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head coach: Mike Keenan

roster: C - Mark Messier, Peter Zezel, Dave Scatchard, Brandon Convery. LW - Markus Naslund, Brad May, Donald Brashear, Larry Courville. RW - Alex Mogilny, Pavel Bure, Brian Noonan, Scott Walker, Todd Bertuzzi. D - Jyrki Lumme, Dana Murzyn, Matthias Ohlund, Bret Hedican, Bryan McCabe, Adrian Aucoin, Steve Staios, Jamie Huscroft, Chris McAllister, Bert Robertsson, Jason Strudwick. G - Garth Snow, Arturs Irbe.

injuries: Todd Bertuzzi, rw (returned from thigh contusion March 28, missed 5 games); Garth Snow, g (returned from hip flexor March 26, missed 4 games); Matthias Ohlund, d (concussion March 26, two weeks); Jyrki Lumme, d (bruised knee March 26, missed one game); Larry Courville, lw (wrist January 14, out for season); Dana Murzyn, d (knee December 27, out for season).

transactions: Gino Odjick, rw, traded to New York Islanders for Jason Strudwick, d, March 23; Dave Babych, d, and a sixth-round draft choice traded to Philadelphia for a third-round draft choice, March 24; Brandon Convery, c, recalled from Syracuse (AHL) March 24; Chris McAllister, d, recalled from Syracuse March 24; Bert Robertsson, d/lw, recalled from Syracuse March 24; Corey Hirsch, g, re-assigned to Syracuse March 26.

standings:

Western Conference - Pacific Division
Team         GP   W   L   T   PTS   GF   GA 
x-Colorado   77  37  24  16    90  217  192  
Los Angeles  75  34  30  11    79  210  204 
San Jose     76  31  37   8    70  190  205  
Edmonton     76  30  36  10    70  192  208 
Calgary      75  25  36  14    64  200  222  
Vancouver    76  24  39  13    61  212  258  
Anaheim      76  24  40  12    60  187  241  
x - Clinched playoff spot

game results:

3/24 NY Islanders  W 4-3
3/26 Buffalo       L 5-2
3/28 Washington    L 3-2
4/01 Edmonton      W 4-2
4/03 Dallas        W 5-3

team news:

by Carol Schram, Vancouver Correspondent

There are just two more weeks to go in this edition of the daily soap opera surrounding this year's Vancouver Canucks. With just six games left on their regular season schedule, the Canucks remain nine points back of Edmonton and San Jose, who are tied for the last playoff spot. All six games are within the conference, but even if Vancouver picked up 12 points, the interlocking end-of-season schedule probably means that their rivals also play enough games against each other that someone is going to get more points than we are.

Hockey fans in this town can start planning their summer. Mike Keenan can get back to the trading he loves so dearly. And hopefully management at Orca Bay Sports and Entertainment can get down to some serious housecleaning and figure out how they're going to fix the organizational mess that their hockey team has become.

Amazingly, the trade deadline didn't bring too many fireworks here on the West Coast. Keenan promised deals, and said the nature of the deals would depend on his team's playoff chances. Yet, even though they were pretty much out of it at the time, future unrestricted free agent Jyrki Lumme didn't get moved to a playoff contender like Detroit. He will finish out the year here, and there is still talk that the team might try to re-sign him this summer. The final decision will likely depend on whether or not they are able to land a good free-agent offensive defenseman, in the mold of Al MacInnis or Steve Duchesne.

It was a bit of surprise to hear that Dave Babych had been moved. After all, "Gramps" had endured seven seasons here, and had just re-signed his own two-year deal as a free agent last summer. Even more intriguing, when Keenan sent Babych to the Flyers, he also sent back the conditional sixth-round pick that the Canucks received for Mike Sillinger, in exchange for one third-round choice. He also got a third-rounder in the Brad May deal, so if I wasn't so certain that every personnel decision in Vancouver this year was being made for the moment, I'd be convinced that there's some sweet prospect Keenan's looking for, scheduled to go around 80th in this year's draft. Hmmm...what a strategy.

Gino Odjick by Meredith Martini

Although Babych has been around just as long, the deal that really shook up Canuck watchers was Keenan's trade the day before the deadline, sending Gino Odjick to the New York Islanders for big young defense prospect Jason Strudwick. There was a time in Vancouver, not so long go, when flowers bloomed, children sang, and Gino rivaled Pavel Bure for the title of "Most Popular Canuck". One year he rode shotgun on the wing beside Bure and picked up 16 goals for his efforts. He wasn't blessed with skill, and he didn't always pick his moments too wisely, but Gino played from the heart, and the fans loved him for it. Gino was a symbol of overcoming adversity, of following your dream. He was larger than life.

