Canucks Daily: Roll Call Re-Set, Tampa Lit Up, NHL Tour

As we roll toward the weekend, we’ll be hopping back on the Vancouver Canucks roll call. With the more pressing issue of the free agents out of the way last week, we’ll check out the Vancouver Canucks regulars presently under contract, most of whom will be back.

Not all of them will return however, and the fun (not for them) will be to try to figure out who might get moved out of town based on salary cap and management preferences. Tis the season.

In the meantime …

Rangers Romp

The New York Rangers lit up Andrei Vasilevskiy in Game-1 of the Eastern Conference Final on Wednesday night, but then again, so did the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game-1 of Tampa’s first-round series. The champs bounced back in that one. Can the Rangers stay in stride? The fans at Madison Square Garden think and hope so.

Filip Chytil had two goals and six New Yorkers had multi-point games.

The Lightning have this little streak going where they don’t lose two playoff games in a row; big challenge to keep that going on Friday.

Staal Stalling

Jordan Staal said he wouldn’t sign an extension with the Carolina Hurricanes. He’ll play out the final year of the contract he signed back in 2012 and take a look at the situation. The youngest of the three NHL Staal brothers, Jordan has played almost 11-hundred regular season games in a career that started in 2006.

National Hockey Now

Game-2 of the Western Conference Final finds its way into our hearts this evening. It’s interesting to hear from some Vancouver Canucks fans who are rooting for Edmonton because it’s a Canadian team while others are vehemently opposed to the dreaded division and inter-provincial rival. Game 1 was fun for everyone but the coaches. Terry Frei of Colorado Hockey Now writes the Avs weren’t a Mona Lisa, but sometimes a velvet Elvis is good enough.

Our pals in Denver also take a look at the other threats on the Oilers, besides that dude McDavid. Western Conference Final.

Marty to Stay

Martin St. Louis officially remains the Canadiens head coach. He wasn’t shy in laying out his priorities for the Montreal Canadiens.

The Vladinator

A heartbreaking and frustrating story about Vladimir Konstantinov comes from our cohorts at Detroit Hockey Now. Michigan changed its insurance laws to lower car insurance rates (bipartisan, no villains here), but Vladi will likely lose his round-the-clock care. Surely the lawmakers can fix this instead of dumping him in a facility. (Or maybe some deep-pocketed pals can help him out.)

Pacific Division Potpourri

A lot of teams would love to put Reilly Smith on their roster. Owen Krepps writes the Vegas Golden Knights can’t afford to lose him.

Calgary Flames head coach Darryl Sutter was a bit more talkative during these NHL playoffs than he has been in the past. His wry wit in press conferences is always fun to watch and his insights interesting. In his final presser of the season, Sutter was disappointed, but said the Calgary Flames earned back their respect.

ICYMI:

Here were Vancouver Canucks free agent roll calls from last week.

Brad Hunt

Brock Boeser

Juho Lammikko

Matthew Highmore

Alex Chiasson

Enjoy the Hockey Action !!