Bet On NHL Hockey: Canucks
A new era begins in Vancouver this season after what was arguably the worst season in franchise history last year. Roberto Luongo is gone; Ryan Kesler said goodbye and the team will welcome a new GM as well as a new head coach and a new team president into the fold.
NHL Predictions
Vancouver Canucks
Odds to win the 2015 Stanley Cup: 40/1
Odds to win the 2015 Western Conference: 22/1
Odds to Win the 2014 Pacific Division: 15/2
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2014-2015 Vancouver Canucks Betting Preview:
Vancouver finished one game over .500 last season but went 8-18-1 down the stretch – yuk!
This many changes usually means a down year for a team but things have to be better than they were last year? Don’t they?
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The Vancouver Canucks seemed to be doomed from the start of the season last year and it all started with the curious hiring of John Tortarella as head coach. Torts’s philosophy was polar opposite of the players he had at his disposal and was not the fan-friendly brand that Vancouver hockey fans demand.
Boston Bruins understudy Jim Benning replaces Mike Gillis as GM, Willie Desjardins was arguably the best coaching prospect left in the pool and Trevor Linden was hired to bring back a little pride to an organization spiraling downward. After the mess that was the Luongo/Schneider fiasco, Ryan Miller was brought in to stabilize what was once a strength for this team but became a glaring weakness. Eddie Lack moves to a position where he rightfully belongs – in a backup role for the team.
Willie Desjardins will likely be the biggest difference for the Canucks this year. The Sedins won’t be asked to kill penalties, fill a defense-first roll and they won’t be playing 25 minutes a game – an improvement right away for Vancouver’s best players.
Along with Ryan Miller, the Canucks brought in C Nick Bonino, RW Derek Dorsett, D Luca Sbisa, RW Linden Vey and RW Radim Vrbata while saying good bye to Kesler, LW David Booth, C Zac Dalpe, D Jason Garrison, C Mike Santorelli and C Jordan Schroeder. Things will look a whole lot different in Vancouver this year – and that`s a good thing!
Offense
The new additions are nice but it is up to a host of returning Canucks to determine whether or not the Canucks return to prominence. The Sedins were awful last year and should be better this year, Alex Edler was a disappointment and will likely be improved and hopes are that Alex Burrows recovers from a horrendous season last year.
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Names like Henrik and Daniel, Radim Vrbata, Zack Kassian, Nick Bonino, Alex Burrows, Chris Higgins, Linden Vey and Jannik Hansen are a nice top 3 lines – players like Bo Horvat, Shawn Matthias, Brad Richardson, Nik Jensen and Tom Sestito offer some quality depth up front.
Defense
On defense the Canucks will have Dan Hamhuis, Chris Tanev, Kevin Bieksa and Alex Edler as their top 4 – not back and will have Ryan Stanton, Frank Corrado, Lucas Sbisa and Yannick Weber to fill the other spots – again – not too shabby.
FREE Canucks NHL Predictions 2014/2015
The Canucks made some necessary moves shoring up their goaltending and shipping out a player that obviously didn’t want to be there – Ryan Kesler.
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Vancouver got younger as well with Nick Bonino and Lucas Sbisa joining the club.
The philosophy in Vancouver is the thing that had to change – and the firing of John Tortarella will go a long way in returning this team back to respectability. The Canucks were 10 games below .500 when Torts tried to show his loyalty and stormed the Calgary dressing room. Torts was a cancer – most in the room are glad he’s gone.
While I can’t see the Canucks winning the Pacific of coming out of the West, I do expect them to make a push for the playoffs. Vancouver is a better team than they showed last year and is prime for a bounce back year.
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