This is the kind of news story we get when the Canucks don't make the playoffs:

Nathan Smith, currently of the AHL's Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, was charged with indecent exposure after a police officer saw him running naked on a downtown street early Sunday, and a teammate was arrested for public drunkenness.

Smith was drafted 23rd overall in 2000 and hailed as a guaranteed NHL player by then-GM Brian Burke - much to the dismay of fans who wanted someone with more upside, such as Brad Boyes (43 goals for the Blues this season). Unfortunately even his projection as a third-liner-at-best was too optimistic, and the 26 year old has played only 17 NHL games so far.

Smith told the officer he acted on a bet.

Officials said Smith was charged with misdemeanor counts of indecent exposure, open lewdness and disorderly conduct, as well as public drunkenness. He was released on $10,000 bail.

Penguins forward Ryan Stone was also charged with public drunkenness.

The AHL team suspended Smith for its second-round home playoff game Thursday. It was not immediately clear how Stone would be disciplined but the team said he would not be suspended.

Posted on May 2nd, 2008 by Chris - Comments

Mike Gillis will named general manager of the Vancouver Canucks today.

Gillis, a player agent who has represented stars like Pavel Bure and Bobby Holik, is charged with the job of rebuilding a Northwest Division team that has missed the playoffs twice in the last three years.

The Canucks finished the season with a 39-33-10 record, three points out of eighth place in the Western Conference.

One of the first questions Gillis will face is whether he will keep Alain Vigneault, who was named the NHL coach of the year for the 2006-07 season after the Canucks won the Northwest Division title, but also caused TV ratings to plummet with his defence-first strategies.

Gillis also must decide if he will re-sign free agents like Markus Naslund and Brendan Morrison. Gillis is currently the agent for Naslund, the Canucks captain, who earned $6 million last season.

The Canucks will have about $20 million in salary cap room this season. It's expected owner Francesco Aquilini will want the new general manager to add some offensive punch to a team that relied heavily on the goaltending of Roberto Luongo last season and a solid defence.

Gillis will become the 10th GM in Canuck history. Since losing Game 7 of the 1994 Stanley Cup final Vancouver has missed the playoffs six times. Since the 2000-01 season the Canucks have advanced past the first round of the playoffs just twice.

Besides the coach, there is speculation a new GM might make major changes to the Canucks entire hockey operations and scouting departments.

Posted on April 23rd, 2008 by Chris - Comments

The 2008 NHL Entry Draft is scheduled for June 20th in Ottawa and the Canucks have the 10th overall pick. Who will they choose?

McKeen's 2008 Draft Guide will offer readers a comprehensive overview of the draft's top prospects, including a final Top 125 draft ranking, complete with in-depth profiles and scouting reports on the top 100.

The full-colour magazine will also include in-depth feature articles on several prospects, insider information from numerous pro scouts, a look ahead at the 2009 draft and much more.

Click here to order.

Posted on April 21st, 2008 by Chris - Comments

Now that the Vancouver Canucks have fired general manager Dave Nonis, their chances of signing Swedish winger Fabian Brunnstrom as a free agent have apparently diminished.

According to various reports, the speedy Brunnstrom is now reconsidering his decision because Nonis (specifically his promise that Brunnstrom would get to play in the NHL for the entire season) had been a factor in earlier negotiations. Some of the other NHL clubs that were considered strong candidates to land Brunnstrom previously include the Detroit Red Wings, Toronto Maple Leafs, Anaheim Ducks and Philadelphia Flyers.

Posted on April 18th, 2008 by Chris - Comments

The Vancouver Canucks have fired Dave Nonis after three seasons as the team's general manager.

Nonis was promoted to the post in May of 2004, replacing Brian Burke after six seasons as senior vice-president and director of hockey operations. He hired coach Alain Vigneault shortly after with the intention of turning the run-and-gun squad into a defence-first, trap team that turned off many fans as entertainment value, and TV ratings, plummeted.

While he did participate in one of the biggest fleecings in NHL history (the Roberto Luongo trade), he failed miserably in getting support for his star goaltender - namely more scoring - at the last two trade deadlines and seemed more interested in "playing it safe" than trying to build a winner before a frustrated-with-losing Luongo becomes an unrestricted free agent.

Favourites to replace Nonis include assistant GM Steve Tambellini, who has been a contender for many open GM spots throughout the league for years, and Jim Nill, Assistant GM of the Red wings. Anaheim GM Brian Burke and Wings GM Ken Holland are also faint possibilities, and Pat Quinn is still looking to return to the NHL. Hopefully whoever is hired will replace Vigneault with a coach who doesn't forget that hockey is entertainment and goals are a good thing.

Posted on April 15th, 2008 by Chris - Comments

Vancouver's playoff hopes ended Thursday night with a 2-1 loss to the Edmonton Oilers before a disappointed sellout crowd of 18,630 at General Motors Place.

"We worked so hard for the entire season for a chance to play for the Cup, and it's tough to take when you don't make it," Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo said, holding back tears.

The Canucks missed the playoffs for the second time in three seasons after winning the Northwest Division title in 2006-07, earning a No. 3 seed in the playoffs and posting an opening-round victory over the Dallas Stars.

"This year a lot of things didn't go our way as compared to last year," said Luongo. "Obviously it's a very competitive conference and every game is so important."

The loss left Vancouver with only one win in its last six games during a pivotal stretch drive. The late swoon, in which the Canucks squandered 2-0 leads twice in losses to Calgary and Colorado after briefly contending for the division title, contradicted early-season predictions that Vancouver would contend for the Stanley Cup.

"I think it seems like when the hockey gods are smiling on you, things fall your way a little bit, as they did last year," said Trevor Linden, who may retire in the off-season. "When they're not you have the kind of year we had this year, where it was a battle to keep people in the lineup and it was a battle to sustain our play. Just things didn't work out for us".

The Canucks never displayed much consistency as injuries depleted their defence corps and sidelined centre Brendan Morrison for most of the season. Luongo, who was dealing with his wife Gina's delicate pregnancy before she delivered a daughter recently, struggled at inopportune times.

"Emotionally it's been a rough couple weeks a lot of highs and lows," said Luongo. "That's pretty much all I can say."

Posted on April 4th, 2008 by Chris - Comments

Impending unrestricted free agent Brendan Morrison is done for the rest of the regular season and the playoffs after suffering a torn ACL. This is a major blow for the Canucks' post-season hopes and will certainly factor into off-season contract negotiations. The 32 year old lower mainland native will likely be out until early October and was already gaining a reputation for being fragile, which may make GM Dave Nonis reluctant to give Morrison another hefty contract.

He had nine goals and 16 assists over 38 games this season.

Posted on March 27th, 2008 by Chris - Comments

Roberto Luongo's wife, Gina, is due to give birth in the first week of April. Luongo will have to fly to Florida (where the couple still resides) for the birth and is expected to miss at least a few games. Curtis Sanford will start in his absence during the crucial stretch drive.

Posted on March 26th, 2008 by Chris - Comments