Then, suddenly, he was gone - traded to a low-profile East Coast team for, as he put it, "someone (he'd) never heard of". Plus, the Canucks were scheduled to play the Islanders the very next night. Gino didn't have to travel to join his new team, he just had to move his stuff from the home dressing room to the visitors.

The Islander game was already shaping up to be emotional. It was Trevor Linden's first time ever playing in Vancouver for another team - now Gino's team, too. And while Todd Bertuzzi remained sadly sidelined with his thigh contusion, Bryan McCabe was approaching the task of playing his old mates with obvious relish.

Just before the puck was dropped, they played a moving tribute to Trevor Linden on the Jumbotron above center ice. It captured every moment, from the day in 1988 when the fresh-faced 18-year-old slipped on that ugly yellow jersey as the second-overall draft choice, to that warm June day in 1994, when the spent leader crumpled next to the boards -- eye blackened, playoff beard wilting, after he had come within a goal of keeping his team alive in the hunt for hockey's biggest prize. Linden got a warm standing ovation from the crowd, which he acknowledged from the bench - Mike Milbury did him the courtesy of not slipping him onto the ice until the third or fourth shift.

Jason Strudwick by Tricia McMillan

Truth be told, even with all the buildup, it wasn't a very good game. The Islanders' so-called defensive prospects looked worse than the Canucks', and played listlessly. Linden looked tentative and wasn't a force on the ice. But of course Gino had a statement to make, so he picked his replacement, Jason Strudwick, as his partner in a scrap. It gave the fans one last chance to really enjoy watching Gino take it to somebody, and Strudwick made a pretty good punching bag. Surprisingly, for a guy with just 18 NHL games to his credit, the former Kamloops Blazer (and third-round pick) also made a pretty good defenseman. He played a decent game that first night, and has drawn consistently into the revolving defensive lineup since his arrival.

As a one-for-one player deal, it probably wasn't a bad trade. But the repercussions have been pretty ugly. First, there was the emotional outpouring from fans when Keenan heartlessly made the deal. Second, there was concern about Pavel Bure's future and happiness. After the trade deadline passed, the media were lacking for things to speculate about, so suddenly Bure was back on the front pages, with more stories about his standing trade demands. Pavel and his agent still won't confirm or deny, but Bure did say he'd talk about the situation when the season was over - which isn't long now. And somehow, his 'no comment' comments when asked about his position have gotten gruffer and even less vague than before. Truth be told, it does look like he wants to go, and he's determined to get the 50 goals to send him into the salary stratosphere before he does.

Pavel did have commments on Gino's deal, too - about how Gino was his best friend, about how Gino helped him to learn English and adjust when he first arrived in Vancouver, about how Gino had signed a long-term deal with Pat Quinn so he could finish his career here. Clearly, Pavel was not too impressed, and he didn't bother to make any remarks about "the good of the team" or the positive impact of change.

Pavel Bure by Meredith Martini

Then, as the story of Pavel's imminent departure loomed larger and larger, the voice of Gino piped back in from the East Coast by blaming Mark Messier for everything that is wrong with the team this year.

According to Gino, Mess is in too tight with management -- Mess has input into personnel decisions, Mess doesn't stand up for his team-mates. Gino says that he was prepared to back Messier when he first came to town, but he became uncomfortable with the role that Messier played within the organization and he believes Messier is the reason for this season's disaster. Gino also pointed out just how valuable Pavel Bure has been to the Vancouver Canucks since he first arrived in 1990. He reminds fans that the team was drawing 9,000 to 10,000 fans a game before Bure got here. The excitement that Pavel brought to the rink, along with the team's improved record, is what generated the enthusiasm and the revenue to build the new arena, and really even to bring the Grizzlies to town. On this point, Gino is right. Whether he stays or goes, Pavel Bure has already changed the face of sports in Vancouver.

As far as his accusations towards Messier go, I believe that Gino is speaking from the heart, but I also believe that his perception might be just a little biased. After all, Gino was sort of left out of the loop this summer when Messier made it his personal responsibility to take the disgruntled Bure under his wing and try to make him happy. Then Mark and Pavel play together all season long, and when Mark's favorite coach comes to town, Gino starts spending more time in the press box than the penalty box. Mark's presence was the catalyst for Trevor Linden's exit from town, and Gino himself is now playing in empty arenas with a team full of 'guys he's never heard of'. Yep, Messier absolutely upset Gino's apple cart. But is he bad for the team?

