have 24 points, while the Lowell Devils have 23.

Would be Calder nominee Sergei Shirokov is 39th in league scoring – with 13 points in 18 games – and former Moose Jason Jaffray and Jason Krog are in the Top 30.

Former nuck backup Curtish Sanford has a great .947 SV % and a 1.4 GAA.

Moose backstops Cory Schneider and Daren Machesney are 11 and 21st of the 58 goalies.

When Vancouver gets a little healthier, players will trickle back from the Canucks and Manitoba will make a run for first place.

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Lukowich picture courtesy of the Texas Stars

“The check, along the right-wing boards near the faceoff circle, saw [Manitoba Dman Mike] Funk readying to move the puck out of his zone. He made the play and took the hit, a rising blow that contained elbow, forearm and at the end, stick, and also included the new, popular move among the heavy checkers, the subtle kick with the legs.

Referee Shaun Davis could have called many infractions. Instead, he chose the green light for [Dallas forward] Gazdic.”

Mike Funk finished his shift and left the ice.

“A couple of minutes later, no gloves and no stick in hand, he skated from the Moose bench across the ice and off, with a foggy look on his face and barely able to keep himself on his skates.”

This was Funk’s third concussion in 14 months.

Last season might have been his breakout year, but he missed the first nine games after suffering his first concussion in training camp. Then he was cross checked from behind into the boards by Devils defenseman Anssi Salmela. This was his second concussion of the season and he didn’t play until this last training camp.

Buffalo had passed on re-signing Funk and the Canucks thought that they would try and replenish their depleted D (profile).

Things had been working out well for Funk and he was one of Manitoba’s top two Dmen.

How bad is the concussion?

Is this the beginning of the end of his hockey career, or just a setback?

Lawrence Nycholat, who was also hit by a questionable check should be returning to the Moose lineup soon.

The NHL owners are looking at questionable hits this week. The AHL owners should do the same.

With veteran Lawrence Nycholat injured, the Moose have relied plenty on the pair.

“How I look at it is that (Brian) Salcido has to be better, as does (Evan) Oberg and (Travis) Ramsey,” Arniel said. “We need other people to step up, eat up that icetime.”

With five games in six nights starting tonight at home versus Norfolk, it could be a big issue.

MIKE FUNK

“They’ll both be weighing 150 pounds by next Thursday if we keep going at this rate,” Arniel said of Funk and Baumgartner.

“This is a time for the other guys to sink or swim,” Arniel said.
Neither Baumgartner nor Funk were complaining.

“I’ll play 40, 45 if they want,” Baumgartner smiled. “That’s the fun part of the game. You get into a rhythm. I’ve been feeling really good lately. But off the ice, you have get something into you after the game, get your nutrition and your rest. Plenty of sleep.”

“I haven’t looked at the charts,” Funk said. “I had a feeling I’ve been playing quite a few minutes, but it’s what you want, to play as much as you can and when you’re given the extra ice time, you feel obligated to play better.”

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written by Tim Campbell of the Winnipeg Free Press

The parent Vancouver Canucks recalled high-scoring Russian winger Sergei Shirokov on Sunday morning. There’s a chance the 23-year-old could play tonight in Vancouver when the Canucks host…the Edmonton Oilers.

Shirokov is Manitoba’s leading scorer after recording four goals and six assists in 10 games after being assigned to the Moose earlier this month.

courtesy of the Sun Media

Their second night in Manitoba, ‘nucks prospects are checking out apartments or settling into their hotel rooms.

They can stew on their situation, or remember that they were two games away from hoisting the Calder Cup – and having their name on a Championship banner.

And, if The Patriot-News can have flashy headlines, so can The Winnipeg Free Press and The Winnipeg Sun – next May.

But better still, they can wear a Calder ring, to accompany their Stanley Cup ring, which they will receive after the 2010-11 season.

“They’ll be disappointed and upset,” Scott Arniel said, “but they also know they’re coming to a good place that they are familiar with…It’s not like they’re going to purgatory or some place they’re not treated as well.”

So, who’s this kid – this Mario Bliznak?