As one pundit put it, Messier didn't turn into a dummy overnight. The guy knows what it takes to win, and Gino's comments seem to imply that, while winning can be nice, his personal relationships, lifestyle, and overall comfort zone were all important to him, too. That would make him...well...human. But all those cliches about making sacrifices to grab the big prize are not without merit. Vancouver fans will always love Gino, but his comments definitely underline the differences in philosophy between the old, so-called country club, and the new team that they are trying to create.

Speaking of the team, not all the action was off the ice over the past two weeks. The team did go 3-2 over its five-game home stand, and there seemed to be a steady theme of Canucks-past-and-present through most of the games. Bryan McCabe played a hard-nosed game against his old teammates on the Islanders, and seemed to be having the time of his life lining them up for hits and taking the man.

Brad May was in much the same mood two nights later, when his old pals from the Sabres came to town. May teamed up with Pavel Bure and Mark Messier with an early assist, then a goal. The Canucks owned a 2-0 lead against a team without much offense at the end of the second period. But early in the third, the wheels started to fall off the wagon. The Sabres ended up scoring five goals on five straight shots on Archie Irbe, but the worst damage of all came with the score 4-2. Matthias Ohlund was carrying the puck across the Buffalo blue line when ex-Canuck Mike Peca blindsided him with an elbow to the face. Given that Ohlund is probably six inches taller than Peca, obviously the feisty forward had to leave his feet in order to make contact.

Ohlund's freefall was a little like a physics exercise on momentum and speed. He had just crossed the blue line when he got hit, and he stayed vertical for awhile before eventually landing, flat on his back, inside the left faceoff circle. Ohlund was out cold for about three minutes. That was plenty long enough to contemplate all the head injuries that have happened in the NHL this season, and to think about a game back in 1993 when a brash young Canuck rookie named Mike Peca leveled the Winnipeg Jets' Teemu Selanne with a similar open-ice hit. All very fine and well, when the guy with the sharp elbows plays on your team....

Don Cherry would be devastated to hear that Ohlund took the hit pretty well, for a Swede. He eventually got up and off the ice, with assistance, and it was later confirmed that he did suffer a concussion. But 10 days later, Ohlund says he is headache free and has resumed skating. He is accompanying the team on their last road trip of the year, but says the final decision on his playing status remains in the hands of team doctors.

Mike Peca wasn't penalized for the hit, and while he claims all three officials told him they believed it was clean, he was later suspended three games for the flagrant elbow. More importantly, the hit set off another round of frontier justice that made the game reminiscent of the WWF-style brawl between the two teams in Buffalo just before the Olympic Break. Alex Mogilny went after Peca right after the hit, then Bryan McCabe gamely squared off with tough guy Matthew Barnaby a couple of minutes later. Barnaby figured McCabe to be in over his head, and throughout the brawl, he would pull back and yell at McCabe "Have you had enough?" Bryan's answer every time, a resounding "NO!!!" and off they'd go again. Both players were ejected for the scrap, but when they were separated, McCabe skated to the bench with his hands over his head, applauding himself for a job well done.

While the Canucks may have lost the game, and they may have lost their best defenseman for awhile, they didn't lose the physical battle, and there was still more evidence of the team coming together and standing up for one another. That game may have been the final blow to the Canucks' playoff chances, but it was probably valuable for team-building - for whatever parts of this team will return next year.

Next game up - the Washington Capitals. Normally, not much rivalry, but now former Canuck assistant GM George McPhee runs the show in the capital city, and ex-Canuck assistant coach Ron Wilson runs the bench. The game also marked Esa Tikkanan's first game back in Vancouver since his trade last season. It was bittersweet to see him, but the guy who really won the game for the Caps was a guy who started his year in Vancouver: the immortal Brian Bellows.

If you recall, Bellows was a free agent at the beginning of the season, and was offered a training camp tryout by Pat Quinn. All along, Bellows implied that the deal between him and the team was virtually assured - although one couldn't help but wonder what Vancouver was going to do with another offensive- minded right-winger. Sure enough, when all was said and done, Bellows wasn't offered a contract, and he spent the season playing in Germany. After the trade deadline, when rosters are allowed to expand, Ron Wilson re-signed the guy he had coached in Anaheim, and Bellows played his first game in a Capitals uniform against the Canucks.