I’d seen his name on the yearly prospects lists – since 2005 – but didn’t know anything about him

Bliznak wasn’t sent down to Manitoba last week – with the first batch of demotees – and coach V was giving him lots of ice time.

So, he figures into the Canucks’ future.

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“I think back to the three camps I’d seen him at,” said Scott Arniel, “and he was just a body out there moving around. As a draft pick, I wondered what they saw in this guy.”

Bliznak, was a Slovakian-born seventh-round pick in 2005.

He attended training camp with the Moose in the fall of 2007 but returned for his final Western Hockey League season – as a 20-year-old.

His junior career with the Vancouver Giants isn’t marked with any fantastic stats, but coach Don Hay believed in him.

Bliznak received some great coaching from Hay and the experience of playing in the WHL final twice – and winning the Memorial Cup once – helped him to deal with the professional game.

“The WHL is different, but it was a long ride too — a couple of months,” said Bliznak. “Here every game is tough but hopefully [the previous experience] is going to help me.”

“Bliznak could become a serviceable third or fourth liner with a few more years of progress,” wrote Hockey’s Future. “His final major junior season showed that he does possess some offensive talent, although his career-high numbers were put up in his overage season.”

Moose GM Craig Heisinger, like Arniel, hadn’t seen a lot in the kid: ”We always heard that his junior coach liked him a lot but nobody ever said what exactly they liked.”

“Probably he was on the bubble of whether he was going to be here or be in Victoria (of the ECHL),” said Arniel, “but right from the beginning of the year [2008-09] he played extremely well and did a lot of good things to earn a spot every night.”

It also helped that other Moose prospects – including Greg Rallo who’d been signed to be the team’s fourth-line centre – got hurt during training camp, and the Slovakian seized the opportunity.

“He’s a way smarter player than I gave him credit for,” Heisinger said. “He’s been the most pleasant surprise to date, no question.”

“I can understand now why (Vancouver Giants’ coach) Don Hay gave up two spots for him, an import and an overage,” Arniel said. “Usually they don’t do that in junior. He’s a very reliable player you can throw out in any situation, against any line.”

“The Aeros were making a last-ditch effort to tie Tuesday’s game,” wrote Tim Campbell. “One shift produced a few chances. Then Arniel tapped Bliznak to take the next faceoff.

“That’s good for confidence,” Bliznak said. “Obviously he’s trusting me. He put me on that faceoff six against five so that makes me more confident.”

The coach said the decision wasn’t tough.

“Pace-wise, he’s caught on here and got up to speed at the American League level,” Arniel said.

Bliznak had an good start to the 2008-09 campaign, but saw his game drop off during the stretch drive – and he spent time in the press box.

But, Bliznak was improving – during the course of the season – a fact not lost on the coaching staff or his teammates.

“He grew a lot and he developed over the year,” said Mike Keane. “It was a great year in a lot of different aspects. He did well at times, he sat out at times, he had to learn the game at times. As a first-year player, I don’t think you could get a better experience. You realize when you do well it’s great, but when things are going bad you have to work harder and maybe not press as much.”

Bliznak spent the start of round one – of the playoffs – in the press box, but then replaced enforcer Tommy Maxwell in Game 2, and saw his ice time further increased after an injury to Alexandre Bolduc two games after that.

Bliznak was promoted to the checking line with captain Mike Keane and Guillaume Desbiens and that unit completely neutralized the Marlies top line of Tim Stapleton, Jiri Tlusty and Bates Battaglia.

“Playing on the checking line was nothing new for me, but you just have to be good on every shift.”

courtesy of hockeydb.com

“He has poise in pressure situations,” Arniel said, “for a young guy. He does a good job of holding onto pucks and making his stick available at all times, either for outlets or for defending in coverage. He’s very responsible defensively. It doesn’t matter if he plays a small amount of minutes or large minutes, he doesn’t change his game too much. He’s at a very consistent level.”

“He’s been a guy who has been a surprise all season long for us,” Scott Arniel summarized.

And obviously a pleasant surprise during the ‘nucks pre-season.

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This blog has used quotes from both the Winnipeg Sun and the Winnipeg Free Press.