Something to prove? Maybe. Bellows got two goals and was easily the best player on the ice as Washington defeated Vancouver by a 3-2 margin and he was named first star in his return to the NHL. Bryan McCabe fought Steve Konowalchuk after taking offense to some stickwork on Bure. The first line was defensively brutal. And that was about it for that game.

With four days off at home before playing Edmonton, that was when the rumors about Pavel's future started to fly. It was a long dry spell, but a lot of ex-Albertans live on the west coast, and a game against the Oilers is always kind of fun. They're also the only team in the league that the Canucks are perfect against this year, and they pulled it off again on Wednesday.

It was kind of a bittersweet game; since the Canucks are all but done in terms of the postseason, a lot of locals still want to cheer for a Canadian team and/or a team from the West. Edmonton is the only team that even stands a chance of meeting both those criteria, and they're still battling it out for eighth position. The win was nice, the game was entertaining, and Arturs Irbe was on fire, but Canuck fans were honestly feeling a little guilt, when all was said and done, that they still might be hampering their chances at an enjoyable postseason with Vancouver's win that night.

No guilt in the Dallas game on Saturday, though. The game was evenly played until early in the third period, by which time the slumping Stars had accumulated a 3-1 lead. Even with Roman Turek in net, that should have been more than enough to win the game. But Brad May took matters into his own hands and went out to pop his second of the night on a hard-nosed effort, bringing the score to 3-2.

Although May had been moved off his usual line with Messier and Bure, his two goals seemed to inspire Pavel, who scored a beauty to notch number 46 and tie the game midway through the third. Then Alex Mogilny stripped the puck from Darryl Sydor and just kept pounding it till he got it past Turek, for the winner. Bure picked up one more for good measure - another beauty - to drop the Stars to 0-5-1 in their last six games and to put on another great show of teamwork and camaraderie with their gutsy come-from-behind performance. Everyone knows where the team stands in terms of postseason, but Saturday saw a downright happy crowd filing out of GM Place for one of the few times this season.

Suddenly, the Martin Gelinas for Geoff Sanderson for Brad May part of that trade ain't lookin' so bad. Gelinas seems to have come into his own in Carolina since Kirk McLean was dealt - he's now playing on the top line and has been getting nearly a goal a game lately. Sanderson also looks to be doing all right in Buffalo - and of course, he too managed to score a goal for the Sabres when they were here - something he didn't accomplish once during his tenure as a Canuck.

But May's character is starting to shine through. As a member of the team since February, he's practically an old-timer! Turns out that it was May who stood up for Enrico Ciccone during the dressing-room standoff in Montreal. It was May who went before the Hockey Night in Canada cameras and defended Mark Messier's leadership role with the team. And on Saturday, it was May who set the early tone, and who gave the Canucks the sniff of victory they needed to get back in it. His bubbly jubilation through the end of the game was heartfelt and contagious, and that kind of vibe is what creates hope for the future of the Canucks. I never thought I'd say it, but I'm really startin' to like the guy.

Ditto Bryan McCabe. Playing with the top unit, McCabe has been scrambling a bit defensively of late, but his attitude on the ice is enthusiastic and feisty, and he's a pleasure to watch. Todd Bertuzzi is back in the lineup now and still hasn't shown any of that shyness with his body that Mike Milbury warned us about. Jason Strudwick looks good, and as well as being a dead ringer for Dave Babych, Jamie Huscroft is mean. He played a solid game against Edmonton and was named a star, and against Dallas he made a big hit that took a Star player to the ice.

Again - seemed kinda cool at first, but then you realize he used his stick across the guy's face...and then you realize that the guy he hit is another local fan favorite, Greg Adams, playing his only game in town all year. Luckily, Adams was okay and was able to play the rest of the game, score a goal, and enjoy a little local nightlife afterwards. Huscroft was hit with only a minor penalty for his troubles.

When Gino Odjick was traded, it felt like the Canucks as we knew them were about to vanish entirely. There was a terrible rumor that Alex Mogilny was going to be sent to Phoenix for the broken-down Jeremy Roenick, and after the deadline, it was whispered that Keenan had nearly sent Bure to the Islanders for a package that would have included Bryan Berard. But a few games, a little teamwork, and a couple of glimmers of hope later, it still feels like there's a chance that the franchise can be salvaged from the brink of disaster.

Tune in tomorrow...

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